There are very few players within the Cubs organization that are more intriguing than Ian Happ. He had a monster Spring which saw him hit .383, jack five home runs in 29 games which led to an astounding 1.191 OPS.
Happ was sent to AAA Iowa to start the season where the Iowa Cubs have begun to move him around the diamond defensively to create some versatility in the 22-year-old budding star. He has already played second base and all three outfield spots for Iowa, with the idea that he might also work out at third base to boost his versatility and marketability.
With an apparent logjam in the outfield and in the middle infield in Chicago, it’s still unclear where Happ fits into the big picture for the Chicago Cubs. However, GM Jed Hoyer is well aware that we could see Happ sooner rather than later.
“Whenever you’re in AAA, you’re always a call away. Sometimes it happens quicker than you think. We never expected [Addison Russell] would be up in April of [2015], and I feel like Willson [Contreras] last year, if you asked me in spring training if he’d be up in June, I probably would have thought it would be more like a September call-up. You never know.”
Happ is helping his case as he’s already begun to destroy AAA pitching in Iowa. Sports Mockery’s Sean Sears pointed out that Happ’s offensive production has begun to boost his value in the trade market which will be very interesting to see how it shakes out this summer.
Happ’s offensive production (and the fact he may be a big part of the Chicago Cubs’ future) has recently landed him his a big time endorsement deal with Waltham Watches.
Happ isn’t the only Cubs player to be endorsed by Waltham however. Kyle Schwarber is also endorsed by the company as well.
Safe to say that the people at Waltham know a good baseball player when they see one.
