Texas Rangers: Give Cole Hamels a little time before reacting

Perhaps Texas Rangers starter Cole Hamels deserves a little slack after a difficult return against the Indians.

Look, there’s no way to sugar coat things here for Texas Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels. His return from the disabled list went about as successfully as a one-legged man’s chances in a butt-kicking contest. But before we completely write him off, let’s look at a few things.

Consider the opponent

That lineup that worked him hard and swatted him around a bit Monday night? That team currently boasts the third-best record in the American League. They’re also the defending American League Champions. And for some reason, those guys have the Rangers’ number this season. That could be due to the fact that they went to the World Series last year and know a thing or two about working pitchers.

Those weren’t the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim or the Kansas City Royals out there, who both sit outside the playoffs right now. This Indians team already has a history of punishing Hamels this season.

At least within the scope of this season alone, their ability to hit him hard is reminiscent of how Oakland used to handle Yu Darvish. For the first couple of years, they would wait him out and elevate his pitch count, which led to later mistakes.

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But instead of waiting things out, the Indians simply jumped all over every pitch in the strike zone by Hamels. According to Rangers writer Jamey Newberg, Cleveland swung and missed at exactly three of Hamels’s pitches Monday night. Three out of 92.

However, we can’t just look at the quality of the opponent, alone as an excuse. He is one of the best pitchers in baseball, for crying out loud. Yet, we still have more outside factors to look at as well.

Consider the time away

I’ll be honest. I just came back from some time off, myself. Granted, there’s a big difference between “not working because you’re injured and physically unable” and “taking a family vacation.” But either way, it’s a little odd getting back to work after being away a while.

Of course, it was only eight days away for me while Hamels had to shake off 60 days of rust. Really, anyone that expected eight innings of three hit ball and one or two runs doesn’t understand pitching.

With having to recover from his injury and facing a lineup like Cleveland, Hamels had a stacked deck against him before he even took the mound. Never mind that he had a four run lead before he ever took the mound as well. He still had some cobwebs to get rid of. Maybe those cobwebs put up a bit of a fight.

Consider the injury

Raise your hand if you know what the oblique muscle is. There are actually two on each side of the abdomen, and they run up and down the trunk of your body. They’re highly involved in the motion of pitching a baseball.

Oblique muscles undergo a heavy amount of torque in the pitching motion, and likely don’t feel very good after an outing with a high pitch count. Things are likely not much better after a long inning, either.

Sure, he should have healed by the time he took the mound at Progressive Field Monday night. But those same muscles also went 60 days without trying to get MLB hitters out, either.

Consider all of the above

Make no mistake, though. Monday night’s outing by Cole Hamels was bad. For a guy with a career history like his, we can expect much better. Alone, an injury recovery, a long time away or a good opponent shouldn’t cause Hamels to look that bad. But when you combine those factors, his odds for success certainly diminish.

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So, let’s take Monday night’s beatdown as a gimme, a mulligan or a do-over. He will likely take the hill again on July 1 with a clean slate. Let’s see what he does and then re-assess. But until then, he’s earned the chance to redeem himself. And I guarantee you that’s exactly what he wants to do.

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