Chicago Cubs being “cautious” with 2 important players injuries

Injuries have hit the Chicago Cubs hard so far this season, yet they remain in first place entering the series finale against the Marlins on Wednesday night. Teams looking to chase after the pennant every year deal with injuries to some degree, and the Cubs have been prepared for those early on in 2025. Chicago had a handful of their top prospects at Triple-A entering the season, and the front office has even had to bring up a couple of them to help the club out over the last week.

Justin Steele was the first major domino in the Cubs’ early-season injury chain a month ago. The left-hander was ruled out for the season and underwent left elbow surgery in hopes to return at some point toward the beginning of the 2026 campaign.

Shota Imanaga and Ian Happ are the two important players on the IL for Chicago right now. Imanaga left his start in Milwaukee on May 4 and is expected to miss the rest of the month due to a strained hamstring. Happ tweaked his oblique over the weekend in the opening game of the Mets’ series. He missed the final two games of the set and was placed on the IL following Monday’s win over the Marlins.

Ian Happ is “ramping up activity” after being placed on the IL

Craig Counsell told the media before Monday’s series opener that Happ starting “ramping up activity”, but the organization is being cautious with his rehab. Oblique injuries are nothing to mess around with, as a poor rehab of the issue could lead to a longer IL stint for Happ later on in the season. The club called up highly regarded prospect Moises Ballesteros with Happ being out for the next week or so.

The plan is for Ballesteros to continue to be the team’s designated hitter, and for Seiya Suzuki to play left field until their lead off man returns. Happ is slashing .269/.364/.381 with a .745 OPS in 39 games. He has also collected three homers and has driven in 16 runs so far this year.

The Chicago Cubs had Shota Imanaga play catch on Monday

Similar to Happ getting going to an extent on Monday, Imanaga played catch in the outfield upon the team’s first game back at Wrigley Field after being away for the weekend. The southpaw’s hamstring issue is similar to what Steele dealt with at the beginning of the 2024 season, so not expecting him to be back on a big league mound until June is completely reasonable.

Veterans like Colin Rea have stepped up in Imanaga’s absence. The organization’s top pitching prospect, Cade Horton could be making his first career start this weekend against the White Sox in Imanaga’s turn in the rotation. Imanaga has been dealing so far this season, as he currently holds a 2.82 ERA to pair with his 1.10 WHIP in eight starts. The lefty has tossed in 44.2 innings so far this season and has a 3-2 record.