A Friendly Reminder To Keep An Eye On Ian Happ In Tonight’s MLB Draft
By Chris Bains
Cincinnati Bearcats infielder Ian Happ has a chance to make history tonight. He could be the only player in UC baseball history to ever be selected in the first round of the MLB Draft.
Even the indelible Kevin Youklis wasn’t taken that high. He was sitting on his hands until the 8th round in the 2001 draft when the Boston Red Sox gave him a call. Happ has an opportunity to shatter that mark tonight.
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The UC junior was crushing the ball this past season. His .369 batting average, 14 home runs, 44 RBI’s, 47 runs, 1,164 OPS, and 12 stolen bases all led the Bearcats by a wide margin. Happ had almost as many homers as every other player on his team. All of that earned the infielder AAC Player of the Year and 1st Team All-American honors.
Now he’s on his way to the majors. Final mocks have Happ going as high as the top ten. Baseball America tabs him 9th to the Chicago Cubs (puke). Sports Illustrated has Happ going 15th to the Milwaukee Brewers (double puke). The same goes for My MLB Draft. Scout has him 10th to the Philadelphia Phillies. Bleacher Report has him to 11th to the Cincinnati Reds (woo!). MLB Top Prospects has him 16th to the New York Yankees.
So it’s a good bet Happ will get his named called pretty early tonight. Tune in at 7 pm EST on the MLB Network to see when he’s taken!