Nico Hoerner's elite defense and .297 batting average earn him no spot on MLB Network's Top 100.
MLB Network went through its annual Top 100 players entering the season. It ranked every player from No. 100 to No. 1 heading into the 2026 campaign.
The Chicago Cubs have four players ranked inside the top 100 to begin the year. Seiya Suzuki came in at No. 77, Michael Busch at No. 67, Pete Crow-Armstrong at No. 40, and Alex Bregman at No. 35.
But one notable player left off that list is Nico Hoerner.
Honestly, it’s a complete shock that Hoerner isn’t among MLB Network’s top 100 players entering the 2026 season. He was arguably the Cubs' best player last year and impacts the game in too many ways to be overlooked.
Hoerner led the team with a 6.1 WAR, had the second-highest batting average in the National League (.297), and won the second Gold Glove of his career. He also finished 19th in NL MVP Voting.
Leaving him off this list entirely is just wrong.
Hoerner put together the best offensive numbers of his career in 2025. He hit .297 with seven home runs, 29 doubles, four triples, 61 RBI, and 29 stolen bases across 156 games. His 178 hits were a career-high and were the third-most in the NL last year.
Then, there’s his defense, which might be the best part of his game. He deservedly won a Gold Glove and was unquestionably the best defensive second baseman in the Majors last year.
He ranked first among all second basemen in Outs Above Average (14), Runs Prevented (10), and Fielding Run Value (12). Additionally, his 2.2 Defensive WAR was the sixth-best in all of baseball.
Of course, Hoerner’s overall numbers won’t blow anyone away. He doesn’t hit home runs, won’t bring in a lot of runs, and doesn’t necessarily hit the ball hard.
However, Hoerner is just a winning player. He plays exceptional defense, gets on base at a high level, and is elite on the basepaths. That was evident by his 6.1 WAR, which was tied for the 12th-best in the Majors during the 2025 season.
And yet, he is the only player with at least a 5.6 WAR last year that is left off MLB Network’s Top 100. The three players Hoerner had the same WAR with ranked 27th (Corey Seager), 30th (Hunter Brown), and 31st (Matt Olson) on that respective list.
It’s not like Hoerner’s 2025 campaign was a fluke of some sort. He has been a very valuable player over the past few years. He has finished with above a 3.5 WAR in each of the past four seasons and above a 5.5 WAR in two of the past three.
There are simply a bunch of players that Hoerner is better than on that ranking. No one would take Eugenio Suarez -- who is ranked No. 67 and still a free agent-- over the Cubs second baseman in any capacity.