Cubs hope two-day break helps ignite Happ’s bat
Cubs manager Craig Counsell decided to give outfielder Ian Happ a two-day mental vacation in Atlanta.
Back in the lineup Thursday, Happ hit his second home run of the season in the first inning, a line drive that bounced off the right-field foul pole. Overall, though, the Cubs run production couldn't make up for some sloppy defense and they dropped the first of a four-game series to Pittsburgh 5-4 at Wrigley Field.
Happ started the day hitting .219 on the season. He finished 1-for-4 at the plate, but one of the outs was a sharp ground ball behind first base. He also struck out in the eighth inning with the tying run at second base.
“Just a couple days there to clear my head,” Happ said after the game. “I think the results sometimes get challenging to deal with on a daily basis. We have a deep outfield, obviously, so a couple days, take a blow and watch a little bit of baseball.
“I had good at-bats (Thursday). I felt like I made good swings all day.”
Left field could still be a long-term issue for the Cubs. The problem is this: Happ has been the Cubs' fifth best outfielder this season, behind Cody Bellinger, Seiya Suzuki, Mike Tauchman and now Pete Crow-Armstrong. But the Cubs are paying Happ $21 million this season, he’s signed for two more years and reportedly has a no-trade clause in his contract.
Happ hasn't been in a hopeless slump or anything. He's gotten hits in 8 of the 13 games he's played this month.
“You use (the days off) essentially to just give the player a break from having to perform,” Counsell said. “You come to the park when you're struggling, there's (a feeling of), 'I've got to go do it again for the guys.' Just to give a break from that I think is helpful.”
The numbers can always turn around. Happ was an all-star in 2022 and has been a productive hitter in his career.
The thing is, Happ has always been streaky at the plate, but the heat checks have faded away. There have been seven times during Happ's career when he posted a .900-plus OPS for a month. It happened once per season from 2017-22, twice in 2021.
The last time he went .900 OPS in a month was June 2022, nearly two years ago. He's yet to post a .700 monthly OPS this season.
Crow-Armstrong's second stint in the majors has been much more productive at the plate. According to StatCast, he's one of the 10 fastest players in MLB and he might be the best defensive outfielder in Cubs history. They don't have to hand Crow-Armstrong a full-time job tomorrow, but it should happen relatively soon.
“(Wednesday in Atlanta) he did a little bit of everything and that's fun to see on a baseball field, for sure,” Counsell said. “His defense has been really, really good. I think we underestimate how valuable that is too.”
You could take this argument a step further and ask why the Cubs didn't want catcher Willson Contreras, who begged for a long-term deal. Contreras is currently on the injured list with a broken arm, but ranks 10th in the majors in OPS and one could choose to assume the Cubs wouldn't have pushed him dangerously close to the plate in an effort to get more called strikes, like the Cardinals did.
Thursday's starting pitcher Justin Steele was charged with 5 earned runs in 5 ⅔ innings. The Pirates touched him up for 2 more home runs, after hitting 3 against him in Pittsburgh last week.
Steele had some tough luck, though. In the first inning, the Cubs should have turned an inning-ending double play, but Nick Madrigal made a poor throw to second base after fielding the ball. They only got one out and Edward Olivares followed with a 2-run homer.
In the sixth, Olivares was on third with one out when Yasmani Grandal hit a sinking liner to right field. It looked like it could have been a close play at the plate if Olivares tried to score on the sacrifice fly. But Suzuki missed the ball and it rolled for a two-base error while Olivares walked home with the Pirates' fifth run.
“I thought I threw the ball pretty well tonight,” Steele said. “Felt really good, velo was definitely up tonight. I felt like I did a lot better job of executing pitches. I was putting the four (seam) on the inner part of the plate, up and down.”
Nico Hoerner sat out for the third straight game due to a tight hamstring, but did take some batting practice. Counsell is hoping Hoerner will be ready to return Friday.
Hard-throwing rookie Paul Skenes is set to make his second major-league start Friday for the Pirates, against Kyle Hendricks.
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