Here's the article from Bloomberg Sports reminding you to never feel happy as an Astros fan:
Looking at Happ's underlying statistics, there are plenty of reasons to worry about him in Houston. Just a peek at his 2010 strikeout rate (5.28 K/9) and walk rate (7.04 BB/9) alone should send the proverbial shiver down the spine. Happ has had some trouble finding the strike zone all year, as he walked 4.1 per nine on his rehab stint too. Granted, he's pitched only 15.1 innings this year.
Then again, this wildness is not typical of Happ's career to date, and we also know that walk rates take a while to stabilize (550 batters faced). Happ's career walk rate is 3.48 BB/9, which is about average (3.33 BB/9 is average this year). The problem is more his lack of a great strikeout rate (6.59 K/9 career, MLB average is 7.03 K/9 this year) or groundball rate (36.5% career, 44% is league average). This package adds up to a mediocre career xFIP (expected fielding independent pitching, a number that strips out batted ball luck, home run luck and other factors, and produces a number on the ERA scale) of 4.65. Happ did put up a 9.2 K/9 in the minor leagues, but until he shows an improved number in that category in the major leagues, we'll have to go with what we see.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
