Anthony Rizzo Offers Interesting Take on Ian Happ’s Cubs Future

The Chicago Cubs will have some tough decisions to make this offseason. 

The Cubs have a long list of players set to hit free agency at the end of this season. Players like Shota Imanaga, Matthew Boyd, Kevin Gausman, Seiya Suzuki, Carson Kelly, Clay Holmes, and Ian Happ could all be gone this coming offseason. 

The biggest name on that list is obviously Happ. 

Happ has been in the Cubs’ organization since he was drafted ninth overall in the 2015 MLB Draft. The Cubs drafted him over a decade ago, and he has played 10 seasons with the North Siders. But his future with the organization is now in question. 

The switch-hitting outfielder just put together one of the worst offensive seasons of his career. He slashed .218/.326/.412 with 24 home runs, 28 doubles, 68 RBI, and four stolen bases across 156 games. 

While his 24 home runs were encouraging, the rest of his offensive game was not. His .218 batting average and .316 OBP were the worst of his career, and he struck out a career-high 189 times this past season. 

With Happ just turning 32 years old, there’s certainly going to be some hesitancy to re-sign him. He just had a career-worst season at the plate, finishing in the bottom 20% of the league in expected batting average (.208), squared-up rate (20.7%), whiff rate (30.3%), and strikeout rate (29.7%). 

However, former Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo offers an interesting take on Happ’s future in Chicago. In an exclusive interview with DJ Siddiqi, Rizzo points out how the veteran could fit in on this team next year. 

“I mean, he's played there for 10 years. He's been an amazing Cub, very consistent over his time. A down year for him offensively, hitting right-handed, and I talked to him about this. His left-handed numbers were elite, over .800 OPS hitting left-handed, so it'll be interesting to see if the Cubs maybe want to keep him as a platoon player and hit against righties, or they just move on and fill that left field void.

“But he's a Gold Glove outfielder. He's an elite, elite left fielder, and we'll see how that all shapes out. But I know for Ian, wherever he goes, he's going to be a good addition to that team for sure.”

Happ's numbers batting right-handed versus left-handed last season were really drastic. He slashed .241/.358/.458 with 20 home runs and 58 RBI across 492 plate appearances as a left-handed hitter, and slashed .145/.217/.167 with four home runs and 10 RBI across 144 plate appearances as a right-handed hitter. 

His numbers from the left side actually weren’t bad last season. The right side of the plate really is what really brought down Happ’s numbers. So, it could be a smart idea to bring back Happ in sort of that platoon role. 

Let him start against right-handed pitching, and then sign someone else in free agency who crushes left-handed pitching. The team could bring back both Happ and Tyrone Taylor to fill that platoon role. That could be one scenario where the Cubs do decide to bring back Happ.