Phillies get reality check with Hamels’ injury: A fan’s take
The Philadelphia Phillies were having the time of their lives against the Boston Red Sox this week. As such, Phillies fans like myself were very confident going into the June 30 finale, with visions of a statement making sweep in our heads. Since the Red Sox were facing Cole Hamels(notes), and could only get one combined run off of Cliff Lee(notes) and Vance Worley(notes), it looked to be a very good afternoon.
But much of the time, when things look this good in Philadelphia, something has to bring us down. In this case, an injury to Hamels' glove hand in the fourth inning, and the 5-2 loss that followed, helped remind us that there's still a whole half season left to go.
With a 51-30 record going into the game, and two straight wins over the Red Sox, this was one of those times when the Phillies looked invincible. But this is still the same team that can't score more than three runs most of the time, needs the pitchers to bail them out—and can't afford to lose another one of the four aces.
The Phillies can survive the loss of Roy Oswalt(notes) for a while, since Hamels, Lee and Roy Halladay(notes) are still there. But if we ever lost one of those other three No. 1 starters, then we would be just like any other contender. Considering that the pitching-rich Atlanta Braves are stalking us in the NL East, and the San Francisco Giants upset us with their powerful staff last year, Philadelphia needs as many aces as possible to have the edge.
Once Hamels got injured, the well-rested Phillies bullpen turned out to be rusty, as the Red Sox finally got off for a few runs. Boston may have been due to get some production, and it may have been unrealistic to think Philadelphia could get a sweep. However, both the loss and the abbreviated start for Hamels helped put a damper on things.
Hamels is unlikely to miss his next start, and he can heal faster than Oswalt can. But if anything else, this serves as a reminder of how one injury to a superstar can derail everything. The Phillies survived a string of injuries to start the year, but doing so in October would be much more difficult. And if either Halladay, Lee or Hamels missed significant time, then we would have reason to fear.
CBS Sports' Larry Dobrow wrote in his power rankings that the Phillies were "a Halladay, Hamels or Lee injury away from being a below-average team." That was easier to ignore when they were dominating the Red Sox, but not when the loss of Hamels kept them from finishing a sweep. Despite their formidable record and staff, Philadelphia has lived on the razor's edge all year, which isn't the safest way to win a championship.
The defeat to the Red Sox was just one loss, and one us Phillies fans can brush aside after the past two wins. And the incident with Hamels can be brushed off as well, as long as it doesn't keep him from his next start. But it all provided a valuable perspective of how fragile everything is, right when we were about to get really carried away.
There are still many reasons to stay excited in Philadelphia, especially after this successful showdown with Boston. However, there are many twists and turns left in this season, and there's always the chance that we won't avoid the unpleasant twists forever. If we forgot that a few days ago, we just got a brief reminder- if not an outright warning.
Other stories from this contributor:
Phillies catching Red Sox at the right time
Phillies, Red Sox ready for showdown
Can Phillies stay powerful with just three aces?
Phillies and Red Sox best two teams in baseball
Phillies have biggest divisional lead in baseball
Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.
But much of the time, when things look this good in Philadelphia, something has to bring us down. In this case, an injury to Hamels' glove hand in the fourth inning, and the 5-2 loss that followed, helped remind us that there's still a whole half season left to go.
With a 51-30 record going into the game, and two straight wins over the Red Sox, this was one of those times when the Phillies looked invincible. But this is still the same team that can't score more than three runs most of the time, needs the pitchers to bail them out—and can't afford to lose another one of the four aces.
The Phillies can survive the loss of Roy Oswalt(notes) for a while, since Hamels, Lee and Roy Halladay(notes) are still there. But if we ever lost one of those other three No. 1 starters, then we would be just like any other contender. Considering that the pitching-rich Atlanta Braves are stalking us in the NL East, and the San Francisco Giants upset us with their powerful staff last year, Philadelphia needs as many aces as possible to have the edge.
Once Hamels got injured, the well-rested Phillies bullpen turned out to be rusty, as the Red Sox finally got off for a few runs. Boston may have been due to get some production, and it may have been unrealistic to think Philadelphia could get a sweep. However, both the loss and the abbreviated start for Hamels helped put a damper on things.
Hamels is unlikely to miss his next start, and he can heal faster than Oswalt can. But if anything else, this serves as a reminder of how one injury to a superstar can derail everything. The Phillies survived a string of injuries to start the year, but doing so in October would be much more difficult. And if either Halladay, Lee or Hamels missed significant time, then we would have reason to fear.
CBS Sports' Larry Dobrow wrote in his power rankings that the Phillies were "a Halladay, Hamels or Lee injury away from being a below-average team." That was easier to ignore when they were dominating the Red Sox, but not when the loss of Hamels kept them from finishing a sweep. Despite their formidable record and staff, Philadelphia has lived on the razor's edge all year, which isn't the safest way to win a championship.
The defeat to the Red Sox was just one loss, and one us Phillies fans can brush aside after the past two wins. And the incident with Hamels can be brushed off as well, as long as it doesn't keep him from his next start. But it all provided a valuable perspective of how fragile everything is, right when we were about to get really carried away.
There are still many reasons to stay excited in Philadelphia, especially after this successful showdown with Boston. However, there are many twists and turns left in this season, and there's always the chance that we won't avoid the unpleasant twists forever. If we forgot that a few days ago, we just got a brief reminder- if not an outright warning.
Other stories from this contributor:
Phillies catching Red Sox at the right time
Phillies, Red Sox ready for showdown
Can Phillies stay powerful with just three aces?
Phillies and Red Sox best two teams in baseball
Phillies have biggest divisional lead in baseball
Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.
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