On a windy Saturday afternoon meeting between the Cubs and Mariners, 30-year-old Ian Happ clubbed two home runs en route to the teams’ 46th win of the year. Those longballs were enough for the outfielder to surpass Kris Bryant on the Cubs’ all-time home run list. Happ now stands alone at No. 15 on the leaderboard with 161 homers over eight seasons.
A little under halfway through the 2025 season, Happ has accumulated 11 home runs over 315 plate appearances while generating a 118 wRC+ and a .766 OPS. Through all the ups and downs, he has remained a cornerstone in the outfield whose contributions often go overlooked. Happ has a .343 career on-base percentage while slugging .449, making him a powerful option at the top of the lineup.
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The MLB average for OPS during Happ’s time in Chicago is around the .734 range making him an above-average bat by definition. Likewise, his 117 career wRC+ says he’s 17% better than the average hitter at creating runs. Digging deeper, it’s easy to find how Happ’s impact goes further than a simple “above average” definition.
During a golden age of Chicago baseball in which names such as Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, and Javier Baez have occupied the limelight, it was easy to forget about Happ’s early production. He made his debut in 2017, bursting onto the scene with 24 homers in 413 PAs. Inconsistency in 2018 and a very slow spring the following season saw him open 2019 at Triple-A Iowa.
He used that challenge as an opportunity to improve multiple aspects of his game, both at the plate and in left field. Everything started to come together in 2022, when he won the first of three straight Gold Gloves while also posting a career-best 3.7 fWAR. His overall production has remained steady in the seasons since, and has picked up in a big way of late after an oblique injury slowed him for a few weeks.
Beyond the states, he has become an instrumental voice in the clubhouse, a veteran presence who can tutor young players and even seasoned veterans like reliever Ryan Pressly. Happ is one of the leaders other players turn to for advice, which is something that has a big impact that will never show up in even the most advanced metrics.
Happ has now earned himself a spot among the top 15 Cubs power hitters of all time, proof that he’s one of the best players ever to call Wrigley Field home. He’s also ranked very highly on the list of most underappreciated Cubs, though history will probably view him more kindly as time goes on.
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