Happ this offseason Juan Lagares Jersey , in their search for a veteran presence in the rotation"WhiteFanposts FanpostsFanshotsSections AnalysisGame RecapsGamethreadsMinorsOffbeatFull ArchiveExclusives South Side Sox Hall of FameCard of the MonthDeep DiveDigitsFlashbackFranchise FactsKnow Your EnemyMost Essential White SoxRace to the BottomSix Pack of StatsSouth Side SnapSouth Side StumperSSS Literary SupplementSuper Stats PackThe Game I’ll Never ForgetTwitterpatingUnder the RadarView From the Other SideWhite Sox on SB Nation HomeStoriesScheduleRosterStatsWhite Sox on Yahoo! HomeDepth ChartTransactionsMasthead MastheadMeet the Players!Links White Sox Web LinksSouth Side Sox standardsCommunity GuidelinesOdds Shop StubHub nalysisWhat’s the Happ?New,34commentsThe White Sox have been connected to veteran J.A. Happ this offseason, in their search for a veteran presence in the rotation120 innings, and per 100 pitches). His wRC+, at 100 last season, is right at average, but that is more a case of Happ giving up quite a bit of power on hits off of his fastball, with a .209 ISO. Jose Abreu had a .208 ISO, so Happ’s fastball last season, when hit, was essentially Abreu contact. However, batters only had a .203 average against Happ’s fastball, so it seems Happ was using it in excess. It’s still a great pitch, but a 59.1% usage rate is probably not a good thing.Now, with every gain in a pitch usage usually comes a loss, and for Happ, he cut back drastically on his sinker and curveball. Happ’s swing percentage on his curveball and sinker in 2018.FanGraphsAs you can see from the above heat map Travis d'Arnaud Jersey , hitters are not fooled by Happ’s sinker and curveball, because they are not swinging outside the zone against them. As Happ’s spin rate on his curveball has decreased, he throws it fewer times. In 2018, Happ only used his curve 51 times all season — and that was probably too many. Happ literally did not record a swinging strike on his curveball in 2018. Out of the 51 times he threw it, a batter made contact 51 times, to the tune of a .500 batting average. Happ’s sinker was much better, but still awful. He used his sinker 14.4% of the time (his second most-used pitch), with a 122 wRC+ against. So whenever Happ threw the sinker, it was like Andrew Benintendi was at the plate (with his 122 wRC+ 2018 season).Both Happ’s sinker and curveball used to be much better pitches. As recently as 2017, the sinker and curveball were Happ’s two best pitches. The seeming loss of these pitches can be regained, but age and diminished stuff are factors in to those two pitches’ demise.But hey, two pitches go down, two must come up right? Well, for Happ that happened.Happ’s slider and changeup have improved greatly over the past few years. The chaneup had a negative evaluation per 100 pitches overall, at -.67; however, that is the best his change has been since 2013. At first glance, there is a reason Happ’s changeup is rated negatively: the batting average against the changeup in 2018 was .268. However Noah Syndergaard Jersey , the wRC+ against the change was an outstanding 73, even better than Happ’s fastball. The disconnect comes in the contact allowed by Happ with the change; the ISO against the pitch was miniscule .024. He also had his best swinging strike rate on the change in his career (13.3%) — not quite Jacob DeGrom level, but still, pretty good.There’s an even better pitch in Happ’s arsenal, one you can see make All-Stars look bad on in the above clip: the slider. It was rated as Happ’s second-best pitch, and the 35th-best slider in baseball in 2018. Hitters’ slash line against the slider (.160/.177/.330) is worth remembering as it generated just a 44 wRC+. Just to put a caption on that, Happ’s slider makes hitters look slightly worse than 2018 Chris Davis (46 wRC+). Happ also had a career high in 2018 in swinging strikes with his slider (11.9%). That’s a more pedestrian figure, but it is pointing up. The slider would be rated even better, but when contact is made, hitters are generating extra-base hits, as Happ allowed a .170 ISO on the slider.Again, Happ, would be a major improvement for the White Sox starting rotation in 2019, to the point where Happ would instantly become the team’s top starter. That may say more about the state of the White Sox starting rotation, but Happ also started Game 1 of the ALDS for the Yankees this season, so teams around the league know how good he is.He will probably need to throw fewer fastballs and hopefully recoup his curveball and sinker, but overall http://www.metsfanproshop.com/authentic-tim-tebow-jersey , Happ has proven to be very successful, year-in, year-out. Since 2015, Happ has averaged 3.1 fWAR, and seems to improved in his mid-30s, as he pounds low-and-away in the strike zone.Happ’s pitch location against lefties in 2018.FanGraphsHapp’s pitch location against righties in 2018.FanGraphsNow, even with the majority of his pitches low and away, Happ does have a home run problem. His HR/9 at 1.37 was 28th-worst in baseball among hurlers with at least 120 innings pitched. His HR/FB rate (13.4%) is well below average, and is even more worrisome because Happ actually allows more fly balls than ground balls. But with a walk rate in the top third of the league among starters, Happ was able to weather those storms (just not against the Boston Red Sox in October).So, if the Sox sign Happ? Sure, it’s not exactly the Chicago Cubs signing Jon Lester, but it is the next best thing. Hell, overpay if you have to. White Sox fans were ... encouraged by a winless week. But we love our bat flips!"WhiteFanposts FanpostsFanshotsSections AnalysisGame RecapsGamethreadsMinorsOffbeatFull ArchiveExclusives South Side Sox Hall of FameCard of the MonthDeep DiveDigitsFlashbackFranchise FactsKnow Your EnemyMost Essential White SoxRace to the BottomSix Pack of StatsSouth Side SnapSouth Side StumperSSS Literary SupplementSuper Stats PackThe Game I’ll Never ForgetTwitterpatingUnder the RadarView From the Other SideWhite Sox on SB Nation HomeStoriesScheduleRosterStatsWhite Sox on Yahoo! HomeDepth ChartTransactionsMasthead MastheadMeet the Players!Links White Sox Web LinksSouth Side Sox standardsCommunity GuidelinesOdds Shop StubHub B Nation FanPulseFanPulseSB Nation FanPulse: An uptick in fan confidence?New,14commentsWhite Sox fans were ... encouraged by a winless week. But we love our bat flips!CDTShareTweetShareShareSB Nation FanPulse: An uptick in fan confidence?Welcome to SB Nation FanPulse, a survey of fans across MLB. Each week, we send 30 polls to plugged-in fans from each team. White Sox fans http://www.metsfanproshop.com/authentic-tim-tebow-jersey , sign up HERE to join FanPulse.White Sox fans again were asked this week if they’re confident in the direction of the ballclub.Last week, confidence hit a season low, at 50%. Somehow, after a miserable, 1-5 homestand, the number rose, to 58%:Fan confidence in the White SoxWeek 1 62%Week 2 50%Week 3 58%Somehow in the midst of the merriment, Ricky Renteria’s job approval took a tumble. Using Adam Engel as a pinch-hitter will do that to a guy. Fan confidence in Ricky RenteriaWeek 1 76%Week 2 86%Week 3 60%The national poll question this week pitted new-schooler-shouting-at-clouds Chris Archer vs. baton-twirler Bryce Harper, and by a significant margin, flips are hip: Where are you on these questions? If you didn’t participate in the FanPulse survey this week, hey man, get with the program, and sign up above or HERE. All the cool kids are doing it.