Ian Happ, Tyrone Taylor Are Forming Cubs’ Perfect Playoff Platoon

Image courtesy of Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

Cubs Video

There’s a common saying in the sports world: defense wins championships. And even in what’s been a down offensive year for him, Ian Happ has displayed no shortage of defensive prowess. As a matter of fact, this has been Happ’s best defensive season ever. His 81st percentile fielding run value is the highest mark he’s ever posted, and he’s been a quality defender in left field in terms of his range. He may not have a rocket launcher attached to his right arm, but he knows how to make the most with what he's got, as shown by his elite 97th percentile arm value. That’s actually a higher mark than Pete Crow-Armstrong, just to put that into some context.

Because of Happ’s defense in left field, as well as his ability to hit from both sides of the plate, he has a textbook profile for an everyday role in the postseason. But I’m going to argue he should not have one for the Cubs this year.

As I mentioned, it’s been a down year offensively for Happ, by his standards. He’s hitting just .221 with a .745 OPS, which certainly isn’t bad by any means, but a far cry from what we're used to. And with a 104 OPS+, he’s still an above league-average hitter. But that’s not really where the problem lies. It comes down to the massive difference in his splits.

As a left-handed hitter against right-handed pitchers, Happ is hitting .242 with an .815 OPS; 46 of his 54 extra-base hits have come from the left side of the plate, and his walk rate as a lefty is all the way up at 14.4%. That’s something you’ll take all day long. The problem is what he’s doing on the other side. As a right-handed hitter against left-handed pitchers, Happ has been, to put it bluntly, completely dreadful. He’s hitting just .148 with an OPS below .500, and he’s striking out in 35% of his plate appearances from the right side.

He has a 127 wRC+ as a left-handed hitter this season. As a right-handed hitter, that number is 39. That might as well be two completely different players, and in no world should Happ be starting against left-handed pitchers in the playoffs when the matchups matter the most. Fortunately for the Cubs, they made a move at the trade deadline for a guy who can help solve that problem.

Tyrone Taylor, whom Chicago acquired alongside Clay Holmes, has only logged 75 plate appearances since joining the team in early August. That’s going to need to change once the playoffs roll around. Taylor is hitting .308 against left-handed pitching with an OPS north of .900, giving the Cubs exactly what they need when a tough southpaw takes the mound. And it’s not like the Cubs would be sacrificing much defensively by making the switch—Taylor has been maybe slightly worse than Happ in left field, but not enough to truly feel the difference. Happ’s defense is still a major strength, but Taylor is still more than capable of holding his own out there.

Happ is at his best when he’s hitting left-handed against righties. Taylor, meanwhile, has been at his best against lefties. That should, in theory, make the decision pretty simple. The Cubs, no matter who they face off against, are going to see quality left-handed pitching in the postseason. Chris Sale, Cristopher Sánchez, Tarik Skubal, Blake Snell, and Jesús Luzardo are just a few of the potential names this team could see depending on how the playoff matchups shake out. And frankly, there’s no reason for Happ to be in the starting lineup in those matchups. If one of those names is on the mound, put Taylor in left field. Even if it’s a left-handed reliever coming into the game late, I’d much rather see Taylor come off the bench in a pinch-hit situation, and then take over in left the following inning.

Neither Happ nor Taylor has a particularly strong playoff track record, which makes playing the matchups even more important. This isn’t a situation where one player has years of postseason dominance that demands an everyday role. Instead, the Cubs have two outfielders who complement each other extremely well. Having already soft-launched this platoon throughout most of September, it's clearly a plan worth investing in once the playoffs roll around.