(670 The Score) In the words of Cubs manager Joe Maddon, infielder/outfielder Ian Happ was "not happy" upon learning of his demotion to Triple-A Iowa last Saturday.
So how exactly did he take it?
"Ian Happ took the news like someone who really cares about the other 24 guys, really cares about the Chicago Cubs winning and really wants to be a part of it," president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said in an interview with David Haugh and Lou Canellis on 670 The Score on Thursday morning. "That's exactly how someone like that should take the news, because he does care. He cares about his teammates, and he cares about winning."
Happ, 24, struggled mightily this spring, batting .135 with a .389 OPS in 52 at-bats across 17 games. After a strong rookie campaign in 2017, Happ regressed last season, hitting .233 with 15 homers, 44 RBIs and a .761 OPS in 142 games.
Happ is a switch-hitter but hit just .202 with a .608 OPS in 117 plate appearances from the left side of the plate in 2018. The Cubs plan to use a platoon at several outfield spots and second base, and they believe Happ needs consistent at-bats to break out of his struggles.
Epstein also believes Happ will be back with the big league club soon enough.
"His development, I think he's in the middle of the process of making an adjustment that's going to take to new heights in his career," Epstein said. "You're talking about a 24-year-old with an over an .800 OPS in his career who has already done some really impressive things in a major league career that's less than two years (old). This adjustment is -- without going into too much detail about it -- it's really something that will allow him to be a little bit more well-rounded hitter and put the ball in play on a more consistent basis when he gets to two strikes without taking away from his strengths. It's a real delicate balance because there's sort of a contact-vs.-power trade-off in this game, especially against this modern pitching where it's really hard to do both sometimes and learn how to strike just the right balance. In his case, because everyone has to make adjustments, there had been, his great physical tools had been mitigated to some degree -- he was still an effective player -- but to some degree by some difficulties making contact in certain situations and with two strikes. So this adjustment, this process will lead to long-term improvement that allows his great tools and his great plate discipline, his ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark, his ability to hit the ball hard and in the air and hit opposite-field home runs and run the bases great and play really good defense at multiple position, these adjustments will allow all those tools to manifest on a nightly basis.
"It's a small, small step backward for a big step forward. Everyday at-bats at Triple-A is the right forum for this adjustment to take place."
