Ten things to know about Jason Hammel

The Royals have signed pitcher Jason Hammel to a two-year, $16 million deal with a mutual option, pending a physical. Here are ten quick facts about Jason Hammel.

• Jason Hammel attended South Kitsap High School in Port Orchard, Washington just outside of Seattle, the same high school former Royals infielder Willie Bloomquist attended.
• Jason Hammel was stalling his career out as a reliever until he worked with Rockies pitching coach Jim Wright on simplifying his mechanics and working on focal points.

"Instead of worrying about the hitter, worrying about the umpire, worrying about the catcher, I just focused on hitting the glove," Hammel said. "It was all I was doing. As soon as I shifted my mind to thinking about whatever pitch I was throwing and hitting the glove with it, things started to shift. And it became easier for me to repeat stuff, because I wasn't thinking about all those different things."

• Jason Hammel was traded from the Colorado Rockies to the Baltimore Orioles in 2012 for former Royals pitcher Jeremy Guthrie.
• Jason Hammel was the Orioles 2013 Opening Day starter, defeating his old team, the Tampa Bay Rays, 7-4.
• Jason Hammel eats potato chips to avoid cramps.

"For my cramps, if it’s a chronic thing, [the doctor] said, ‘Potato chips,’ because they have a lot of potassium and obviously the sea salt helps retain water. So I focused on that over the break and ate a lot of potato chips, and I think it turned out pretty well. Potato chip prescription … PCP … that’s what I’m going to try to go with."

• Jason Hammel pitched in the 2014 Wild Card Game for the Oakland Athletics. He came in relief and faced just one hitter - Salvador Perez - giving up the game winning hit.
• Jason Hammel unofficially ran for President last year with the campaign slogan “Hell Yes.”

• Jason Hammel can handle a hockey stick.

• Jason Hammel could have had his option picked up by the Cubs, but they honored an agreement they made with him not to pick up the option and stick him in the bullpen.

“I really do believe with any other team, I would have been taken advantage of,” Hammel said Monday. “If they would have picked up my option, it very easily could have ended my career.”

• Jason Hammel is a blogger. Nerd! He hasn’t written in over a year, but you can read his past blog posts at HammelTown. He is an avid dog-lover and participated in SB Nation’s Its On Us campaign against domestic violence.

If he ever wants to contribute to Royals Review, we are happy to have him!