The New York Yankees made moves prior to the trade deadline to acquire players that perform well against potential playoff opponents throughout their careers. Unfortunately, one of those acquisitions will already miss a series against the Boston Red Sox.
According to George A. King III of the New York Post, J.A. Happ will be placed on the 10-day disabled list as he is dealing with Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease.
Happ was impressive in his debut for the New York Yankees. Against the Kansas City Royals in the Bronx on July 29th, he went 6.0 innings pitched with only 3 hits and 1 run allowed. He also had 2 strikeouts compared to 1 walk.
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The Yankees acquired Happ to help provide stability to the starting rotation. Although he is a free agent following this season, the organization gave up two young players in Brandon Drury and Billy McKinney to add him for the stretch run.
One of the key factors to this acquisitions is his performance against the Boston Red Sox over his career. In 19 games against Boston, he has compiled a 7-4 record with a 2.98 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP in 105.2 innings pitched.
This stint on the disabled list will cause Happ to miss the Yankees 4-game series against their rivals, but he is not expected to miss a significant amount of time.
Prior to tonight's game, the Yankees placed LHP J.A. Happ on
— Yankees PR Dept. (@YankeesPR) August 2, 2018
the 10-day D.L. (retroactive to July 30) with hand, foot and mouth
disease, optioned INF Tyler Wade to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and
recalled RHP Luis Cessa (#85) and INF Luke Voit (#45) from Scranton/WB.
As the trip to the disabled list is retroactive to July 30th, Happ will most likely return in time for the Yankees series at home against the Texas Rangers.
Happ is the latest New York starter to suffer from Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease. Most recently, Mets starter Noah Syndergaard was removed from a start against the Yankees, and ended up being placed on the 10-day disabled list. His start against the crosstown rivals occurred on July 20th, and he was able to return from the disabled list to make a start on August 1st.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone may strategically place Happ back into the rotation to ensure that he’s lined up for the remaining Red Sox series. Between CC Sabathia‘s recent success against the Sox and Happ’s career success, the Yankees will be leaning on the veteran lefties as they attempt to climb their way back to the top of the American League East.