Hoerner is the 231st former Northwoods League player to debut in MLB
Rochester, Minn. – Former Madison Mallard Nico Hoerner, made his Major League debut for the Chicago Cubs on Monday, September 9, 2019. Hoerner is the 231st former Northwoods League player to reach the Major League level.
Hoerner, who played collegiately at Stanford, played for the Madison Mallards in 2016. He was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 1st round, 24th overall, of the 2018 MLB draft.
Hoerner played in 61 regular season games for the Mallards in 2016. He hit .304 with two home runs, three triples and 12 doubles. He drove in 31 runs and stole 11 bases. He went three for six in the playoffs that season and he was also chosen by MLB scouts to participate in the Major League Dreams Showcase.
Hoerner began his minor league career in 2018 with the Cubs Rookie level team in the Arizona League. After three games he was promoted to the Eugene Emeralds of the Short-Season A Northwest League. He then moved up to the South Bend Cubs of the Lo-A Midwest League where an eventual injury shortened his season. Over 14 games he hit .327 with two home runs, two triples and two doubles. He stole six bases and drove in six runs.
Prior to being called up by the Cubs, Hoerner had started the season in the Arizona League and then moved to the Tennessee Smokies of the AA Southern League. For the year he was hitting .292 with three home runs, three triples and 17 doubles. He had driven in 22 runs, scored 39 times and stolen eight bases.
In his Major League debut against the San Diego Padres, Hoerner started the game at shortstop and went 3-for-5 with a triple and four RBI.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 26th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, 225 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG), World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS) and MLB All-Stars Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (MIA). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.
