Cubs Rumors: These three players could be on the move soon

Cubs Rumors: Happ starting to round into form at Triple-A Iowa

I don’t think anyone saw Ian Happ‘s demotion to Triple-A Iowa to open the season coming. We know for sure the young former first-rounder didn’t based on his comments after the fact. Regardless, with his game under a bit of a microscope, some notable flaws took center stage.

Despite his versatility defensively, the switch-hitting Happ struck out in roughly one-third of his plate appearances with Chicago from 2017 to 2018. That peaked last year when he whiffed 36.1 percent of the time in 142 games.

His swing-and-miss tendencies have been the focus during his time in the minors – and, of late, he’s shown signs of turning things around at the plate. Our friends over at Bleacher Nation did an amazing piece earlier this week that breaks down Happ’s recent resurgence (you should definitely check it out) – but here’s what really stands out:

In his last 76 plate appearances, Happ is hitting .323/.421/.585 with a 145 wRC+, a 14.5 percent walk rate and a dramatically improved 26.3 percent strikeout rate. He’s been getting reps in both the outfield and at second base, the latter of which has been nothing short of a black hole for the Cubs in terms of contributions at the big league level this year.

That being said, for all the reasons I just noted as to how Happ could help the Cubs, he could do the same for pretty much any other big-league team, as well. He’s got a lot of positives – and given how young he is, could be the centerpiece if Chicago wants to go after an impact lefty with long-term control.