Feb. 19--What was behind Jason Hammel's struggles after the All-Star break last season?
Was it the result of him bristling at being pulled early from a game on two occasions?
Or was it the tightness behind his left knee, which he now admits bothered him more in the second half than he had previously revealed?
Neither, according to Hammel.
"The execution has to be better," Hammel said Thursday. "That's the bottom line."
Hammel had a 5.10 ERA with 12 home runs allowed in 67 innings in the second half. Those numbers stand in contrast to those he posted in the first half: a 2.86 ERA with 11 homers surrendered in 103 2/3 innings.
According to Bill James' Handbook 2016, Hammel ranked fifth among the Cubs' projected starting pitchers by recording 38 percent of his strikes on the edges of the strike zone in 2015. The book added that Hammel threw his fastball 53 percent of the time and his slider 36 percent.
"I felt like fastball command was more the issue than anything," Hammel said. "When I needed to throw a fastball, it wasn't a quality fastball. Whether or not I threw a slider that was well-executed or not, I still wasn't establishing the fastball where they respect it enough.
"Obviously, the slider is my put-away pitch. But if I'm not putting guys away with it, it's going to get me in trouble. I don't really pay too much attention to it because I used it the same in the first half as I did in the second half."
Extra innings: Regardless of where free-agent center fielder Dexter Fowler signs, the Cubs will still lose their first two picks in this year's draft after signing free agents Jason Heyward and John Lackey because they received qualifying offers from the Cardinals. ... Cubs players performed brisk workouts Thursday as executives and coaches participated in the first of two meetings before Saturday's first workout for pitchers and catchers.
