Happ Faces Criticism
There is no doubt that JA Happ had a tremendous season last year. He won the Phillies numerous games and was the bright light in the pitching staff when Hamels was failing and before Cliff Lee joined the squad. He was a 27 year old rookie and many experts question his true ability. They say that a lot of his success was due to luck this past season. When I read this I laughed…literally. How can someone goe through an entire MLB season and win game after game be considered lucky? That’s not saying that there is no such thing as luck. I’m sure Happ got a win or two due to a blown call or a fluke play, but every pitcher does.
Pitching coach Dubee was quick to defend his talented pitcher. He said that Happ is a very smart pitcher and understands the game to its highest extent. Dubee also said that he has a feel for situational pitching and is very aware of what is happening in the game. An interesting fact that this ESPN article had was as simple as JA Happ’s height. I had no idea that he was 6-6. The amount of leverage that that creates is just remarkable. Since he is tall and his windup and release hides the ball, the perceived velocity of his fastball can be up to 96 mph even though he gets clocked at about 90.
So is luck part of winning at times… yes it is. It is hard to say that no one in the history of sports has ever gotten lucky. However to say that Happ got lucky all last season is ridiculous. I guess we’ll find out this season.
