Kansas City Royals: Jason Hammel has not panned out

The Kansas City Royals were put in a bind after Yordano Ventura passed away in early 2017. They filled his spot in the rotation with Jason Hammel and it has not gone according to plan.

When Yordano Ventura tragically passed away, the Kansas City Royals had to find someone to put into the rotation. Obviously it’d be tough to find a pitcher who could replicate what Ventura could do, but one of the best pitchers on the free agent market at that time was Jason Hammel.

Hammel wasn’t in his prime, no, but he had a decent 2016 campaign with the Cubs before basically being shut down at the end of the year. It was a signing that had to happen for the Royals due to unfortunate circumstances and for the most part, fans seemed to think Hammel was a decent signing.

It has not gone well for Jason Hammel in Kansas City. He’s had decent outings, but he’s mostly been pretty bad. Last year he posted a 5.29 ERA in 180.1 innings pitched and while the ERA was really high, he finished the season strong. That gave Royals fans hope that maybe Hammel could carry that mojo into 2018, but alas, that has not been the case.

Hammel has been awful this season. He’s currently sporting a 6.16 ERA, 1.612 WHIP, and has lost 11 games while winning just two. After his dreadful outing against the Red Sox over the weekend, Hammel was demoted to the bullpen and this is yet another bad contract that the Kansas City Royals have given out.

Hammel isn’t cheap this year, having signed a two-year deal worth $16 million last winter, so a guy that expensive being demoted to the pen is brutal. It’s a move that needed to be made though, even with the cost of Hammel’s contract.

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Hammel is 35 years old (he’ll be 36 in September) and this is the final year of his contract. He won’t be a Royal much longer and there’s no point in having him continue to start games, especially when he’s been this bad.

As noted in Jeffrey Flanagan’s tweet above, Burch Smith is taking Hammel’s place in the rotation. Smith hasn’t been good either, but at least he has some potential. He’s also 28 years old and a Rule-5 guy, so the Royals are making sure to give him every opportunity possible.

The Royals had to sign someone after Ventura passed away and Jason Hammel seemed like a good option at the time. Unfortunately it just hasn’t worked out. You win some, you lose some when it comes to free agent signings and this one will go down as one of the worst contracts for the franchise.