Cubs’ Ian Happ says he won’t need IL stint after fouling a ball off his shin

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Chicago Cubs outfielder Ian Happ won’t require a stint on the injured list after fouling a ball off his shin against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Happ wasn’t in the starting lineup Wednesday but homered in the ninth inning of the Cubs’ 10-3 victory Wednesday. X-rays taken on Happ’s shin Tuesday night were negative.

“Nothing serious,” Happ said before Wednesday’s game, adding that he did feel “a little sore and stiff.”

The incident occurred Tuesday during the eighth inning of the Cubs’ 9-3 loss to the Brewers and caused him to exit the game. Happ also had said Tuesday he felt lightheaded as a result of the pain coming from his shin.

“It was something like, if you feel like you’re going to pass out or throw up on the field, you probably shouldn’t continue the at-bat,” Happ said before Wednesday’s game.

Happ said he generally doesn’t wear shin guards when he’s at the plate. That likely will change for at least a little bit.

“I don’t love the way they feel,” Happ said. “I don’t like the bulkiness of them, so I try not to (wear them). But when I hit right-handed now for a week or two, I’ll have one on. And then once it goes away, we’ll do it again.”

Happ entered Wednesday’s game as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning. He struck out on his first at-bat but hit a 401-foot shot to right-center off Easton McGee in the ninth.

Although Happ avoided a stint on the injured list, the Cubs did make a move Wednesday by calling up catcher Moisés Ballesteros from Triple-A Iowa and designating utilityman Vidal Bruján for assignment. Ballesteros went on to drive in three runs with a bases-clearing, two-out double in the third inning.

“My mind was just hit the ball, put it in play and you’re going to have a good result,” Ballesteros said through an interpreter.

The 21-year-old Ballesteros became the youngest Cubs player to have at least three RBIs in a game since Addison Russell also drove in three runs on Sept. 7, 2015.

“That was certainly a big hit,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “That was the biggest hit of the day, for sure.”

Ballesteros said he caught a flight at about 5 a.m. and got roughly three hours of sleep after learning he’d been called up.

He had batted .332 with a .393 on-base percentage, .496 slugging percentage, nine homers, 57 RBIs and four steals in 86 games with Iowa. Ballesteros went 3 for 18 with three RBIs in five games with Chicago earlier this season.

Ballesteros said that earlier stint in the big leagues taught him to be more patient.

“As much as we want to get out there and do things too perfect, we’ve just got to stick to what you do and just try not to do too much,” Ballesteros said before the game.

Bruján, 27, hit .222 with a .234 on-base percentage, no homers, three RBIs and two steals in 36 games.

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