NOT VERY HAPP-Y WITH NEW YORK PITCHING

Source: Newsday

The JA Happ we all know for his aggressiveness and confidence, has not shown himself so far this season. We’re used to seeing the pitcher work quickly and efficiently, but lately you can tell he’s really been overthinking between pitches. With three bad starts before Wednesday’s game, it was incredibly important for Happ to step up and show us what we’ve been missing. 

Source: AP

Of course, Brett Gardner’s grand slam is what helped the Yankees to win the game against the Red Sox, but Happ’s pitching also helped the team to pull through. Happ did what he had to do by brushing off the bad starts, and getting it together when it mattered the most.

Source: NY Post

However, with an ERA of 7.23 so far this season, there is definitely improvement still to be made. Now that Luis Severino is out until at least July, a lot will fall onto James Paxton and Happ to pick up the slack.  I know we have not been very Happ-y with him, but J.A. is going to have dig deep and find the guy who led the team last year and prove that those contributions were not just a fluke.

Source: NY Post

One player who is seeming less “god-like” is Noah Syndergaard (aka Thor) of the Mets. I almost just want him to press the reset button and pretend like his season hasn’t started yet. His start on Monday against the Phillies did not go as planned, allowing five runs on nine hits and three walks. The Mets ended up winning the game in extra innings, but not without allegations of Syndergaard cheating.

A video surfaced on social media that appeared to show him rubbing two fingers on the base of his glove before touching the baseball.

"If I were doctoring up the baseballs, I wouldn’t be throwing 86 mph sliders. You felt those baseballs, they felt like ice cubes,” Syndergaard said to the NY Post. “Watch a video of a dog trying to pick up an ice cube, that’s what it was like.”

With only one quality start and a 5.63 ERA, Thor has definitely not been very effective this season and I’d like to see improvement going forward.  It seems to just be one thing after another for both teams when it comes to injuries, pitching woes, and allegations. I guess that’s what we get for being New York baseball fans and we will have to continue to endure the drama all season long.

--Missy O'Rourke
BYB Contributor
Twitter: @missy_orourke