• March 28, 2024

Hamels Is Tested Early & Often, Then Loses Composure

A problem throughout the career of Cole Hamels has been issues with his focus and composure. While Hamels can be a dominating pitcher, he has had a number of games in his career in which he hasn’t been able to stay collected on the mound when things go wrong.

Hamels will occasionally let the first sign of trouble throw him out of his rhythm. It could be a pitcher getting a base hit, it could be an error by the defense, or it could be a questionable call from an umpire. These composure issues played a major role in the disappointing season Hamels had in 2009. While Hamels got considerably better at keeping himself composed in 2010, he still isn’t over these issues completely.

Hamels got a test Tuesday night against the Mets, and despite some early success, wasn’t able to maintain his composure.

In the first inning, Hamels began the inning by giving up a base hit to Jose Reyes, hitting Angel Pagan with a pitch, and allowing Pagan and Reyes to pull off a double steal, putting two runners in scoring position with no outs, and the heart of the order due up.

Hamels responded well to the early adversity. He struck out David Wright, got Carlos Beltran to pop up, and struck out Scott Hairston.

However, the remarkable composure that Hamels showed in the first inning would disappear in the third inning.

Hamels began the inning by giving up a base hit to Mets pitcher Chris Young. This set up a chain of events that led to Hamels losing his cool on the mound. After giving up the hit to Young, Hamels misplayed a bunt attempt by Jose Reyes. Hamels hesitated to make a decision about whether he would throw to first or second base, and wasn’t able to record an out.

Hamels then began to lose command of his pitches. He struggled to find the strike zone, and was constantly giving the Met hitters early 1-0 and 2-0 advantages in the pitch count. When he was able to put balls in the strike zone, he placed them in bad spots, and the Met hitters took advantage.

Hamels gave up six runs in the third inning, and was only able to record two outs. He was removed from the game after giving up another hit to Chris Young. It was an unimpressive debut for the 4th ace of the Phillies pitching staff. While there isn’t any reason for concern after one bad outing, it be interesting to see how quickly Hamels can put his poor performance behind him and get back to performing at the level he was at during the second half of 2010.

Denny Basens

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paulman
paulman
April 6, 2011 6:47 am

He lacks the Mental Toughness and the will to overcome difficulties, He’s been too pampered and had great success early in his career, now that he’s about to hit his prime, he should be above his childlike tantrums at this stage of his careeir and go out and pitch.. He throws way too much many pitches and doesn’t challenge the hitters enough.
I think he will end up a little above a .500 Pitcher Career wise due to his lack of maturity and I also think he needs a change of scenery being the 3rd/4th Fiddle on the Phils Staff and maybe a new Start woul do him good..

jakedog
jakedog
April 6, 2011 7:57 am

It’s a long season. No need to jump on him now, the stuff is there, it was a cold, windy night, relax

Thiklan
Thiklan
April 6, 2011 8:11 am

Yeah, inning three we saw the pouty angry child come out, and I knew he was done.

He needs to shake that off like he was learning to do last year.

jakedog
jakedog
April 6, 2011 8:24 am

Did you clowns forget he has a lot of hardware for a young pitcher, MVP of world series, Paul, stood Paul, writing him off

Erock
Erock
April 6, 2011 8:46 am

He shows some disgust by his actions and he’s a angry child and Paulman deduces he doesnt have guts. He won us the w.s.. WTF….Philly fans jumpn on the dude for stinking it uP. He’ll dominate his next start and ill remind you of your b.s. assesment of his probable career numbers Paul. He gets pissed off….shows some fire. You didnt even watch the game in the mountains herb.

paulman
paulman
April 6, 2011 9:14 am

Forget about 2008 Jakedog & Erock ,that’s ancient history and when Hamels was a youngster and just relied on his Pitching talent (which is very good) Now, 2-3 years later and everyone thinks he’s a legitimate Top end of a rotation starter, he can’t handle it.. He is still a “thrower” and not a “pitcher” in my opinion Sports is about what have you done lately, and looking back since 2009, Hamels has been slightly above average, that’s about it.. Now I hope he proves me wrong and pitches lights out, I just don’t think he has it in him.. This is my stroy and I am sticking with it until he proves me wrong

BirdoBeamen
BirdoBeamen
April 6, 2011 12:12 pm

He already proved you wrong in 2008.

Every pitcher gets rocked once in a while, and its more likely to happen against a team that knows him very well like the Mets do.

Paulman, stick to little league baseball in the hillbilly woods of North Carolina — Phillies baseball is NOT your forte.

paulman
paulman
April 6, 2011 12:30 pm

2008 is a lifetime ago Birdman,
Is he supposes to get a free pass for the rest of his career..
Mets line-up had some new players in their line-up
LF S Hairston, 1B I Davis, 2B B Emaus , C M Nickeas so I would say 1/2 their line-up is not very familiar with Cole Hamels or have faced him often..
Also if your logic is that he can’t pitch well versus teams that are familiar with him, what does this mean when Hamels faces the Braves,Marlins,Nationals,Reds,Dodgers,Giants, etc,etc…maybe the PHils should trade him to an American LEague team… Call it what it is.. he stuck up the joint last night..

BirdoBeamen
BirdoBeamen
April 6, 2011 12:38 pm

Free Pass FOR WHAT though? That is the question. What are we giving him a free pass for??! You act like he’s been pitching horribly since 2008 you f’n idiot!

I went to the Phils/Red Sox game last year and Halladay got absolutely ROCKED — should we trade him too you POS?!

SportsBum
SportsBum
April 6, 2011 8:18 pm

LOL Birdo