Fantasy Baseball: Top Sleepers For 2016 Pitchers Edition

Jason Hammel

Roto-rank: 83rd starting pitcher/282nd overall

Points rank: 68th starting pitcher/10 points per game

Jason Hammel has won ten games in each of the last two seasons. Last year he struck out 172 hitters across 170.2 innings of work. He was ranked 29th in the MLB in the strikeout department.

The key with Jason Hammel is knowing when to part ways with the pitcher. He is extremely effective and can be one of the most reliable pitchers on your team, but it’s probably best to look elsewhere after the All-Star break.

In his career, Hammel is 49-40 in the first half of the season while only 20-37 in the second half. His ERA of 4.06 is more than a full point better than his second half ERA of 5.15.

Last season, Hammel struck out 105 batters across 103.2 innings of work in the first half. His WHIP of .945 before the All-Star break was good enough for fifth in the league among pitchers with at least 100 innings of work. He would finish the year ranked 30th in that category.

2014 was similar for Jason Hammel. He had a 3.01 ERA across 113.2 innings in the first half of the season with a strikeout rate of 8.5/9 innings. In the second half, he had a 4.31 ERA across 62.2 innings and his strikeout rate dropped to 7.3/9 innings.

Because of his poor end of the year numbers, Hammel has a good shot at being available in the later rounds. There’s nothing wrong with riding the hot hand until the heat wears off. There will be plenty of valuable players available on the waiver wire to replace his production in the second half.

Next: Made of Glass