Cubs say there's good news from Hoerner's early exit

Nico Hoerner's decision to pull himself out of a rehab assignment game in South Bend on Sunday will set him back a week or two. But Cubs manager David Ross said there was no recurrence of the oblique injury that put him on the injured list.

"Yeah, I talked to him. He felt a little bit of the tension in that area, shut it down. Smart move," Ross said. "I had an oblique early on in my career and it's one of those things, til it's completely healed, you don't really know until you go out and play.

"He was smart, will get a couple days to rest. No re-injury, which is good. Got kind of good news when the trainers all checked him out. Give him a couple days and get him back on a rehab assignment maybe a week or two."

It's been a tough year for Hoerner, who wasn't on the major league roster when the season began. He played well when he did join the Cubs, but has been on the injured list twice with hamstring and oblique injuries.

"I don't think anybody likes setbacks, if you want to call it that," Ross said. "As much as we thought it was going to be bad, I think it was good news we received today. So probably a little more positive than how he was last night.

"Hiss heart wants to be on that field and everything about him wanted to get back, so we'll take this as just a good lesson of try to be patient with the injuries and we'll see you back as soon as you're healthy."

Hoerner started his rehab assignment in Class A South Bend on Sunday. He started at shortstop and grounded out in his first at-bat. On his second trip to the plate in the third inning, he swung and missed first pitch, then quickly signaled the dugout and walked off the field.

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