Chicago Cubs second baseman Nico Hoener, a former Stanford Cardinal, had an underrated 2025 campaign. He hit .297 with a .345 OBP, seven home runs, 61 RBI, and is a Gold Glove finalist. On top of those stats, he put up a career-best 6.1 bWAR season, topping his previous high of 5.5.
If we’re looking to the past, the Cubs lone Hall of Fame second baseman, Ryne Sandberg, ended up having his career take off at around this point. Ryno put together an 8.5 WAR season in 1984 en route to his only NL MVP award, but that season is the big difference between where he was sitting and where Hoerner is right now in their careers.
From the ages of 25-28, the last four seasons for the former Stanford Cardinal, it’s actually Hoerner that holds the edge in WAR at a 19.4 to 16.3 clip. From the age of 29 through 32, the Cubs legend ended up hitting an entirely different gear, putting up WARs of 6.1, 7.1, 7.0 and 7.8 for a total of 28.1. With a similar stretch, Hoerner’s case could become very strong.
Still a Long Way to Go
Entering his age-29 season, Hoerner still has an uphill battle in order to make his case for the Hall of Fame. The average WAR total for the 20 Hall of Fame second basemen sits at 69.5. Sandberg finished at 68.0, so he’d probably have to reach about 60 to legitimately be in the conversation. While 69.5 is the average, Rogers Hornsby (127.3) and Eddie Collins (124.2) inflate that total a bit.
Former Houston Astro Craig Biggio finished with 65.5 and landed in Cooperstown, while current Astro Jose Altuve is sitting on 53.4 and is seen as a Hall of Famer. Where Altuve ends up when his career is over could create some space for the Cubs’ second baseman.
If Hoerner continues to put up seasons like his 2025 campaign for the next four years, that would put him around 45 WAR and have his peak seasons be right there in the discussion for a HOF-caliber second baseman.
The second part of this equation is how long Hoerner will end up playing, because that could have a big impact on how much he’d have to still produce after his peak seasons. This is also why he could have a late-career surge into the discussion.
If he plays until he’s 40, that’s eight seasons after his projected peak. While his bat has been a little better than league average year after year, it’s his glove that has made him extremely valuable. Defense tends to fade less quickly, too. If he’s at 45 WAR after his age-32 campaign (four more years of six-WAR season), then he’d need roughly 15 WAR across eight seasons to get to 60.
That’s less than two wins a season, and should be pretty manageable with his glove as he gets older. The trick here is that he has to both have a high peak while also having the longevity.
The Lone Cardinal in the Hall of Fame
Stanford has had 110 former players reach Major League Baseball in their careers, and 50 of those have been pitchers. Only one has made it to the Hall of Fame, and that’s Mike Mussina.
Selected by the Baltimore Orioles with the 20th pick in the 1990 MLB Draft, Mussina pitched for ten years in Baltimore, collecting Gold Gloves, All Star nods and finishing in the top-5 of the Cy Young voting numerous times. He ended up going 147-81 with the Orioles, and held a 3.53 ERA during a good bit of the Steroid Era.
Mussina ended up leaving Baltimore for the New York Yankees after the 2000 season and continued to be a workhorse in the Bronx. He’d end up spending the final eight years of his career in pinstripes, holding a 3.88 ERA, and in his final big-league season in 2008, he finished sixth in the Cy Young voting, 19th in AL MVP voting, and earned his seventh Gold Glove.
As we sit here today, Nico Hoerner of the Chicago Cubs would appear to have the best shot at being the second former Cardinal enshrined in Cooperstown.
