Cubs hoping for long-sought consistency from Ian Happ in 2022

Last year marked the ultimate tale of two halves for Chicago Cubs outfielder Ian Happ. After what seemed a be a mighty resurgent albeit shortened 2020 season, the hope was Happ was turning it around and would consistently play to the first-round potential has has shown flashes of throughout his career. Instead, for much of the year, he looked like a sure fire DFA candidate.

Given he was drafted ninth overall in the 2015 draft, Happ’s always had the potential to be an impact player. Slashing .336/.462/.551 over three years with Cincinnati in the AAC will do that for you. Between High-A and Double-A, Happ batted .279/.365/.445 combined in 2016 before starting the year at Triple-A Iowa in 2017. He quickly earned a call to the big leagues after just 26 games with Iowa, thanks to a .298/.362/.615 line, nine  homers and 15 total extra-base hits in just 104 at-bats.

Though Happ batted just .253 in his rookie campaign, he was given time to adjust. The next season, though, proved to be a troubling year as Happ managed a line of just .233/.353/.408 before shockingly being sent down in to begin the 2019 season back in Iowa. Once he returned in 2019 to the big leagues, Happ hit a career-best .264/.333/.564 over the course of 58 games, showing his time in Iowa was much needed and also helped right the ship in a major way.

On the heels of that campaign, Happ seemed to have found himself completely as he started the first 27 games of the shortened 2020 season with a line of .286/.412/.595. On the outskirts of the race of MVP for the first half of the year, Happ’s troubles at the plate crept back in as he finished the second half of the year batting just .237/.320/.439 following an injury.

This past year, things got off to about as bad a start as possible, with Happ batting just .183/.296/.330 with a 73 wRC+ over the course of 76 games, spanning 230 at-bats. To go along with that, the outfielder hit nine home runs and drove in just 23 runs while his ISO fell from 78 points a career .226 ISO to just .148.

Mired in what felt like a never-ending slump, the future of Happ in a Cubs uniform looked bleak. It had now been about a calendar year from August 2020 to August 2021 that Happ seemed to have lost it at the plate. But, after months of maintaining his approach would translate to results, something clicked for him – and he was back in a big way,

Chicago Cubs: Ian Happ comes roaring back to life at the dish late

In August, he managed to hit consistently at .255/.314/.543. Now, that wasn’t the best stretch of his career by any means, but a clear indicator that it was all coming back to him again. Going into September, Happ exploded at the plate with the best stretch of the year, slashing .317/.405/.615 and finishing the second half with a much improved 16 home runs and 43 RBI, giving him a total of 25 and 66 on the year.

After finishing the year hot, we’re once again preaching the same message when it comes to Happ: consistency. He’s lacked it for much of his career – and never more than last year. He doesn’t have to be a .300 hitter all year, but the Cubs can ill afford to see him go another three months in a row failing to even hit his weight.

Thankfully, with the core being shipped away at the deadline, it opened up the door for Happ to get those much needed everyday at-bats and have ample time to find his approach. Once he got them, he started to rebound at the plate. Heading into 2022, finding consistency is everything – and if he does that, he might just wind up being an extension candidate.