NEWSLETTER
In the top of the seventh inning of today’s 8-3 win over the Miami Marlins, Alexander Canario trotted out to left field in place of Ian Happ. At first, we thought (or maybe just hoped) that Craig Counsell was giving Canario some run in what was otherwise a wide-open ballgame (8-1 Cubs at the time). But then the Marquee cameras caught Ian Happ talking to Craig Counsell and the team’s trainer in the dugout, and that wishful thinking started to seem less likely.
After the game, Counsell was asked about Ian Happ, and, yeah, it was an apparent injury — his hamstring again. Same as the one that sat him down in Spring Training.
Ian Happ Injured – Left Hamstring Tightness
The Cubs are all hamstring and back injuries this year. Yeesh.
With a double-header tomorrow, you really rather not play down a man, but the Cubs might not have a choice. Let’s say Happ wakes up feeling sore, but not bad enough to actually hit the injured list. Would the Cubs really want to send him to the IL, just to get an extra body for tomorrow, at the cost of playing without him for a couple weeks? Nah. Of course not. Not when Seiya Suzuki is also already out.
Happ may have sat for one of those games anyway, with Jesus Luzardo (a lefty) on the mound and all of Garrett Cooper, Patrick Wisdom, and Alexander Canario (righty bats) vying for playing time. But now they might be without him for both halves of the double-header at least. That’s a bummer.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Maybe Happ and the Cubs were just being very proactive because the game seemed like it was in the bag. That said, re-injuring the same leg doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. I’ll update you as soon as we know more.
