With improvement in both his fielding and batting average, Chicago Cubs left fielder Ian Happ was named a 2022 National League Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner in November for the 2022 MLB season.
According to several reports, the award marks Happ’s first Gold Glove of his career, becoming the fourth Cubs outfielder to earn the honor, and the first since Jason Heyward received the award in consecutive seasons from 2016-17.
A 2022 National League 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 (Cleveland’s Steven Kwan, 21).
Happ’s eight outfield assists were second-most among NL left fielders (San Diego’s Jurickson Profar, 10). 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.
Selected by the Cubs in the first round (9th overall) of the 2015 Draft, Happ becomes the first Cub to win a Gold Glove since shortstop Javier Báez and first baseman Anthony Rizzo accomplished the feat following the 60-game 2020 regular season.
Happ becomes the second player from the University of Cincinnati to receive the award, joining Kevin Youkilis, who earned the honor for first base with Boston in 2007.
Joseph Phillips is the Sports Editor for the Chicago Crusader Newspaper. He is a Chicago native, who has been a sports writer for over 17 years. He also hosts the SC Media News and Sports Network Q&A radio show on WHPK 88.5 FM Chicago.
