What It Means:

A case could be made that he shouldn't have given up any runs as the Cards' lone tally off of Hammel came in the eighth inning after Jorge Soler missed a catchable ball that turned into a double. It was the first time since June of last season Hammel surpassed seven innings in an outing. He'll bring a nifty 2.17 ERA into next week's outing against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The ERA looks nice, but Hammel's 4.18 SIERA is less attractive. He owns a solid 21.6 percent strikeout rate, but his 9.6 percent walk rate is a career-worst mark. He will benefit from pitching on the league's best team, but Hammel makes for a nice sell-high option right now.