Phillies Nation

I’ve often thought that great teams who have an anchor as the ace of the pitching staff are the teams that win. It seems when a guy like Roy Halladay is at the top of the rotation, he keeps the rest grounded in addition to learning from him. The one and only time I saw this happen in my 33 years of loyal fanship was with Lefty. Pitchers like Dick Ruthven, Marty Bystrom and Larry Christensen were made better by Lefty’s presence. I believe that will be the case with Cole. He also will not have the pressure of being the #1.

I always like Cole but then again I am a laid back kind of guy living in Vermont, I agree the big difference between 08 and 09 was his ablility to let things go. Really Cole was never a work horse, he will not have 9 or 10 complete games he is a 7-8 inning pitcher, just the time he has been brought up in. Last year one bad inning and he was done, you did not see that in 08. I think having Doc in the rotation, will be a big lift for Cole, not only a real ACE, not that Cole could not be one, but a mentor.
The one thing I am not a big fan of is trying to perfect more pitches at one time, I like that he wants to develop a sinker and cutter. But I think he needs to figure out which one he wants to add this year, and perfect that one more pitch.
In the far fetched perdiction mode, I can see Cole being an 19-20 game winner and in the top 5 Cy Young canidate, just like San Fran last year.
Doc being a Cy Young favorite(the Freak Lincicum) and Cole challanging him for it. (Cain)

Buster Olney’s been singing the renewed Hamels’s praises for a few weeks now, and that’s been enough to get me excited. He has the potential to return to ace form this year, just due to the fact of an evening out of his luck, which was fairly awful last year based on his BABIP numbers.

The confidence issue also played a role, and I’d say that and sharpening pitches beyond his fastball/change-up are the biggest changes we can hope for. If he really works on those areas, I think we could see an even better Cole Hamels than in 2008. So far he’s made promising strides in both, and the fact that he’s throwing a fastball 15 mph faster than he did last year at this point can only spell good things. A 4-pitch, confident Cole Hamels should be a force to be reckoned with, and could probably be the opening day starter on any number of teams in baseball.

Pat, great article. I agree with you: it’s a cultural misunderstanding. Everyone in the clubhouse, including Charlie, has said again and again how Cole is a focused, driven guy –a perfectionist. I really like that, and I think that he will be in the CY Young conversation this year, along with The Beast.

“Cultural misunderstanding” PERFECTLY describes the relationship between Cole and the fans….or better yet, the city of Philly.

We’ve all said it before…..we would LOVE it if Cole was more like us….more “gritty”,” East-Coast”, “blue-collar”- LIKE (because a lot of white collar people around here actually have blue-collar ties or influences someway….we are still “blue-collar” in the Philly sense).

Cole isn’t that. He’s from California, he’s “laid-back”…..and that’s all good.

But the fans here “misunderstand that sometimes as being lazy, non-caring, non-competitive…..all of which are completely false.

A good year this year….a really strong EFFORT…..without throwing his infielders under the bus…..and last year is forgotten….a thing of the past.

I think he definitely has it in him….and by what I’m hearing and reading….he’s out to prove that last year was a fluke.

Go Cole!!

I really, honestly, don’t care about his “down year” last year

to me, there is no doubt that he just had a DEAD ARM from 2008..

He’ll be back in a big way..

Since we know that favorites in Halladay, Lincecum, Carpenter, Wainwright, Johan Santana, Dan Haren.. for Cy Young.

Who do you guys see as Dark Horse candidates?…

I think the Rockies have a big year this year, and Ubaldo Jimenez might be in the mix for Cy Young..

And if Yovanni Gallardo stays healthy for the Brewers, he could be in the mix too

Don I think you have to put Doc in that favorites list he did pitch in agrualbly the toughest division in baseball and dominated the world champ yankees. And facing the Nats and Marlins and Braves for a lot of his starts if he stays healthy could easily be a 20 game winner with the Phillies offense behind him. As I stated before I think Cole may have an outside chance, maybe not to win but be in the conversation.
Does anyone else except me think Cole has a shoot to be opening day starter so Doc can pitch the Home opener which I will be attending. Or does Doc start opening day so Cole can pitch the home opener

Yea I guess you are right, I guess I just do not get it. But I guess I’m just a little more laid back then most of the Phillies fans. I lived in the Phila. area for my formidable years from 1970-89. Maybe that is why I moved back to VT in 2004. I go to 8-10 regular season game a year, and love when Cole is pitching, but this year I hope to have some Sunday Doc starts.

anyone else see the mlb networks 30 teams in 30 days on the Phillies, Love Charlies Gold’s Gym plug. He also wants a few guys on this team to hit .300 this year, including Ryan Howard, how awesome would that be the Big Guy hitting 40+ hrs 130 rbi and batting 305

Halladay was the first one I listed.. .

Doc is the Opening Day starter, announced by Charlie Manuel before Spring training even started. They could care less who pitches the opener at Citizens Bank Park . . . . you need to give your best pitcher the most starts possible

So Doc definitely gets opening day (at Washington).

Jurrjens won’t catch people by surprise like he did last year though.. he’s nasty, but people will be more prepared for him.

Ryan Howard is no longer hitless…..lead-off single in 4th inning.

So now those that have fixated on this so far this Spring can relax a bit.

I was lucky enough to watch the first few innings of the Yankees-Phillies game on TV. Kendrick looked very, very solid. Three clean innings.

Utley got robbed of a RBI.. Howard finally got a hit (through the shift!)… Mayberry looked really good at the plate, hitting a breaking ball for a RBI double…Oh, and Jimmy: very nice, first pitch of the game he sends it to the right field seats… and then the first pitch of his next AB, he bunts it for a single. Power + speed. I’m digging it.

Yes, watching the game on MLB network, KK looked really good I thought. Mayberry has been swinging well, hits the ball hard almost every time up this spring. Still has the big swing, so the K’s will still be there is think. Howard with another hit.
Sorry I missed Doc on your list Don, must have been blinded by the fact that the guy is our team.
And yes Utley got robbed by a bad call, good thing it is spring training.

Countrous seeming to have a little control problem, Ben should of had that fly ball, but it is still early, and I really do not think Ben is a CF more of a corner guy.

So what is that for Contraras??….2 IP, 6 runs given up?? Not too good.

Barring an injury, Mayberry will start at AAA. Francisco is your 4th outfielder. On the KC Royals or the Pirates, Mayberry could be a starter or at the very least a platoon player. He needs regular playing time and he’s not gonna get it here at the big-league level.

He certainly has a sweet swing though. Too bad he only hits fastballs (although that home run today wasn’t a fastball…some kind of mistake pitch).

He’s destined to be a AAA player. . .

I would have to disagree that Mayberry is destine to be a career AAA player I know he is a little older than some, he is what 23 -24, but I think if he can harnass his swing a little I think he can be good. I know it is only ST but the guy has hit the ball almost every time up, and does not have a lot of K’s. With a little work I think he could be a big league hitter. I was asking the question of could he work on that as a bench player for the phillies or does he need regular playing tim3e

I could care less where he’s from if he can go back to being the Cole he was a few years ago.

Nice to see Domonic Brown and Kyle doing well. So what do they do if Kyle beats out Jamie for the 5th starters spot.

Here is THE BEST article on Cole Hamels:
http://www.sportspickle.com/article:354/cole-hamels-my-teammates-are-like-stylists-to-me

THE BEST article on Cole Hamels?

Looks to me more like the whining of some fan-licking wuss taking cheap and obvious shots at someone who just doesn’t fit in with his own ideas of manhood.

I’ve lived in California. The laid back surfer mentality is a completely worn out cliche, as is the entire “Hollywood Glamour Boy” stereotype. The people I knew were as hard working as anybody else. They may have dressed differently–you don’t wear coveralls when it’s 105 degrees out–but then an Apache Warrior or a crocodile wrestler doesn’t dress like a Philadelphian, either.

Hamels had his problems last year, and said some stupid things. But everyone’s capable of that. At least he never collided with an armrest during rehab. I think it’s time we all got past the “he’s a sissy” crap.

Dipsy,

Are you a Philles fan? I will say you are knowledgeable, but man you seem to be down on everyone on this team.

Anyhow, I am glad to see Cole having a nice start to the spring, I do disagree that his fastball is ordinary, what makes his fastball different his is changeup. Last year he heavily relied on it and they figured him out and pasted him. The signs of a great pitcher is not just the stuff you possess, but how you can adapt to when hitters figure something out… see Moyer.

I think this will a good year for Cole.

Contrary to popular belief, I am a huge Phillies fan. I don’t talk about the 90% that is RIGHT with the team, just the 10% that is wrong. That might make me a bit of a jerk. Or just a guy that wants the 10% fixed. I lumme some Phillies. But ya gotta admit, Cole is kindofa fembot.

The Dipsy

no guy should ever use the word “fembot” …

speak for yourself, Jeff of Nova

Concerning Dipsy’s post…..did he invent the “urban dictionary” or what?

“lumme”….. “fembot”….. “jitbag” (he used that in an older post)

Not your most widely used words on this site.