Chicago Cubs’ Ian Happ is a legitimate MVP candidate

Before this season, Ian Happ of the Chicago Cubs wasn’t on the national radar, but he has become a legitimate NL MVP candidate in 2020.

If you were to guess before the season started which Chicago Cubs player was most likely to win the NL MVP award this year, you probably would have answered Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez or maybe even Willson Contreras. Almost no one would have correctly predicted who their two best hitters would be as we’ve played more than two-thirds of this shortened 2020 MLB season.

Jason Heyward, who had to leave Sunday’s game, has been their second-best hitter this year, but their first has clearly been Ian Happ, who is leading the team in many offensive categories. And after he reached base four times in Monday’s win against the St. Louis Cardinals, he now leads the majors in an important offensive category:

Could Ian Happ really win the NL MVP award?

I’m sure that Mookie Betts, Fernando Tatis Jr. and maybe even Cubs teammate Yu Darvish will have something to say about Happ potentially winning the MVP award this season. But even if he doesn’t win it, that doesn’t take away from what a remarkable season it has been for him and how important he has been for the Cubs.

After a decent rookie campaign in 2017, the former first-round draft pick regressed a little in 2018 before earning a demotion to the minors last year. However, he came back strong and posted a 1.021 OPS in the final month of the season, earning Player of the Week honors during the final week of the season.

This year, he has seized both the leadoff spot — a troublesome role for the Cubs in recent years — and the center field job, playing some good defense to go along with his great numbers at the plate. With so many of their key players having down years, Happ has been critical in keeping the Cubs in first place in the NL Central.

There are a lot of players having solid years in the National League, several of whom have a good case for MVP. But when we’re having the discussion, let’s not forget about Ian Happ, who is playing as well as the Cubs could have possibly expected when they drafted him in 2015. Now, the Cubs just need some of their other sluggers to start contributing more.