Cubs left fielder Ian Happ was out of the lineup for a third straight game on Monday, as the Cubs opened a three-game series against the Marlins at Wrigley Field. And manager Craig Counsell was no longer ruling out a stint on the injured list.
“As the days go here, if we have symptoms still, then we have to start talking about it,” Counsell said before the game Monday.
Happ was scheduled to ramp up activity Monday, Counsell said, rather than Sunday as originally expected.
“Going to be cautious of this, obviously,” Counsell said. “And he’s just trying to figure out, what is it? Is it nothing? Is it something? And so we gave two days of very little activity, and we’ll see what he feels like [Monday.]”
Happ initially felt the discomfort in his oblique Friday on a swing during his first at-bat in the Cubs’ 7-2 loss to the Mets, according to Counsell, but he remained in the game. Happ’s symptoms were mild enough that the Cubs didn’t expect an IL stint. But he hasn’t played since.
With Happ out, center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong has been leading off, and Seiya Suzuki has been playing left field.
Justin Turner served as the designated hitter on Saturday and Sunday. He went hitless. Carson Kelly took over that spot on Monday.
Sandy Alcantara struggling
While the Marlins, who entered the series at Wrigley Field with a 15-24 record, may not affect the postseason picture themselves, their trade decisions could.
All year there’s been buzz around Marlins right-hander Sandy Alcantara, in his first season back from 2023 Tommy John surgery. And while his bumpy start to the season, as the 2022 NL Cy Young winner has put up an 8.10 ERA in eight starts, has influenced the chatter, it hasn’t stopped trade speculation.
The Cubs, without Justin Steele for the year, need starting pitching. And president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said last week that he and the baseball operations group didn’t need Shota Imanaga’s hamstring injury to drive home the importance of surveying external starting pitching options. He’s also emphasized how rare it is for big-name trades to come together months before the trade deadline.
The Marlins went against the grain last year and traded infielder Luis Arraez to the Padres in early May.
“That was unusual,” Hoyer said last week. “That was sort of newsworthy when it happened. So, for sure, you make the phone calls [to possible trade partners], but you still look at this as, these are the internal months, and we have to solve this internally.”
Not to mention, Alcantara’s performance hasn’t been the kind to inspire a strike-while-the-iron-is–hot kind of deal. Conventional wisdom would suggest that the Marlins could expect a better trade return by waiting for Alcántara to return to pre-Tommy John surgery form – or at least show progress in that direction. He’s still under contract through 2026 and has a 2027 club option.
Notes
Cubs reliever Tyson Miller (left hip impingement) took a comebacker off his leg in his rehab outing for Triple-A Iowa on Friday. “Still evaluating what that might mean for him, if we’re gonna have to press pause here,” Counsell said.
- The Cubs reinstated left-handed reliever Caleb Thielbar from the paternity list and optioned right-handed reliever Gavin Hollowell to Triple-A Iowa before the game Monday.
