Okay folks, lets get serious now and discuss the new roster: Lets start with Jason Hammel. He was NOT traded and is tentatively scheduled to be the 5th starter going forward. Im not necessarily defending Hammel but let me point out a couple things: Jason Hammel has made 4 starts with the As so far. Hes 0-4 with a 9.53 ERA and 2.12 WHIP. Opponents are hitting a ridiculous .351/.424/.622 against him and his BABIP is even worse. These are not sustainable numbers and some of this is bad luck. As Derek Norris also pointed out, Hammel is hanging a lot more pitches than usual and that will eventually subside. Now, in his four starts, the As have totaled 8 runs. 2, 4, 1, and 1 so clearly, Hammel is not getting much run support from an offense that we know is very capable of delivering in a big way. Heres the big part I want to emphasize: There is nothing mechanically or physically wrong with Jason Hammel. The problem is clearly with his preparation. 10 of the 18 runs he has allowed as an Athletic have come in the first inning. That tells me hes not mentally focusing. In both those starts, shutdown innings followed. If we had found a way to get Hammel through the first innings of those starts cleanly, his ERA would drop to 4.24. -DJ
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 23:32:00 +0000
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