Ninth in the series. Today we look at the Cubs\u2019 veteran left fielder,<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh-area native and former Cincinnati Bearcat Ian Edward Happ<\/a> is a figure of some controversy among Cubs fans, who decry his numbers while praising his numerical consistency. Happ has amassed a tidy 22.4 bWAR<\/a> (20.6 fWAR<\/a>) in a nine-year career in which he has averaged 20 HR and 62 RBI in real numbers, as two of his campaigns were partial or truncated.<\/p>\n He\u2019s been an MLB regular since 2021, also logging considerable time in 2017-18. He has long stretches of hitless inadequacy, which are maddening, but he is always on base. Happ hasn\u2019t yet turned in a 100-walk season but he\u2019s capable of it.<\/p>\n Which is just the thing. 24 long balls in his rookie season increased expectations he hasn\u2019t yet delivered on, and people don\u2019t trust the agencies that keep fitting his right hand for a Gold Glove.<\/p>\n He can bat 1, 3, 5, or 6 in a Counsell lineup, and has, though 1 and 3 are his most common places in the batting order. As a switch-hitter with a good eye, he\u2019s a valuable leadoff man in today\u2019s lineups, where sheer base-stealing speed isn\u2019t as valuable in that spot. Happ is reasonably fast but isn\u2019t good at the stolen-base game.<\/p>\n Ian Happ is in his walk year and will be needing a new deal. Plenty of fans would let him roll on to another squad. I\u2019m not one of them, but it might depend on the length of the contract, as Happ is 31 and his skills are likely to diminish some.<\/p>\n The Cubs don\u2019t have a likely replacement, though, and that complicates matters. Matt Shaw? Maybe. Prove it to me. Kevin Alcantara? Same. Dylan Carlson? I want some of what you\u2019re smoking.<\/p>\n