Chicago Cubs: 2 players who’ve justified team’s faith and 1 who hasn’t

Chicago Cubs: Metrics only mean so much when you’re not producing

Early in the year when he was struggling, Ian Happ was adamant that his approach was right and the results would come in time. For a bit, he was right. But lately, he’s back to struggling – and most of those struggles came when Jake Marisnick, Jason Heyward and Nico Hoerner were on the IL.

On the year, Happ is still batting below the .200 mark and over his last seven, has slashed just .154/.313/.462. Sure, he walks a ton (ranks in the 90th percentile in walk rate) but he strikes out too much and hasn’t been able to consistently translate a solid hard hit and barrel rate into results.

At the end of the day, that’s not going to get the job done. More and more, he’s looking like he’ll fall into the same bucket as fellow first-rounders Kyle Schwarber an Albert Almora with whom the team parted ways last offseason, rather than a Kris Bryant – whose resume speaks for itself.

We know that, regardless of whether or not Chicago buys or sells at the deadline, next winter is going to bring some tremendous overhaul to this roster. Happ, who is under control through 2024, should be a part of the future. But if he can’t deliver consistent results at the plate, regardless of his defensive versatility, Jed Hoyer could look to move on from Happ.