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Career timeline: Ian Happ

From Bearcat ...

Happ hit .336 with 25 homers and 107 RBIs in 3 years at the University of Cincinnati. He was named a First Team All-American in 2015

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... to Cub

The Cubs picked Happ 9th overall in the 2015 Draft, making him the 1st Cincinnati Bearcat taken in the 1st round in school history

Presence felt

Happ launched 9 homers with a .978 OPS with Triple-A Iowa in 2017, leading to his promotion to the Majors in May

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For Mom ...

On May 13, 2017 -- the day before Mother's Day -- Happ made his Major League debut, launching a homer off St. Louis' Carlos Martinez for his 1st hit

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... and Dad

On Father's Day in 2017, Happ homered in his hometown of Pittsburgh -- his 1st career blast from the right side of the plate. It was a special moment for Happ, whose dad died of brain cancer in 2015

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24 dingers ... not bad for a rookie

Happ's 24 home runs in 2017 were the 3rd-most by a Cubs rookie at the time, trailing only Kris Bryant (2015) and Billy Williams (1961)

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Open season: Bang!

On Opening Day in 2018, Happ homered in his 1st at-bat against Miami, marking the 1st home run of that Major League season on the 1st pitch of the year

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Back with a vengeance

Happ faced a demotion to Triple-A Iowa to start 2019, but he returned strong in the 2nd half, including this 2-homer, 4-RBI performance in St. Louis. He was MLB's last Player of the Week that September

Baseball's shut-down period in 2020 led to Happ and a couple of teammates launching a podcast, which has continued to grow in popularity

Check out the podcast

Happy HR history

On Aug. 30, 2020, in Cincinnati, Happ, Kyle Schwarber and Jason Heyward became the 1st starting outfield trio to each have 2 homers in a game

Read the full story

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A leader on the North Side

During the shortened 2020 season, Happ led the division-champion Cubs in homers (12), doubles (11) and OPS (.866). His final 2 blasts came off of Adam Wainwright

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A Wild Card wallop

Happ started the scoring with a homer in Game 1 of the 2020 Wild Card Series against the Marlins, but it marked Chicago's only offense in the series

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Wrecking the Crew

Happ's signature game in 2022 was on Aug. 26, when he hit a pair of 2-run homers (one in the 10th inning) to power Chicago to a 4-3 win over Milwaukee

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Golden boy

In 2022, Happ pieced together his most complete season, making his 1st All-Star team and winning his 1st Gold Glove Award for left field