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Chicago Cubs: The acquisition of Cole Hamels saved the Cubs season
SP. Chicago Cubs. COLE HAMELS. A-.
Following a midseason acquisition, veteran left-hander Cole Hamels provided the biggest boost imaginable to the Chicago Cubs and the starting rotation.
By now everyone knows this narrative backward and forward. In the offseason, the Chicago Cubs signed Yu Darvish and Tyler Chatwood to fill the voids in the starting rotation left by Jake Arrieta and John Lackey. That clearly failed in 2018 as Darvish was sidelined with injuries most of the season and Chatwood couldn’t throw a strike if his life depended on it.
Searching for answers at the trade deadline, Theo Epstein made a deal with the Texas Rangers to acquire starting pitcher Cole Hamels. In the deal, the Cubs ended up sending Eddie Butler, Rollie Lacy and Alexander Ovalles to Texas for the left-hander. Talk about highway robbery for the Cubs.
The Cubs acquired Hamels in the midst of what was a down year for the 34-year-old veteran. With the Rangers, he compiled a 5-9 record to go along with a 4.72 ERA in his 20 starts. He had also given up 23 home runs, most of which came in the hitter-friendly Globe Life Park.
Chicago had plenty of reason to believe Hamels would return to form in a Cubs jersey. They thought that going from playing with a team in last place to one that had aspirations of winning a World Series would help rejuvenate him. On top of that, going from the American League to the National League usually works out in the pitcher’s favor.
Chicago Cubs: Hamels makes an immediate impact on the mound for the Cubs
In Hamels’ Cubs debut he faced off with the Pittsburgh Pirates – and he looked right at home. In five innings, the lefty surrendered just one unearned run, while striking out nine batters and walking just two. He looked like the Hamels of old and earned his first win as a Cub in the process.
Hamels built on his success in his debut and put together a stellar August. The 34-year-old made six total starts winning four of them while allowing just three total earned runs. He finished the month with an ERA of just 0.69 in 39 innings pitched. During that span, he struck out 38 batters in comparison to 11 walks while allowing no home runs.
Perhaps his best performance of that month came in his Wrigley Field debut against the Washington Nationals for Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN. He pitched seven dominant innings of one-run baseball, allowing the only run to score on a sacrifice fly in the second inning. After the run scored, Hamels set down the next 17 batters in a row. Over the course of the game, he allowed just one hit and one walk – striking out nine batters.
Two starts later against the Cincinnati Reds, Hamels was dealing again. He ended up pitching all nine innings, becoming the first Cubs pitcher to throw a complete game in 2018. He allowed just a single run while giving up eight hits and striking out seven.
Chicago Cubs: Hamels came back to Earth down the stretch
Sustaining the level of success Hamels experienced in the month of August would have been extremely difficult to do over the remainder of the season. So as good as he was, he did eventually stumble once September rolled around.
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In the six starts over the final month of the season, Hamels was hurt by six long-balls, resulting in 17 earned runs. He posted a 4.10 ERA, took three losses and didn’t win a single game in the final month.
Hamels’ roughest game came against the Arizona Diamondbacks where frankly he got shellacked. He gave up nine hits, two of which were home runs, culminating in seven earned runs. That was, by far, his worst game as a member of the Cubs.
To be fair, Hamels pitched well and kept the Cubs in a lot of those games.
However, the Chicago bats were asleep in most of those contests. In those six games, Hamels only received 12 runs of support, four times receiving two or fewer runs.
Chicago Cubs: Hamels should be back with the team next season
Overall, Hamels made 12 starts with the Cubs and posted a record of 4-3. He gave them a huge boost when he was immediately acquired but he faded down the stretch. He posted a 2.36 ERA, striking out 74 batters and walking 23. Of the five Cubs starters, down the stretch Hamels had the lowest ERA while giving up the fewest earned runs.
Hamels was a breath of fresh air for the Cubs, giving a huge boost to a struggling starting rotation. While it was a tale of two months for the left-hander, he turned out to be a huge acquisition the Cubs could lean on in the second half.
Even in the Cubs Wild Card game against the Colorado Rockies, he was willing to give it everything he had. Hamels entered the game in relief in the top of the 10th inning and gave the Cubs two scoreless innings. He worked around two hits and one walk while striking out one batter.
Next. Lester's return to form came as no surprise to many. dark
Hamels comes with a $20 million option that the Cubs will more than likely pick up. The 2008 World Series champion has more than earned it and the team would be foolish to let him walk away especially considering their question marks pertaining to the starting rotation. I fully expect to see the veteran left-hander back in Chicago next season as the fifth starter.