Nico Hoerner (now with power!) leading red-hot Cubs amid seven-game winning streak

"It depends on your definition," he said. "I think he might be a little better than that by my definition."

I agreed with him at the time and this season, Hoerner's leaving no doubt. He has been one of the best players in all of baseball.

Through 23 games this year, he's hitting .326/.402/.533. The MLB average slash line is .239/.322/.384. He has seven doubles, the aforementioned four homers, 15 runs scored and is 7 for 7 in stolen bases. Oh, and despite being predominantly a leadoff hitter (17 of his 23 starts have come at the top of the order), he has 22 RBI.

With an increase in power, sometimes there are concerns a player is only swinging for the fences and it might hurt him in other areas. That isn't the case here. Hoerner's 10.3 K%, while higher than the 7.6% he carried last season, is still below his career mark of 10.9%. His walk percentage is far higher, too, at 9.3 compared to 6.0 last season. His whiff rate is essentially unchanged. All small sample caveats apply, given that it's April 22, but it looks like Hoerner has added a bit of power without downgrading elsewhere.

For a leadoff man, his eyes sure get big with runners on base, too. He's hit .389 with a .694 slugging percentage with runners on base and .333 with a .519 slugging with runners in scoring position. He's the MLB leader in RBI from the leadoff spot (and James Wood hits leadoff!).

The defense is still his calling card. Plays like this happen relatively often.

In Baseball Savant's fielding run value, Hoerner dwarfs the field. Since the beginning of last season, his numbers are more than double the clump of players tied for second.

This is especially important right now for the Cubs. Along with shortstop Dansby Swanson and center fielder Pete Crow-Armstong, the Cubs have the best up-the-middle defense in baseball. Add in Alex Bregman's fine work at third and Ian Happ's stellar play in left field to this point and we unsurprisingly see the Cubs toward the top of every defensive leaderboard that uses a range component.

This is extremely important, too, because the Cubs pitching staff has been decimated by injuries. Cade Horton has been lost for the season. Matthew Boyd returns from the IL on Wednesday. Justin Steele still isn't back from Tommy John surgery. And that's just the rotation; there are six relievers on the IL, including closer Daniel Palencia.

And yet, the Cubs have won seven in a row. They are surviving because some other pitchers have stepped up, the defense is amazing and the offense has been clicking.

Hoerner is the most significant individual reason for much of this. He's a good bet to make his first All-Star team this season and if he keeps hitting home runs without the rest of his offensive arsenal suffering, he might just leap into superstar discussions.