Cubs Star Progressing Towards Making Opening Day Start

There was some concerning news for the Chicago Cubs when it was revealed that Ian Happ had a mild hamstring strain.

That put the starting right fielder's Opening Day availability in jeopardy.

Those types of injuries are never anything to mess around with as not rehabbing it properly could prolong things and cause issues to linger.

With Happ working his way back into the fold, manager Craig Counsell did some minor experiments by putting players into different roles in case they had to get slotted there out of necessity.

However, it seems like the Cubs might not have to worry about their two-time Gold Glove-winning left fielder missing Opening Day.

According to MLB.com, the star is progressing well in his recovery after getting some at-bats in live game action. Now, they're ready to have him start ramping up with some more baseball activities.

Back on March 6, Happ said, "It's going to be a slow process. It's Spring Training. I'm not gonna push anything, but it's feeling good."

That's a great sign.

The 2022 All-Star has been in important piece for Chicago since making his debut back in 2017.

Over his seven Major League seasons, Happ has a career slash line of .249/.343/.454 with roughly 25 home runs and 75 RBI per year.

If he were to miss time, that would have caused a shift in the outfield.

After the Cubs announced they're reassigning top prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong to Triple-A, the expected four outfielders were Happ, Cody Bellinger, Mike Tauchman, and Seiya Suzuki.

Who would have taken over the No. 4 role would have been interesting to see since they clearly feel like Crow-Armstrong needs a bit more time in the minors.

But, it doesn't seem like Chicago will have to worry about that as Happ is progressing well and has plenty of time to hit all important rehab stats to be on the field for Opening Day.