The last time the Pirates faced left-hander J.A. Happ, it took them 7⅓ innings to muster a hit off of him. That was on April 23, when Happ was still pitching for the Minnesota Twins.
On Tuesday, the Pirates saw him again. He’s a St. Louis Cardinal now, dealt from the Twins to the Pirates’ division rival at this season’s trade deadline.
This time, it took the Pirates just three innings to get a hit off of Happ. It was a leadoff home run from second baseman Hoy Park, his first career long ball. That was it. They produced no more hits or runs and just two more baserunners all game, losing, 4-1, at PNC Park.
It’s a bit baffling that, of all pitchers to dominate the Pirates, Happ has done so. Against every team other than the Pirates, he has a 7.13 ERA in 96 innings. Against the Pirates, he has a 0.68 ERA in 13⅓ innings. That would be a harrowing statistic on its own, but it isn’t like the Pirates threatened at all and couldn’t push anything across. They totaled exactly two hits in those 13⅓ innings against a pitcher with a 1.568 WHIP, who has allowed nearly 12 hits per nine innings this season.
That is baffling, even for the team that has scored the fewest runs in the majors this year and maintains the second-lowest team OPS in baseball.
“I think both times we’ve faced [Happ], he’s executed balls on both sides of the plate,” manager Derek Shelton said after the game. “He’s given us trouble. To say in his other starts, I don’t know. But both of his starts against us, he’s really executed balls to both sides … especially the fastball to both sides of the plate.”
Shelton added that the Pirates didn’t have a specific game plan against Happ, but were instead just trying to focus on what Happ was doing during the outing and react from there.
On the bright side, if anyone was going to produce the lone offensive bright spot on the night, Park is an encouraging candidate to do so. He was one of the pieces the Pirates received from the New York Yankees in exchange for right-handed reliever Clay Holmes at the deadline.
At the time of the trade, Park led the Class AAA East Division in batting average (.327), on-base percentage (.475), OPS (1.042) and walks (46), was tied for third in runs (44) and fourth in slugging percentage (.567). He still couldn’t crack the Yankees’ stacked big league roster, playing in just one MLB game with them.
So they sent him to Pittsburgh, where he would have an opportunity to break into the majors. So far, he has taken full advantage of that opportunity. The homer on Tuesday was the high point so far, but his 1-for-3 night moved his batting average with the Pirates to .310 and his OPS to .907. It has only been eight games, which is a major caveat, but it’s also a good first impression.
Plus, the Pirates seem prepared to give him ample starts, wherever they appear. They have given him reps in the corner outfield spots and shortstop, and Tuesday was his first shot at playing second base. He filled in fine defensively, helping to turn a 5-4-3 double play with Ke’Bryan Hayes in the third inning and securing a routing fly ball in his two opportunities. So far, Park has yet to make an error at any of his positions.
“I’m just trying to be on time every time,” Park said of his home run. “I knew that Happ is a really great pitcher, so I was just trying to be focused on every at-bat, and finally I had it on time at the plate, and I think I just had a good pitch to hit.”
Those looking for encouragement in Tuesday’s game could also point to left-hander Steven Brault. The 29-year-old started for just the second time this season after sitting out the first four months with a lat strain. This outing wasn’t too pretty. He allowed a leadoff home run to Tommy Edman in the first, then another solo shot to Paul DeJong in the second.
He was hit fairly hard throughout, but he used the biggest parts of the ballpark effectively and limited the damage overall, exiting after five innings with five hits, two runs and six strikeouts. Not perfect by any means, but a fine start in his second outing.
He would have had to be perfect to give the Pirates a chance anyway. In a different uniform and to a different degree they were shut down by Happ again, who exposed the myriad holes in their offense for the umpteenth time this season.
Mike Persak: mpersak@post-gazette.com and Twitter @MikeDPersak
First Published: August 11, 2021, 2:20 a.m.
Updated: August 11, 2021, 4:00 a.m.
