Chicago Cubs: Cole Hamels showing no signs of slowing down

Making a triumphant return from the IL, Chicago Cubs left-hander Cole Hamels showed that he’s ready to lead the staff in the season’s final two months.

After spending roughly five weeks, Chicago Cubs hurler Cole Hamels returned to the mound on Saturday and picked up right where he left off, twirling five scoreless innings in a win over Milwaukee.

The 35-year-old southpaw rejoined the team last offseason when the front office picked up his $20 million option for the 2019 season. After bolstering the staff down the stretch last season, pitching to a 2.36 ERA in a dozen starts, many – myself included – expected some sort of regression. Instead, Hamels has been just as good – if not better.

“It’s a tough thing to actually have to have an injury like that before,” Hamels told MLB.com after the game. “You don’t want them to ever occur again. But I understood it wasn’t going to be as drastic and the time wasn’t going to take as long. But, like anything, you just want to be smart and you just want to build everything back up, because those types of injuries, you have to completely shut down everything.

Sure, on a normal day, Hamels probably keeps pitching past the fifth. After all, the lefty needed just 74 pitches to silence the Brewers’ bats. But with a 75-pitch limit, Joe Maddon went to the pen – and that group nailed down the win to put the Cubs up two games over Milwaukee and pull them even with the Cardinals in the division. After St. Louis lost Saturday night, Chicago regained sole poessession of first-place in the National League Central.

Chicago Cubs, Hamels both enjoying home cooking at Wrigley

When people talk about this year’s Cubs team, one thing seems to always come up: the club’s dramatic home-road splits. Despite posting one of the highest home winning percentages in the league, Maddon’s squad has limped to a dismal 21-33 mark away from the Friendly Confines.

Those splits jeopardize the Cubs’ hopes of winning their third division crown in four years – and advancing to the postseason for a fifth-consecutive season. So when they take the field at Wrigley, every win is even more critical. For his part, Hamels has been everything you want and more when he toes the rubber on the North Side.

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Last season, Hamels was terrific – pitching to a 3.42 FIP with the Cubs. This season, he’s mirrored that, turning in a 3.46 FIP across 18 starts. But what he’s done at home has been nothing short of spectacular.

In nine home starts this year, the veteran hurler boasts an impressive 1.081 WHIP, 3.33 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 2.35 ERA.

Oddly enough, he has just two wins at Wrigley in 2019 – but is yet to lose a start. Chicago, as a team, is 7-2 in thoes games – a testament to what Hamels brings to this team.

The Cubs’ rotation is dripping with experience. Hamels pairs with fellow veteran southpaw Jon Lester, while former Major League ERA leader Kyle Hendricks forms the third head of this loaded rotation. Jose Quintana and a resurgent Yu Darvish round things out, but you can’t say enough about the experience Hamels and Lester bring to the table.