When the Cubs talk about how impressed they were with Nico Hoerner’s 20-game debut last September, the story always starts with how he was sitting on his couch when they called in emergency need of a shortstop for the stretch run.
That’s where he was again when baseball started back up after the coronavirus shutdown, too, same couch, same house in Oakland with his parents.
“I was kind of laughing with my dad about that,” Hoerner said, “just, like, ‘We’ve done this before. I’ll have a little more time to get ready this time, so it won’t be that bad.