MIAMI -- The Cubs’ high-powered offense is getting back its customary leadoff hitter after the club activated left fielder Ian Happ from the 10-day injured list as part of a series of roster moves prior to Tuesday’s 14-1 win over the Marlins at loanDepot park.
Chicago also placed right-handed reliever Porter Hodge on the 15-day IL (retroactive to Sunday) with a left oblique strain, optioned catcher/DH Moises Ballesteros (the Cubs’ No. 4 prospect) to Triple-A Iowa and recalled right-hander Ethan Roberts.
Happ, who went 1-for-6 with an RBI and a run scored in his return to the lineup, had a short stay on the injured list with a left oblique strain. The 30-year-old, who had last played on May 9, is hitting .265 with three homers, 20 RBIs, 30 runs scored and a .731 OPS over 40 games this season, batting leadoff in every game.
"I think just swinging, you know what feels right and what doesn't," Happ said on his rehab process. "Making sure that I'm getting enough swings in of quality and intensity to simulate -- you can't simulate game speed, you can't simulate a check swing on a breaking ball in the dirt ... but you can get close, so we've been doing a lot things to just simulate that and try to get as close as we can to game speed."
"[This season's] been great," Happ reflected on the Cubs' start. "Just the quality of baseball you're seeing, not only [the offense], but ... pitching has been fantastic, the bullpen has been really, really good. The ability to keep games at 2-1, 3-1, then add on late in games. I think you're just seeing a complete game, and it's been pretty impressive -- just the ability to win games in a bunch of different ways and in all facets."
Pete Crow-Armstrong filled in admirably as the team's leadoff hitter when Happ was out, but he was dropped to sixth in the order on Tuesday.
With Happ back, Ballesteros was left without a clear path to playing time in the big leagues, prompting his return to the Minors. The 21-year-old prospect appeared in five games with the Cubs during his first taste of the Majors, and he went 3-for-16 (.188) with three RBIs and two walks.
Meanwhile, the Cubs’ bullpen will have to make do without Hodge for at least the rest of May. The 24-year-old has posted a 5.12 ERA with 19 K’s over 19 1/3 innings in 2025, though nine of his 11 earned runs came in two appearances.
Roberts, who made nine appearances with the Cubs earlier this season and recorded a 5.40 ERA, will take Hodge’s place in Chicago’s ’pen.