Nico Hoerner on reeling Cubs: If we play our best baseball, 'we’re going to be in a good place at the end of the year'

(670 The Score) The Cubs have struggled mightily in losing 14 of their past 19 games, but second baseman Nico Hoerner stressed that it’s important to remember there’s plenty of time for the club to right itself.

“We are at a point in the year where we still determine our own fate in that like if we’re a team that goes out and plays our best baseball and shows up every day and produces, we’re going to be in a good place at the end of the year,” Hoerner said on the Parkins & Spiegel Show on Tuesday afternoon. “Not just pushing to be in the playoffs, but I think we have a real chance to dominate. And that’s what the standard should be. But obviously, it’s like how do you combine that long-term process-based belief in the group but also all that matters is today and what’s immediately in front of you. So I think a lot of our talks internally have just been about combining those two things, and I think we have a group that’s very consistent and doesn’t ride the wave that much emotionally.”

Hoerner also praised closer Hector Neris for being a vocal leader in the clubhouse for the Cubs, who enter play Tuesday sitting at 29-31 and trailing the NL Central-leading Brewers by seven games.

“It’s really valuable to have a guy whose been in other places and shows up with a fresh perspective – and not just other places but other places where he’s won and he’s pitched 70-plus games a year and he’s bilingual and close with the whole locker room,” Hoerner said of Neris. “Guys like that are really important for the group. He’s both someone that has fun every day and keeps things loose but also holds people to a high standard. He’s been really awesome and very open about his opinions in a great way.”