New York Yankees’ J.A. Happ talks about struggles with command: ‘It’s not characteristic of me’

New York Yankees, J.A. Happ
Oct 5, 2018; Boston, MA, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher J.A. Happ (34) throws the ball during the first inning of game one of the ALDS against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Yankees split Wednesday’s doubleheader with the Philadelphia Phillies. They took the second game, but the first one represented another nightmare start for veteran southpaw J.A. Happ, who is currently sporting a 10.29 ERA and a 11.13 FIP, with a ghastly 3.86 K/9 and 10.29 BB/9 in seven innings of work.

The sample size is terribly small, but the truth is Happ hasn’t looked good this year and didn’t last season, either (4.91 ERA and an even worse 5.22 FIP in 161.1 frames.) The primary issue on Wednesday wasn’t his stuff, but instead, his lack of command. New York Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone explained it to MLB.com.

“It seems like [Happ] had a hard time getting the ball to the arm side,” Boone said. “I thought his mix of pitches and stuff looked crisp enough. … I thought the slider and changeup were all right. … It looked like he had a hard time getting to the arm side with command. He was probably nibbling a couple of times. … Obviously, that was the difference.”

The Yankees’ offense provided a big three-run cushion for Happ to work with, but that was quickly erased by the third inning. At that moment, the Phillies scored four runs fueled mainly by a two-run homer from Bryce Harper to start a rally.

The Yankees’ lefty had a problem with walks

After that big hit, Happ handed out walks to three of the next four batters, which forced in a run. It is fair to say that yesterday wasn’t precisely Happ’s day. He will need to perform, as the Yankees have Deivi Garcia, Mike King and Clarke Schmidt waiting in the wings.

“I have to make [the Phillies] put the ball in play. I felt like when I was doing that, things were going good,” Happ said. “The contact wasn’t too hard. I have to force the issue better than I did today. … It’s not characteristic of me with the walks. It’s getting back to staying aggressive. I thought I was very close a lot of the time. But I wasn’t able to get back into the count. Little things happen. I just hurt myself today.”

“I was trying to get some breaking balls in there early and not finishing them. I think it’s just cleaning that up. That would be my plan,” Happ said.

Will the Yankees give him the opportunity to work through his struggles?