Ian Happ’s Raking His Way To Cincinnati’s First Ever First Round Draft Pick
By Chris Bains
I’m the first to admit I don’t pay nearly enough attention to Cincinnati’s baseball program on this blog than football and basketball. After all, I grew up fixated on those without much care for what was going on at Marge Schott Stadium.
For better or worse, that’s just how it was.
But it’s hard to ignore just how much UC infielder/outfielder Ian Happ is kicking ass on the diamond. He’s kind of a big deal on campus nowadays.
Happ is leading the Bearcats in just about every offensive category. His .363 batting average paces Cincinnati by nearly 100 points. He also leads UC in hits (66), doubles (16), home runs (14), RBIs (41), walks (46), stolen bases (11), and OPS (1,170%). The only thing the switch hitter hasn’t done, and I can’t confirm whether he has or not, is mix the gatorade, wear the Bearcat mascot uniform, and save a baby from a burning building.
This isn’t simply a decent player on a great tear, Ian Happ is displaying the consistent dominance at the plate that can carry him to a long career at the next level.
So much so that he’s garnering all kinds of attention from MLB Scouts. Some projections have him going 19th to the Pittsburgh Pirates and others have as high as 5th overall. That’s some pretty high praise for a player who hails from a program that rarely gets players selected in one of the top ten rounds let alone top ten overall. Even one of the most famous Bearcats to ever play in the majors, Kevin Youkilis, was drafted in the 8th round. Happ’s on track to be selected hundreds of picks ahead of him.
The MLB Draft is on June 8th and I’ll certainly be keeping my eyes glued to my television to see when he’s taken. If it happens to be in the first round and Happ is the only UC player to ever be selected that high, that bodes extremely well for the direction Ty Neal is taking this program.