SALEM, Va. — It’s been a wondrous 53 weeks for 2015 Chicago Cubs first-round draft pick and Myrtle Beach Pelicans second baseman Ian Happ on the baseball diamond.
Sunday delivers a poignant reminder of his greatest personal loss off it.
It will be Happ’s first Father’s Day since the passing of his dad, Keith, who died in October at age 58 as a result of brain cancer.
“It’s going to be tough,” Happ told B/R before a recent Pelicans road game against the Salem Red Sox.
Next week, Happ, 21, will be representing the Pelicans in Tuesday’s Carolina/California All-Star Game in Lake Elsnore, Calif., His .392 on-base percentage is tops on his team, and his 45 walks are tied for the Advanced-Class A Carolina League lead.
During all this, he’s been adapting to a new position.
The mundane and exciting details of collegiate and minor league baseball life were the stuff of the daily conversations Happ would have with his dad.
“It's definitely difficult. I think about him every day,” Happ said. “The hardest part is not being able to talk to him after games. And to talk about my failures and successes, and share the entire experience with him. I'm incredibly fortunate for the 21 years that I had and the man that he shaped me to be.”
Perhaps the most influential trait Keith Happ passed on to his youngest son was confidence.
“He preached to me to be confident and always believe in my abilities. He wouldn't ever get on me for having a bad game or making an error,” Ian Happ said of his father. “He would always pick me up. The only thing he would get on me would be for not being confident enough in myself or being upset with myself. The biggest thing I try to carry with me is that confidence.”
Happ’s work ethic, meanwhile, has earned rave reviews from Myrtle Beach manager Buddy Bailey and Cubs director of player development Jaron Madison.
“Some kids you have to cowpoke to get locked in,” Bailey told B/R. “Ian is committed. You wish everyone could bring the same intangibles that he does.”
“We may have even underestimated how driven he is,” Madison added. “He’s worked as hard at learning second base, if not harder, than at hitting. He’s trying to impact the game with his defense and baserunning. He’s willing to put in the work, maybe work too hard. Sometimes we have to pull back the reins. This is Myrtle Beach. It’s humid and hot. We have to make sure he’s not overdoing it.”
Tasked with learning on the job at second, Happ has become voracious viewer of player video and has developed a keen ability to discern flaws in his own game—and when asked by teammates, theirs, too.
Second basemen Robinson Cano of the Seattle Mariners and Neil Walker of the New York Mets are among Happ's favorite subjects.
"Neil Walker is a Pittsburgh kid. I was able to watch him I was able to watch him in high school and all the way up. He's a switch-hitting second baseman a pretty awesome guy to model yourself after."
And Cano?
"He's just unbelievably smooth in everything he does. Nothing looks max effort. Everything looks like he's really under control. I'm always trying to do that."
Former major leaguer Sean Casey began a friendship with Happ five years ago when both worked out at the same suburban Pittsburgh gym. It has grown into an ongoing relationship between mentor and mentee.
“I was always wondering who this kid was who was there by himself all the time to hit and lift,” Casey an analyst for MLB Network, told B/R. “It made me think about back when I first started when I really loved baseball and I couldn't wait to hit even on my own.”
Baseball was “95 percent half-mental” for the late, great Yogi Berra. Casey would classify it closer simply 95 percent.
“Ian’s always believed in himself. He's got a purpose for what he's doing when he comes to hit,” Casey said. “In past few years, we've talked a lot about the mental side of the game. ‘What does it look like to play every day and not waste a pitch.’ ‘What’s your routine for every at-bat?’ ‘Why you can't waste a pitch.’ I can just tell talking to him on the phone, he's getting used to it. He wants to understand what it will take to be successful at the next level.”
Casey played for the Cincinnati Reds, Boston Red Sox and three other teams in his 12-year career. Current Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein brought the three-time All-Star to Boston in 2008.
“Ian Happ is a guy I would have bet on. There are certain players you ‘bet on,’” Casey said. “Theo is a good friend of mine. When I saw the Cubs had an interest in him, we had talked a little bit about Ian. I said ‘I would bet on this kid.’”
The Cubs did, to the tune of a $3 million signing bonus after taking him with the ninth-overall pick out of Cincinnati.
The draft philosophy for Epstein’s Cubs is simple: Choose the player in uniform and the person in street clothes.
“We do an extensive job of digging into players’ background and makeup, their overall drive and what they’re all about,” Madison said “When they’re in high school, the scouts start the process. Once they get into college we start following them over the summers and on the Cape (Cod League). In their junior year, we talk to their teachers, guidance counselors, teammates, and people like Sean who know them to see what type of person they are. That’s the toughest part and the most important.”
The switch-hitting Happ began the 2016 season by being named Carolina League Player of the Week after slashing .429/.600/.905 with three home runs, eight RBI from April 18 to 24. He reached base in 20 straight games through June 6. He’s batting .275 with 61 hits and an .813 OPS, all tops in Myrtle Beach, heading into Friday’s double-header at Potomac (Va.).
He also has 68 strikeouts in 223 at bats.
“He’s not afraid to get to two strikes and look for pitches he can do damage with,” Madison said. “With the nature of getting to two strikes, you're going to be at higher risk of striking out. You’re also able to control the zone, work counts, wait for good pitches, draw walks and get on base.”
With more experience comes better competition.
“As you move up the ladder, not a lot of balls are straight. The balls are moving late. You've got to really let that ball travel so that you can make better decisions in the strike zone and not just be up there wailing away. As you move up the ranks, guys have more late movement,” Casey said.
Happ’s MiLB.com page presents one glaring statistical anomaly. His batting average is .116 higher in day games than it is at night (.371 versus .256). He’s only had 35 daytime at-bats, but no other player in the Pelicans has such a large spread. “If it ends up like that end of the year, it would be something to look into and make adjustments to help him out,” Madison said.
The Cubs enjoyed extraordinary success with the first-round picks who preceded Happ. Both Kris Bryant (2013) and Kyle Schwarber (2014) reached the majors less than two years after being drafted. Happ remains focused on the here and now. Madison says any comparison between Happ’s progress toward Chicago and that of his two immediate first-round predecessors is both unfair and inaccurate.
“No one moves up as quickly as Schwarber and Bryant did. There was a need for those guys at the big-league level and they were able to blow right through our system. Ian’s on more of a regular first-round path. We expect him stay here for the bulk of the season. The position change, that’s slowed him down a bit. If he were just an outfielder, he’d be in AA by now,” Madison said.
“Our goal is not to rush them to the big leagues—but to make sure when they’re get there, they’re ready. We want those guys to struggle and fail at the minor league level.”
Any decision to move up Happ or anyone else is ultimately determined by the player himself.
“The player always tells you when it’s time with his performance and his daily approach. Sometimes guys aren’t performing to an elite level but their approach is right. They’re making hard contact. The at-bats are professional and they’re ready for the next challenge,” Madison said.
Happ stays in touch with his mother, Mary Beth, and brother, Chris on a daily basis. The Cubs knew about Keith Happ’s illness before they drafted Ian. The entire Happ family was invited to watch Ian take batting practice with the major league Cubs July 24, when he was en route from Class A (Short Season) Eugene, Ore., to Class A South Bend, Ind. He shagged a few fly balls, then took 10 and 25 swings in the batting cage.
“That was incredibly special. It was one of the last times he was able to move around. He was able to be down on the field and get to meet Jed (Hoyer) and Theo. It was really a special day. For him to watch me hit at Wrigley Field was pretty incredible.”
The Cubs found the experience as beneficial as Happ did.
“The biggest thing was just supporting someone in the family, knowing his dad might not be around at the big-league level. To watch Ian do his daily work on the big-league field, we thought it would be something special for Ian and his family. We’re a baseball team, but we’re also a family. Family and what he was going through are bigger than baseball. I can’t imagine going through that. The way he battled through it, continued to fight, and grind, and stay focused on his career was impressive,” Madison said.
Happ met Schwarber that day. They share the same agent. In the offseason, Happ spent a month living and training with Schwarber in Tampa, Fla. Schwarber knew Happ's father had died.
"I never wanted to bring that up," Schwarber told MLB.Com’s Carrie Muskat in March. "He did a really good job, from what I saw, separating himself from that. He came there to work, and I definitely feel like he did get better that offseason. We'll see what happens."
The two broke up their routine with a hunting trip to the middle of the state.
“It was awesome,” Happ told B/R. “He was very generous in letting me stay with him, and letting me kind of pick his brain on baseball and hitting and what it takes to get to the major leagues and succeed like he has.”
Schawarber’s 2016 season ended in catastrophe on April 7, when he tore two ligaments in his left knee in an outfield collision with teammate Dexter Fowler. He underwent surgery on April 19 and is expected back next season.
”Oh man. It was tough see because right at the beginning of the year. I saw how hard he worked this offseason. He will come back stronger than ever. He's a horse,” Happ said.
The two exchanged text messages after the injury and Schwarber was asking Madison about Happ’s progress during last week’s draft.
“He asked me “How’s Ian doing? How’s Ian doing with his defense? How’s it going with the family. He truly cares about the kid,” added Madison.
That extended Cubs family extends from Happ’s locker in Myrtle Beach to Epstein’s office at 1060 West Addison Street in Chicago.
“We’re calling up (Cubs top prospect and catcher) Willson Contreras today. Miggy Montero is excited about having him there. When we send pitchers up, we have veteran pitchers ready to take them under their wing. Theo and Jed have done a really good job of creating that culture.”
All of the support Happ has received since his father's passing is helping him refocus on the MLB dream the two always shared.
When that day comes, there's no question who he'll be thinking of first.
Bill Speros is an award-winning journalist who covers baseball for Bleacher Report. He tweets at @BillSperos and @RealOBF.
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