In an interview with Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Phillies ace Cole Hamels admitted he wants to be traded. Said Hamels:
“I just want to win. That’s all. That’s all any competitor wants. And I know it’s not going to happen here. This isn’t what I expected. It’s not what the Phillies expected, either. But it’s reality.”
“There’s no better feeling than winning, and we enjoyed that for a long time in Philadelphia. I just want to win again. I’m no different than other guys. You just want to be in a position to win.”
Last season, Hamels went 9-9 with a very impressive 2.46 ERA. In 204.2 innings, he struck out 198 batters. He finished 6th in Cy Young voting, behind Jordan Zimmermann and ahead of Zack Greinke.
Cole Hamels being traded out of the division seems like it would probably be a positive overall. Last season against the Mets, Hamels went 1-1 with a 2.41 ERA. In 33 2/3 innings, he gave up 33 hits and walked 15, while striking out 34 and holding Mets batters to a .264 batting average.
Some Mets will be very happy to see Hamels leave the division. In their careers, Michael Cuddyer has gone 1-15 in his career, his only hit being a double, and striking out twice. Travis d’Arnaud is 1-14 with 4 strikeouts a 4 walks, and Lucas Duda has gone 2-16 with 5 walks and 8 strikeouts against the Phillies’ southpaw.
However, some Mets would miss facing Hamels if he were to depart the division, such as Eric Campbell (5-12 .417) and Curtis Granderson (5-11 .455). David Wright, who is notorious for devouring left-handed pitching, has faced Hamels most out of all current Mets. In 77 career at bats, Wright has 25 hits (.325 avg), 5 of which are doubles and another is a triple. He has also hit 5 home runs off the southpaw, and driven in 16 runs.
Second baseman Daniel Murphy would also be sad to say goodbye, as he has gone 17-51 (.333) with four doubles and a home run. However, it seems center fielder Juan Lagares would miss Hamels the most. In 25 at bats, Lagares has 11 hits (.440) including four doubles, two RBIs, and 2 walks.
Despite many Mets hitters being successful against him, Hamels is of course an ace, and seeing him leave the division could potentially give the Mets an extra 1-2 wins, as we generally face him very often. If the Mets are contending this year, which they plan to do and most of us expect them to do, those 1-2 wins would be very important.
Would you be happy or sad to see Hamels go? Comment below! And, as always, Let’s Go Mets!
