NEWSLETTER
With a big and hearty thanks to the pitching staff tonight, the Cubs needed just a single run to win tonight’s game. Sometimes, that’s one too many.
But Ian Happ, playing in front of friends and family, I’d imagine, gave the Cubs that one run with this 4th inning dinger:
.@ihapp_1 feels right at home. #EverybodyIn pic.twitter.com/9xNDnpDF1c
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 17, 2018
That ball was so crushed – 109.3 mph, 426 feet – that it had a 100% hit probability according to Statcast. There was no chance that ball was anything other than a hit. A monster hit. A run-scoring hit.
It’s been a bit of a rough patch for Happ in the second half, though he’s still hitting .243/.365/.425 on the season with a 111 wRC+. His strikeout rate has been trending horribly, and is all the way up to 35.6% on the year. That will have to come down considerably if he’s going to have higher-level success offensively, but for now, he does so many other things well that he’s been a positive offensive player in spite of it.
