Veteran Outfielder Primed for Another Strong Season in Year 10 With Cubs
In 2026, 31-year-old outfielder Ian Happ will join a very short list of active MLB players who have spent their entire career with one team and have their tenure reach the 10-year mark. Happ was drafted with the ninth overall selection in the 2015 MLB Draft and was called up to the majors two years later in 2017. The switch-hitter has been a mainstay with the Chicago Cubs ever since, a model of consistency in the lineup, albeit with a few brief stints with the minor league affiliate Iowa Cubs. Entering his 10th season in the majors, he’s showing no signs of stopping any time soon.
2025 was one of Happ’s most well-rounded seasons yet on the offensive side of the ball. In 150 games, he recorded 138 hits and 23 home runs with a batting average of .243 and an OBP of .342 while also posting the highest WAR of his career at 4.0, which was top 20 amongst all players in the National League. He spent most of the season in the leadoff role in the batting lineup and was extremely effective, especially throughout the team’s hot streaks of May and June, in which they were near the top of the MLB standings. Happ also won his fourth consecutive Gold Glove award in left field, extending his record as the only player in Cubs history to win the award at least three times as an outfielder.
Happ is still producing at a very high level both at the plate and in the outfield, and the 2026 season should be no different. The Cubs are a team that feels they can compete for a World Series coming off their impressive 92-win campaign in 2025, and Happ is the most steady, reliable veteran presence in the dugout. With how talented the roster is and how capable the team is of reaching the highest heights, they’ll be more reliant on their longest tenured player to continue his production than ever before. There’s no question that Happ is etching his name in the history of the Chicago Cubs franchise, and there’s still plenty more to come.
