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Chicago Cubs: Ian Happ, Kyle Schwarber provide more than you think
Despite the seemingly endless beratement from Chicago Cubs fans, outfielders Ian Happ and Kyle Schwarber are providing more value than you might believe.
If you didn’t know better, you’d swear Ian Happ was putting up Tony Campana-like numbers in the Chicago Cubs outfield. And Kyle Schwarber? He might as well be the reincarnation of former top prospect Brett Jackson (there’s a name you didn’t want to remember, right?).
For whatever reason, one that likely stems from the team’s woeful offensive production over the final two months of last season, people seem to think the players currently on the roster aren’t valuable. That’s obviously not the case – but we’ll get into that in a moment. The point here is simple – there’s quality offensive depth behind the likes of Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez.
I won’t get into why thinking Kris Bryant is a thing of the past is beyond preposterous. And make no mistake, that’s exactly what it is. Instead, I want to focus on Happ and Schwarber, because, for whatever reason, they remain fans’ favorite targets when frustrated.
Chicago Cubs: Happ put up better numbers than you realize
Last season, Happ played in his first full big league season, appearing in 142 games and slashing .233/.353/.408 across 387 at-bats. One of those numbers jumps off the page – and not in a good way. His .233 average clocks in well below league average and paired with a 36.1 percent strikeout rate, folks soured on Happ pretty quickly last year.
The former first rounder’s decline aligned pretty well with the team’s offensive downfall. After putting up an .832 OPS in the first half, he bottomed out with a .653 OPS after the All-Star Break. But as poorly as he swung the bat down the stretch, his .313 on-base percentage in the second half was just five points off the National League average of .318.
And if you go back to the first half? He put up a .379 OBP – 61 points better than league average. Now, don’t get me wrong. I want Ian Happ to put that bat on the ball more and cut down his strikeouts.
But I would be far more concerned if he struck out 36 percent of the time and only got on at a league-average rate. We’re talking about another young Cubs hitter capable of getting on – a lot.
Chicago Cubs: Schwarber proving to be another OBP machine
Which brings me back to Kyle Schwarber. To say fans have never been capable of setting realistic expectations for this guy is putting it mildly. He burst onto the scene in 2015, gave us a sampling of his light-tower power in October and then pulled off a miraculous recovery from a brutal knee injury to help the Cubs win their first World Series in over a century the very next year.
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No pressure, right?
After utterly failing as the team’s leadoff hitter in 2017, Schwarber came back in 2018 after dropping a ton of weight in the offseason ready to prove himself. And, to a degree, he did so, appearing in a career-high 137 games, hitting 26 long-balls and driving in a career-high 61 runs.
But what’s the one number everyone focuses on? His batting average, which clocked in at a disappointing .238. But to pull a page from Moneyball, I have to ask:
He gets on base a lot. Do I care if it’s a walk or a hit? – I do not.
Schwarber got on base at a .356 clip last season – a mark that trailed just Anthony Rizzo, Ben Zobrist and Kris Bryant – the latter of whom appeared in just 102 games due to injury. Aside from a few points on his average and 20 points worth of slugging (which I anticipate makes its return under new hitting coach Anthony Iapoce) – he put up darn-near the same numbers that left us all salivating in his rookie campaign.
But instead of celebrating what he accomplished last year, fans are seemingly hellbent on trashing him at every turn. The guy hasn’t even got 350 big league games under his belt, but we’re writing him off.
Cubs have lots of questions in the bullpen. dark. Next
So in an offseason where the Chicago Cubs have repeatedly insisted that offensive improvements will likely come from within, let’s understand that Theo Epstein has every reason to believe that will be the case. Throwing money at problems doesn’t always end well – and if you don’t agree with that, have you complained about Jason Heyward, Yu Darvish or Tyler Chatwood lately?
That’s what I thought.