J.A. Happ, ladies and gentlemen
ST. LOUIS -- For some perspective, we turn to Clint Hurdle.
“I think we continue to lose the fact of how he pitched in the first half,” said Hurdle, referring to J.A. Happ, after Friday’s game. “We’re not paying any recognition to the fact of the numbers the guy put up in the first half in the American League. And as I said before, we wouldn’t have gotten him, probably, if he’d continued that trend. That’s when trades are made. That’s when you acquire players.”
In that first half with the Mariners, or more specifically the first 11 starts, Happ had a 3.31 ERA. He struck out 49 and walked 14 in 651/3 innings. From that point on he had a 6.65 ERA, until he became a Pirate.
“I felt like as we broke this year I felt real good about kind of where I was at overall,” Happ said. “Over time things change slowly. You maybe form a bad habit or two. So it’s just trying to get back to that kind of pitcher.”
Happ in Pittsburgh: 341/3 innings, 30 hits, six runs, seven walks, 32 strikeouts. That’s good for a 1.57 ERA, and that includes his first start, a four-run, nine-hit outing that lasted 41/3 innings, after which the Pirates told him to take a breather.
“I didn’t want the time off,” he said. “That was their decision. I wanted to pitch. But it was what it was.”
Happ was available out of the bullpen some nights, making it challenging to throw his side sessions and work on his game. Since then:
8/14 at Mets: 51/3 IP 7 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 7 K
8/19 vs. Diamondbacks : 6 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 2 BB 3 K
8/24 at Marlins: 6 IP 4 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 6 K
8/29 vs. Rockies: 52/3 IP 5 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 2 K
9/4 at Cardinals: 7 IP 3 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 8K
Friday night, Happ followed Francisco Cervelli’s glove all around the zone. He put one man in scoring position all night. He elevated his fastball for effect and got swings with it in two-strike counts.
His performance came at a time when the rest of the rotation has struggled. Francisco Liriano and Gerrit Cole had trouble in August and this week in Milwaukee. Jeff Locke is inconsistent. So is Charlie Morton. A.J. Burnett is close to returning, but not just yet.
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Why was Jared Hughes, who is second in MLB in games pitched, pitching in the ninth inning of an eight-run game?
“Trying to keep Jared with some consistency,” Hurdle said. “The best sinker he had was tonight. ... We wanted to try and keep some rhythm with him pitching.”
Game story: Happ, offense break losing streak by beating Cardinals.
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