Ian Happ's Defense Might Just Be Better Than Ever

[RandallPnkFloyd]

And it's not like he was a liability before.

Image courtesy of © Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Ian Happ has won three consecutive Gold Glove awards. Somehow. 

For the last handful of years, there's been a perception of the Chicago Cubs' left fielder that doesn't necessarily link up with reality. Those of us who watch the Cubs with regularity know that he is, at times, a terrific defender—but that he's less so at other times. He posted a Fielding Run Value of 1 in 2022, -4 in 2023, and -1 in 2024. In each year, Happ took home hardware indicating that he was one of the best defenders in Major League Baseball. 

We know that the Rawlings Gold Glove Award™ is based more on perception than reality. It's not an accolade distributed based on any statistical merit, but rather on reputation. Arguably, then, it's more telling that Happ hasn't even sniffed a Fielding Bible Award, which is rooted in data and positioning (among the various factors) and voted on by attentive experts. 

But something feels a little bit different about the way Happ is playing defense this year. Maybe it's having Pete Crow-Armstrong to his left on a full-time basis. Perhaps it's something as simple as a renewed focus. In a position that lacks high-end performance in the eyes of defensive metrics, though, Happ is proving to be at his best. 

Thus far in 2025, he's giving us defense that looks like this: 

And like this:

We're not naive enough to put too much stock in defensive output before April even comes to a close. It requires a much larger sample than what a hitter turns in at the plate to make a sound numerical evaluation. For the sake of argument, though, let's look at some of the output that Happ has been able to turn in so far. 

Fielding Run Value is Statcast's comprehensive defensive metric. It takes every quantifiable component that a defender can submit to the stat sheet and spits it out in terms of runs above or below average. Happ is at 0. That would indicate him to be an exactly average defender. It's not a number that pops on its own, but consider where he landed in each of the last two seasons (decidedly below average). 

Also, consider where the position at large sits through roughly a month of play. Of the 23 qualifying left fielders, a dozen sit below the average threshold. Even Steven Kwan—two-time winner of the Fielding Bible Award in left—comes in at 0, losing a run for his range that he made back with his arm. Happ has no such compromise. He's been average across the board. 

More importantly, there is something interesting in his Directional Outs Above Average data. Happ was perfectly adequate the last couple of years coming straight in (4) or moving straight back (2). But when you tossed a direction toward either angle, problems arose. Happ was -3 in moving in and to his left, -2 in and to his right, and -1 back and to his right. While that latter figure still sits at -1, he's erased the shortcomings that existed on more shallow fare. He's above-average coming in and moving to his left (no surprise, given the above video vs. Arizona from this past weekend) and average elsewhere. 

It's possible that the initial jump bears some responsibility for getting Happ's defense in order. He was exactly average in Outfield Jump last year and below average in 2023. This year, he's at 0.6 Feet vs. Avg in the jump. It's not a significant leap, but could be just enough to kickstart the defensive output. 

 

Happ also, simply, looks more comfortable when tracking difficult fly balls this year. With Crow-Armstrong entrenched in center and the addition of Kyle Tucker opposite Happ, the Cubs have the makings of one of the best defensive outfields in the sport. If Happ's early returns are in any way sustainable, it's very possible that that upside could come to fruition.

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[Tryptamine]

Seems unfortunate timing after yesterday

[Rcal10]

4 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

Seems unfortunate timing after yesterday

Not really. The error he got was stupid. He made a perfect one hop throw to the plate that Kelly couldn’t catch. Because it deflected away from Kelly the batter took an extra base. So they had to give Happ an error. He made a very nice throw, however. 

[Tryptamine]

9 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Not really. The error he got was stupid. He made a perfect one hop throw to the plate that Kelly couldn’t catch. Because it deflected away from Kelly the batter took an extra base. So they had to give Happ an error. He made a very nice throw, however. 

I was referring to the ball he whiffed on that rolled all the way to the wall.