Chicago Cubs Superstars Among MLB's Top 'Iron Men' of Last Five Seasons

The Chicago Cubs have had two players that are among the best at staying healthy in all of MLB since the COVID-shortened 2020 season.

Jul 12, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Chicago Cubs left fielder Ian Happ (8) and shortstop Dansby Swanson (7) celebrate after the Cubs defeated the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. / Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The Chicago Cubs have two players that are among the best in an very important category: availability.

It's hard for a player to add value to their team without actually playing for them, so staying healthy is one of the most valuable qualities.

MLB data account BrooksGate recently put out a list of the top 10 players in the league in terms of percentage of games played for their team.

Dansby Swanson was ranked seventh at 95.9%, though a significant portion of those games were with the Atlanta Braves. Ian Happ was right behind at ninth with a 95.2%.

Happ is the team's best iron man in terms of tenure. He, unlike Swanson, has spent his entire career in Chicago. He was a first-round draft pick back in 2015 and has been with the team ever since.

He has managed to stay healthy, for the most part, throughout his career. The Cubs have been able to count on his presence, as he has at least 148 games played in each of the last four years.

The 30-year-old has also been reliable at the plate throughout his career. He has an impressive career slash line of .248/.343/.451 with an OPS+ of 115. Showing his consistency, he has never finished a season with an OPS+ if below 100.

Along with the production at the plate, he has been a Gold Glove in each of the last three seasons. It is hard to ask for more from a player that isn't a 'star' than what Chicago has gotten from Happ.

The Cubs gave Swanson their second-largest deal in franchise history to get him to join the team from the Braves two years ago. He has delivered on defense and in availability, but his contributions at the plate have been inconsistent.

While the former Vanderbilt Commodores star hasn't necessarily been a 'Silver Slugger' type of player throughout his career, he was on a nice trajectory before joining Chicago.

Over his final three campaigns with Atlanta, he has posted a .265/.324/.451 slash line and was looking like someone that could hit around 25 home runs a season.

As for his two years with the Cubs, that has dropped to a .243/.320/.403 line with an average of 19 homers.

It hasn't been all that bad, though, as he is plenty good enough with his glove to make up for it, at least for now. Plus, having a middle infielder that is so reliably healthy is a rare thing.