The Phillies most important player this season, Cole Hamels, showed up to spring training ready to go, after throwing more in the off-season than he ever has before. Who knows whether it will translate to regular season success, but here is what Rich Dubee had to say…
“You watch him long toss right now, he’s far beyond where he’s ever been in spring training, and he deserves a lot of credit for that. Because he was faced with a challenge. You need to start throwing. You need to get yourself ready. You need to be able to come to spring training where some work can be done. Being the perfectionist that he is, he took it to heart, and he did the work that he had to do. So he’s in a much better position right now. He could have gone home and sulked again and said, oh, what do they know. He didn’t do that. He went home and did what he had to do.”
Hamels never struggled in his entire life (baseball-wise) until last year. So it’s good to see that his reaction to that was to work harder, not be stubborn (like I felt Pat Burrell was for much of his career here).
Other Clearwater notes from around the web…
- Since Hamels doesn’t have to spend this time getting in shape, he’s going to be working hard on his curveball. I’d still prefer he try a cutter. (edit: I guess he IS trying a cutter too…)
He also started throwing a cutter, and he called Phillies Hall of Famer Steve Carlton several times to talk about the pitch. He talked to former teammate Cliff Lee and John Wetteland about the pitch as well.
He didn’t say the cutter would become his third pitch, but said that it was something he wanted to revisit.
- Jamie Moyer was throwing off a mound and doing drills today. He might just be ready for opening day. My guess is that he starts the season in the “5th starter who everyone knows isn’t going to be the 5th starter for long” role, replacing Chan Ho Park in 2009 and Adam Eaton in 2008. Keep your arm warm in AAA, Kendrick.
- Maunel loves what he’s seeing from Contreras and is confident he can replace Chan Ho Park. I actually think Contreras and his hard sinker are well suited for that role.
- Charlie Manuel did one of those really, really annoying Nutrasystem commercials. Hopefully he will make them hilarious.
Nothing big being reported down there – but I’ll throw an update up with anything I find interesting.
If Hamels had three plus pitches and a cutter that he could mix in and work at during spring training and in blowout games to develop it during the season. If Hamels could end up with four plus pitches by the beginning of next year he could really turn into a beast.
If I were a betting man, I’d bet that Hamels has his best regular season in 2010. I don’t know if we’ll ever see postseason 2008 Hamels but aside from 2009 he has always had good regular season stats.
So Pete, what is your reason for preferring Hamels throw a cutter instead of a curveball?
Do you know my biggest concern with Hamels? It’s not his mental game, which I think it’s safe to say is majority view, but rather the risk of injury. We were pretty fortunate in 2008 that he held up and if memory serves, threw 227 innings or so. If my recollection is right, that was a lot of healthy innings for a guy who seemed injury prone early on enroute to the big club.. I may sound paranoid since he publicly held up okay last year, but it’s still in the back of my mind.
If I had to do it all over again, I’d have been born a fly. That way, I could have been the fly on the wall listening to the converstion Hamels had with Steve Carlton. Now that would have been cool.
Huge day Friday. Doc Halladay talks to the press.
KB -
Less stress on his arm and an easier pitch to be effective with. I liked how Lee used it.
Pete- I couldn’t be more excited by this write up. Cole was a big disappointment last year, but I still think he can be a great pitcher. We all saw he has it in him. So hearing that he is working this hard is music to my ears. All last season I remember seeing stats that showed when Hamels threw too many fastballs he was more likely to get lit up. Do you think adding a strong cutter will take the pressure off his fastball and make his change up that much more effective? Is there usually an arm angle difference or any other give away that shows a cutter is coming instead of a fastball/change?
It wouldn’t hurt for Hamels to have 4 pitches to choose from. He could be devastating if he could have command over that many pitches. I think that’s a big part of why Lee is so effective.
I still can’t figure out why they’re putting Moyer in a starter role – his performance last year doesn’t lie – he was like a new pitcher once he was moved to the pen. It’s time to let Kendrick come back and show off the work he’s put in.