Kall him Kole
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Kall him Kole
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
They say the best judge of a pitcher's stuff is the type of swings that stuff produces. Well, the first two starts of the season, Cole Hamels' stuff has been filthy. Of the 26 hitters he faced in Sunday afternoon's 8-2, 10 struck out. Nearly half of the 21 outs he produced were strikeouts.
Forget the other aspects of his pitching line -- seven innings, six hits, two runs, one walk -- and focus on the strikeouts. Against the Marlins on Monday, he struck out nine in 5 1/3 innings, meaning he already has 19 strikeouts in just 12 1/3 innings of work this season. That's a ridiculous average of 13.9 striketouts-per-nine innings.
To put that in perspective, here are Hamels' K/9 rates since his rookie season:
2006: 9.9
2007: 8.7
2008: 7.8
2009: 7.8
2010: 9.1
2011: 8.1
By the end of Sunday's game, Hamels was tied for the National League lead in strikeouts. The fact that the player he was tied with was Aaron Harang is a pretty good indication that it is still early. At the same time, it is not out of the question that we see his strikeout rate jump considerably this season. In C.C. Sabathia's first five big league seasons, he averaged a solid but not stellar 7.0 strikeouts-per-nine. Since then, he has averaged 8.1 strikeouts-per-nine. Hamels is in his third season with a cutter. Yesterday, the pitch sat 89 to 90 miles per hour throughout the start. He is still growing as a pitcher. As good as he has been for the last two years, he still has room to improve.
As he showed yesterday, the journey is going to be fun to watch.
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Pay him now— shawnmac- Please!!! Pay this dude ! ! !— BuddyBall92
- I guess we don't have to hear any more about a lack of support.— Bama
- PAY HIM!!!!!— jyeag1185
Pay the man. Who of all these crazy signings deserves it more?- Trade him...We cannot afford him, and if last year proved anything....you NEED more than 3 #1's.....we need a bat badly! Not just if, an when Howard and Utley comeback..— plaurie
- Time is not on our side.......Pay our WS MVP!— daisy99
- Cole could be in for a big year. I hate to jinx him early with that but he looks really good. I could see him besting Lee and maybe giving Halladay a run for the best stats. Maybe not the best record given his history of run support. Not only is his cutter very mature now, he still has one of the best change-ups going and he used his curve ball very effectively early today. He's a very complete pitcher these days. Personally, I want him to stay.— s
- Need to offer Cole what he deserves, close to what he wants. if he doesn't take it trade him now.— all-or-nothin
- @ Bama - Hamels left after 7 with a 3-2 lead. Don't let the 5 runs they scored after he left the game fool you.— Doctor D
- Cole had 3 earned in 5 innings in his first start. And another run was scored after Cole had a throwing error. Let's give all the facts.— P Even
- The guy comes up from within and delivers a WS MVP. That's a valuable asset for any organization. Keep him during his prime years ahead.— escapedcamden4monterey
- Daisy99, and every other person living in the past..#1 2008, is over, and we appreciate Hamels for being the MVP, and #1 pitcher ahead of Jamie "I am older than Dirt" Moyer, and HeavybJoe ...trade him— plaurie
- There's also ways for acquiring a good bat that doesn't require trading Hamels.— escapedcamden4monterey
- I certainly hope that by "good bat" you're not referring to someone of the Jim Thome class of good bats..
He should have stayed retired.
It appears as if Jim can no longer fill that roll.— Phiggles
