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| Photo by Richard Wilkins Jr. |
So yesterday I said I wanted to be optimistic about the infield. Today?
Cole Hamels
Ok, so last year's team went 73-89. Cole Hamels went 8-14. That was in a year where I predicted a Cy Young. Now, yes, wins and losses are a bad stat. Yes, we should ignore it. No, nobody did.
The reason this was a worry is that Cole had a 3.60 ERA too, his worst since 2009. His WHIP was his worst since 2010. His ERA+ was the second worst of his career. All of this in year one of a big, new deal. Uh, oh.
Well, kinda. Cole was horrible in April, and particularly in his first three starts. After that, he mostly reverted to the 3.10 or better type of pitcher he has been just about every other year of his career. He also didn't show any actual signs of injury, throwing 220 innings, his second best total as a pro. Sure, this wasn't his best stuff, but you could see through the ugly stats and see the same pitcher in him. You also reminded yourself that his off-season was thrown off by his elbow being scoped out after 2012. In short, it took him a little bit of time to get into 2013, but he did, and he was mostly fine.
Now, why does this matter? In the NL East, you need a good pitcher to face off with the Strasburg's and company aces that you see from just about every other team. The Phillies had one last year in Cliff Lee, but not the second that they desperately needed. In 2012, it was the inverse, with Lee struggling early, and Hamels being good. In 2014, you can see a little bit better Hamels, a little bit luckier Hamels, and much better results. Just turning around his numbers a bit, if nothing else changes, could take this team from 2013's win totals back to 2012's, alone. Good Cole gives all of your rosey-red Phillies dreams a chance to come true in 2014.
