Cole Loves the Nightlife

It's still too soon to hit the panic button. But Friday's 10-3 loss to Colorado dropped the Phillies to 1-3 on the season, with their sole victory by virtue of a Braves bullpen implosion. Cole Hamels' season debut may have been the worst start of his career, as he permitted seven runs on eleven hits in three and two-thirds shaky innings, for a -.415 WPA. The Phillies need Hamels to put up Hamels numbers, not Adam Eaton numbers, if they expect to contend for a playoff spot.

Hamels' velocity was down, as his fastball sat mostly in the mid-80's, rather than low-90's. Hamels, though, indicated that he felt poor command was behind his lackluster performance. For someone used to winning Connect Four in three moves, such a lack of success is unusual. But poor starts in day games are not unusual for Hamels. His day/night splits are worthy of note, particularly the difference in K/BB rates, though the difference in BABIPs may explain some of his daytime issues. As Hamels typically spends his early mornings answering God's prayers, as well as giving Chuck Norris self-defense lessons, the Phillies should probably consider using Hamels in night games, whenever possible. Hamels' next start is scheduled for Thursday night against the Nationals. Hopefully, his command and velocity will be improved.

While the Phillies' consistently poor starting pitching has been the main culprit, the feeble bats haven't helped. Jimmy Rollins (.269 OPS) and Shane Victorino (.544), both of whom represented the USA in the WBC, have struggled. The lack of preseason ABs each received, as a result of the WBC, may be a factor in their slow starts. Or, perhaps, we shouldn't be too concerned, as neither has even had twenty ABs yet. All that's certain here, is that the USA needs to play more Spring Training games during the WBC, and that the WBC is way too Classic to be contested only once every four years.

The Phillies face the Rockies again Saturday night, with Contract Year Brett Myers taking his trim frame to the hill. Jorge de la Rosa takes the mound for Colorado, hoping to improve upon the last time he faced Philadelphia. On May 26, 2008, de la Rosa gave up six earned runs (in only three and a third innings), as the Phillies won 20-5. The Phillies are due to put up another twenty spot.