Happ spent winter working on his delivery, and now it’s paying off
TAMPA — J.A. Happ is quietly building up to the bounceback season he needs to have. The 37-yearold left-hander spent the winter here working on his delivery, fighting back after a bad 2019. Wednesday night, Happ pitched four scoreless innings in the Yankees’ 3-2 win over the Phillies at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
He scattered two hits, walked one and struck out six of the 14 batters he faced. Happ threw 62 pitches, 40 for strikes.
“He’s in a good spot. He’s throwing really well. He threw a lot of changeups. I thought the execution of that pitch was really good,” Yankees manager Aaron
Boone said. “He had good depth on his changeups, and a couple breaking balls had life and crispness, and his fastball is still there. I’m really happy with where he’s at right now.”
In three spring training starts, Happ has allowed one earned run over nine innings pitched. He has struck out 11 in that span.
“I think things fall into place when you’re getting ahead of hitters and your tempo seems to be better. That’s what I’m trying to focus on,” Happ said. “When it’s not going the way you want it to sometimes, at least I know for myself, I tend to think a little bit more, maybe go a little slower. I like when I’m able to settle into a groove, that’s the whole game, though. You know the hitters are try
ing to make you feel that way, and make you think and we’re trying to get into a groove.”
Wednesday night, Happ was able to make an adjustment in-game. He came out rushing through the first inning. It’s another thing to work on through spring training.
“In-game stuff is huge, being able to make adjustments like that. I’d like to have done it before the second but you know tonight I was a little anxious, night game, a little bit different atmosphere, little bit different vibe,” Happ said. “So, I might have just been a little anxious out there. But again, happy to settle in and start to make better pitches.”
Happ pitched to a 4.91 ERA in 30 starts and one appearance out of the bullpen in 2019. He struck out 140 over 161.1 innings pitched. He allowed a career-high 34 homers in a year when MLB was breaking records with a ball that flew.
That had Happ here early in the offseason working with the high-speed cameras to dig into what went wrong. After initially taking some umbrage with reports over the winter that he was on the trading block, Happ has turned the page on 2019.
“I like the way the ball is coming out of my hand, definitely. I think that’s a plus,” Happ said. “We jumped up 20 pitches from last outing so maybe a boring answer but just hoping the recovery’s good and bounce back for that next one. But I’m happy with how I feel.”