They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression. For Pittsburgh Pirates left-hander J.A. Happ, that’s proving to be true.
After a disastrous Pirates debut on Tuesday, Happ, who was acquired from the Seattle Mariners for Triple-A right-hander Adrian Sampson at the trade deadline, will be skipped in the starting rotation by Pirates manager Clint Hurdle according to multiple media reports.
An off day on Monday will allow the Pirates to flow from this weekend’s series against the Los Angeles Dodgers into next week’s Central Division showdown with the Cardinals in St. Louis while keeping the rest of the pitching staff in their regular five-day rotation.
That means that Jeff Locke, Gerrit Cole and Francisco Liriano will take the hill in three-game set against the Redbirds, who will counter with Carlos Martinez, Michael Wacha and Lance Lynn, assuming that St. Louis manager Mike Matheny sticks with his current rotation.
Happ was neither effective nor efficient in his Pirates debut, allowing eight hits and four earned runs while throwing 99 pitches over a mere 4.1 innings. Just 59 of his 99 pitches were thrown for strikes.
Going back to his time with the Mariners, Happ has one win since May 9 and has dropped six of his last seven decisions.
Happ’s next scheduled start would then be Saturday, August 15 in New York against the Mets. Right-hander A.J. Burnett, on the disabled list with a strained elbow flexor, is expected to return by the end of the month.
Happ will be available out of the bullpen this weekend against the Dodgers.
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