Hamels looks good in Grapefruit opener; Phillies defeat Yankees, 5-4

TAMPA, Fla. - There will be no more photo shoots of the Phillies starting rotation - that is unless this season ends with a World Series victory parade. Then no one cares how many posed pictures are required.

After two weeks of batting practice, bullpen sessions, and daily manufactured smiles or scowls for the camera, baseball began Saturday with the Grapefruit League opener.

"Yeah," Cole Hamels said, "I can actually play. It's nice."

The Phillies handed Hamels the ball for starters. Pitching coach Rich Dubee deemed Hamels capable of throwing in a game after simply watching his initial bullpen session of the spring, so the lanky lefthander was the choice.

When the regular season comes, he could be the fourth starter. If he is, Hamels believes he will be more prepared than he ever has been. No longer is Hamels attempting to learn a new pitch during the spring. Instead, he is throwing all four with regularity.

"If I can throw all four right now and work it all the way through spring, I should have them perfected by the season," Hamels, 27, said. "That's something I don't think I've done as much in past seasons. It was just trying to establish a fastball and change-up, and then the other pitches kind of came. I think I was a little too late sometimes in the first part of the season."

In two innings of the Phillies' 5-4 victory over the Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field, Hamels allowed an unearned run on a hit and a walk while throwing 33 pitches (18 strikes). He struck out two batters - Nick Swisher on a cutter in the first and Curtis Granderson on a change-up in the second.

Last spring, Dubee and Hamels were undecided as to whether the cutter or curveball was a better third pitch for Hamels to incorporate. The cutter was the newer pitch, and Hamels toyed with it in Grapefruit League games.

According to pitch data from Baseball Info Solutions, 14.7 percent of Hamels' pitches in 2010 were cutters and 8.2 percent were curveballs.

This spring, he is experimenting only with different situations to find the best use of the pitches. He's comfortable with both of them.

"I feel really good about them," Hamels said. "I'm confident to throw them at any time. You go from there. When you get a hitter in there, you get a little extra adrenaline. You have to build up your endurance. If you don't have the right endurance, you can't make the pitches work as much."

The cutter could be an even more effective weapon in 2011. Hamels cited the usefulness of the cutters Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay throw, so he is intrigued by the promise.

"I know how to pitch with it, and I think that's going to help, knowing when to throw it to certain hitters," Hamels said. "And also trying to move it to both sides of the plate. I didn't really do it too much last year because it was something new. But watching Cliff and Doc, those guys can go both sides of the plate, and it's definitely helped them out, so that's something I'm definitely trying to establish."

It's a long way from 2004, when a wide-eyed, 20-year-old Hamels faced Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, and Tony Clark and struck out the side in the very same ballpark.

"There, I didn't know what the heck I was doing, so good things happened," Hamels said. "Now I'm just coming in and just trying to get my work in."

And good things are still happening.