“This is the guy you want up in this situation,” Marcus Stroman said as Nico Hoerner stepped up to the plate in the top of the 3rd inning Wednesday night with two on and two out. 

The veteran starting pitcher jumped on the broadcast with Beth Mowins and Jim Deshaies for the inning and like several of his teammates before him, Stroman brought the Cubs luck.

With the Cubs up 2-0, Hoerner had a chance to extend his team’s early lead. As the at-bat developed, Stroman gave his teammate high praise.

“I don’t think he gets enough credit throughout the league. That guy shows up each and every day and puts his absolute best foot forward,” Stroman said. “His preparation’s amazing. No matter if he’s dealing with any bumps and bruises, he’s out there giving 110% each and every day. He grinds out every single at-bat; he’s all over the field making plays. He’s someone that you need on your roster to be elite.”

As Stroman was heaping praise on Hoerner, the Cubs shortstop smacked a base hit up the middle hustled out of the box for a 2-run double, scoring Franmil Reyes and Ian Happ. Stroman called out the hustle immediately.

“Look at the hustle. You see how he hustles?” Stroman said as the play developed. “That’s a hustle double right there. Yessir.”

But Stroman wasn’t done there. He went back to Hoerner’s hustle a minute later.

“Such a hustle player,” Stroman said. “You don’t see that a lot honestly around the league. The guys that hustle 24-7 every day and every pitch; that’s very rare to find.”

When he wasn’t complimenting Hoerner, Stroman touched on his return to Toronto, the viral interaction he had with a fan on Monday night and much more. 

Watch the full interview above for more with Marcus Stroman.