Russ Dorsey: Cubs 2nd baseman Nico Hoerner will be an All-Star in 2026
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What Cubs storylines are discussed at the start of the episode?
Layla Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, Rahimi, Harrison, Grody on 104.3 The Score.
The 2-1 swing and a high fly ball. Deep right field. Going back free leg at the wall. That ball is gone. Michael Bush has led off the series with a home run to right center. Cubs lead 1-0 and listen to the Cub fans in attendance.
Michael Bush doing damage. Pat Hughes on the call, the Hall of Famer. And I think it's safe to say Michael Bush had a bit of a sneaky 2025, a surprise if you will, because you probably didn't picture him hitting 34 bombs. And being a cog, a key cog with a 4.6 war in that Cubs lineup. Welcome back to Rahimi Harris and Grody Russell Dorsey. And alongside, I'm Marshall Harris. And we wanted to take this time because Russ is the baseball guy. the national MLB insider for Yahoo Sports. That's what they say. To let him step up and let us in on what he feels are a couple of candidates for surprise 2026s, much in the way that Michael Bush burst onto the scene in his big 2025 year.
Yeah. So surprise star. So this could be not like Alex Bregman can't be your surprise star. Right. But other guys are eligible for this. So I'm going to start the White Sox first, though. OK. My surprise star for the White Sox in 2026 is going to be catcher Kyle Teal. I saw Kyle Teal get to the big leagues last year and showed an ability to have back-to-ball skills. There was some power in there and an ability to get on base. I see Kyle Teal as the type of guy that could hit 275, 280 for the White Sox. 20 doubles, 15 to 20 homers, and be a really productive player in that catcher slash DH spot split in time with Edgar Carroll. I really like Kyle Seale as a player, and I'm interested to see how he's able to produce as a guy who probably won't be a full-time catcher because they'll have to split that time with him and Carroll.
And that might help him offensively because of that, not getting as worn down as if he had to catch 120, 130 games a season.
Is it bad that I don't think that's that big of a surprise considering not only that he had the second highest war on the team besides Colson Montgomery, obviously, but he kind of was that guy last year, although he only played 78 games. But he hit eight home runs.
Who is Michael Bush and what was his impact in 2025?
He went 273, 375, 411. So maybe you're just expecting that slug to take a jump.
Yeah, I expect there to be more power in there. But I also think some would say, oh, who's the breakout person? Many would say, oh, Colson Montgomery, obviously. But I think Kyle Teal, as a guy who's going to hit towards the top of that lineup, get on base at a really high clip, you're going to see a lot out of him. So that's why he's my...
surprise and i'll those were me explaining the surprises i expect to see i got you so the white socks looking good if cal till is a surprise and does better things than he did in his rookie season that's going to be a big plus yeah for the white socks lineup again i love that young group meanwhile for the cubs who's now i'm really intrigued on this because it's hard for me to even imagine because and i think here's the difference with the cubs you have more known commodities on the cubs
So anybody I say is like, oh, I know who that guy is. Yes, but like to the point that I'm going to say. I think the surprise star on this Cubs team. Star or starter? Star. S-T-A-R. Okay. Is going to be Nico Horner. I think, listen to me, I think Nico Horner is going to be a first-time All-Star in 2026. I think, I'm not a bold prediction guy. Here's my bold prediction for Nico Horner. First-time All-Star in 2026. Leads... The National League in batting average and hits, Nico Horner. I think Nico Horner is building into a crescendo of having his best season ever in 2026. And I think last year you got to see a lot of the confidence. You know defensively he's – I'd make the case he's the best defensive second baseman in Major League Baseball.
What him and Dansby do on a nightly basis is amazing. But you're starting to see a build in confidence offensively from Nico where – It doesn't always appear sexy because he doesn't have power like other guys, right?
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