Yankees: Why they’re stuck with J.A. Happ for the rest of the regular season

J.A. Happ’s season-long struggles continued Wednesday night during the Yankees 6-4 loss to the Oakland A’s. The veteran left-hander only made it through four innings allowing five runs and two more home runs. He now has a brutal 5.58 ERA this season and has given up a career-high 31 home runs with a little over a month left to go in the season.

It’s been a miserable 2019 campaign for Happ who is in year one of a two-year, $34M deal with the Yankees after they re-signed him this past offseason. It’s a move I’m sure GM Brian Cashman now regrets making, but at the time it seemed like a good move considering how well he pitched for the Yanks last season after they acquired him before the trade deadline.

After going 7-0 with a 2.69 ERA in 11 starts for New York in 2018, Happ has taken a huge step back this year and is a big reason why the starting rotation has been so inconsistent. The 36-year-old wasn’t good in the first half posting a 5.02 ERA but since the All-Star break, he’s been even worse with a 6.86 ERA in 39.1 IP. He’s only made it through six innings once during the second half and he’s allowed 11 home runs.

Happ’s fastball location has been poor all season long, but it also seems like his overall stuff has dropped off because anytime he makes a mistake hitters aren’t missing. For a guy who relies heavily on his fastball, Happ doesn’t have the velocity to overpower hitters anymore. He only throws 91-92 mph and his secondary pitches aren’t anything special either so hitters are very comfortable stepping into the box against him.

To put it bluntly, Happ has been terrible and is actually on track to have the worst season by a Yankees starter in franchise history.

As long as he continues to pitch every fifth day he’s going to qualify and based on his performance so far there’s no reason to believe Happ is going to turn things around anytime soon. It’s the hard truth but unfortunately for the Yankees, they’re stuck with him because right now they don’t really have any other internal options to replace him in the rotation.

The Yankees would love to insert Luis Severino back atop their rotation in the next couple of weeks but he’s still rehabbing his way back and might not be stretched out enough to return as a starter. The same goes for Jordan Montgomery who’s also currently rehabbing his way back from injury and his timetable for a return is much more uncertain.

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Jonathan Loaisiga recently returned after being out with a shoulder strain since May but he’s being used in long relief. He’s had a handful of arm injuries early on in his career so the Yankees are being careful with him and he won’t be used as a starter again until next season. Top prospect Deivi Garcia could make his major league debut sometime in September but he’s been moved to the bullpen for the rest of the season as well to potentially help the team down the stretch.

The Yankees don’t have any other options to turn to but another reason why they’re sticking with Happ is their record is so good and they’ve won in spite of his struggles, winning 16 of his 25 starts. Even after losing three straight they’re still 83-45 and well on their way to winning their first division title since 2012.

They also have a two-game lead over the Astros in the race to secure home field throughout the AL playoffs and whether Happ stays in the rotation or not you have to like their chances to do so.

With the nine-game cushion the Yankees have atop the AL East standings they can afford to continue to pitch Happ out of the rotation and hope that he eventually figures it out. It’s unlikely but the good news is that once October rolls around they won’t have to pitch Happ at all because he probably won’t even be on the roster.