5 years agoNew York Yankees starting pitcher J.A. Happ pitched four shutout innings against the Phillies on Wednesday, allowing three baserunners and striking out six. Happ struggled last season with a 4.91 ERA in 161 innings but owned a strong 3.48 ERA over his previous four seasons. A career-worst 5% home-run rate and poor 20.7% strikeout rate were two of the primary drivers behind Happ’s struggles last season. Underlying in those numbers is a fastball that allowed 25 homers and a slider that saw its swinging-strike rate drop nearly four points to 8.51%. Based on Happ’s .382 xwOBA on contact and 10.3% swinging-strike rate, fantasy owners should expect Happ to post an ERA of around 4.00 with a strikeout rate of around 22% in 2020, but monitor his pitch mix and effectiveness.--Sam Chinitz
Source: MLB.com