Week 16: Cole Hamels and Don Carman

The Phillies took on the Milwaukee Brewers at the beginning of last week, and thanks to some late game heroics, they actually emerged with their first three game sweep of the season.

It looked like maybe - just maybe - the team had finally found its rhythm, and would be a force to be reckoned with in the second half of the season.  For a second, those dreams of somehow winning a playoff spot didn't seem quite so impossible.

And then, just as soon as it had arrived, momentum was lost.  The Phillies were swept by the Atlanta Braves in a series that pretty much caused the team's focus to switch towards the future.

The Phillies will almost assuredly be trading away some of their players in the coming weeks, either for prospects, or simply for salary relief from the luxury tax.

But there is one Phillies who, despite much speculation earlier in the year, will definitely not be traded.

Featured Phillie of the Week: Cole Hamels

Cole Hamels could have waited a few months and become a free agent.  He assuredly would have received a monumentally large contract.  Instead, he signed an only slightly less monumentally large contract extension to stay with the Phillies.

He received the largest contract in team history, and the second largest contract ever awarded to a pitcher.

While there is obviously some risk involved for the Phillies, they've assured themselves that their best homegrown pitcher in over fifty years will be with the team for the foreseeable future.  Hamels should be in his prime throughout the length of the deal, and if all goes well, he will be anchoring the Phillies rotation for years to come.

Unfortunately, Hamels didn't go out and celebrate his new deal with a shutdown performance.  Instead, he was uncharacteristically wild, and lost to the Braves.

Thankfully for Phillies fans, Hamels will have plenty of chances to redeem himself over the next few years.

Ghost of Phillies Past: Don Carman

The Phillies once had another homegrown lefthander who they thought was going to be a rotation mainstay for years to come. 

Don Carman went 9-5 as a rookie in 1985 and followed that up with 10-5 and 13-11 records in 1986 and 1987.  They thought he was going to develop one of the National League's top lefthanders.

Much like the rest of the team, Carman's performance dropped off severely after the 1987 season.  He went 10-14 in 1988, and then suffered a National League leading 15 losses in 1989.  His ERA went up every season, topping off at a dreadful 5.24. 

In 1990, the Phillies tried moving him to the bullpen.  He was slightly improved, but far from a standout.  The next year, they finally gave up on him and traded him to the Reds.

In addition to his poor pitching, Carman was also one of the worst hitting pitchers to ever step foot in a batter's box.  He started off his career 0-42, and ended up with a lifetime .057 average.

Pennant Year Song of the Week

Heading into their series against the Washington Nationals, the standings are a little different from last year.  The Nats are in first place, and the Phillies are in last.  Most Phillies fans would consider that to be upside down.  And so this week's song is Upside Down by Diana Ross.

 

Random Phillies Image Found on the Web

This pretty much sums up how the season has gone for General Manager Ruben Amaro.

Final Analysis

While there are no guarantees in baseball, the Phillies can feel quite confident that they will have one of the best pitchers in baseball anchoring their staff for the next few years.  If they are going to rebound from this year's disappointment, Hamels will likely be a big part of it.

 

Week 15: John Mayberry, Jr. and Wes Chamberlain

Surely, Saturday was the death of all hope for the 2012 season.  The lineup was complete with both Chase Utley and Ryan Howard batting in their familiar third and fourth spots.  Both players homered, contributing to the team's five run output.

That should have been enough to win.  After all, Cole Hamels was on the mound, and he has been the team's best pitcher all season.  But Hamels faltered.  He gave up three home runs, including one to the opposing pitcher.

With the game tied in the ninth, closer Jonathan Papelbon - another player the team has largely been able to depend on this season - was brought into the game.  He pitched one successful inning, but when forced to go back out in the tenth, he too faltered.

When even Hamels and Papelbon fail, what chance does the team truly have?

On the bright side, the team did rebound on Sunday, thanks in part to a very surprising source.

Featured Phillie of the Week: John Mayberry, Jr.

John Mayberry's two homers on Sunday were very surprising, mostly due to how horrible Mayberry has been for most of the season.

The team was hoping Mayberry could adequately replace Raul Ibanez in left field.  At the very least, he was expected to provide some right handed power as part of a platoon to help compensate for the absence of Howard.

Based on last year, this was not an unrealistic expectation.  After a demotion to the minors, Mayberry had a strong second half.  He hit 12 home runs, and looked like he had finally put it all together after a inconsistent start to his career.

Instead, Mayberry showed that inconsistency might be the best the team can ever expect to get.  He disappointed the team with a .237 batting average, six home runs, and 23 home runs.  In addition, he managed to walk only 11 times against 67 strikeouts. 

Instead of helping to compensate for the loss of the team's power hitting stars, Mayberry turned out to be another disappointment in a season full of them.

Ghost of Phillies Past: Wes Chamberlain

Wes Chamberlain was another young outfielder who the Phillies had high hopes for.  The Phillies received him in a trade from the Pirates, and in 1991 he showed great flashes of potential.  He hit 13 home runs, and the Phillies were counting on big things from him in 1992.

Much like the entire team, Chamberlain disappointed during the 1992 season.  Instead of developing into a star, he struggled so much that he was demoted to the minors in the middle of the season.  The team was hoping he could become a power threat, but he only hit nine homers that year.

Chamberlain did rebound somewhat in 1993.  He was the right handed component of a successful right field platoon with Jim Eisenreich.  But he never lived up to the future star billing that was once placed on him.

Pennant Year Song of the Week

Saturday's loss pretty much eliminated any hope anyone could have for the 2012 Phillies making the playoffs.  In addition, it might have been Cole Hamels' last appearance as a Phillie.

For Phillies fans, this song sums up how we're feeling:  Hurt So Bad by Linda Ronstadt

Phillies Related Tweet of the Week

From Todd Zolecki @Toddzolecki:

Today was the Phillies' first win at home since June 26 vs. PIT. Snapped a 7-game losing streak.

Yes, the Phillies have been truly awful at home this season.  Is there a reason why they can't seem to win at home?

Final Analysis

Much like Chamberlain, John Mayberry looks like he is never going to develop into a true star.  His best case scenario is for his to become a valuable bench player who can provide some right handed pop.

Week 14: Cole Hamels and Tyler Green

Due to the All-Star break, the Phillies only played three games this week.  And they actually managed to win a series!

The opponent might have been the unimposing Colorado Rockies, but at this point, the Phillies can't turn their noses up at any wins.

Despite the team's poor showing thus far, they still had three players named to the National League All-Star team.  One of those All-Stars picked up where he left off on Sunday with a sterling performance to lead the Phillies to victory.

Featured Phillie of the Week: Cole Hamels

Due to his impending free agency, Cole Hamels has been the subject of multiple trade rumors.  While he might not be a Phillie through the rest of the season, the team is certainly glad that he is currently on the team now.

Hamels pitched one scoreless inning in the All-Star game, helping the National League to a shutout victory.  He followed that up with a brilliant performance on Sunday.

Hamels pitched eight innings, giving up only one run on six hits.  He struck out seven Rockies, and with five runs of support behind him, the Phillies came away with one of their easier wins of the season.

Now the question is: Was this Hamels' last start as a Phillie?  While the team would certainly love to re-sign him, it will certainly take a long, expensive contract to do so.  If he reaches free agency, he'll have no shortage of teams bidding for his services.

Considering the Phillies hopes of making the playoffs this season are slim, many want the team to trade him, and pick up some good prospects in return. 

Personally, I would keep him and do whatever it takes to sign him to a new contract.  With so many expensive players already signed for 2013, it doesn't make sense to start a rebuilding phase.  The team should still be in "win now" mode, and the team obviously will have a better chance of winning in 2013 with Hamels, than without him.

Whatever happens, if this was Hamels' last start as a Phillie, he certainly made it a good one.

Ghost of Phillies Past: Tyler Green

In 1995, the Phillies had another pitcher they drafted in the first round make the All-Star team.

Tyler Green was the Phillies first round pick in the 1991.  He instantly became their top prospect and quickly ascended to the major leagues. 

He started the 1995 season in the Phillies rotation, and he lived up to the hype.  He started out with an 8-4 record, and helped the Phillies stay near the top of the standings for the first half of the season.

In the second half, things went quickly downhill for both Green and the Phillies.  His control - never great to begin with - deteriorated, and opponents began to regularly knock him out of games early.

The team lost eight consecutive games started by Green, and his poor performance was the main factor in most of them.  Eventually, things got so bad that the team was forced to drop him from the rotation.

Part of Green's problems may have been due to injury, as a sore shoulder caused him to miss the entire 1996 season.

When he returned the following season, his fortunes didn't improve.  He went 4-4 in 1997 and 6-12 in 1998 to end his career.

Pennant Year Song of the Week

Finally winning a series was a good step for the Phillies.  It is clear that if they are going to climb out of the massive hole they have dug for themselves, it is going to be a slow process.

In that spirit, this week's song is from 2008.  It is One Step at a Time by Jordin Sparks:

Random Phillies Image Found on the Web

This is an Irish themed Phillies flag.  Perfect for St. Patrick's Day!

Final Analysis

While both Tyler Green and Cole Hamels were highly touted prospects, their major league careers turned out quite differently.

Green had one successful half season.  Hamels has already established himself as one of the greatest pitchers in team history.

We can just hope that Hamels will continue to pitch well for the Phillies for years to come.  It would be a shame to see him continue his career elsewhere.

All-Star Break: Cliff Lee and Kyle Abbott

Sorry for taking last week off.  I was left without electricity until Tuesday, so I was unable to do much on the computer.  Sadly, in my absence, the 2012 Phillies season took a turn for the worse.

Wasn't the return of Chase Utley and Ryan Howard supposed to make everything better? 

The Phillies certainly weren't doing all that well before Utley returned, but since he has come off the disabled list, the team has been a disaster, losing 10 out of 11 games.  I suppose that it was unrealistic to expect Utley to immediately perform at his former All-Star level, but the way the team has collapsed is inexplicable.

Many thought that with the return of the team's stars, supporting players like Hunter Pence and Shane Victorino would be able to settle into their more familiar roles, and as a result, they'd perform as they had in years past.

That has not been the case.  The starting pitching remains inconsistent, the lineup is still failing with runners on base, and the bullpen has been a complete mess.  It has gotten so bad that even one of the team's dependable pieces - closer Jonathan Papelbon - has had some poor outings.

So was there any good news this week?

Featured Phillie of the Week: Cliff Lee

It may have taken longer than expected, but Cliff Lee finally earned his first win of the 2012 season.  I'll admit that pitcher wins might be overrated, but it certainly seems ridiculous that Lee only has one win at this point in the season.

I think some sabermetrics experts are understating the disappointment that Lee has been this season.  Maybe his peripherals indicate that he's performing as well as ever, but the results simply haven't been there.  He's blown leads, given up poorly timed home runs, and basically he has not come through when the Phillies needed him most.

As one of the five highest paid players in baseball, you'd expect Lee to be one of the players the team could depend on to help lift them out of their malaise.  You certainly don't want to hear excuses about how the team isn't supporting him well enough, or how he's the victim of bad luck.

When Roy Halladay went on the disabled list, it was clear that they would need to rely heavily on the rest of the team's star pitchers.  But instead of stepping up his game, Lee has seemed to sag under the pressure.  Instead of being one of the players to help step up in his absence, Lee has been part of the problem.

If most of his problems were indeed due to luck, maybe this week's win is a sign that his fortunes are turning around, and we're going to see the type of results that we are used to.

Ghost of Phillies Past: Kyle Abbott

In 1992, the Phillies had another pitcher who had to wait quite awhile before he earned his first victory of the season.

Abbott didn't pitch horribly in the 1992 season.  He often delivered performances that given a little more run support, or a little better defense behind him, might have resulted in a win.  But he did not win.  And neither did the Phillies.

The Phillies lost the first 13 games that Abbott started that season.  The team hoped that a demotion to the minors might help get him turned around.  But those hopes proved unfounded, as he resumed his losing ways upon returning to the majors. 

Finally, on July 18th, Abbott had the breakthrough he was looking for.  It was far from a brilliant performance, as he gave up three runs in 5.2 innings.  But he was finally the recipient of some good luck as the Phillies scored 14 runs.  I can remember an overjoyed Abbott receiving a Gatorade bath after the game.

Unfortunately, the win did not signify a change in his overall fortunes.  After losing two more games, the team dropped him from the rotation.  He didn't fare much better as a reliever, losing yet another game to end the season with a 1-14 record.

Abbott was sent to the minors the following season, and only had a couple of brief major league cameos as a reliever before his career came to an end.

Pennant Year Song of the Week

The Phillies are mired in last place.  The reinforcements have arrived, and sadly they don't seem to have made much of a difference.  This song from 1993 describes their situation perfectly:

Phillies Related Tweet of the Week

From Phils-ville (@phillsville):

Overheard in the press box: "What's Pridie's first name?" Ladies and gentleman, your 2012 Philadelphia Phillies.

Final Analysis

What a difference a year makes.  Last year, the Phillies were dominating the National League en route to an easy division title.  This year, the Phils will have to have a historic second half just to reach the playoffs.

If Cliff Lee truly has turned around his season, then maybe they've got a chance.  If like Abbott, he only earns one victory this season, then they will definitely be sitting out the 2012 playoffs.