PCA Needs To Chill Before Somebody (Ian Happ) Gets Hurt

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I don’t want to make a huge deal out of this but same time I’ve been talking about this relationship for over a month now on the Monday Morning Cubs Show and something is going to happen at some point.

Today’s another example of PCA annoying Ian Happ in the outfield and it’s kinda crazy we’re talking about this but we have to.

Ian Happ is a gold glove left fielder.

PCA is arguably the best outfielder in the world right now.

The dynamic of Happ being this seasoned and salted veteran next to this extremely athletic and seemingly annoying presence in CF is worth some fireworks.

You’ve seen it casually the first two months of the season. Happ aggressively has to wave off PCA way too much. He’s always flying into the picture at the last second in a weird position Happ doesn’t necessarily need. There’s just wayyyyy too much action with PCA working towards left field.

And who could blame Happ? You make it this far in your MLB career, you know exactly where you need to be and what you need to be doing at all times. His body of work clearly supports the fact he doesn’t PCA’s help on routine flyballs.

Today’s flyout to end the game is the perfect example of PCA putting himself into harm’s way unnecessarily. There’s no reason to try and call off Ian Happ when he’s casually sliding into the play vs. PCA running full speed to make a backhanded catch.

Just look how far away he is from the purple sign to start the play

And look where they end up:

And while it’s nice he can cover that ground, this is objectively stupid to me.

If you’re backing up Happ, then you’re working back to left center. A misplay with his momentum will send the ball careening back towards CF so working behind him actually guarantees that a misplay would result in an inside the park HR.

The other consideration is simply player safety. Happ shouldn’t have deal with PCA trying to make that kinda play on top of him. There’s no reason whatsoever for a gold glove left fielder to be mindful of PCA running full-speed into his play. That’s a perfect opportunity for him to get blind sided because he’s not even looking for it. So you could jump into each other he could move back into PCA’s path and have his legs taken out and be done for the year. There’s so many issues that come to play because Happ isn’t remotely in a position to be aware or mindful that the centerfielder is trying to make a play on the ball. You’d have to be such an asshole centerfielder to do that in the big leagues.

Which reminds me of my biggest consideration.

It’s the Big Leagues for a reason. PCA wants to make every play but it’s actually really starting to piss Ian Happ off and we just don’t need dumb shit right now. We don’t need concussions because you had red bull and vyvanze for breakfast. We don’t need a collision because Pete wants to assert himself on every play. And we certainly don’t need bad blood in the dugout because PCA keeps buzzing Ian Happ on routine plays into left field.

And while I might be overreacting, it happens almost every game now where PCA ends up in the frame where he shouldn’t be anywhere near the play. And I know you’re thinking That’s because he’s fast but I’m telling you I’d rather have him play smart first and fast second. Just because you can be there doesn’t mean you need to be there. And sooner or later someone’s going to break their neck and it won’t be for any noble cause.

So let’s literally and figuratively pump the brakes before that happens.

We got a good season going here and I’d hate to see it ruined over catch radius metrics.

For more on how Ian Happ is perpetually annoyed with PCA, please listen to literally any MMCS show this season