Cubs notes: Zobrist sits, Fowler close to return, Soler on rehab

Turns out Ben Zobrist gets his All-Star break, after all – just a few days later than everybody else.

The eldest of the Cub regulars was out of the lineup a second consecutive day Monday after he and manager Joe Maddon decided he needed more than the couple of days he got after starting last week’s All-Star Game.

“I basically said, `I don’t feel rested,’ “ Zobrist said of his conversation with the manager after Friday’s game. “It’ll help a little bit mentally as well. But physically you certainly need the blow over the break, and I just didn’t feel very rested after that.”

Zobrist, who missed a month last year with a knee injury that lingered through much of the season, said his knees feel fine.

He’s expected back in the lineup Tuesday and Wednesday, ahead of the team’s off day Thursday.

“I’d rather be proactive,” said Maddon, who surprised Zobrist with the second day off. “Just trying to be more macro-minded regarding the entire season.”

Notes: Center fielder Dexter Fowler (hamstring) re-starts a minor-league rehab assignment Tuesday for Class AAA Iowa and is expected, barring setback, to be activated for this weekend’s series against the Brewers. … Outfielder Jorge Soler (hamstring), also headed to Iowa to start a rehab assignment, but the Cubs have not projected a timeline for his return. … Maddon acknowledged he met with Terry Ryan about the vacant Minnesota Twins managerial job before taking the Cubs job before last season. Ryan was fired as Twins GM on Monday. “I didn’t really know Terry, but by the end of that conversation we thought we had known each other for 20 years,” Maddon said. “Just talking about true baseball stuff.”