JA Happ Update

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Got an e-mail back, Happ left last night’s game for precautionary reasons due to his arm tightening up. I’m not a doctor, so I won’t even bother going further. However, I don’t like the sound of it. Ah heck, it’s a blog, I’m supposed to speculate. His control has been really bad this year, much more so than any stop in his career to date. I hate to even bring it up, but it might be ligament damage. I’m sure they’ll try rest and rehab, but you know what the ultimate outcome is. Again, this is all speculation. It might be nothing. But his lack of control was worrying to me, and this is as logical an explanation as any. Stay tuned.

I just want to clarify again. The e-mail I got simply said he left the game as a precaution due to his arm tightening up. The speculation part was all me.

3 thoughts on “JA Happ Update”

  1. Your concern is well placed.

    Hap–IMO–was closer to the bigs than any other pitching prospect in our system to begin 2007.

    The fact that he was hitting up to 92 mph toward the end of 2006 was exciting FOR A LEFTY.

    The hope of Phils’ fans was that if he couldn’t make the big roster when ’07s season began, then he surely would make enough progress at Ottawa to allow him to come up sometime during ’07.

    But…his “command” has been horrible, and he too often got hit around at Ottawa, so far. Hardly what we hoped for. With the other highest rated pitcher prospect, Mathieson, went down and into arm surgery it seems that we are now in danger of losing Happ to surgery…because I cannot personally find any other reason for his horrid performance in the face of such recent history and expectations.

    MAYBE Mathieson w2ill make a good recoverty, but chances of his regaining that 98 mph fb quickly appears slim; maybe 2008 for him…and now maybe 2008 for Happ, also.

    Sad.

    Hope for the best…but reality may kill.

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  2. Maybe our expectations for Happ were too high. He has been a 3 or 4 inning pitcher all season so far, though I suppose he could
    have been hurting from the very outset.

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  3. I think that might be the case. I started to think about this early this spring. The Phillies altered his mechanics and delivery slightly at the end of last season. He went from throwing 87-88 to throwing 90-92. Did the alteration in his delivery put more stress on his arm? Scott Mathieson went from throwing in the mid 80’s when he was drafted to the mid 90’s less than 2 years later, and eventually his arm broke down.

    Happ didn’t seem to have trouble logging innings last year, and his control, while not awesome, was certainly average. This year, his control has been awful, and as a result, he’s back racking up high pitch counts and leaving games early. I think something is up.

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