Giant Momentum Gained by NL Foe

I guess it's now safe to say that the Phillies aren't as bad as they perennially look in June or as good as they annually appear in July. Fresh off another stunning July, the Phils lost the last 2 in S.F. to begin August being battered by a team they may see again in October. Thank goodness for Cliff Lee for preventing the sweep. Perhaps the most intimidating stat of the series is how effectively the Giants pitched the Phils without using their pitcher with the best W-L and ERA on the team:

Matt Cain #18 SP

2009 STATS

ERA W-L SO WHIP

2.12 12-2 112 1.17

In July, the Phils led MLB with a 3.22 ERA. Since 2007, the Phils lead MLB with 84.8% stolen base success rate. Phils will likely see some combination of the Giants, Cardinals &/or Dodgers in the playoffs and we better hope they have an improved Cole Hamels and better base running sense than Jayson Werth showed today, when he tried to nab 3rd with 2 out, already in scoring position.

7-6 with a 4.68 ERA is not what anyone hoped for out of Cole Hamels at this point in the season. With the exception of an invincible post season in '08, has Hamels ever really looked like the second coming of Carlton that everyone repeatedly states he is? At this point, is Hamels even the Phils' Ace? He has, honestly, been outperformed by Blanton, Happ and now Lee. Even Moyer has won more games, while Lopez posted a lower ERA in his brief stint in the rotation.

Remember, "Lefty" once went 27-10 with a 1.97 ERA for a Phillies team that finished in 6th place, dead last in the division with 59 wins and 97 losses. That's right, Carlton won nearly half the team's games that year! In Hamels best year to date, he won a whopping 15 games. That's not nothing, it's just something Lefty did 12 times in his career. So let's stop calling Cole "Steve" and just leave him be as "Cole" for now. Nobody is debating whether he has the stuff. I was there on June 4th this year at Dodger Stadium when he was in total command. Using only 97 pitches, he blanked the Dodgers (sans Manny), allowing 5 hits, striking out 5 and walking nobody in a complete game shutout. It was remarkable. I hope it was a preview of his October to come, rather than an echo of postseason '08.