Comments on: Hamels hammered and some wonder if his splits pitching on 168 days of rest will ever recover

By: egrissom

egrissom — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 12:14:58 +0000

He’s already grown on me. He’s been pretty great so far, even with having those HR knocked down in Tuesday’s game.

By: DaMannse

DaMannse — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 02:02:51 +0000

Big Ben… home run. After last night’s mighty blasts that could not get through the wind, it was good to see him hit one that did tonight. Ben could grow on me. He may already be; let me check and see.

By: Roger

Roger — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 22:37:13 +0000

I think it’s about time we start calling him enigmatic. That always works for those incredibly talented headcases without coming across like you’re calling them talented headcases.

By: DaMannse

DaMannse — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 21:15:45 +0000

Erik, my Man. I love your optimism. It keeps me reading this blog just for feeling good. And crazy obscure but telling stats. But I have to say that Hamels will only be ok if he grows up. And it is time. Skills, even his incandescent ability, is not enough.

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 21:00:34 +0000

At least the # of Phils runs scored didn’t have a real impact on his W/L record through 1 game.

By: egrissom

egrissom — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:33:25 +0000

I thought they had a chance for 162-0. If only they hadn’t given Martinez a roster spot.

I agree that Hamels will be fine. He was terrible yesterday, though. Phillies have kind of picked up where they left off in terms of scoring runs in the games he starts.

By: Greg

Greg — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 19:32:32 +0000

I think we all knew that the Phillies would not go 162-0 this year. I’m not really all that worried about one game. Hamels will be just fine and will finish the year with good numbers again, win totals be damned. The Phils weren’t going to win that game last night unless Hamels pitched a no-hitter. You just don’t win too many 1-0 games.

Agree with Jim on the SNY coverage. Surprisingly they aren’t very focused on the Phillies during their broadcasts.

By: DaMannse

DaMannse — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 18:07:23 +0000

Jim, anyone who said they had a good time last night had too many beers to drive safely home. Or is crazy in love with whomever they took to the game. It was awful. Honestly, I do not know how a pitcher even grips the ball in weather like that.

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 16:53:30 +0000

Nice summary DM. I was watching on TV, and the “quitting” didn’t quite come through as well there. Of course I have to watch it on SNY, and the announcers were too busy singing the praises of Young’s hitting (setting the record for # of hits in an innning by a Mets pitcher, and tying that club’s record for # of hits by a pitcher in a game) to give me anything useful and Philly-related.

Still, I have a hard time putting any stock in anything that happened in that gale. I can’t imagine it was pleasant even for the guys on the winning team.

By: DaMannse

DaMannse — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 16:01:51 +0000

I was at the game last night. Coldest night in a ball park I have EVER spent. EVER. The wind was brutal. Some of the things I saw were even more brutal, however.

I saw a Mets’ pitcher who made Ryan Howard look small when he stood next to him at first(no, really, I mean it), which he did for far too many times. I saw that hulking pitcher take the Phillies apart the same way pitchers always seem to do, by throwing junk augmented by a fastball that topped out at about 87. Young ate Howard for lunch, making Howard look small in that other more worrisome way that is reminiscent of recent years. He took Howard down with a 78 MPH splitter and a 74 MPH slider. Howard had no answer for that. No one else did either. Stop me if you have seen this happen before.

Agreed. Wilson is not Chase. This just may turn out to be a problem. Also agreed, I am not ready to NOT worry about Ben, but I am liking what I am seeing from him at the plate. He absolutely slaughtered two balls that the wind simply stopped short of the wall. Nothing was getting through that wind.

Hamels got booed when he left after 2 3/2 godawful innings. I am reading today about how unfair that was of the crowd, that Hamels deserves a “mulligan”, as one writer put it in a weird mixed-metaphor kind of way. That somehow Hamels’ performance did not warrant that. And I have to agree. His performance did NOT warrent being booed. Not in April, anyway. Not in that cold.

Thing is, he was not booed because of the way he pitched. I listened carefully to the crowd last night as the booing was going on. I heard the comments that accompanied the boos. He was not booed for his pitching; he was booed because he quit. And yes, he did quit. His body posture showed it and his characteristic flap of his arms and toss of his head (which would not look good on a Valley Girl, much less a grown man). The crowd knew it. They saw it. And in Philly, no one will let you get away with that. Hamels quit. And to me, that is the thing that is most disturbing about this man. His mad skills only make it more frustrating. Cole Hamels is not just “a pitcher”. Kyle Kendrick is “a pitcher”. Kendrick went out a fought for 2 1/3 innings and stopped the bleeding. Hamels got it hungon him last night, as even the best pitchers do. But Hamels acted the petulant girl. Someday, he will grown up into his skills, I hope. When he does, he will not quit, even when he is being beaten. Last night he quit. That, to me, is worrisome.