Posts tagged ‘cole hamels’

It wasn’t sexy, but it will have to do.

The Phillies broke a three game losing streak tonight with a 1-0 win over the Nationals in Washington, D.C.  The run came on a pinch-hit single by Greg Dobbs in the top of the ninth.

They still didn’t hit with runners in scoring position.  They still struck out too much.  They still didn’t do many of the little things right.  I can’t say it any plainer than this: They are still in a slump.

But it was all ok tonight, because Cole Hamels was on the mound.

Following up on his first career complete game shutout last week, Hamels pitched 7 more shutout innings tonight.  He struck out 11 while walking two.  In his last five starts against the Nationals, he’s now given up just two earned runs.

I don’t need to tell you Hamels is great; that’s clear to see.  I don’t need to tell you about his change-up; everyone knows it’s devastating.  Or that his fastball is the perfect compliment to that change-up, and that he’s absolutely dealing right now, and that he hasn’t given up a run in the last 19 and a third innings he’s pitched.  Those are numbers, or obvious observations, but either way they don’t tell the story of what he brings to the table.

The Phillies had lost three games in a row coming into tonight, and Cole Hamels took the hill knowing his team needed him to come up big.  In years past, Kevin Millwood or Eric Milton or Freddie Garcia or Jon Lieber would have pitched this game.  We know how it probably would have turned out.

Instead, Hamels goes out there and pitches another gem.  As the game goes on, he gets zero run support.  He still holds his ground and gives up nothing.  He pitches into the 7th, still getting nothing from his teammates, and it doesn’t phase him.  He finishes his night with a strikeout, his eleventh of the night, giving him his second double-digit strikeout game this season.

Cole Hamels is showing his ability to be a stopper, and to win the games he knows he needs to win.  He was always going to be the ace of the staff, and he always had the best stuff of any pitcher on the team.  But right now, on this team, in this month, Hamels finally IS the ace of the staff.

Hockey great Ken Dryden once said, “It’s one thing to be young and promising, and it’s quite another to be good.”  He said it as the U.S. hockey team was set to take on the Soviets in 1980.  Over the next few hours, he watched that U.S. team mature in front of his eyes.

Hamels has a similar feel right now.  We’re watching him as he crosses that threshold from promising to dominant; from up-and-comer to established ace.  Keep an eye on this team as they approach the all-star break.  If they continue to struggle, but still manage to keep their collective heads above water and hang around in this race, odds are Cole Hamels will be a big part of it.

The first week of baseball season always comes with a great deal of anticipation.  Of course, if you’re the Phillies, it normally ends with more questions than answers.  It seems like this team gets off to a slow start every year, and so here’s a look back at the opening week that was:

The Good

Chase Utley is playing like it’s his turn to win the MVP award.  He’s absolutely crushing the ball, and he already has a mid-season intensity about him that we can all only hope is contagious.

Jimmy Rollins has been fine at the top of the order, even though his average is lower than he’d like it to be.  Even Pat Burrell looks good, and maybe that’s a sign he is going to carry over last year’s monster second half and come through in his contract year.

So much for the 5th starter spot being a weakness.  Adam Eaton looked like he got off on the right foot the other day when he pitched 7.2 innings against the Reds.  Of course, the Phillies lost that game, so I’m not sure what that tells us.  Consider it severance pay for the fact that Eaton won 10 games last year with an ERA over 6.

The Bad

I can’t put into words how annoyed I am with Shane Victorino.  He’s an astounding 3 for 23 so far this year with 4 strikeouts.  That’s a .130 clip, and what’s worse is that I haven’t seen him put together a good at-bat yet.  While his defense has been fine in Center, he sure looks like a guy who is walking around with the knowledge that for the first time in his Major League career, he’s not battling for playing time.  He’s a little too comfortable.

The Ugly

We can go on and on about the pitching staff, but the reality is that the two best outings haven’t meant a thing to this team.  Cole Hamels throws 8 innings of 1 run ball, and Adam Eaton throws 7.2 of 3 run ball, and the Phils lose both games.  Sure, Tom Gordon had a bad opener and Brett Myers hasn’t looked like himself, but the bigger problem is that this team isn’t playing much defense at all.

When a team this solid defensively makes 4 errors in one game like they did on Thursday, it’s a sign of a lack of focus.  And after the slow starts of the last few years and the hype around this team in spring training, it makes you wonder just what this team is thinking about.  They have to know how badly these losses can hurt them down the road.  But at the same time, the focus and the intensity (Chase Utley aside) just isn’t there.  It’s strange at best and worrisome at least, and either way it’s a sign that things need to turn around quickly.

The Mets and Braves haven’t gotten off to fast starts either, and so this first week has a chance to mean nothing.  But the time to turn it around isn’t May 1st, it’s right now.  Of course, they’ll get their chance.  They’ll help the Mets open the last season at Shea Stadium coming up this Tuesday.  Let’s hope they have their focus in time for that.