When people talk about the "Phab Phour," the argument over who is the best pitcher is sure to come up. Roy Halladay would seemingly be the favortie seeing as he is the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner and coming off a year in which he pitched a perfect game and a playoff no-hitter. Cliff Lee could also make his case as the best on this staff with a Cy Young Award of his own. But I'm going to cast my vote for Cole Hamels, because he has something that Halladay and Lee dont have: a world series ring. A World Series title is not the only thing that sets Hamels apart. Cole Hamels also has youth as he enters into the prime of his career. Although Hamels is young at 27, he is extremely wise and very experienced for his age. He realizes that to be a top pitcher in this league it takes hard work and dedication during both the season and the off season. After a brilliant 2008 season in which Hamels led the Phillies to a World Series title, Hamels was simply put "the man." He had a championship, a world series MVP, and a nice contract. But during the 2008-2009 off season, Hamels lost his work ehtic and it showed as he posted a very poor 2009 season going 10-11 with a 4.32 ERA. Many people will argue that Hamels was not the same last year as he went 12-11 with a 3.06 ERA. But if you really look at the stats closely and look at the individual game logs, you will see that Hamels had just a good year as Roy Halladay. 6 of Cole's 11 losses last year could have easily been victories. In those 6 winnable losses, Hamels recieved 0 runs 4 times, 1 run in one game, and in another recieved only 2 runs to help his cause. Keep in mind that I consider a winnable game to be Hamels pitching at least 6 innings and giving up no more than 3 runs. So add 6 to Hamels 12 wins and he's got 18 wins. But were not done, we also have to go through all of his no decisions. Hamels had 10 no decisions last year and 4 of the 10 could have been victories. Add 4 to 18 and you got 22 wins on the season, more than Roy Halladay. As Halladay basked in the lime light that comes with throwing a perfect game, Hamels flew under the radar pitching soild games but recieving very little run support. Instead of having 20+ wins like Halladay, Hamels only ended up with 12 and his brilliant season went unnoticed. ERA wise, Hamels had a career low. He posted a 3.06 ERA which is better than his 3.09 2008 ERA. Looking ahead to this year, I think Hamels is going to have a very strong 2011. He showed up to camp in the best shape of his life, and looks poised to have a strong year. In addition, I think that the baseball gods are going to smile on Hamels and provide him with all the run support he needs. And in case Hamels needed any extra motivation, this is a contract year for the young lefty and he will need to be on top of his game to earn his pay day. As good as he has been up to this point, I think we have yet to see Hamels reach his full potential.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Cole Hamels, Future Cy Young Award Winner
When people talk about the "Phab Phour," the argument over who is the best pitcher is sure to come up. Roy Halladay would seemingly be the favortie seeing as he is the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner and coming off a year in which he pitched a perfect game and a playoff no-hitter. Cliff Lee could also make his case as the best on this staff with a Cy Young Award of his own. But I'm going to cast my vote for Cole Hamels, because he has something that Halladay and Lee dont have: a world series ring. A World Series title is not the only thing that sets Hamels apart. Cole Hamels also has youth as he enters into the prime of his career. Although Hamels is young at 27, he is extremely wise and very experienced for his age. He realizes that to be a top pitcher in this league it takes hard work and dedication during both the season and the off season. After a brilliant 2008 season in which Hamels led the Phillies to a World Series title, Hamels was simply put "the man." He had a championship, a world series MVP, and a nice contract. But during the 2008-2009 off season, Hamels lost his work ehtic and it showed as he posted a very poor 2009 season going 10-11 with a 4.32 ERA. Many people will argue that Hamels was not the same last year as he went 12-11 with a 3.06 ERA. But if you really look at the stats closely and look at the individual game logs, you will see that Hamels had just a good year as Roy Halladay. 6 of Cole's 11 losses last year could have easily been victories. In those 6 winnable losses, Hamels recieved 0 runs 4 times, 1 run in one game, and in another recieved only 2 runs to help his cause. Keep in mind that I consider a winnable game to be Hamels pitching at least 6 innings and giving up no more than 3 runs. So add 6 to Hamels 12 wins and he's got 18 wins. But were not done, we also have to go through all of his no decisions. Hamels had 10 no decisions last year and 4 of the 10 could have been victories. Add 4 to 18 and you got 22 wins on the season, more than Roy Halladay. As Halladay basked in the lime light that comes with throwing a perfect game, Hamels flew under the radar pitching soild games but recieving very little run support. Instead of having 20+ wins like Halladay, Hamels only ended up with 12 and his brilliant season went unnoticed. ERA wise, Hamels had a career low. He posted a 3.06 ERA which is better than his 3.09 2008 ERA. Looking ahead to this year, I think Hamels is going to have a very strong 2011. He showed up to camp in the best shape of his life, and looks poised to have a strong year. In addition, I think that the baseball gods are going to smile on Hamels and provide him with all the run support he needs. And in case Hamels needed any extra motivation, this is a contract year for the young lefty and he will need to be on top of his game to earn his pay day. As good as he has been up to this point, I think we have yet to see Hamels reach his full potential.
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