[NU Sports] J.A. Happ

[Brad Wilson]

AP story on him:

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — J.A. Happ could make one of
the Philadelphia Phillies’ starters expendable.
Monday was Brett Myers’ day to pitch, but the
Phillies’ wins leader in 2006 wasn’t plying his trade
in a game against the Houston Astros.
Instead, Myers was sent to the minor-league complex to
get in his innings. That cleared the stage at Bright
House Networks Field for Happ, a 24-year-old
left-hander whose talents could make it easier for the
Phillies to trade one of their spare starting pitchers
before the regular season begins.
Happ, selected in the third round of the 2004 draft,
has quickly paved an impressive path up the
minor-league ladder. Last year, he opened the season
with Class A Clearwater, where he went 3-7 with a 2.81
ERA in 13 starts. From there he was promoted to
Double-A Reading, where with a better team behind him
he went 6-2 with a 2.65 ERA. When Triple-A
Scranton-Wilkes-Barre needed a spot starter at the end
of the season, Happ was called up and allowed one run
over six innings in a win over Rochester.
After two impressive outings in spring training,
manager Charlie Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee
wanted to get a better look at Happ, a tall, lanky
left-hander who doesn’t throw appreciably hard — his
fastball hovers a tick above or below 90 mph — yet he
strikes out batters like a power pitcher (162
strikeouts in 160 2-3 innings last season).
“We’re going to watch him and see what we think of
him,” Manuel said. “We have interest in him. The brass
says that he misses bats, so that’s a good sign.”
Happ’s start against the Astros didn’t go so well.
After a relatively smooth opening two innings, he
didn’t get an out in the third, as four hits and a
walk led to five runs.
“Obviously it didn’t go the way I would’ve liked,”
Happ said. “But it was a great experience and the guys
helped make it that. When we were taking the field,
Pat (Burrell) said, ‘Lead us out there.”
The Phillies hope that they won’t need to consider
Happ at the big-league level until 2008. At the
moment, they have six big-league starting pitchers on
their roster in Myers, Freddy Garcia, Cole Hamels,
Jamie Moyer, Adam Eaton and Jon Lieber. They openly
have been shopping Lieber to bolster other parts of
the team. If that happens, then the Phillies will need
a dependable arm in Triple-A who will be there in case
any of the starting five winds up on the disabled
list.
That pitcher could be Happ.
“I’m pretty realistic, maybe to a fault,” Happ said of
where he stands in proximity to the majors. “My goal
is to come in here and make an impression. I’d like to
stay (in camp) and learn as much as I can.”


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