Cubs send Ian Happ and four others to minors |
Chicago Cubs made a roster move on Monday evening and assigned infielder Ian Happ, outfielder John Andreoli and catcher Taylor Davis to minor-league camp and optioned right-handed pitcher Eddie Butler and left-handed pitcher Rob Zastryzny to Triple-A Iowa.
Happ was crushing the ball during spring training with a .417 average (20 for 48), four doubles, five home runs, 17 RBI, and .813 slugging percentage. He was tied with Addison Russell with the team lead in homers. The elite prospect has only had half of a year of Double-A ball under his belt so he will go down so he will get daily at-bats during the season. Jed Hoyer said that Happ will start the season at Triple-A Iowa. “Offensively, what was there not to like? I feel like he hit the ball hard every at-bat for six weeks," Hoyer said about Happ to reporters on Monday night. Butler was 5-0 with 3.07 ERA in 14.2 innings as he gave up only 11 hits while walking only three batters. On the other side of the spectrum, Zastryzny had an 0-2 record with 7.36 ERA this spring. Both pitchers will be starting for Iowa and will give the Cubs some rotational depth waiting in the wings if needed at the big-league level. The Cubs roster is now down to 31 players (14 pitchers, four catchers, nine infielders, and four outfielders) with six days left to go until Opening Night against the St. Louis Cardinals. The team will have to finalize their roster to 25 players on Sunday.
