Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Russ Dorsey: Cubs 2nd baseman Nico Hoerner will be an All-Star in 2026

Episode Date: February 16, 2026

Marshall Harris and Russ Dorsey discussed a few Cubs storylines, with Dorsey sharing why he believes Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner will earn All-Star honors in 2026.

Lela Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, Rahimi, Harris, and Grody on 1043, the score. The 2-1 swinging a high-fly ball, deep right field, going back Freelick at the wall. That thought is gone. Michael Bush has led off the series with a home run to right center. Cubs lead one to nothing and listen to the Cub fans in attendance. Michael Bush doing damage. 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

Grotie Russell Dorsey in 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 necessarily like Alex Breggman 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. Okay. My surprise star for the White Sox in 2026 is going to be catcher Kyle Teal.

I saw Kyle Teal get to the big league last year and showed an ability to have bat-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 splitting time with Edgar Carroll. Like 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 have the, they'll have to split that time with him and Carol. And that might help him offensively because of that. not getting as worn down as if he had to catch 120, 130 games. 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. 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. Okay. But I also think someone 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.

Like, you're going to see a lot out of him. So that's why he's my surprise. And those were me explaining the surprises I expect to see. I got you. So the White Sox 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 for the White Sox 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.

And I think here's the difference with the Cubs. Do 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 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 26. 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 Dan's B. Do on a nightly basis is amazing. But you're starting to see a building confidence offensively from Nico where it doesn't always appear sexy because he doesn't have power like other guys, right? It's going to be between five and ten homers a season.

But if you go look at this baseball reference page, it's consistently 160, 165, 170 hits, had a career high last year, hit 297 second in the National League behind Trey Turner's 304. I think we could see a guy. And it's something, it's in the similar vein with PCA of because the defense is so elite, It doesn't take much to turn what Nico already does into an all-star caliber player. Right. Like maybe there's a tick up in power, right? Where if he hits 12 to 15 homers, now you're looking at it differently.

But if Nico finished 2026 and hit 300, 305 with 195 to 200 hits, which is possible with what he's able to do. And in this offense, right? Yeah, like, I think it's possible. He had 176 hits last season. 178. 178. So that's not that far away from 190. You keep him in the leadoff spot?

No. I'm not. Hap. I like Michael Bush up there. Okay. You like the high-on-based percentage. And it'll be interesting to see whether or not his batting order position changes if there's a left-de- I like the Michael Bush against right-handers,

Nico against left-handed. Okay, that's what I was asking. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm cool with that. Okay, so that is... Because he was highly successful. He's one of those guys that swings it really well against left-handed pitching.

So, yeah, I think if it works, man, and it worked a lot last year. If it ain't broke. If it ain't broke. Don't fix it. And then leave Ian Hap in that three, four, five spot driving runs. I'm cool with that. Okay.

Gregman hitting in the two hole regardless. So there you have it. Russell Dorsey telling you surprised players to watch for the White Sox. He gives you Kyle Till, the catcher, the young catcher, and then a little bit older player in Nico Horner, but still just heading into his age 29 season. Old prediction, got to add that in there. First time all-star, Nico Horner.

First-time all-star Nico Horner, who was in the discussion this past season, by the way, and he led the Cubs in war with 6.2. So those are things to keep an eye on. Coming up next, Nick Baumgartner, the senior writer and NFL draft analyst for the athletic. I know you want to know what should the Bears be doing with the number 25 pick and beyond.

We will have that discussion and more with more Rahimi Harris and Grody on 104-3, the score.