Cubs' Nico Hoerner exits game with 'left-sided neck tightness,' per team
Not you, too, Nico Hoerner.
The Cubs' best player this season exited Friday's series opener against the Diamondbacks at Wrigley Field with "left-sided neck tightness," according to the team. With all the injuries sustained by the Cubs already — most of them among pitchers — losing an All-Star-caliber leadoff man and second baseman for any length of time would be far from ideal.
Facing Zac Gallen, Hoerner led off the bottom of the first with a gapper to left-center for a double. He came around and scored on Michael Busch's two-out, two-run base hit in the Cubs' three-run frame.
Hoerner, who entered the game hitting .291 with a team-high 26 RBI, was in the field for the top of the second but got no action. Utility man Matt Shaw pinch-hit for him in the bottom of the inning.
Nico Hoerner grimaced while running the bases in the first inning and has now been removed from the game pic.twitter.com/6KxxWj6RK7
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 1, 2026
“It locked up moving around pregame and then just wasn't in a good place on the field,” Hoerner said after the 6-5 win over the Diamondbacks. “So get some good treatment and see where I'm at tomorrow.”
“He tried to go out there in the second and he couldn't throw, just couldn't move his neck at all,” manager Craig Counsell said. “It's a muscle thing. We'll see how he's doing tomorrow. It may be a day or two, but I think it'll be fine after that.”