| Hammel could provide a boost if the Orioles make the ALDS. (US Presswire) |
Should the Orioles make the ALDS by virtue of winning the AL East or the wild-card game, they may get Jason Hammel back in the starting rotation.
"As of today, for the day after, it feels great. No setbacks, no soreness, no swelling," he said (masnsports.com). "If needed, I'm ready to go. I feel good. I'd say right now it's as good as it's going to get before a full rest in the offseason, which is pretty good."
Hammel has been on the shelf since Sept. 11 with a lingering knee injury. He made two starts in September after returning from a mid-July surgery on his right knee to repair loose cartilage.
Hammel, 30, is 8-6 with a 3.43 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 113 strikeouts in 118 innings this season. He was one of the better pitchers in baseball for much of the first half, as he was 8-2 with a 2.61 ERA through 14 starts. The Orioles are 13-7 in games Hammel has started this year, too.
The Orioles haven't made any decisions yet about a playoff rotation, obviously because they have no idea what the schedule will be. It's possible they'll have to play Thursday (one-game playoff against Yankees for AL East), Friday (if they lose the one-game playoff, they'll be in the wild-card game) and then Sunday (if they win the wild-card game and advance to ALDS).
Wei-Yin Chen, Joe Saunders, Chris Tillman, Zach Britton, Steve Johnson and Miguel Gonzalez could all get looks at postseason starts, in addition to Hammel.
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