Baseball Musings: Cole Goes Cold

April 24, 2008

Cole Goes Cold

Cole Hammels reached a point last night where most pitchers leave the game, but he wanted the ball:

Hamels wanted the ball in the eighth inning last night at Miller Park. He thought he had earned that chance, and manager Charlie Manuel felt the same way.
But Hamels lasted just two batters as he allowed a double to Ryan Braun and a two-run home run to Prince Fielder in a 5-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers that dropped the Phillies back to .500.

"This is something I wanted to do all last year, and I wasn't given that opportunity," Hamels said. "Now I've been given that opportunity, and I haven't been able to succeed, so it kind of probably makes it harder for him to make that judgment" the next time.

"You want to be able to finish off your games. It's something I'm going to work toward, but it's something I haven't been able to do the last couple of games."

Hamels entered the eighth having thrown 110 pitches. He threw 11 more to finish with a career-high 121.

"I wanted him out there," Manuel said. "I feel like he's ready for that. When Braun hit the double, I definitely was going to leave him in there on Fielder. Fielder had a good at-bat."

This is a tough call for a manager. It would be great if Hamels could work his way up to 120 pitches a game. If he doesn't work toward that by throwing more pitches, it's not going to happen. However, until Cole is at the point where there's a reasonable chance of success, close games aren't the best place for the experiment. Let Hamels go 120 pitches in a 5-0 shutout, not with a one-run lead.

Posted by David Pinto at 08:04 AM | Pitchers | TrackBack (0)

Comments

This loss was frustrating. I thought it was a mistake to send him out there, since he was at 110 pitches. The bullpen hasn't been overly taxed recently, so expecting two innings wasn't excessive. However, Lidge had pitched 3 games in a row, I think, so he probably wasn't available.

I do like the general idea of trying to extend Hamels, although this specific effort was silly. But in the situation last night, Manuel should've had J.C. Romero ready. Once Hamels gave up the hard-hit double to Braun, Romero should've faced Fielder. Romero is the only lefty reliever in the Phils' pen, and Fielder was the only left in the Brewers' lineup.

Assuming Braun scored if Manuel brings in a reliever, that ties the game. It likely sends the game to extra innings, which favored the Phillies since the Brewers blew through their pen against the Cardinals.

As you say, stretching him out in a 5-0 shutout is the better route. Otherwise, strategic concerns must trump experimentation. The Phillies of the last few years have shown how important each game could be when seen from September's standings rather than April's.

Posted by: Tony at April 24, 2008 10:26 AM

ha, imagine the back lash of people "why in the world is he leaving Hamels out there with a 5 run lead and 110 pitches in the 7th?!?!?!"

its a no win for the manager.

Posted by: Boomer at April 24, 2008 12:02 PM

Boomer: I completely agree. It makes more strategic sense to try to stretch a pitcher during blowouts. However, if Hamels (or anyone else in the same situation) gets hurt while trying to improve endurance in a blowout...well, that manager is going to get fired before he makes it back to the clubhouse.

Posted by: TC at April 24, 2008 12:49 PM

110 pitches is plenty of endurance. Stretching a pitcher for longer than that is just foolish.

If he can only get 7 innings in on 110 pitches, too bad. hamels is too valuable for Philadelphia to risk an injury over getting one extra inning out of him (and St Louis really needed Philly to win yesterday)...

Posted by: SleepyCA at April 24, 2008 03:42 PM

The Phils may have lost on Wednesday, but on Thursday, Pat "The Bat" came through again. The Phillies back over .500 mark. Not to count too early, but I'm looking for 15-11 by Sunday!

Posted by: Mark B. at April 24, 2008 05:25 PM

If you have a Baseball Prospectus subscription (and if you don't, you should!), Will Carroll posts an except from a email from a fan that reinforces my exact thoughts about this particular incident (scroll down):

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=7418

I did not know that Cole Hamels has been left in the game for over 100 pitches 5 games in a row now, but if that's true, Charlie Manuel is frigging insane. Hamels is an injury risk even without being abused.

Posted by: SleepyCA at April 24, 2008 05:56 PM