MLB

Fantasy Baseball: 4 Starting Pitchers to Target for Strikeout Gains in 2017

Use your ← → (arrow) keys to browse the slideshow

Cole Hamels, Texas Rangers

Swinging-Strike Rate (Rank): 12.2% (7th)

Strikeout Rate (Rank): 23.6% (19th)

Make no bones about it -- Cole Hamels' above numbers are fantastic, as he is a top-20 stud in both categories.

Although his strikeout rate is great, it's also his lowest mark from the last three seasons, along with his second lowest over the last five. As a member of the Philadelphia Phillies, Hamels posted a high-water strikeout rate of 24.9% in 2012, and he basically repeated that performance in 2015, with a 24.4% rate.

Last year was likely just a slight hiccup, and Hamels, along with his other great peripherals, could climb even higher in the strikeout ranks in 2017.