Happ first Cubs left fielder to win Gold Glove award

Cubs left fielder Ian Happ has added another honor to his stellar 2022 season.

Happ was named the National League Gold Glove Award winner in left field Tuesday. He is the first Cubs left fielder to win a Gold Glove since Rawlings introduced the award in 1957.

Only three Cubs outfielders previously earned a Gold Glove: center fielder Bob Dernier (1984), right fielder Andre Dawson (1987 and 1988) and right fielder Jason Heyward (2016 and 2017). "Little kid Ian would probably be wondering why I'm playing left field and not shortstop," Happ told cubs.com on Tuesday. "But his expectations were pretty high. I grew up watching Omar Vizquel highlights and thinking that his accomplishments with the glove were the coolest thing in baseball. ... To be able to have this one on the mantel and to have the award with my name on it is really, really cool."

The Milwaukee Brewers' Christian Yelich and Arizona Diamondbacks' David Peralta were the other finalists.

A 2022 NL All-Star, Happ finished the season with 13 defensive runs saved in left field according to Fangraphs, the highest mark among NL left fielders and second-most among all players at the position. Happ's 8 outfield assists were second-most among NL left fielders.

He tied for first among NL left fielders with 146 games played, led with 2.00 putouts per 9.0 innings and was second with 1,245.1 innings played at the position.

Happ, who was the ninth overall pick in the 2015 draft, becomes the first Cub to win a Gold Glove since shortstop Javier Baez and first baseman Anthony Rizzo in 2020.

"He's played a great left field," Cubs manager David Ross told cubs.com in September. "He's been just as consistent as a player as I've ever seen him this year on all sides of the ball."