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Cubs set MLB record with 5 players, 25 or younger, hitting 20 HRs in season

Patrick Gorski / USA TODAY Sports

The year of the home run just keeps rolling along.

When Chicago Cubs second baseman Ian Happ took Ivan Nova deep in the bottom of the third inning of Wednesday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, he helped set a pair of records.

It was the 23-year-old Happ's 20th home run of the season, joining him with Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, Willson Contreras, and Javier Baez at the 20-dinger plateau. It's the first time in MLB history, according to the club, where five teammates aged 25 or younger each hit 20 long balls in a single season.

Not only that, but since the Cubs' elder statesman Anthony Rizzo (28) has crushed 30 bombs this season, ESPN's Jesse Rogers pointed out that it's the first time the team has featured six different players going yard 20 times in the same season.

This kind of production acts as a reminder of the amount of young depth the defending World Series champs possess, though it is unlikely that a seventh player joins them with 20 homers in 2017. Both Ben Zobrist and Addison Russell are next in line with 10.

The rookie Happ made his MLB debut on May 13 and was batting .246/.323/.509 entering Wednesday's game.

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