As I suspected earlier in this space, J.A. Happ has in fact been placed on the 15-day DL with a left forearm strain.

Pitching coach Rich Dubee said he cut Happ's pen session short after 20 pitches today because "he didn't look right." That said, Happ might not miss a lot of time if his arm continues to progress, as it has since his last start.

"I feel pretty positive (Happ) won't be out for an extended period," Dubee said.

To take Happ's place on the 25-man roster, J.C. Romero has been activated, which is obviously a boost to the back end of the bullpen.

Here is a little of what J.A. Happ had to say this afternoon:


Question: Having gone through what you went through in '07, think this is the best thing to do?
Happ: I think so. I'm trying to have better perspective about the whole thing. I think they're being smart about it and I agree with them that I'm not quite there yet.

Question: You pitched through it through most of '07 season?
Happ: Quite a bit of it, yeah.

Question: Do you sense after going through three years ago how much time you need? Ruben said it's probably more like weeks than months.
Happ: I sure hope (it's quickly). It's progressed some and we're hoping it continues to do that. we're not going to shut it down completely, I'm still going to toss and do other stuff to try to keep the arm moving. Unfortunately I think it's one of those things that needs to not be stressed for a little while.

Question: How did it feel at its worst, and then today in pen?
Happ: It's something where I let go of the ball, it's a very uncomfortable feeling. But it’s not as intense or as sharp as it was. The bullpen today was OK. But I wouldn't feel like I'd be that successful trying to get big league hitters out with the way it is right now.

Question: How does it feel compared to '07?
Happ: It's hard to say. It's similar. I can't remember exactly. I've also tried to block that entire year out of my memory and this is bringing it back up again which I don't like. It's similar.

Question: After you finally stopped pitching in '07 before Arizona Fall League, how long did it take before you felt fine throwing?
Happ: I took time - I probably didn't start throwing until mid-December. It was a couple of months off, and that’s because it was the offseason. I was able to give it as much time as I could. I certinaly don't anticipate it being anywhere near that, and that's why we're trying to be smart about it. If you get to a situation where it's 6-8 weeks instead of maybe, 1-2 weeks, hopefully.

Question: You had all that time to shut down three years ago because of the offseason and don't have that time now. is that worrisome?
Happ: No. That was a situation where I'd stressed it and was pitching on it when maybe I shouldn't have. This was the best approach, to stop it now before it gets worse.

Question: Didn't feel it this time until right before this last start, right?
Happ: Yeah, it started to get stiff. The last start was the first time it was there.