The Toronto Blue Jays are set to exercise their $6.7 million option on J.A. Happ, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.The 32-year-old journeyman from Peru, Illinois is now set for his fourth season in Toronto.
Last season while pitching at the back of Toronto's rotation, he had his best statistical season since 2010. Happ started 26 games and made 30 appearances with an ERA of 4.22, under the magic 4.50 threshold. He threw 158 innings, his most since 2009 and posted a mark of 7.1 K/9 IP and a WHIP of 1.335.
Happ first broke into the big leagues as a 24-year-old, when he was a September call-up for the Philadelphia Phillies. He made only one appearance in his first cup of coffee in The Bigs, but was a highly thought of prospect. He was recalled to the majors by Philadelphia in 2008 as a late-season call up again, and made eight appearances.
He didn't firmly establish himself as a major league pitcher until 2009 when he went 12-4 in 35 appearances, of which 23 were starts and posted a 2.93 ERA. However, that was his best season in the majors.
In 2010 while struggling with injury, Happ only made three appearance for the Phillies before being traded to the Houston Astros. The next season, his ERA ballooned to 5.35 and Happ has not been the same pitcher since. The 2014 season marked the closest he's ever come to replicating that magic season of 2009, and he will look next season to get his career ERA back to what it was in his Philly days. Happ's career ERA is 4.22 while in Philadelphia it was 3.11.