The Phillies Hope Cole Hamels Can Coexist with Roy Halladay

February 19, 2010 – 9:40 am by timgunter

In just his second full season as a starting pitcher, Cole Hamels won the ALCS and World Series MVP and was on top of the world. He was eligible for salary arbitration after the season so Philadelphia decided to sign him to a three-year, $20.5 million contract extension. In doing so, this placed a huge amount of expectations on him at such a young age and he crumbled. The 2009 season proved to be difficult and it showed. Hamels has a calm demeanor about him and he never used to show emotions, but last season you could see the frustration on his face. For example, the interview that took place after Game 3 of the World Series last season where he imploded and expressed his desire for the season to end. He was beside himself because his curveball deserted him and he didn’t know how to deal with it.

Heading into this season, he has a lot to prove to both Phillies fans and the rest of the baseball world. He showed up to spring training yesterday in better shape than last season and more mature than ever. With Roy Halladay now the team’s pitching ace, Hamels no longer has the enormous burden of the franchise on his back. He is sure to regain the command of his pitches this season. I expect the Phillies to return to the World Series for the third straight season, but this time they will win it all.

Cole Hamels joined WIP in Philadelphia to talk about whether keeping a low profile will help him heading into the new season, the difference in the 2008 season vs. last season, and whether he feels that their move in acquiring Roy Halladay is a threat to him or if he feels that he plays better behind someone.

Whether keeping a low profile will help him going into the new season:

“Yeah there is no doubt about it. I think any time that you are able to just get back to the basics it is something that is a lot better for you. In my case it was nice to kind of be with family and kind of relax a little bit. I think that is kind of what really got me even more excited for when spring training started is because I couldn’t really wait to get down here and kind of let the fun begin.”

The difference in the 2008 season vs. last season:

“I think in anybody’s career you have the ups and downs and I think I had the highest high that you could possibly be on for myself in winning the World Series and being kind of the main guy that helped propel us to the victory. With that kind of comes a lot of extra territory and I think you sometimes think that it might be the one and only time that you have a lot of those opportunities so I went with it and did a lot of the media and kind of did some of the fun gigs that comes with winning the award and winning the ring. I think that kind of created kind of more distractions because sometimes it is easy to kind of just go and disappear for a little bit and then come back and you have a great start. I think for myself it was putting more expectations and also when you have that you kind of create a target on your back with other players because they know what you are able to create and what you are able to do and they want to show to everybody and show to me that it doesn’t last forever. You have to make those adjustments and I think that is kind of where you are able to make more adjustments and learn the process of kind of being a young successful player.”

What he thinks created the problems and lack of success compared to the 2008 season:

“I think it would kind of be a lot with not having the type of command because I was almost putting myself in situations where I almost needed to be perfect and then because I wasn’t perfect I would almost create a block in that by almost getting in my own way. I don’t know if that makes sense, but I would get a little bit more frustrated than I needed to be and I think it was being more emotional on the mound at times and I think that kind of created a lot of bad images and bad experiences and I think it is kind of getting back to the core of who I am. I am a calm guy that just goes out and tries to get the job done.”

Whether he thinks that he would sometimes overreact and create more problems:

“Yeah no doubt about it and that is kind of where it is. You can’t let the emotions get the best of you and you can’t let it lead on into other aspects of your game and I think that is kind of what I was doing. Being out there I know that I have a lot of people just trying to tell me to relax, but I think it was something that I was trying to play catch up. When the year didn’t start off the best and trying to get through it and in trying to be too perfect you are always trying to… If you are looking over the back of your shoulder you are not really going to see what is up ahead and I think that is kind of what I did.”

How he tried to handle the big expectations placed upon him by his teammates and the fans:

“You don’t want to disappoint. I think in anything you want to show why you deserved a contract, deserved the awards and your teammates look at you to step it up and being that same sort of guy. I think that I just kind of overdid it and when overdoing it created more pressure than I needed to and I wasn’t able to be calm out there and I think at anytime when anybody is trying to do something and you are not as focused on what you have to do. You are looking at everything around that and then it makes it even twice as hard. On top of that you are playing against big league ballplayers that do want to win that are very good and if you are all of the sudden playing against yourself and those guys you are not putting yourself into a good position to win.”

Whether he feels that their move in acquiring Roy Halladay is a threat to him or if he feels that he plays better behind someone:

“Yeah I really do think that it is a great idea. Any time that you can bring in a guy of that sort of caliber it is not a knock against you. It is somebody to learn from and at one point in your career you would hope to be one of those guys. I mean if all of the sudden another organization is bringing you in they obviously think highly of you, but you obviously have done something right or if you are the type of guy where you have actually earned all of your notches and you do deserve that top spot. There is nothing that could hurt in bringing a guy, especially like Roy, bringing him into the situation that we have because it is a win-win situation. He is the best pitcher that I have seen out there and what is there not to learn? I am just going to take it in strides. He is a great clubhouse guy so I am just really excited to play with him and watch our teammates play behind him.”

Cole Hamels on WIP In Philly with Howard Eskin and Ike Reese

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