MLB: Cleveland Guardians at Chicago Cubs MLB: Cleveland Guardians at Chicago Cubs Jul 3, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs left fielder Ian Happ (8) smiles before a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Chicago Cubs OF suffers big injury before trade deadline

Originally posted on ChiCitySports | By Jordan Sigler | Last updated Jul 30, 2025 2:31 AM ET

The Chicago Cubs are down another bat with two days to go before the trade deadline on Thursday.

The Cubs had more frustrating injury news to reveal after a second-straight loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night. The Brewers defeated Chicago 9-3 in front of 40,136 fans at American Family Field to take a two-game lead over the Cubs for first place in the NL Central.

Per Jesse Rogers of ESPN, the Cubs thought they received good news on Ian Happ after x-rays came back negative on the outfielder’s shin.

“Happ got x-rays that were negative after fouling a ball off his left shin,” Rogers posted on X. “Was limping some just now in the Cubs room. Jackson Chourio (hammy spasm) says he’s feeling better. Doesn’t think it’s serious.”

Chicago Cubs to put Ian Happ on IL

About an hour later, Rogers reported that Chicago is expected to put Happ on the injured list. The Cubs are set to call up Moises Ballesteros from Iowa.

“Looks like the Happ injury might require an IL stint,” Rogers posted. “The team is calling up Moises Ballesteros from Triple-A, per a source. He’s hitting .331 down there. He had a cup of coffee with the big league team earlier this year.”

Looks like the Happ injury might require an IL stint. The team is calling up Moises Ballesteros from Triple-A, per a source. He’s hitting .331 down there. He had a cup of coffee with the big league team earlier this year. https://t.co/e9RhWWaQUn

— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) July 30, 2025

Happ’s injury comes at a time when the Cubs are looking to trade for an extra bat. Chicago needs help on offense with inconsistency coming from rookie third baseman Matt Shaw.

Happ was batting .227 with 14 home runs and 50 RBI.

Bottom line, the Cubs need to make some moves by Thursday if this team wants to compete for the NL Central, much less a World Series.

MLB: Chicago Cubs Press Conference Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer speaks before introducing Craig Counsell as new Cubs manager during a press conference in Chicago. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

This article first appeared on ChiCitySports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: