TORONTO–J.A. Happ doesn’t want to jinx himself.
It’s late Sunday afternoon and the 31-year-old left-hander is standing at his locker in the Blue Jays clubhouse, basking in the afterglow of one of his better performances in a Toronto uniform—seven scoreless innings in a 3-1 win over the visiting Oakland Athletics—when he’s asked how his problematic back is feeling.
“Oh, it’s good,” he offers.
He then pauses and takes a step back to tap the wood paneling behind his name plate.
Given how the past 12 months have gone for Happ, it was probably a wise gesture. This time last year Happ was in Florida recovering from a minor skull fracture after being struck in the head by a line drive in Tampa. Meanwhile, on May 25, 2013 his Blue Jays teammates woke up to a 20-29 record and a 10.5 game deficit in the American League East. Flip the calendar forward a year however and Happ finds himself back where he’s always wanted to be—-in the starting rotation as opposed to the bullpen—-and his Blue Jays are where they expected to be 365 days ago—-sitting atop the AL East standings.
“It’s just crazy,” Happ explained. “A year ago everyone was saying just how tough the season was going. It’s just amazing; day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month, how this game changes. It really is crazy.”
Happ has always fancied himself a starter—-just ask him—-but his career CV to date hasn’t indicated it’s necessarily his best role. His stuff has always been there: a fastball that can touch 95 m.p.h. and a career right-handed opponent’s batting line of .256/.338/.431. But command has always been an issue with him, as evidenced by his career 1.407 WHIP and 4.0 BB/9. But with Brandon Morrow out until at least July, and Marcus Stroman and Sean Nolin at triple-A Buffalo needing time to be stretched out and recover from a groin injury respectively, the stage is clear for Happ to lock down a rotation spot for for the foreseeable future.
His performance on Sunday—three hits, four walks and seven strikeouts in seven shutout innings—drew rave reviews from the most important critic of all, his manager.
“He’s locked in right now,” said John Gibbons. “(Catcher Erik Kratz) is doing a great job with him. “(Happ’s) feeling good right now. So he should be.”
Kratz has been behind the plate for Happ’s most recent four starts, with Happ giving much of the credit for his success on Sunday to the 33-year-old catcher. According to Kratz, Happ gets into trouble when he tries to be too fine, something he’s continually reminding his battery mate of throughout the game.
“He will maybe nitpick, not be as aggressive,” Kratz said. “That’s what we’re trying to stay away from. If he doesn’t go six innings, it’s not a successful start for a pitcher like him. He doesn’t need to nitpick. He needs to go after guys, be aggressive and be out there in the seventh. That’s the difference between a good pitcher that does well, and a good pitcher that does well and helps the team. Because [of] him going seven, now look what that does for our bullpen.”
Happ entered play Sunday averaging 18.4 pitches per inning, third most among American League starters. The Oakland Athletics began the day owners of the highest walk total (214) and the best on-base percentage (.337) in the league. It was not a recipe for success. But with a fastball touching 96 m.p.h. according to brooksbaseball.net, and the ability to throw both his change-up and curve for strikes early in the count, Happ was able to keep arguably the toughest lineup in baseball off the scoreboard while throwing 75 of his 110 pitches for strikes.
You could argue it makes a day like Sunday just about as good as it gets for a pitcher trying to establish himself.
“Oh definitely,” Happ said. “A game like today, and for the team to get on any kind of streak is nice. (The Athletics) are in first place for a reason. They do a lot of things right with the bats and for us to play the way we did this series showed we can play with anybody.”
It also showed that Happ is capable of pitching well against any opponent.
“I certainly like my position more (now),” he said. “I just want to get in a routine and be healthy. I’m in a spot now where I feel good and feel healthy. I believe in myself that I can be successful.”
Knock on wood.
