Blue Jays Place J.A. Happ On Bereavement List

May 2, 2013; Toronto, ON, Canada; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher J.A. Happ (48) delivers a pitch against the Boston Red Sox at Rogers Centre. The Red Sox beat the Blue Jays 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

In a move that had been discussed earlier this week, the Toronto Blue Jays placed left-hander J.A. Happ on the Bereavement List on Tuesday morning. The move will clear a spot on the 25-man roster for Todd Redmond, who is slated to start on Tuesday night.

Players placed on baseball’s bereavement list must miss a minimum of three games and a maximum of seven games. In this case, Happ is expected to be gone the minimum of three days in order to attend the funeral for his grandfather, who passed away earlier this week.

Happ had originally been scheduled to start Tuesday’s series opener against the Red Sox, but was moved up to Monday. The move was made in anticipation of his placement on the bereavement list, but also in order to allow Josh Johnson to receive a few days of extra rest before taking his next turn on Wednesday.

The left-hander responded with what could likely be deemed his best start of what has become an abbreviated season. After allowing a lead-off home run to Chris Young to start the game, Happ settled down, surrendering just two more hits on the afternoon. He finished the day after throwing seven strong innings, with 3 hits allowed, 2 walks, and 6 strike-outs for a game score of 71. The Blue Jays would end up allowing four runs in the ninth inning, all attributed to closer Casey Janssen, in what finished as a 5-1 loss.

For the season, Happ has made just 9 starts due to a line-drive to the head on May 7th against Tampa Bay. He’ll return to a 2-2 record, a 5.11 ERA, and a 7.0 K/9 ratio later this week.