Phillies Notes: Cole Hamels on a roll with increased velocity

A May that began for Cole Hamels with his worst start of the young season ended with five of his best.

The Phillies ace and top trade chip enters his first start of June on a roll.

Hamels, who will start opposite Cincinnati Reds righthander Mike Leake on Wednesday, allowed two earned runs or fewer while pitching seven innings or more in each of his last five starts. The five-start stretch to cap May improved the 31-year-old lefthander's ERA from 4.14 to 2.91.

A key difference in Hamels' first six starts of the season compared with his last five was his walks. He averaged 2.83 non-intentional walks through his first six outings. He issued one non-intentional free pass in each of his last five starts, four wins.

As pitchers typically do throughout a season, Hamels also saw his velocity increase from April to May. He capped May with an average fastball velocity of 93.81 m.p.h., an improvement of more than 1 m.p.h. from his April average (92.45), according to the PITCHf/x pitch-

tracking system. It's the earliest in a season he has reached an average velocity that high for a month.

Phillies pitching coach Bob McClure chalked up the increase to Hamels' timing and delivery. When everything is working smoothly, an uptick in velocity tends to happen. It took Hamels a handful of starts this season before he seemed as if he was in a groove.

"[The] better the timing, the increase of velocity, too," McClure said before Hamels' last outing. "He's kind of locked into his delivery right now."

Through 11 starts, Hamels induced swings and misses on 30.45 percent of his change-ups. His patented pitch proves more effective with sharper fastball command, which was somewhat lacking earlier in the season.

Said McClure, "The more he's attacking the strike zone and gets them in that swing mode, and then that change comes, it's tough."

Aaron Nola, the Phillies' top pitching prospect, and Rhys Hoskins, a first baseman with single-A Lakewood, were chosen as the organization's pitcher and player of the month, respectively.

Nola, who turns 22 on Thursday, posted a 1.35 ERA in 40 May innings. Hoskins, 22, hit .342 with two home runs and 23 RBIs in 111 at-bats. He was the Phillies' fifth-round draft pick last June out of California State-Sacramento.

Kevin Slowey, who spent most of spring training pitching for the Phillies, joined the major-league baseball players' association as a special assistant to executive director Tony Clark. . . . The Phillies will open a new baseball field Thursday at their MLB Urban Youth Academy site in FDR Park.

- Jake Kaplan