Texas Rangers’ Cole Hamels Reaches 2000 Career K’s
By Ron Juckett
As he marches into the history books, Cole Hamels of the Texas Rangers joins an elite group of pitchers with 2000 strikeouts.
Cole Hamels of the Texas Rangers became the 76th member of the 2000 strikeout club Sunday.
Hamels, 32, passed the milestone against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field. Leonys Martin swung on and missed strike three for the opening out in the bottom of the third inning. The Rangers won the game 6-4, earning Hamels his sixth win on the season.
The Rangers lead the American League West by five games, in no small part based on Hamels’ performance. In 13 starts, he is 6-1 with an ERA of 3.14 and an Adjusted ERA+ of 143 (7th in the AL.) Now in his first full season with the Rangers after a decade with the Philadelphia Phillies, he is regaining the form he had bringing the Phillies to consecutive World Series in 2008 and ’09.
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A three-time All-Star and a four-time top ten finisher in the NL Cy Young Award voting, Hamels’ record since coming to Texas is 13-2 in 25 starts with 159 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.40. As the Phillies decided to rebuild, dumping all the high-dollar contracts they could, they shipped him to the Rangers in an eight-player deal with Jerad Eickhoff and Matt Harrison being the notables returned east.
A first-round draft pick in 2002, 17th overall, from San Diego’s Rancho Bernardo High School, Hamels finally reached the majors on May 12, 2006. Starting on the road against the Cincinnati Reds, he got shortstop Felipe Lopez, the second batter he faced, to swing and miss for his first punch out. In 2012, a season he went 17-6, he struck out a career-high 216.
Signed through 2018, Hamels expects to stay with the Rangers a long time. Along with fellow left-hander Martin Perez and veteran Colby Lewis, Texas is well-positioned to repeat as AL West champions. Their 39-24 record is the best in the league. A good mix of veterans, such as Adrian Beltre and Prince Fielder, mixed with the youth of Rougned Odor and breakout star Nomar Mazara should keep Texas in a good position.
Another 100 strikeouts will move Hamels into 62nd all-time, passing Roy Halladay and Tim Hudson along the way. If he stays healthy, he could reach 2500 by the end of his contract, a feat accomplished by 32 players in baseball history. If the Rangers do not take his 2019 $20 million option, he would be a free agent again at 34.
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Hamels, now 127-92 on his career with an ERA of 3.31 to go with 2003 strikeouts, will give baseball writers something to think about on retirement. If he breaks the 2500 strikeout barrier and continues to hold his ERA in line, he will have a day in the New York sun in Cooperstown.