Cubs’ Dansby Swanson, Nico Hoerner pairing off to a smooth start

MESA, Ariz. — The first glimpses of Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner’s partnership in the middle of the Cubs’ infield bring to mind one word: smooth.

They haven’t done anything particularly eye-catching in the three games they’ve played together — they haven’t had to — but what they’ve done, they’ve made it look easy. Swanson’s expecting better things to come.

“It takes two weeks to [get to] where it’s like, all right, you feel comfortable, and then after that, you really start building that strong chemistry to where things really, really flow,” he said over the weekend, after he and Hoerner turned their first double play together. “To the naked eye, it looks great, but I think we both believe that there’s still some things that we can hone in on and hopefully improve upon.”

This spring training is about laying the groundwork for a pairing the Cubs will lean on for years to come. Swanson signed a seven-year, $177 million contract over the winter, and the team opened extension talks with Hoerner before spring training started. Even if Hoerner doesn’t sign a long-term deal this spring, he’s under club control through 2025.

“He’s obviously a tremendous athlete, tremendous player,” Swanson said. “And he makes me look good most of the time, so I just follow his lead with that.”

Hoerner has been equally complimentary. Swanson’s reputation as a World Series winner and Gold Glover — aspirations of Hoerner’s — precedes him. And early in spring training, Swanson’s commitment to growth even after an All-Star year has been apparent.

“He just carries himself with a lot of confidence,” Hoerner said in a conversation with the Sun-Times. “He knows what he likes. He’s in a new place, obviously, but he knows what works for him and does everything with conviction. And there’s a lot to learn from that, for sure.”

The Cubs have matched up Hoerner and Swanson’s schedules throughout spring to give them a chance to work out each other’s preferences and tendencies.

In the regular season, Swanson is determined to play all 162 games, like he did last year. Hoerner appeared in a career-high 135 games in 2022, and he would have played more if it weren’t for a freak collision with an umpire that sidelined him for two weeks with a sprained ankle.

Swanson had that kind of consistency with Ozzie Albies in Atlanta when the second baseman wasn’t battling injuries.

“That really helps grow that chemistry,” Swanson said. “The more you do it, the better you get at it.”

Hoerner hasn’t even had a consistent position with the Cubs. In his 2019 debut season, he filled in mostly at shortstop late in the year when the injury bug hit the Cubs’ infield. Ben Zobrist often played second alongside him.

In 2020, Hoerner moved to second base, paired with shortstop Javy Baez. In 2021, Hoerner played both positions, as the team weathered the trades that sent out its championship core at the deadline.

Last year, Hoerner thrived as the Cubs’ regular shortstop. But the other side of the middle infield was constantly changing as the Cubs used eight different players at second base.

Hoerner said he’s looking forward to consistency not just in the middle infield but on the roster as a whole.

“Nothing but good people that have come through,” he said of recent seasons, “but it’s tough to really build relationships when you have that kind of turnover. So, looking forward to a roster that hopefully has some consistency for this year, and hopefully for years to come.”

As for extension talks — a way to maintain that consistency even longer — both Hoerner and the Cubs are wary of publicly discussing the details of negotiations.

“The financial side of the game is a deeply personal thing,” Hoerner said. “Whether it means signing something right at the beginning of your career, or before free agency, or waiting till free agency and getting every possible dollar, all those things are very individual choices.”