Hammel struggles with command

By ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com
BRADENTON — With decision time coming soon for the fifth spot in the Rays rotation, Jason Hammel picked a bad time to lose command of the strike zone.
Hammel, competing with Jeff Niemann for the final spot in the rotation, walked five batters in four innings Monday during the Rays 4-1 loss to the Pirates at McKechnie Field.

“The guy I was the first few starts and appearances wasn’t there (Monday),” Hammel said. “I wasn’t aggressive. I was nitpicking, trying to pick the corners and just wasn’t aggressive. So that’s what happens when you don’t do that.”

Hammel, who has had one bad outing this spring and bounced back strong in his next start, entered Monday’s game having issued only three walks in his first 16 innings. So it is not as if he’s been wild all spring.

Still, Rays manager Joe Maddon was hoping to see a better start for the right-hander.

“The command all over the place, fastball command,” Maddon said. “He threw some good breaking balls, actually, particularly to left-handed hitters. But fastball wasn’t where he wanted it to be. He just has to get a little bit better there.”

Maddon said he’s not necessarily looking at the results when Hammel and Niemann pitch, but how they pitch.

“We talk about fastball command all the time,” Maddon said. “The last time he had a couple of tough innings with that and settled in and pitched two good innings after that, but then it shows up again (Monday). That’s something we’re always evaluating.”

The walks allowed the Pirates to scored four times on six hits.

“Sums up in one word: unacceptable,” Hammel said. “For a rotation hopeful, that’s definitely what you’re supposed to get. One good thing is I felt strong. The arm felt was good.”

Hammel appeared to have the edge over Niemann for the fifth spot with the runner-up heading to the bullpen as the long man. But Monday’s outing might have changed that.

“We have not made up our minds yet. We really have not,” Maddon said. “Of course, yes. We want guys who throw strikes. We have a team that plays defense, and you want your pitchers to put the ball in play. Yes, we’re looking at Niemann very closely. With Jason, he and I have had this conversation, we got to throw strikes with our fastball. We still have not made up our mind on who the fifth starter is.”

Daily Upton update
Center fielder B.J. Upton took batting practice Monday and was scheduled to play defense and run the bases for three innings in a minor league game.

But, the game was rained out. So Upton will play three innings today in a minor league game, hitting and playing the outfield.

Rodriguez sent back to ChiSox
Pitcher Derek Rodriguez, whom the Rays picked up in the Rule 5 draft, was sent back to the White Sox.

Rodriguez had a 7.50 ERA in 6 innings.

NOTEWORTHY
Lance Cormier threw a pair of scoreless innings Monday against the Pirates ... Former Ray Eric Hinske hit his first triple of the spring in the second inning, sending the ball over the head of Rays center fielder Gabe Kapler and into the swirling wind ... The Rays used the DH while the Pirates did not. Matt Joyce, the Rays DH, was 0-for-3. Zach Duke, the Pirates starter, was 1-for-2 with an RBI double ... Scott Kazmir will pitch in a minor league game today ... Matt Garza will pitch in a minor league game Wednesday.