Happ not so safe at home
Lefty looks to shut out trade speculation — and Red Sox in first start since meltdown
BOSTON— The Blue Jays scurried off to various destinations — some tropical, some homey — for the all-star break a week ago Sunday, eager to erase the memory of a 19-1 blowout at the hands of the Houston Astros at the Rogers Centre.
For starter J.A. Happ, though — who returns to the mound Tuesday night at Fenway Park for the first time since absorbing that defeat — the loss lingered.
“On a personal note, it hurts worse than as a team,” Happ said at the time, after allowing six runs on seven hits — three of them home runs — in four shaky innings.
The veteran left-hander — a 20-game winner in 2016 and midway through a three-year contract worth $36 million U.S. — is eager to make amends. But with the Jays’ season hanging in the balance, there’s talk that he could be on the move.
Reports this week by Fox Sports insider Ken Rosenthal had the Milwaukee Brewers, the National League Central leaders, expressing interest in Happ — who went 7-2 with a 1.85 earned run average for the Central-rival Pittsburgh Pirates in 2015 before his second stint as a Jay. Rosenthal added that the price would be sky-high, with Happ signed at a reasonable price for next season and few quality starters expected to hit the free-agent market this year.
On the eve of his start at Fenway, Happ — the centrepiece of a 10-player trade between the Jays and Astros in 2012 — refused to get caught up in the speculation.
“You never know how it’ll play out,” Happ said, “but this is where I want to be. For me personally, I just kind of go about my business.” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons agreed that good starting pitching is hard to find.
“Everybody’s always looking for it,” he said Monday.
Gibbons added that he wasn’t surprised to hear Happ was attracting interest. Before the Houston outing, the lefty had turned in seven solid starts since returning from the disabled list, after missing more than a month with elbow inflammation.
“Shoot, he’s good. He’s reliable,” Gibbons said. “He had the injury thing this year. Really, he’s turned into one of the better pitchers in the league in the last couple years, in my opinion.”
Despite a 3-6 record, Happ’s ERA is down to a tidy 3.54 with 60 strikeouts and just 14 walks in 61 innings.
“I don’t get involved in who might end up where. I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Gibbons said. “I think he’d be a tough guy to trade, though. I’m sure teams would want him — that’s not what I meant — but for our own well-being.”
Happ and the Jays will need to produce consistently to get back into the American League wild-card race. According to catcher Russell Martin, it’s the 34-year-old Happ’s consistency that makes him so valuable.
“He just attacks the zone,” said Martin. “He’s unafraid. He just has an aggressive mentality out there, and even when he’s not feeling great he still battles. He still gives you chances to win games.”