BCB After Dark: Is Nick the Cubs’ dream second baseman?

Welcome back to BCB After Dark: the swingin’ spot for night owls, early-risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. We hope your week is going well so far and we’re glad you could join us. Please come on in. Grab a table and relax. Bring your own beverage.

BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.

The Cubs beat the Brewers tonight, 8-7. I really didn’t think it was possible for the Cubs to win a one-run game. I don’t really know how they won, since I missed most of the game. I caught a little of Pat and Ron’s radio call. My daughter is in her final week of eighth grade and there are all these “promotion” ceremony events that I have to attend to. That’s why everything posted so late tonight.

Last night, I asked you if Nico Hoerner would be a regular on the next Cubs’ World Series contending team. We got some really great discussions in the comments and it turns out, most of you think Hoerner is a foundational piece for the future as 80 percent of you thought he’d be a regular. That breaks down to 41 percent of you thinking he’ll be the starting shortstop and 39 percent of you thinking he’ll move to a different position, but he won’t be a regular.

On Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, I don’t do a movie essay, but you can go back and see what I wrote about Merrily We Go to Hell last night. But I always have time for jazz, so those of you who want to skip that can do so now.

I’m running quite a bit behind tonight, so I’m going to keep this introduction brief. Here’s the great jazz vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, live in concert in Berlin in 1968. She’s got Tee Carson on piano, Keter Betts on bass and Freddie Waits on drums.

Welcome back to everyone who skips the jazz.

Last night’s question about whether or not Nico Hoerner would be a part of “The next great Cubs team” was a pretty big success by my standards. So I thought I’d just repeat it again tonight, except substitute “Nick Madrigal.”

Hoerner and Madrigal have been linked together for quite a while and they knew each other long before they became teammates last season. They were born two months apart in 1997. They did not grow up that far apart either as Hoerner is from Oakland and Madrigal is from Elk Grove, which is a south suburb of Sacramento. They’re both middle infielders with questionable power who went to Pac-12 schools: Hoerner to Stanford and Madrigal to Oregon State. Both Madrigal and Hoerner were taken in the first round of the 2018 draft. Madrigal went first with the fourth pick to the White Sox and the Cubs took Hoerner with the 24th pick.

Hoerner made it to the majors before Madrigal did, but that was mostly because of a rash of late season injuries in 2019 to Cubs shortstops. You’re probably already familiar with those details. Hoerner is the better glove, which is the reason why he’s playing shortstop and Madrigal is at second base. But Madrigal is supposed to be the better hitter, although Hoerner is certainly outhitting Madrigal at the moment. Both have made trips to the IL this year, but Madrigal’s injury seems more chronic than Hoerner’s freak tripping over an umpire.

In 106 career games (through Monday), Nick Madrigal has a batting line of .293/.336/.372. Over 147 games, Hoerner’s stat line is .278/.337/.369. You don’t get much closer than that.

So do you think Nick Madrigal will be a starter on the “next great Cubs team”? And by that I mean the next World Series contender but not necessarily the next World Series champion, because it’s very difficult to predict that with the way the postseason works these days.

I’m only giving you two answers today. Yes or no. Madrigal doesn’t really seem to have the tools to play any position other than second base, so there’s probably no chance he’d be a supersub or move to a different position.

So will Nick Madrigal be the starting second baseman on the next contending Cubs team?

Thank you again so much for stopping by. Be sure to bring some more friends next time. The more the better. Be sure to tip your waitstaff. If you need us to call you a ride, let us know. If you could bus your own table, that would be great. We’re a bit short-staffed tonight. But things will be hoppin’ again tomorrow night with another edition of BCB After Dark.