Re-acquaint Yourself With Jason Hammel

Tonight, Jason Hammel makes his return to the rotation for his first start since July. If you're just jumping on the bandwagon, or just plum forgot how awesome he was, a brief synopsis of Hammel's O's career:

• Hammel was acquired along with Matt Lindstrom from the Rockies for Jeremy Guthrie on February 6
• Hammel performed very well before sitting out a couple starts with knee problems between May 5 and May 14
• Hammel was pulled in the 3rd inning of his start against the Tigers on July 13
• Hammel was placed on the disabled list on July 14 and underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee
• After embarking on a rehab program, Hammel threw 5 shutout innings, walking one and striking out 7 at Frederick on September 1

At the time Hammel went on the DL, he had an fWAR of 2.7 (which still leads Orioles pitchers) and an rWAR of 2.4; he has stuck out 106 batters in 109.1 innings and his 8.73 K/9 leads all Orioles starters; his groundball rate is presently 53.6%; his ERA/FIP/xFIP are a very solid 3.54/3.25/3.48; half of his 18 starts have been quality starts.

Some of Hammel's highlights from this season include:

• 10 strikeouts against the White Sox in 6 innings (4/19)
• 7 shutout innings against the Blue Jays, striking out 7, 5 baserunners allowed (4/25)
• 8 strikeouts in 6.2 innings, 5 baseunners allowed versus Boston (5/5)
• 6 shutout innings, 7 strikeouts against the Royals (5/25)
• A complete game, one hit shutout of the Braves, 8 strikeouts, 103 pitches, 3 baserunners (6/16)
• 10 strikeouts, 8 shutout innings, 93 pitches versus the Nationals (6/22)

Welcome back, buddy! We've missed you!