Veteran left-hander J.A. Happ announced his retirement in an appearance on the Heart Strong podcast with Jessica Lindberg on Tuesday after spending parts of 15 seasons in the major leagues. The 39-year-old said he went "back and forth for pretty much the whole winter" trying to decide if he wanted to return for another season. Happ spent last year with the Minnesota Twins and St. Louis Cardinals, going 10-8 with a 5.79 ERA and 1.48 WHIP while walking 48 and striking out 122 in 152 1/3 innings ...

Statcast metrics such as Barrels and Brls/BBE are great ways to evaluate a batter's performance, so it is only natural to assume that the metrics would be predictive for pitchers as well. As much as batters want to hit a Barrel every time, pitchers want to avoid them at all costs. Yet there is evidence that pitchers do not have the same influence over Barrels as a batter does.Shohei Ohtani finished with a league-leading 78 Barrels hit in 2021. Tarik Skubal and J.A. Happ tied for the league lead ...

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher J.A. Happ made it through four scoreless innings in Game 1 of Friday's doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs. In his four innings, Happ allowed no runs and only two hits, but walked four and struck out six. The veteran lefty threw 74 pitches, just 43 for strikes. Given that it was a seven inning game, Happ's four innings were enough to deliver the 13th consecutive win for the Cardinals. Happ's season ERA sits at a concerning 5.86.

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher J.A. Happ lasted five innings in his start against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday. Happ was decent, allowing four runs on seven hits in five innings. He did not issue a walk and struck out three. With the Cardinals only scoring two runs, Happ took his eighth loss of the season, evening his record at 8-8. His ERA sits at 6.24 and he may not get too many more shots in the starting rotation, although the Cardinals don't exactly have any other starters ...

BALLER MOVE: Add in leagues of 12+ teamsROSTERED IN: 19% of leaguesANALYSIS: Happ was not putting up great numbers with Minnesota this season, but since being traded to St. Louis he has shown some signs of improvement, as he's gone 3-1 with a 4.30 ERA, 1.330 WHIP and 18.7 percent strikeout rate over 29 1/3 innings with the Cardinals.He'll be at home for both starts this week, and he'll kick things off against the Dodgers who are slashing a paltry .196/.268/.361 and averaging 3.5 runs per game ...

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher J.A. Happ was destroyed by the Cincinnati Reds in Game 2 of Wednesday's doubleheader. Happ got just three outs, pitching one inning while allowing seven runs on eight hits and two walks. He allowed two home runs and ballooned his already rough ERA all the way up to 6.20. The Cardinals trade deadline plan of "trade for soft throwing lefties" has worked okay with Jon Lester, but Happ has been a disaster so far. He may not get too many more shots to start with...

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher J.A. Happ was very good in Saturday's start against the Pittsburgh Pirates, picking up a quality start despite a Cardinals loss. Happ went six innings, allowing two runs on six hits and a walk while striking out eight. It was Happ's best performance as a Cardinal, but he's still the owner of a 5.88 ERA and can only be trusted as a streaming option against weaker offenses at best.

The year of the no-hitter is back on after Tyler Gilbert's no-no against the Padres last weekend. It was the eighth no-hitter of the year, and the first this season to be thrown by a rookie. And while Gilbert isn't in this week's column, we'll be taking a look at a bunch of rookie pitchers in line for two-starts in Week 22.But first let's recap the last two weeks. J.A. Happ was the clear winner out of Week 20's column, going 2-0 with a 0.77 ERA and 0.857 WHIP while striking out seven over 11 2/3...

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher J.A. Happ was very good in Sunday's start against the Kansas City Royals, falling one out shy of a quality start but still earning the win. He tossed 5 2/3 innings, allowing just five hits and two walks, while striking out two and not allowing a run. Happ improves to 7-6 and lowers his ERA to 6.03. He's had a rough season, but the Cardinals need him to make more starts like this one.

TIM FREAKING ANDERSON. That's all that needs to be said about the Field of Dreams Game. Man, what an ending!That matchup sure lived up to the hype, but how did the pitchers on the last two columns hold up? Going back to Week 19, Chris Flexen was the clear winner from that column, going 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA, 1.542 WHIP and 13 strikeouts. And now in Week 20, J.A. Happ is the frontrunner after taking a no-hit bid into the sixth inning and finishing with one run allowed on one hit and two walks with ...