Cubs getting creative filling in for second baseman Nico Hoerner

CINCINNATI – Cubs infielder Michael Busch and coach Jonathan Mota walked from one spot in between first and second base to another further up the middle. They paused, talked, Mota pointed past home plate, and then they moved on to the next.

“The challenge is really going to be positioning,” Mota said before the Cubs 4-2 win Sunday against the Reds. “... The best thing that we can do with him is find something in the stadium that gives him the reference points.”

Busch played second base Sunday for the first time since joining the Cubs. He’d played over 200 minor-league games there in the Dodgers organization as a utility infielder, but since the Cubs traded for him this winter, he’s almost exclusively played first base.

Busch wasn’t tested Sunday – no ball was hit to him with left-handed fly ball pitcher Shota Imanaga on the mound – but as the Cubs manage second baseman Nico Hoerner’s absence from the lineup, they’ll have to weigh all their options, even the more creative ones.

The Cubs are expected to decide by Tuesday, when they open a three-game series at Tampa Bay, whether they’re going to put Hoerner (fractured right hand) on the 10-day IL or continue to play out his injury day to day.

“No matter what the injury is, saying when the perfect time to come back is I think is usually the hardest part of rehab,” Hoerner said, “whether it's a two-month thing or a two-week thing or a five-day thing.”

If the Cubs don’t put Hoerner on the IL, they’ll continue playing with a short bench, as they did when Hoerner was sidelined for six games last month with a left hamstring issue. But this time, Hoerner could pinch run. And he has taken ground balls since the injury, leaving open the possibility that he could serve as a late-game defensive replacement before he’s comfortable swinging a bat.

The Cubs’ versatile infielders give them several ways to fill the hole at second.

“Unfortunate with Nico being down,” Busch said Sunday. “But just whatever we need.”

Though Busch settled into a regular role at first base with the Cubs, he’s continued to take ground balls all around the infield on days he’s been out of the lineup or serving as the designated hitter.

“There's ways that [the ball is] going to come at you that are just so different than first base,” manager Craig Counsell said of the challenges of the position change. “There could be plays where you put your body in positions that you haven’t been put in at first base.”

Busch became the choice Sunday as a left-handed batter, as Counsell considered matchups against Reds right-handed starter Frankie Montas.

Against left-handed starting pitchers, David Bote has been starting at second base in Hoerner’s absence. But third baseman Christopher Morel has also been taking pregame reps at second base since Hoerner’s injury, and he too has experience at the position.

If the Cubs do put Hoerner on the IL, they can fill the open roster spot with another infielder.

Nick Madrigal might have been an obvious choice to be recalled, but shortly after being optioned to Triple-A Iowa last week, he sustained a fracture in his left hand on a hit by pitch. So, he’s out.

Rookie Luis Vázquez presents a strong defensive option for the Cubs. He was out of the Iowa Cubs lineup all weekend. When the Cubs have prioritized defensive depth, they’ve turned to Vázquez.

He debuted three weeks ago, brought up in a support role when Hoerner returned to the lineup from that hamstring issue and the Cubs activated shortstop Dansby Swanson (sprained right knee) from the IL. But both had a smooth transition back to playing, and Vázquez only appeared in two games and had one at-bat in 10 days in the majors.

Utility player Miles Mastrobuoni is the Cubs’ left-handed hitting option. But he has only hit .180 since returning to Triple-A Iowa about three weeks ago.