Thursday, July 05, 2007
Still at 9,997...
An impressive performance last night from Cole Hamels, who hurled 115 pitches in his seven inning, eight hit, eight strikeout, no walk masterpiece. I worry that the Phillies give Hamels too much work – at the moment Hamels is sixth in the National League with pitches thrown, with 1,836. Adam Eaton and Jamie Moyer are about 200 pitches behind Hamels – 186 and 199 respectively. Are the Phillies going to tire Hamels arm out too quickly? Is Hamels going to be running on fumes come September? Will he be burned out from pitching in 2, 3 years?
Keith Woolner wrote a nice piece contained in Chapter 2.3 of Baseball Between the Numbers (entitled “Five Starters or Four?”) and came to this conclusion: “Throwing is not dangerous to a pitcher’s arm. Throwing while tired is dangerous to a pitcher’s arm.” I suppose that if the Phillies take precautions and let Hamels rest between starts – the Phillies, like pretty much every other team in baseball, utilize a five-man rotation which ensures that their starters are throwing on four or five days rest – it won’t be an issue, but you do have to worry that Charlie Manuel will risk the temptation of doing damage to Hamels arm because leaving Hamels in to throw a complete game is less risky than turning a 2-1 lead over to the Phillies bullpen. Hopefully the return of Brett Myers will alleviate this concern.
Just when it looked like the Mets were going to run away with the N.L. East and kick the Phillies to the curb, they proceed to go out and lose three consecutive games to the Colorado Rockies. Yes, the Rockies. Go figure. The Rockies pounded the Mets pitching for 34 runs in the series, a staggering total which ought to give Mets fans something to think about as their team staggers into a four-game series with the Houston Astros.
The Phillies haven’t been playing particularly well of late – two wins in their last seven games – but they are just four games out of first place and one game out of second place. I know Phillies fans, as a breed, have little faith in their team, but the news is generally good for this team. They’ve shaken off a terrible start to get into the race, they’ve stumbled but so have their foes. They could very well get in, and possibly win. We’ll have to see.
Meanwhile, the Phillies get those very same Rockies tomorrow in the Mile-High City.
Keith Woolner wrote a nice piece contained in Chapter 2.3 of Baseball Between the Numbers (entitled “Five Starters or Four?”) and came to this conclusion: “Throwing is not dangerous to a pitcher’s arm. Throwing while tired is dangerous to a pitcher’s arm.” I suppose that if the Phillies take precautions and let Hamels rest between starts – the Phillies, like pretty much every other team in baseball, utilize a five-man rotation which ensures that their starters are throwing on four or five days rest – it won’t be an issue, but you do have to worry that Charlie Manuel will risk the temptation of doing damage to Hamels arm because leaving Hamels in to throw a complete game is less risky than turning a 2-1 lead over to the Phillies bullpen. Hopefully the return of Brett Myers will alleviate this concern.
Just when it looked like the Mets were going to run away with the N.L. East and kick the Phillies to the curb, they proceed to go out and lose three consecutive games to the Colorado Rockies. Yes, the Rockies. Go figure. The Rockies pounded the Mets pitching for 34 runs in the series, a staggering total which ought to give Mets fans something to think about as their team staggers into a four-game series with the Houston Astros.
The Phillies haven’t been playing particularly well of late – two wins in their last seven games – but they are just four games out of first place and one game out of second place. I know Phillies fans, as a breed, have little faith in their team, but the news is generally good for this team. They’ve shaken off a terrible start to get into the race, they’ve stumbled but so have their foes. They could very well get in, and possibly win. We’ll have to see.
Meanwhile, the Phillies get those very same Rockies tomorrow in the Mile-High City.
Labels: Hamels, Mets, Pitching
Comments:
I know its been a rough road over the years heading to the horribly magic number that is 10000...But, we have company. Check out some of the worst meltdowns in the history of sports and keep your head up!
Biggest Meltdowns in History
Biggest Meltdowns in History
# posted by 
: Friday, July 06, 2007 5:06:00 PM
: Friday, July 06, 2007 5:06:00 PM
Forget about the 10,000 loss thing; it's inevitable. It has as much to do with the longevity of the franchise as it does with all the poor teams. As for Hamels, I wouldn't worry about a thing with the burnout factor. The guy can flat out beat you with a pitch that is the easiest on the arm to throw. He's strong-minded, young, and his conditioning is fantastic. It probably helped his case that he didn't pitch all that much in the minors due to his setbacks (back, hand, etc.).
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# posted by : Sunday, July 08, 2007 7:48:00 AM
: Sunday, July 08, 2007 7:48:00 AM
