David Ross is Still Screwing Up Cubs Lineup

You know, once the Chicago Cubs decided to move on from Trey Mancini to make room for Jeimer Candelario, coupled with the news that Candelario would mainly be used at first base, which signals to Seiya Suzuki possibly getting in a platoon with Mike Tauchman in right field, I was close to content with the direction of the offense. I still am, but what the hell is David Ross doing still batting Ian Happ in the third spot in the lineup?

Seriously, can we get the FBI on the line to investigate? Has Happ somehow managed to blackmail his way to that spot in the lineup because the baseball reasons just are not adding up.

I know some Cubs fans can't wait for Happ to get magically traded, the deadline has passed and the Cubs aren't doing that anytime soon anyway, but all I want is for him to stop batting third. That's been the case most of the season against right-handed pitching and now that the calendar has turned to August it's getting difficult to ignore just how bad Happ has been from the left side of the plate.

I still believe in Happ in the long term, but if the Cubs want to increase their chances of winning games in the short term, then he's gotta move out of the three spot.

Overall, the numbers look fine for Happ, he has a 115 wRC+, it was 120 last year. His slash line is at .245/.373/.395, and he's second in the league in walks behind only Juan Soto. Cool. Love the patience at the plate from Happ.

However, since the middle of May, Happ has been a bad hitter going up against right-handed pitching.

Dating back to May 14, that's 199 plate appearances, Happ has a slash line of .180/.302/.323, with a 28.6 K%, leading to a 74 wRC+ against right-handed pitching. During that same time period, Happ has been the No. 3 hitter for 120 of those plate appearances. In those instances, Happ has a slash line of .160/.283/.260, a 56 wRC+.

On Tuesday night, the second of a four-game series against the first-place Cincinnati Reds, the Cubs will face right-handed starting pitcher Ben Lively. Happ is starting in left and once again batting third in the lineup.

It's just so painful to watch the Cubs have runners on base and then see guys like Suzuki and Happ come up and continue to fail to come through. It's even more frustrating because there are other guys actually producing as of late like Christopher Morel and you traded for the top rental bat in the market. Get your best hitters the most at-bats.

Right now, Happ is not one of your best hitters and he hasn't been for a while, especially not against right-handed pitching. I just want to know, is this purely a manager's decision, is the front office giving any input, I just want to know the reasoning behind this because it does not make any sense. Happ has indicated in the past that he didn't feel comfortable as the leadoff hitter, but I'm not comfortable watching him make little impact in the middle of the lineup and would really appreciate a change soon.