Jesse Hahn (SP, OAK) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 10+ Team Leagues

OWNED IN: 13% of Fleaflicker Leagues

ANALYSIS: When the Oakland A's acquired Jesse Hahn from the San Diego Padres in exchange for Derek Norris they were expecting a franchise stabilizing move to their rotation. Hahn had been a diamond in the rough in the minor leagues for San Diego and for Tampa Bay for the better part of 3 seasons. This is his time to prove that he belongs.

After Hahn's Tommy John surgery in 2010 derailed his descent to the major leagues Oakland made him a serious contender to start the year in their rotation. Thusfar he has been as solid as possible given the current state of affairs in Oakland.

In his first full season in any major league rotation Hahn has continued his sparkling control with a 3:1 K/BB ratio and his 1.13 WHIP and 3.51 ERA add that feature of stability that Oakland wanted out of him. The biggest improvement however has ultimately been his BB/9 rate which has been lowered from 3.9 to 1.9 over the last two partial seasons.

Hahn's BABIP rating is down to .272 which puts him in the top 20 in the AL and in the top 40 across MLB.
The K/9 rate has dropped by almost 2 K's per game which is a bit alarming going forward. But his GB/FB rate sits at 1.11 which means he is inducing a ton of wasted at bats to opposing batters. Outside of Sonny Gray no one is pitching better than Hahn right now for Oakland's miserable 2015 campaign.

Even good pitchers on bad teams deserve to be owned even if his run support tends to be on the low end. Hahn has to improve his longevity in games to turn the next corner but pitching is always in demand and you could do a lot worse.