Texas Rangers 2017 preseason profile: Cole Hamels
Texas Rangers ace Cole Hamels started strong in 2016, but the second half was not nearly as good as the first. That’s why he’s out to make a statement this season.
By the All-Star break last season, Texas Rangers lefty Cole Hamels was 9-2 and well on his way to a Cy Young Award. But as the season dragged on and the innings stockpiled, fatigue set in and the pace dropped. We all know the rest of the story from there.
That’s why Hamels told Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Jeff Wilson last month, “This year I’m definitely going to come out to redeem myself.”
Truth be told though, he still had a great season. For Rangers fans though, it’s the way it all ended that leaves us wanting more.
What 2016 taught us
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Although he’s had a history of bad starts to the season, Hamels put together the best April of his career in 2016. He attributes that to a change he made to his workout regimen prior to last spring.
According to another one of Wilson’s pieces, he focused on all of his pitches before reporting to Surprise instead of working on one each week of camp. The proof was in the proverbial pudding.
Opposing hitters batted just .227 against him last April and he posted a solid 2.52 earned run average in four starts. It carried over well into a very stellar first half of the season. This was especially true in June, where he just flat-out dominated his opponents.
Hamels was nearly untouchable in the month of June last year, holding opposing hitters to a .190 batting average and a .274 on-base percentage. He went 4-0 in the month with a 1.51 ERA while averaging almost seven innings per start. Despite a lower average of strikeouts per nine innings, he was forcing opposing hitters to make bad contact.
That’s why they batted just .229 when they put the ball in play. But perhaps the most mind-boggling number was that he held opposing hitters to slugging percentage of just .279, which means they had an OPS against him of merely .553. Most players would love to have a slugging percentage that high, let alone an OPS.
What 2017 could hold for us
The difference this season for the 33 year-old will be longevity. He was good early, great mid-season and then things trailed off. A fresh start will do him a world of good. Fortunately for Texas, they don’t need him to be perfect. They’ll settle for great.
With fellow starter Yu Darvish basically co-anchoring the rotation he can be their number two guy and thrive. In fact, there will likely be different points of the season where he’s the ace and Darvish is number two and vice-versa. In any case, Hamels is at the top of the class for the Rangers and there’s no reason to expect any less.
Typically, the age of 33 is where we start to see some decline in how starters fare. However, Hamels isn’t your “typical” pitcher. Guys like Greg Maddux, Nolan Ryan and Tom Glavine have disproven this theory. If he stays healthy, Hamels will, too.
Expect about 17 wins in 2017 with an earned run average of around 3.40. He’ll hold opposing hitters to an average of about .235. While his velocity may decline a tad and his strikeout numbers will be lower than he’s had in the past, he’ll still miss a lot of bats. The ones that don’t miss, will naturally get a few home runs. However, we’ll see the Hamels we’ve grown to know and love.
Next: Rangers one starter away
For Hamels, 2016 was a building block. It was his first full season as an American League pitcher and now he has his bearings. Expect to see him level things out and stay consistent throughout October. Hopefully, it will be a nice, long October.