Dodgers @ Cubs June 23, 2015: Jason Hammel Is Really Good

If it sounds like I’m pre-emptively making excuses for the Dodgers offense, well, maybe I am, but let’s at least note that tonight’s starter, Jason Hammel, is way better than you think he is.

	Dodgers			Cubs
	5:05 p.m.			Chicago, Ill.
RF	Puig		LF	Coghlan
CF	Pederson		1B	Rizzo
2B	Kendrick		3B	Bryant
1B	Gonzalez		C	Montero
C	Grandal		SS	Castro
LF	Ethier		RF	Baxter
3B	Callaspo		LF	Szczur
SS	Rollins		P	Hammel (R)
P	Greinke (R)		2B	Russell

I know you wouldn’t expect all that much from a guy who is nearly 33 and has kicked around from Tampa Bay to Colorado to Baltimore to Chicago to Oakland back to Chicago, but that pretty sorely underestimates him. Here’s Hammel’s K% the last three years:
– 15.7%
– 22.1%
– 25.7%

And his BB% the last five years:

– 9.2%
– 8.5%
– 7.9%
– 6.2%
– 4.2%

More strikeouts and fewer walks generally help. So far this year, his fWAR is equal to Cole Hamels and Madison Bumgarner. His K%-BB% is 8th overall, better than Matt Harvey or Gerrit Cole or Johnny Cueto. How’s that happening? The old Hammel threw moderately-effective fastballs. The much more recent Hammel throws sliders, lots of them:

In Hector Olivera news:

OKC Dodgers infielder Hector Olivera has been placed on the 7-day DL, retroactive to Sunday. He is not here. Locker already gone.

— Jacob Unruh (@jacobunruh) June 23, 2015

HE TOOK THE ENTIRE LOCKER.

Or actually he’s just rehabbing his injured left hamstring in Arizona, either/or. I suppose that’s not a particularly surprising injury for a guy trying to get back to game speed after so much time away from the game, but regardless, that’ll probably quiet down some of the questions about him for a while, since he’s expected to miss 2-3 weeks. It doesn’t, of course, make having Alberto Callaspo in the lineup any easier.

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