J.A. Happ

[William Malone]

James Anthony Happ was born on October 19, 1982 in Peru, Illinois.

The Philadelphia Phillies selected him in round three of the 2004 MLB Draft. He made his Major League debut in 2010, and pitched four seasons for the Phillies. Happ helped Philadelphia win the 2008 World Series. They also won the National League pennant in 2009.

He was traded to the Houston Astros as part of the Roy Oswalt deal at the 2010 deadline. This began his long career as a journeyman left handed starter. Happ played for the Astros (2010-12), Toronto Blue Jays (2012-14 and 2016-18), Seattle Mariners (2015), Pittsburgh Pirates (2015) and New York Yankees (2018-20). He was a 20 game winner for the Blue Jays in 2016. His lone career All-Star selection came in 2018, where Happ surprisingly earned the save. It was the only save of his professional career, including 120 minor league games.

The Minnesota Twins singed Happ to a one year deal in 2021. He started out the season strong, posting a 1.91 ERA across his first five starts. He brought a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 23rd, and tossed another seven inning gem against the Cleveland Indians on April 28th. The latter being the first of three times he would defeat Cleveland in 2021. Happ wasn't as successful against the Chicago White Sox, getting tagged for 15 runs over a two start streak against them on May 12th and May 17th. This ballooned his ERA from 1.91 through five starts, to 5.35 through seven.

Things calmed down after that, and Happ was consistently giving the Twins competitive starts through the end of June. He had a win-loss record of 5-6 with the club, but Minnesota was 10-9 in his 19 starts. Two rough starts against the Detroit Tigers in July, where Happ allowed 16 combined runs, pushed his ERA through those 19 starts up to 6.77.

He was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals at the deadline for veteran pitcher John Gant and pitching prospect Evan Sisk. Happ was 5-2 with a 4.00 ERA in 11 starts for the Cardinals, helping St. Louis earn the final wild card spot. He retired after the season.

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