Cubs’ Ian Happ Claimed Center Field After AAA Detour: ‘He’s the Real Deal’

Ian Happ paused before answering, the moment of silence punctuating his matter-of-fact response.

"No," he said. "I don't feel that way."

Looking back, he doesn't feel like he rose to the Major Leagues too quickly.

Happ has had to field that question since spending 2/3 of last season in Triple-A. But already this year, Happ has hit three home runs, tied for the most on the team, while also maintain a top-three batting average (.297). Not only is he performing on the field, Happ has also embraced a leadership role and taken over for Kris Bryant as the team's MLBPA representative.

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"He's the real deal," Ross said Sunday, after Happ went 3-for-3 with two doubles in the Cubs' intrasquad scrimmage.

The club's decision to send Happ to Triple-A Iowa at the beginning of last season came as a surprise. Much of Happ's conviction that he was ready for the major leagues when he debuted came from his standout rookie season.

Happ hit 24 home runs as a rookie – still his career high – and finished eighth in rookie of the year voting in 2017. His batting average regressed the next year (from .253 to .233), and his strikeout number rose (from 129 to 167). But he joined the .350 club in on-base percentage.

"We believed then and we believe now that he's going to be a really good player," Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said this week. "We thought it was the right move and something that was necessary even though it was really unpleasant to send him back there. To his credit, he made the absolute most of it, took personal responsibility."

When Happ returned to the big leagues, his progress showed. He won NL player of the week in the final week of the season. But he's made even more of a splash this year, from Spring Training through the first two weeks of the regular season.

Entering the year, center field was one of the main position battles to monitor for first-time manager Ross.

"Right now, the job is Ian Happ's," Ross said Sunday.

Ross' lineup choices had suggested as much already. Happ has appeared in all 13 of the Cubs games, at least pinch hitting in the three he didn't start.

"It's hard to take Ian Happ out of the lineup," Ross said of the switch-hitter. "The guy's swinging the bat really well, and his right-handed at-bats have gotten tremendously better. He's been a staple."

Happ started his season off with a two-run home run in his first plate appearance. He was batting ninth, and through all of Ross' reshuffling of the bottom third of the batting order, Happ has been the Cubs' most frequent nine-hole hitter.

With the Cubs' No. 7 and 8 hitters consistently getting on base, in the nine-hole has showcased Happ's ability to drive in runs (he's tied for second on the team with six RBI) or set the table for the Cubs' unconventional top of the order.

"I feel great about where I'm at right now," Happ said, "my ability to help the team and get on base for those guys that are hitting behind me."

Just as he set the tone in the batter's box early, with an Opening Day home run, Happ flashed some leather in the opening series against the Brewers. Three days into the season, Happ tracked a long fly ball back to the wall. He leaped and caught it just before his back slammed into the ivy, which barely cushioned the brick behind it.

Happ slid down the wall into a crouch, his body no doubt feeling the results of the impact. But it wasn't long before he stood back up.

"I think he absolutely took advantage of his time down (in Iowa)," Epstein said, "and is in a different and better phase in his career now because of what he went through."