Nico Hoerner goes 4-for-5, knocks in two runs

Arias makes a ton of sense for Chicago as a short-term stopgap solution to help fill their infield while Dansby Swanson (oblique) is on the injured list for the next couple weeks. The 26-year-old provides the Cubs with an experienced and versatile infield option behind Nico Hoerner and Pedro Ramírez. He can be safely ignored in all fantasy formats, but still represents a quality depth addition at this stage of his career.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell told reporters that Swanson has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 oblique strain and they’re hoping that he’s able to return in roughly four weeks. The 32-year-old veteran has graded out as a top-10 fantasy option this season, hitting .216/.300/.404 with 78 runs scored, 18 homers, 66 RBI and 17 stolen bases in 458 plate appearances. It sounds like there’s a decent chance that he’s ready for the start of the postseason, if the Cubs make it that far. It’ll be Nico Hoerner taking over at shortstop with rookie Pedro Ramírez seeing the bulk of the playing time at second base.

It looks to just be a routine day off. Pedro Ramírez is batting sixth and playing second base in Hoerner’s absence.

Hoerner’s stolen base was his 18th of the season as he continued his strong start to the second half. The veteran second baseman isn’t hitting for as high an average as fantasy managers are accustomed to, but he’ll likely finish with double-digit homers and roughly 25 thefts. The Cubs entered the day as MLB’s second-highest-scoring offense, which will help his counting stats too.

Hoerner gave the Cubs a 2-1 lead with a dribbler to second that was able to score a run. He hit the ball considerable further a couple innings later with a solo homer off a (yet again) ineffective Edwin Díaz. Hoerner has now gone deep seven times in 2026, and he’s been able to procure 53 RBI.

Hoerner tied the game at 2-2 in the seventh before the Cubs added on two more then and one in the eighth. Hoerner has two homers in six games after going 80 straight games without one from Apr. 22 until June 27. He’s hitting .410/.419/.541 with 13 RBI in 15 games since the break.

Hoerner grabs a seat on the bench with red-hot rookie Pedro Ramírez taking a turn at the keystone after connecting for his first round-tripper since April 21 earlier this week. The 29-year-old speedster has been phenomenal since the All-Star break, hitting .417 (20-for-48) across 11 games during that span.

Hoerner hit a two-run homer off Hunter Dobbins to essentially put the game away in the top of the ninth. It was his first homer since way back on Apr. 21, when he hit his fourth in 23 games to start the year. It now seems pretty official that he’s turned things around after a two-month slump; he’s batting .432/.432/.545 in 10 games to start the second half, raising his OPS from .631 to .666.

Hoerner remains hot, and his triple scored three and doubled the Cubs’ lead to 6-0 in the third frame. It comes a day after Hoerner singled four times with an RBI, and it’s helped improve his slash to .245/.314/.341. Hoerner has certainly gone on hot runs before, and it’s possible we’re seeing the beginning of one to start the second half of the 2026 campaign.

Surprisingly, it’s his first four-hit game since Apr. 16, 2024. Hoerner, one of the league’s coldest hitters the last couple of months, has six hits in the first two games of the second half. He was 5-for-36 previously this month.