The Cubs decision to send Ian Happ down to Triple-A Iowa was met with mixed reactions. Some felt it was smart because he definitely had some major holes in his swing, but others thought that despite the holes he could still contribute on the big league team.
It's about over a month and a half into the season and it's a good time to look at some of the numbers Ian Happ is putting up for Iowa.
His line in Iowa is not impressive at all with a .223/.348/.378 line in a very hitter friendly environment. His strikeout rate is very high at 25.8% and he has barely hit for any power with just 13 extra base hits.
He's been trending in the wrong direction too with a .207/.373/.328 slash line with 18 strikeouts in 75 plate appearances. It's still too early to begin to question his long term future with the Cubs, he's clearly shown his talent before.
To make things worse he left yesterdays game with a finger injury, but it's not expected to be anything that would knock him out for any significant stretch of time.
Although he had a very strong rookie year for the Cubs, his numbers definitely went down significantly, and that could be tied to a sharp increase to his already high strikeout rates. Even in an era where strikeouts are more acceptable, he is still striking out way too much to be a relied on in the big leagues.
You could make the argument that Happ could do much better than Mark Zagunis, who is currently hitting .242 with a .658 OPS. But if the Cubs want Happ to continue to make adjustments, then it is probably better to keep him down at Iowa for the time being.
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