Chicago Cubs: What’s the plan with Ian Happ moving forward?

Ian Happ wasn’t supposed to be this good.  He was supposed to be up in the big leagues for about a week and then get sent back down to Iowa.

But, as we know, how we think things will play out rarely end up being the case. Ian Happ had different plans when he earned his ticket to the bigs.  He has proven to Chicago Cubs brass how they need to have his bat in the lineup everyday.  But there are still some questions I have about the young slugger.

One question I have is – can he physically smile?  Seriously, find a picture with Ian Happ smiling and send it to me (@JustinCurran7 on Twitter).

The question I really have is – what’s the plan?  Happ has showcased some defensive versatility already at the big league level, but we still don’t know his permanent position.

He was supposed to be mainly a second baseman, but the Cubs need another guy who can play second like they need a hole in the head.  He looks like he has been a sufficient outfielder, but the defensive metrics are pretty average.

Ian Happ poses a question to the Cubs both short and long-term – what do you do?  Fair warning, a lot of awful puns for the transitions – I can’t help myself.

In just about every one of my editorial pieces, I talk about the Cubs need for pitching and how they eventually need to make a move.

I can scream about it until I’m blue in the face or write about until I’m blue in the fingers… wait I don’t that’s a thing.  If you have blue fingers, go to the doctor immediately.

Chicago Cubs

Anyway, the point is I’m not so sure anything is going to happen before the trade deadline.  Eventually, something will happen where the Cubs trade for pitching.

Who’s going to be the guy or guys to go is unknown.  With Ian Happ playing this well so far this season, I don’t think the Cubs are going to let him go.

My plan would be pretty simple, you send Addison Russell and possibly even Kyle Schwarber for a guy like Sonny Gray or Chris Archer and then that frees up two key positions.

I would then rotate Baez over to short and I would put Almora Jr. in center, and then I would rotate Zobrist and Happ between left and second, getting Happ in the lineup more often than the aging Zobrist.

This would give you plenty of versatility and when the time comes, you could bring up a young prospect like an Eloy Jimenez.

This year the Cubs have had a lot of injuries.

Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist, Kyle Hendricks and others have missed significant time.  In the mean time, Happ serves a good purpose as largely a utility guy.

Maybe if he gets more reps in and more comfortable, he can become a better corner outfielder.  For the rest of this year, I’m anticipating more of the same of having him move around day-to-day.

Players, in general, like to know where they’re going to play.  There’s a sense of security of always going to the same position and really trying to master that specific craft.

By always moving around an everyday player would be like having a plumber be a plumber on Monday and a carpenter on Tuesday.  There would be a lack of consistency.

For now it’s not too bad, but eventually Maddon is going to have to find Happ an everyday position.  And maybe if he does find an everyday position, he might finally smile.

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