A Breakdown Of Nico Hoerner’s Ejection
While the road trip is not yet concluded, the Cubs have completed two-thirds of it in Washington and Detroit, splitting those two series with a record of 3–3.
They now sit at 40–25 overall and hold a four-game lead in the NL Central division.
However, there was one massive storyline from this week that took place on Sunday.
Nico Hoerner’s Ejection: A Breakdown
The Cubs found themselves down 2–0 early in the final game of the series against the Tigers on Sunday. To set the stage, the umpiring was subpar throughout the series, with missed calls affecting both teams. On Sunday, however, Dansby Swanson led off the fifth inning with a double, putting a runner in scoring position with no outs. This brought Nico Hoerner to the plate with a golden opportunity to drive in a run. Hoerner, in particular, excels in these types of situations, batting .394 with runners in scoring position in 2025.
Hoerner found himself in a 2–1 count before fouling off a curveball from Detroit’s Jack Flaherty to even the count at 2–2. On the next pitch, he took a fastball low and inside—but it was a called third strike. Disgusted by the call, Hoerner turned to home plate umpire Derek Thomas and mumbled, “You’re having a really bad day so far.”
This prompted Thomas to eject Hoerner from the ballgame. Nobody thought that a comment so minor could lead to such an early ejection. Craig Counsell exited the dugout to defend his player and also received the early hook.
While watching this game, it was clear that this was one of the softest ejections I’ve ever seen. It took less than three seconds from when the pitch was called a strike to when Hoerner was ejected. It was a situation where the umpire made it all about himself, showing no regard for the moment or context.
The umpiring wasn’t only bad in this game; it was beyond awful throughout the entire series.
It was so poor that Atlanta Braves legend Chipper Jones voiced his frustration on X, making the following comment:
“Not only one of the worst umpires in the league for going on 2 decades…but consistently one of the most confrontational. Toxic combination!”
Jones’s comments came in response to a tweet released by Rob Friedman—better known as the Pitching Ninja—who posted a video highlighting a plethora of missed calls by Doug Eddings, the home plate umpire in Saturday’s game.
When it comes to dropping games, I almost never blame officiating. But in this case—after a weekend of consistently poor umpiring—it’s hard to argue that it didn’t affect the outcome of Sunday’s game. The score was 2–0 at the time, and that strike three call squandered a lot of the momentum that the Cubs had going. On top of that, it cost the Cubs their best contact hitter and one of their top defenders on the team. An absolute disaster class on a Sunday in what was supposed to showcase a marquee matchup between two of the three teams in the league with 40 or more wins.
What’s Next
The Cubs continue on to the final series of their road trip in Philadelphia, where they’ll wrap up their season series against the Phillies.
They’ll then travel home on Wednesday, where they will get to rest up before opening a three-game series at Wrigley against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday.
PHOTO: Jeff Curry/Imagn Images
Discover more from Chicago Sports Nation
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Categorized:Bears