Thursday, April 15, 2010

Colelossal Impact


I’ve said it before and I will say it again: Cole Hamels’ pitching struggles are a lot more complicated than simply perfecting the off-speed pitches in his repertoire and even adding pitches as well. What’s holding Hamels back from returning to his dominant 2008 post-season form is hidden within the 6 inches between his ears and underneath the majestically groomed hair that is seemingly plopped on top of his head. Cole Hamels needs to actually emulate his co-cute-boy-athlete star Troy Bolton from High School Musical; he needs to get his, get his, get his, get his head in the game. It’s not like hes completely out of the game. I highly doubt Cole is thinking about his devastatingly good-looking wife. So his minds in the game… but not really.

When the Phillies made the offseason deal to land Roy Halladay, the only thing fans and “experts” would discuss is how his dominant AL (and even AL East) pitching will translate into NL pitching delivered straight from the baseball gods. One of the first things I thought about the trade? How amazing will Carlos Ruiz and Roy Halladay be together?

Whether you are coming out of the bullpen, an end-of-the-rotation starter or a Cy Young candidate, every Philadelphia Phillies pitcher shares something in common. They all have the immense privilege to be caught by the loveable guy we all know as CHOOOOOCH. Carlos Ruiz has been credited for his all-star caliber defense (some can make the argument for gold-glove caliber) and his clutch hitting. The one characteristic that he is never applauded for or even brought up about nationally, and sometimes even locally, is his ridiculous ability to call an effective game for his pitchers. The man guided Brad Lidge to a perfect season for crying out loud! Now back to Cole Hamels.

During Cole’s first two starts (and I apologize for the lateness of this post) he has shown his vast improvement on his curveball change-up and other pitches. There is no doubt in my mind Hamels has the stuff to be the ace of an MLB team. The problem is that he seems to not have mentally prepared himself for improving after the World Series. During those playoffs, Hamels would stare opposing batters in the face with his cold and sometimes harsh blue eyes the way Rafael Palmeiro glared in court while pointing his finger at honorable congressman. Now, it seems as if Cole is creating some mind game between himself and the opposing batter that doesn’t exist. Almost as if he was thinking too hard about a math problem that wasn’t really that complicated. Cole needs to relax and let his boy chooch call the game for him. He needs to force hitters to be afraid of him like they were in the 2008 postseason.

I have all the confidence in the world in Hamels. He was my pre-season pick for NL Comeback player of the year before the season began and I’m still sticking by him. I even thought, and still do, that Cole Hamels was the missing piece to last season’s potential World Series victory. This season, with even more pressure off of him, the Phils could easily go with a 3-man rotation in the starting pitchers department. Harry Leroy Halladay (I had to mention it once) is an absolute horse. ESPN’s Albert Pujols “machine” commercials are about the wrong baseball player. I’m still not completely sure that Halladay was created in some evil baseball genius’s basement to completely overpower every National League hitter he sees. If Hamels provides a very solid second starter contribution, that gives the Phils a 2-0 lead in the series with either a promising J.A. Happ or a potential above-average start from Joe Blanton (I’d much rather have Happ). I like those chances at a NL 3-peat and another World Series crown.

2 comments:

  1. 5 + ERA, 1.47 WHIP, way to come back nice call fisch. I'd rather go with someone like Dontrelle for comeback, or maybe Liriano a couple of pitchers who actually have some talent

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  2. Hey I'll be the first to admit that I make mistakes. But, there is no chance in hell that you can assume who is winning an end of season award or who will have the stats and season to be mentioned for such award. I'd appreciate it if you kept your negative comments yourself until they are actually relevant.

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