In Ian Happ’s first All-Star season, he’s up for another award: Gold Glove.
Rawlings announced Thursday that Happ is a finalist, along with fellow National League left fielders David Peralt and Christian Yelich. Happ was the only Gold Glove finalist at any position for the Cubs this season. The winners will be revealed on Nov. 1 during a special-edition “Baseball Tonight” broadcast on ESPN.
“It’d be really cool,” Happ said last month when asked about the possibility of earning a Gold Glove. “... That’s one of those honors that I thought about a lot as a kid — when I was playing shortstop, not as much as a left fielder. But it’d be really cool.”
Happ attributes much of his success in left field this year to the consistency of playing there every day. He came up as a utility player and even last year moved back and forth between center field and left field.
This year, he led NL left fielders in defensive runs saved (13), according to FanGraphs. His highlight reel includes sliding plays in the gap and against the left field wall, which hugs the foul line at Wrigley field.
Cubs manager David Ross has been campaigning for Happ to be in the Gold Glove conversation for over a month.
“A lot of character plays, too, for him,” Ross said in early September. “Just continues to stay in compete mode. The way he’s playing the game right now, there’s a lot of leadership qualities and how he’s setting the example day in and day out, an everyday player.”
