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 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.

Week Six: Cole Hamels and Reggie Harris

Cole Hamels was the big story for the Phillies this week.  (Well, Cole Hamels and the complete disaster that was the Phillies bullpen in the series against the Mets)

After hitting the Nationals' Bryce Harper in last Sunday night's game, he didn't provide any of the usual coy "That one got away from me" explanations that pitchers usually give when they bean someone.  No, Hamels bluntly admitted that he had hit Harper on purpose.

Naturally, this became a huge national story and drew both praise and scorn from members of the national media.  It also earned Hamels a five-game suspension from Major League Baseball.

As a result, Hamels is this week's featured Phillie.

Featured Phillie of the Week: Cole Hamels

Despite his honesty about the situation, Hamels hasn't made his motivation for the plunking completely clear. 

He seemed to feel that Harper wasn't showing the proper amount of modesty for a rookie.  There were allusions to Harper's cockiness in the minor leagues, as well as some complaining about the strike zone.

Whatever the motivation, Hamels felt that old school baseball code dictated that Harper should be "welcomed" to the major leagues.  This is nothing new.  Harper isn't the first rookie to be treated in this fashion, and he surely isn't the last. 

The unusual part about it was that Hamels openly admitted what he did.  I guess he felt that the message wouldn't get across otherwise?

Naturally, his admission got quite a few people up on their soapboxes to declare him a horrible person.  Most notably, Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo unloaded on Hamels calling him "fake tough" and other unflattering names.

Who determines if a player is tough or not?  Mike Rizzo does!

Oddly, some people seem more upset about Hamels' admission rather than the act itself.  I guess it is somehow better to lie about hitting someone rather than being a man and admitting it?

I'm not sure where Rizzo is coming from.  After all, later in the game, Hamels had to come to the plate and bat.  And sure enough, a ball "got away from" Nationals pitcher Jordan Zimmermann and hit Hamels.

For his part, Hamels seemed perfectly okay with the retaliation.  He also seemed fine with Harper getting a little revenge of his own by stealing home against him.

The suspension that Hamels received was essentially meaningless.  Due to an off day in the schedule, Hamels didn't have to miss a start.

More importantly, after his suspension was complete, Hamels turned in yet another dominant outing.  He held the Padres to one run in seven innings.  The win allowed the Phillies to win the series, and gain some momentum after what had mostly been a bad week.

Ghost of Phillies Past: Reggie Harris

In 1997, the Phillies had another pitcher intentionally hit an opponent with a pitch.  And much like Hamels, the pitcher openly admitted it after the fact.

In June of 1997, the Phillies were in a huge slump.  In one particular game, the Braves were absolutely crushing them, and reliever Reggie Harris had had enough.  He wanted to send a message, and so he beaned the Braves' Andruw Jones.

Unlike the Harper incident, people didn't make a big deal about this plunking.  That was mostly due to Harris being a journeyman relief pitcher and not a multiple-time All-Star like Hamels.

After the game, Harris admitted that his beanball was intentional.  People were absolutely shocked by this.  They weren't necessarily shocked by Harris' honesty, but rather because Harris was actually able to hit his intended target.

Harris was not known for his control.  In fact, he might have had some of the worst control ever witnessed.  In the 1997 season, Harris managed to walk a whopping 43 batters in 55 innings.  During one particularly bad outing, he threw 14 pitches, and only two of them were strikes. 

The most telling sign of how bad the 1997 Phillies were is that Harris actually pitched 55 innings for them.

If he had just given the standard "that one got away from me" excuse after hitting Jones, I don't think anyone would have doubted him.

Pennant Year Song of the Week

This week's song might have been sung by Bryce Harper to Cole Hamels this week.  From the year 1983, it is Do You Really Want to Hurt Me? by Culture Club.

Random Phillies Image Found on the Web

This is a picture of Turkey Hill's Phillies themed flavors:

Final Analysis

The Phillies have to hope that Hamels can continue to turn in dominant performances like the one on Sunday.  They also probably hope that he is less honest the next time he hits someone on purpose.