On Sunday afternoon, Theo Epstein released a statement explaining that the Cubs had bought out Jason Hammel’s 10 million dollar option for next year. The statement, in full, is copied in the tweet below: The #Cubs today announced that the club has declined the 2017 option on Jason Hammel’s contract. pic.twitter.com/sJ22n2VQ8N — Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) […]
Tag: Jason Hammel
Jason Hammel’s Tenuous Hold on a Postseason Future
Jason Hammel’s 2016 season has had its ups and downs — more downs, lately, than ups — but on the whole it hasn’t been helped by the fact that he’s been part of what has been a historically good starting rotation. Hammel currently ranks 40th in ERA (minimum 100.0 IP) for starting pitchers across all of […]
Hammel Doesn’t Need to Start in October, and Shouldn’t
We all have questions about Jason Hammel. Why is he giving up so many home runs? How did he get so into Pearl Jam? What is the real story behind his first and second half splits? There are a bounty of questions surrounding the lanky Cubs right hander, but most importantly right now, at the […]
Jason Hammel: A Recency Bias Test Case
Recency bias, or the tendency to give disproportionate weight to something that just happened, seems to hit baseball fans and analysts especially hard. People who follow baseball (despite everything we know about sample sizes) unfortunately still fall all too often into the “what have you done for me lately” trap instead of accounting for a player’s […]
The 2016 Starting Rotation is Historically Good
When the Cubs picked up John Lackey during the offseason, the starting rotation finally felt like that of a team vying for a championship. The top two were never a question—Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester were always going to be the 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation. But following those two up with […]
Game 118 Recap: Cubs 4 Brewers 1
Somewhere Ernie Banks is smiling. Doubleheaders may not be Joe Maddon’s favorite, but he has to be happy with the fact that the Cubs won easily and without drama in both games of today’s doubleheader. These wins are an appropriate balm for frustrating losses to the Cardinals on Saturday and Sunday. In the night game, the […]
Series Preview: Cubs vs. Angels, August 9-10
This season opened in Anaheim, and much of what made the Cubs the Cubs then has changed. Kyle Schwarber is no longer a part of the left field platoon, the bullpen is almost entirely reconfigured, and the depth of the minor league system has been tapped somewhat in order to ensure as best as possible […]
Good For What Ails You: Hot Springs and Potato Chips
Sometime in the early days of my first real job in the fast-paced and glamorous world of the kitchen at a fast food chain, I received a burn from one of the many oil vats used in such places. I almost immediately learned two things about this occurence: one, that it’s a strange badge of honor for […]
Game 100 Recap: Cubs 8 White Sox 1
The Cubs are in a weird place right now. On one hand, they’re looking much improved after the break and taking series wins against the Rangers, Mets, and Brewers has calmed much of the angst that had so defined the month of July for Cubs fans. But on the other hand, there’s a swirl of […]
Hammer Time’s Not So Bad
Watching major sporting events with my wife is great fun. Whether it’s the Super Bowl or the World Series, it always ends the same way. When the cameras inevitably pan to the losers, she gets visibly upset and says something like, “Awww, poor guys. That’s so sad that they had to lose.” And then I […]