The Chicago Cubs acquired left-handed veteran Cole Hamels on Thursday ahead of the MLB Trade Deadline.
The Chicago Cubs have had injury issues and performance issues in their rotation this year. On Thursday, they reached a deal with the Texas Rangers to bring in veteran left-handed starter Cole Hamels to help shore up their rotation.
What the Chicago Cubs got
Cole Hamels was originally selected 17th overall in the 2002 draft by the Philadelphia Phillies out of high school in California. He moved at a good pace through the farm system, making his first major league impact with 23 starts in 2006.
In his first full season, 2007, Hamels was an All-Star, going 15-5 with a 3.39 ERA over 183 1/3 innings. He was still finding his footing in the big leagues as a starter when the Phillies made their 2008 run to the World Series, and Hamels was the star, winning the NLCS MVP and the World Series MVP, making 5 starts combined in that postseason, going 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, and a 9/30 BB/K ratio over 35 innings pitched, making him a cult hero in Philadelphia before he was even in his prime.
Hamels hit his prime as the Phillies really hit the skids after their championship team all aged quickly and immediately and were no longer winning. That led to excellent pitching in 2013-2014 resulting in a 17-23 record for Hamels, through no fault of his own. The Phillies traded Hamels to Texas in 2015 in one of the deals that helped to ignite the team’s rebuild.
Hamels has made 20 starts in 2018, tossing 114 1/3 innings with a 4.73 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, and a 114/42 BB/K ratio, one of his worst seasons, if not his worst of his career.
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How Hamels fits on the Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs have had 9 players make a start for them in 2018, 6 of them making at least 5 starts. Big free agent signings Yu Darvish and Tyler Chatwood have both been issues, Darvish due to injury, and Chatwood due to incredible control issues.
That said, Mike Montgomery has been very good filling in this year, and replacing Montgomery with Hamels will simply keep the 3-lefty rotation that was beginning to get some Twitter rumblings of being an issue in a playoff picture where many of the top hitters swing from the right side.
The Chicago Cubs will be hoping that Cole Hamels can get his stride and be a solid #4 down the stretch, and perhaps be able to work in that role in the playoffs.
While various reports have mentioned that the return will include multiple lower-level prospects, no return has been confirmed at this time.