January 13, 2009

After my interview with Heidi Hamels that covered such topics as her new business venture and life as the wife of an MVP, her husband Cole joined me over the phone as they traveled to Clearwater, Florida.  

And while we did not talk about his labeling of the Mets as “choke artists,” we did touch on his off-season routine and the loss of Pat Burrell.

On the surface, it would appear that Hamels had an amazing 2008 campaign.  A World Championship, a Most Valuable Player award and newfound stardom for most are part of a pretty good season. However, what kept Hamels from having a “great” season for his standards were his 10 losses with just 14 wins.

In fairness, the run support given to him by his offense was lacking.  Hamels received just 5.58 runs per nine innings, which placed him in the bottom seven of pitchers with 160 innings or more.

There is a number Hamels has been shooting for since he made it to the major leagues: 20.  The closest he has gotten to that number has been 15 wins, which happened in 2007.  Could this be the year for 20 wins?  Hamels certainly has confidence on his side nowadays, especially after his amazing playoff run in ‘08.

What is more important to the Phillies is that their ace lefty keeps them in as many games as possible.  The Phils brought Jamie Moyer back for 2009 and will have Joe Blanton in the fold for a full season, meaning the heart of the rotation is the same.  However, there are still questions surrounding the starting five.  Who will be the fifth guy?  Can Brett Myers build on the second half of last year?  Hamels needs to continue to be a rock every fifth day with that little bit of uncertainty.

Here is my conversation with Hamels:

Pat Gallen: Since you’re going down to Florida early, will you work with the team, or will you be working mostly by yourself?

Cole Hamels: “I’ll probably be mostly working out on my own, maybe with a trainer.  Because I have a strict regimen that I like to keep, and the only benefit of doing it down there is that its nice and sunny outside to work out.  Plus, there are the occasional players who are down there rehabbing from the minor leagues where I can play catch with them.  It gets very monotonous when you're playing catch against a wall.  There isn’t much excitement and you can’t really judge how you feel or how you're doing when you're just throwing it at a wall.”

PG: What are you looking forward to this year?  Obviously you had a pretty good year last season, but what can you do to step it up even further?

Cole Hamels: “Truly, I don’t think I had the best of years. It might have ended the way I wanted, but during the year that’s a different story.  I think remaining healthy is the big key, but also any time you lose double-digit games, you’re not happy with yourself.  So I want to keep down the losses and promote more opportunities for our team to win.  Hopefully I’ll get to that magical number of winning 20 games.”

PG: What are your thoughts on losing Pat Burrell?

Cole Hamels: “Pat the bat.  You know what?  I thought he was a great team player.  He held us together and he’s a leader that’s going to take a lot to make up for, especially his presence in the clubhouse and out on the field.  When you lose a guy who’s been around for a while, the first few weeks of spring training of course you’ll be trying to get used to everything.

When you don’t have the same familiar faces to look towards, your almost stepping on eggshells for a little bit. But you're obviously going to have to get past that, introduce ourselves to the new players, and just try to go out there and win like we want to and we’re expected to.

PG: How important do you think it was for the team to bring back Jamie Moyer?
|
Cole Hamels: “I think that’s the biggest keep this offseason.  Anytime you're able to keep a guy with that much experience, plus the knowledge of keeping a pitching staff together, I think it helps both the starters and the relievers, especially the young guys.  If you want to up your game, you need somebody that can help you out just enough to do it on your own, and then you go out there and perform it.  He’s the type of guy we really look towards, giving us the expert, you know, elements of decisions.  And he helps to motivate you too.

If a 46-year old guy can outwork you and you’re half his age, then you really need to push the envelope a little bit more.  We see him arrive to the field earlier than we do and he’s outworking us, so it gives us the extra motivation to work harder.”

PG: What has he taught you personally as a pitcher?

Cole Hamels: “Personally, he’s inspired me to keep myself healthy and put the little things first.  You know, I didn’t know what a full season was because I always got injured and he puts it as, ‘if you aren’t feeling well and you think you can give a shortcut here and there you’ll be OK.’  He lets you know, ‘no, you’re not going to be OK, you need to do everything you can, you can’t take shortcuts.’

"Shortcuts aren’t going to make you become better, and that’s kind of what he has instilled in me; to go all the way because it will pay off in the end just like Jamie. It’s paid off for him, he’s been able to pitch and will be able to pitch until he’s 48. I think everyone can aspire to that.  He’s also in the upper echelon of knowledge, so he can help me out with pitches in certain situations where I wouldn’t know how to pitch to a guy.  It’s almost like a cheat-sheet.”

PG: With the short offseason, what have you done to try to change things up knowing that there isn’t much time until the spring starts up?

Cole Hamels: “I’m starting to work out earlier.  Mentally, you want to have that lapse of a breather and a break, but sometimes in life you cant do that.  I probably should take a break, but I know if I do, I won’t be in the best possible shape.  After you win a World Series, you pretty much up your expectations because people expect a little bit more.  So you have to be aware of that and you have to go out there and do it.  And I think that’s why I’m working out a little bit harder and going out there earlier, because I expect a lot better things out of myself and know other people are too.  So I’m going to go out and give it to them.”