The Curious Case of Cole Hamels

When Cole Hamels won the World Series MVP award at the tender age of 24, few doubted that he had a very promising career ahead of him. 

He was the toast of Philadelphia, the unquestioned staff ace, and the heir to Steve “Lefty” Carlton. 

The only problem was that reality intervened, and the last two years have been riddled with speed bumps for the young Hamels.

In 2009 he was plagued by injuries, bad luck, and the occasional verbal gaffe. He went from dominating postseason ace to struggling third starter behind the rejuvenated Pedro Martinez and the cutter-throwing, Southern-talking, easygoing, dyed-in-the-wool season savior, Cliff Lee.

When Lee was traded in the following offseason, the scrutiny of Hamels only grew. 

During the 2010 preseason, the Phillies camp was filled with stories of Hamels’ work ethic. He had improved his arm strength, solidified his curveball, and added a new cutter.

The ace was back.

But so far, the early results from the 2010 season have been inconclusive. 

He has continued to struggle, and Phillies fans have become increasingly restless. 

Hamels’ latest outing, last night’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals, seems to be a pretty good representation of his young career as a whole.

Through eight innings, Hamels was dealing. 

He had given up only six hits and allowed no runs while striking out eight. But then, in the top of the ninth inning, after an ill-timed distraction by a fan, Hamels allowed two straight doubles to tie the game. 

The effort was solid and looked pretty good on paper, but the end result left you wanting just a little bit more. 

But if you take a closer look, there is little reason to doubt that Hamels will figure it out this season and at the very least remain a very solid No. 2 starter behind Roy Halladay.

Hamels currently has a 4.42 ERA, good for 34th among National League starters.

Now if you see that number alone, you are understandably very worried. 

But if there is one thing that the new era of baseball has taught us, it is that some statistics can be very misleading.

Instead of using ERA to condemn Hamels, we should instead look into exactly why that number is so high.

Expected Fielding Independent Pitching, or xFIP, attempts to quantify only the things that pitcher himself can control. It ignores park factors and defense while accounting for strikeouts and walks. It normalizes a pitcher’s HR/fly ball rate and quantifies this on an ERA scale. 

Hamels’ xFIP is 3.31, good for seventh among National League starters.

Now this does not mean that Cole Hamels is the seventh best pitcher in the NL, but what it does show us is that Hamels has actually pitched quite solidly. His biggest weakness is that the majority of the fly balls he has given up have turned into home runs.

If you look at his Batting Average on Balls in Play, or BABIP, which is an unusually high .356, it shows that Hamels has also been unlucky on ground balls and line drives that have come from his hits allowed.

These two numbers suggest that Hamels has actually pitched much better than his ERA reveals, and that number should decline significantly over the course of the year. 

Factor in his very solid K/9 rate of 10.24, and it is not inconceivable that Hamels could turn out to be one of the best No. 2 starters in MLB this year.

So do not fret, Phillies fans. The numbers show that although the utterly dominating Cole Hamels of the 2008 postseason might not be back, the 2010 version should be more than serviceable. 

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Right or Wrong: Philadelphia Phillies Fan Getting Tased Was Hilarious

Wayne Consalvi was more than likely in his Man Cave on Monday night, after a long day at work. He felt relaxed, he was home alone, and his wife now had a different last name.

He popped open a few beers and watched his beloved Philadelphia Phillies take on the St. Louis Cardinals.

The first beer was a congratulatory one for himself, the next pilsner, was a cheers for his son Steve.

By his own account Steve is, “a real good student, heading to Penn State,” he told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Steve Consalvi , a 17-year-old high school senior, went to Citizen’s Bank Park on Monday to celebrate the end of an era with his friends.

The evening was supposed to be a joyous occasion as they went to see their Philadelphia Phillies on a school night.

The minors were winding down their high school days and preparing for the, “next step,” by loading up on underage favorites Pepsi and cotton candy.

In the top of the eighth inning, Wayne started to doze off in his Laz -Y-Boy recliner, when suddenly the, “Shots, Shots, Shots,” ring tone blared from his cell phone.

He glanced down to see the caller ID read “Stevie” and Wayne instantly grew concerned.

“Hello,” he said. No answer, but he could hear screaming in the background and he knew his son was still at the baseball game. 

“Hello?” he said again, but this time raising his voice in the form of a question.

Again, no answer. Wayne started to hang up the phone, when he heard Steve say “Dad!”

“Ya?” he answered.

“Dad, can I run on the field?” Steve asked. Caught off guard by the absurd question Wayne answered, “I don’t think you should, son.”

“This would be a once in a lifetime experience!” Steve said.

Before Wayne could respond, the phone went dead. Certain that this was his son pulling his leg, he resumed watching the Phillies game, only this time more intently.

What he saw in the bottom of the eighth inning baffled Wayne.

According to the Associated Press, “The fan, wearing a baseball cap, red T-shirt and khaki shorts, hopped a fence and scurried around the outfield, eluding two security officers in the bottom of the eighth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals. One officer used a Taser and the fan went down in a heap. Several Phillies placed gloves over their faces and appeared to be stifling laughter at the wild scene.”

Wayne was impressed by the Barry Sanders —like moves his son put on Paul Blart , but he knew he would have to immediately go to Chuck’s Bail Bonds.

The next day, apologies flowed freely from Steve and his family, while media across the country questioned whether or not the kid should have been tased.

Steve’s mother Amy Ziegler, reiterated her son was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs and apologized for his actions saying he regrets running onto the field.

“It was stupid. It was just absolutely stupid,” she told WTXF-TV.

“I don’t recommend running on the field, but I don’t think they should have tased him at all,” Wayne told the newspaper.

“How long can he really run around out there?” said Mary Catherine Roper , an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union in Philadelphia,

“In this situation, he’s not dangerous, he’s not getting away,” she said.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell called the incident “a big mistake.”

“There’s no need to use Tasers on fans who run on the field,” the former Philadelphia mayor told WCAU-TV. “We should just have enough personnel out there to surround them, take them off the field and put them in jail.”

Other people had different opinions of the force used by the police officer.

“If you’re on the streets running away from a cop, doesn’t that cop have a right to Tase you because you’re fleeing from a cop? So what’s the difference,” Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino said.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa agreed as well. ”If somebody comes up there and does some damage, they’re going to be second-guessing not doing anything,” La Russa said. “I just think it’s acceptable, because it’s a good deterrent.”

“Don’t like being Tased? How bout don’t run onto the field. 44,817 people were at that game. 44,816 stayed in their seats. Dummy!” said ESPN’s Michael Smith.

I don’t think La Russa has a valid argument on this one. Would he have had a different answer if he was passed out drunk in his SUV and was tasered?

In the cop’s defense, I don’t blame him for tasing the kid. I wouldn’t want a national audience to know I failed the Wii Sports physical exam.

However, running onto the field of play at any sports venue is dangerous to the players and fans.

In 2002, Royals first base coach Tom Gamboa was attacked by a father/son tag team in a game against the White Sox.

“I felt like a football team had hit me from behind. Next thing I knew, I’m on the ground trying to defend myself,” Gamboa said, suffering minor injuries in the attack.

Luckily, that type of attack during a game are few and far between. Most of the fans that run onto the field are drunks seeking their 15 minutes of fame. And most of the time it ends being tackled by a security guard, player, or mascot (you will get to see that shortly.)

In Steve’s case, this was a 17-year-old kid running around aimlessly, seeking what he called “a once in a lifetime experience” and was tased in the process by an overzealous, out of shape rent-a-cop.

Whatever floats your boat kid.

Should he have been tased? No. Was it funny as hell? YES.

I can see the irritability and safety concerns fan interference causes for players and security personnel.

But as a spectator, these videos are always fun to watch on Youtube as long as no one else gets hurt, and the clothed streaker accepts the inevitable arrest or beat down by a player on the field.

 

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

2010 Projections: Why You Should Buy Low on Phillies’ Cole Hamels

After Tuesday night’s gem against St. Louis, Phillies’ starter Cole Hamels lowered his season ERA to a less than desirable 4.42. His stellar 44/12 K/BB ratio and 2.79 BB/9, however, suggests more success is on the horizon.

Through 38 2/3 innings thus far, Hamels has fallen victim to a .356 BABIP, which explains his sky-high 1.42 WHIP. A similiarly high BABIP (.325) plagued Hamels in 2009 as well, as the 2002 first-rounder posted a career-high 4.32 ERA.

Despite this, Hamels’ 2009 peripherals (7.81 K/9, 2.00 BB/9) were in line with his career totals of 8.47 and 2.31.

One major difference from 2008 to 2009 was Hamels’ o-swing rate-the percentage of pitches an opposing batter swings at outside the strike zone. In 2008, Hamels coaxed whiffs on pitches outside the zone a whopping 30.8 percent of the time (the league average that year was 25.4 percent). In 2009, that number dropped to 26.8 percent.

This could mean one of two things. Either Hamels’ stuff wasn’t quite as nasty last year, or perhaps he was pitching too well. Through six starts in 2010, his o-swing rate is back up to 31.6 percent, leading this Insider to believe the 2008 version of Hamels will emerge this season.

Hamels’ 2009 FIP (3.72) also suggests a bounce-back season is likely. Don’t forget that Hamels posted ace-like ERAs of 3.39 and 3.09 in 2007 and 2008, respectively, as well as WHIPs of 1.12 and 1.08 to go along with the aforementioned strikeout and walk rates.

Given his fourth straight season with no less than 180 innings, Hamels is capable of approaching 200 strikeouts and a 3.50 ERA, making him an excellent buy-low candidate.

FBI Forecast: 200 IP, 14 W, 185 K (8.3 K/9), 3.50 ERA, 1.22 WHIP

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: FANTASY BASEBALL INSIDERS

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More 2010 Fantasy Baseball Insiders Player Projections:

• Livan Hernandez
• Mike Pelfrey
• Delmon Young
• Drew Stubbs
• Nolan Reimold
• Jay Bruce
• Geovany Soto
• B.J. Upton
• Shin-Soo Choo
• Matt Wieters

Fantasy Baseball Insiders Tonight updates:

• 5/4: Is Yankees’ Pitcher A.J. Burnett Really This Good?
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• 4/27: Who The Heck is Cliff Pennington?
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Fantasy Baseball Insiders’ Prospect Report:

• Does Rangers’ Justin Smoak Have Fantasy Value in 2010?
• Does Mets’ Ike Davis Have Fantasy Value in 2010?

Fantasy Baseball Insiders’ Inbox:

• Trade Astros’ Carlos Lee for Blue Jays’ Vernon Wells?

More from Fantasy Baseball Insiders:

• Padres’ Kyle Blanks, Reds’ Drew Stubbs Headline 2010 All-Breakout Team

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Jimmy Rollins: Behind the Philadelphia Phillies Uniform

Many fans of Major League Baseball show their support for their favorite player or team by wearing jerseys or caps, going to the ballpark, or sitting on the edge of their seat in front of the television.

 

What most fans don’t see is the player behind the uniform.

 

Granted, most players who sign the larger contracts are persuaded into donating to a certain charity in some shape or form; but a select few have the passion to go out of their way to make the world a better place for a number of special people.

 

One such player is Jimmy Rollins of the Philadelphia Phillies.

 

Rollins, a native of Oakland, California, has become one of the premier shortstops in Major League baseball and is a key component in the Philadelphia Phillies’ success.

 

Rollins was a second round selection by the Phillies in the 1996 June draft. He began rookie ball in Martinsville, and quickly worked his way through the Phillies farm system. 

 

He played his first game in a Phillies uniform on September 17, 2000, making the start at shortstop.

 

Rollins is perhaps best known for his base-running skills, having stolen 20 or more bases every season since 2001, with a career-high of 47 in 2008.

 

Rollins was named the 2007 National League Most Valuable Player and has been named to the National League All-Star team three times (2001, 2002, & 2005).

 

J-Roll became the first player in the history of Major League Baseball to collect at least 200 hits, 15 triples, 25 homers, and 25 stolen bases in one season, and holds the record for most at bats in a season with 716.

 

Rollins owns the longest hitting streak in Philadelphia Phillies history at 38 games, achieved from August 2005 to April 2006. His streak is the longest in the majors since 1987, when Paul Molitor hit safely in 39 consecutive games; and the longest in the National League since Pete Rose’s 44-game streak in 1978. It is currently the eighth-longest streak in Major League Baseball history.

 

Outside of owning a record label, dedicating time to his family, and his obligation to the Phillies, Rollins still finds a huge amount of time to assist with charities and give back to the community.

 

In 2008, he created the Rollins Family Foundation…a 501 c3 foundation.

 

Also in 2008, Rollins campaigned for United States presidential candidate Barack Obama and introduced Senator Joe Biden and his wife at a rally in South Philadelphia.

 

In August of 2009, Rollins hosted his fourth annual Celebrity BaseBOWL Tournament, which benefits the Rollins Family Foundation and the Eastern Pennsylvania Arthritis Foundation. 

 

In 2004, he served as an Honorary Chairman for Easter Seals.  In 2003, he also served as an Honorary Chairman for the Negro Leagues Baseball Memorial Fund, which sculpted a statue to honor Philadelphia’s Negro League players.

 

In addition, Rollins has appeared in Public Service Announcements for Boys and Girls Clubs of America, and RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner cities).

 

One particular story that stands out for many occurred in 2009, when Rollins teamed up with ESPN to make a dream come true for Shaquille Jacobs of Greensboro, NC, as part of ESPN’s “My Wish” segment special.

 

Jacobs played baseball his entire childhood, and baseball was truly one of his greatest passions.

 

Jacobs was always seeking to improve his abilities, whether it was spending extra time at the batting cages, working with his father on base-running skills, diligently studying film or watching countless games on TV.

 

It’s worth mentioning that his favorite baseball hero and role model is none other than, Jimmy Rollins.

 

During his 10^th-grade year at Grimsley High, Jacobs suddenly became ill and was diagnosed with life-threatening leukemia.

 

He couldn’t walk at all and endured what seemed like constant pain and suffering.

 

He lost 35 pounds and needed to get a port in his chest in order to sustain countless chemotherapy sessions.

 

The fight for his life became a miraculous success, and the leukemia eventually went into remission. But one thing that stayed with Jacobs during this entire experience was his love for the game of baseball.

 

Upon hearing Jacobs’ story, Rollins and ESPN were quick to step up to the plate to make a special dream come true.

 

J-Roll proceeded to send Jacobs a personal email, and along with the email came an invitation to attend a Philadelphia Phillies vs. Atlanta Braves spring training game in Florida.

 

As if Jacobs wasn’t thrilled enough to make the trip to the Sunshine State to watch his hero and favorite team, there was much more to follow.

 

Rollins met Jacobs at the stadium, and as he greeted him, presented Jacobs with a personalized Phillies game jersey and cap.

 

Rollins then gave him a tour of the dugout and clubhouse, introducing him to manager Charlie Manuel. In the tunnel, he met and chatted with Phillies sluggers Ryan Howard and Shane Victorino.

 

J-Roll took him onto the field and passed the ball around while the Phils got loose for the upcoming game, and in the process he met and spoke with Atlanta Braves star Chipper Jones.

 

Before the start of the game, Jacobs had an opportunity to showcase his hitting skills in the batting cage, and Rollins willingly provided a few words of advice on his batting technique.

 

For the game, Jacobs had a bird’s-eye view in the dugout where several players shared insights and answered questions about how the game was played at the professional level. It was truly a day to remember for Shaquille Jacobs.

 

After overcoming his tremendous ordeal, Jacobs graduated from Grimsley High School with honors, and was accepted into North Carolina AT&T where he majors in chemistry and plans on trying out for the school baseball team.

 

Jimmy Rollins not only represents himself as a tremendous humanitarian to the game of baseball, but also to life in general. Many players at the professional level take on community and charity work for exposure and notoriety, but it’s not really about personal gain for Rollins.

He is extremely grateful for the talent and opportunities with which he is blessed, and has the desire to give back as much as he possibly can. Not only is he a role-model for youngsters around the world, but he sets an example for other players throughout Major League Baseball.

With is amazing ability, talent, personality, humility and kindness, Jimmy Rollins is the epitome of what every baseball player inspires to be.  

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Police Were Right To Taser Philadelphia Phillies’ Fan

So there I was, sitting at the table watching sportscenter and drinking my morning coffee.

My wife had woke up and fixed herself a cup of tea.

As she rolled her eyes when she realized it was not the morning news, but sports once again, on the TV.

It was about that time that the story about the fan, Steve Consalvi, who ran on to the field during a Philadelphia Phillies game came on.

I snickered as I watched the video of the fan running across the outfield during the eighth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals.

That was, until the fan was tasered by the police officer.

The first thing my wife asked “was this necessary”.

Without a thought, the first word to come out of my mouth was, yes.

She did not think he intended any harm and was just doing something goofy. The 17-year-old, future Penn State Nittany Lion, in her eyes was just running on the field having a good time.

I as a sports fan, I see this differently.

I remember the day in 1993, when a crazed and overzealous Steffi Graf fan stabbed Monica Seles. The number one ranked Women’s Tennis player in the world, who at the time had a career that could have been record breaking, was stopped in her tracks.

Before I could fully get the image of Seles on the court with tears in her eyes and surrounded by tournament officials I remembered that night at Comiskey Park, in Chicago when two crazed White Sox fans attacked Kansas City Royals Tom Gamboa, in 2003.

Can any sports fan forget the shirtless father and son who threw Gamboa to the ground and began pummeling him?

In 1999, a drunken fan attacked  Houston Astros outfielder Billy Spiers at a Milwaukee Brewers game, who suffered slight injuries.

In nearly every sport, if not every sport, there are tales of boorish fan behavior.

From rugby to hockey, to football to track and field, there have been instances of spectators becoming more than spectators.

Fans want athletes punished severely when they come into the stands. I am sure everyone remembers the Malice at the Palace.

If fans want to be protected from athletes charging into the stands, they have to remember that athletes want to be protected from fan charging the field.

It has been reported that Consalvi called his father to ask if it was okay to run on to the field.

His father told him he did not think it was a good idea.

Maybe Consalvi should have listened to his father but like most of us, did not listen to his parents until it was too late.

If he had listened to his father he would not have been all over the sports world.

Consalvi’s father said his son was not on drugs, nor had he been drinking.

That may be the case, but the security or the police that were working the game did not know this.

These men did not know if he meant harm to any of the players on the field or if he was just running around acting like a fool.

While it was sad and funny (I must admit), Consalvi was tasered.

He deserved it.

Going to a game gives fans the right to cheer as hard as they can for their team and within reason, try to get under the skin of opposing players.

What fans do not get the right to do is throw thing or come on to the field.

The first job of security officers should be to protect the players on the field once a fan leaves the stands. Even if that means giving the right to used any force necessary (excluding deadly force) to remove a fan from the field.

This is not an overreaction to this event. No one knows when the next Monica Seles event will happen.

Consalvi might have been a 17 year old kid who had a poor lapse in judgment.

The problem is that the security on the field did not know what kind of intentions Consalvi had.

For anyone who thinks that the use of a taser was excessive or unnecessary, you should think about this. What if, where you worked someone who did not belong was running around acting like a fool?

What would you want the people who are supposed to keep you safe at work, to do?

Allow someone to be where they do not belong? Or remove them by any means necessary?

I would hope that I would be protected. Athletes on the field have the same expectations. 

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

No Longer Shocked by Unruly Fans

Questions and concerns pour out from numerous media sources a day after a 17-year-old Phillies fan jumped onto the field and was subsequently Tased by a pursuing security guard. After being hit, the boy collapsed to the ground, but was led off the field on his own two feet seconds later.

Though given the support of Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey, some internet bloggers and writers have expressed concern over the possible “excessive use of force” in this situation, questioning the necessity of the use of a Taser to bring the fan under control.

However, I cannot help but to feel that not only was this an appropriate situation in which to tase a fan at a baseball game, but is appropriate anytime a fan runs onto the field.

In fact, what shocks me more than this fan getting Tased is how it is no longer surprising to fans when people run out there. We treat it like it is a daily occurrence, just another retard out on the field. We’ve been desensitized to the ridiculousness of the people who want the attention. However, this complacency should be treated with caution.

Have we forgotten when Tom Gamboa was blind-sided while he stood in the coach’s box beside first-base by two fans (father and son) out in Chicago? How about when Bill Spiers was attacked in Milwaukee? Or more recently, when first-base umpire Laz Diaz was attacked by a fan (also in Chicago, coincidence?).

Let’s say what everyone’s thinking. FANS DON’T BELONG ON THE FIELD. It doesn’t matter whether or not they “intend” on doing harm to a player, coach, or umpire. When a fan jumps on the field, how can you really tell what they “intend” to do?

No matter their reasons, any fan that jumps onto the field poses a potential threat to player safety. And as a result, they should be treated like the potential threat they are. There are clear warnings telling fans under no circumstances are they to enter the field of play; there is no way someone “stumbles” out onto the field.

So while I am definitely not arguing we should shoot these fans with an intent to kill, I see Tasing as an acceptable means to remove them.

Some have turned to several Amnesty International studies, in which the organization has found over 300 possible Taser-related deaths since 2001, as proof that Tasers have lethal capabilities and are not safe solutions to “less serious” situations of unruliness.

However, what the studies do not show is how many times in that nine-year period Tasers have been effectively discharged against someone. Why is this important?

While it is difficult to find nationwide totals, according to a Boston Globe article from February 22, 2009 by Connie Paige , “Massachusetts communities reported using Tasers in 229 incidents between September 2007 and September 2008.” This figure represents the number of incidents in Massachusetts alone .

If we extrapolate the number of uses throughout the country based on this number, even on the low-side, and assume that Tasers are used 1,000 times a year (for a total of 9,000), those 334 deaths since 2001 would only represent a three percent death-rate from the discharge of Tasers.

And, once again, that figure represents a low estimation of the number of discharges. If they are used 2,000 times a year, then those 334 deaths represent only a 1.5 percent death-rate.

Also, it must be recognized that these reported deaths cannot all be conclusively linked to Taser-use. In fact, in one article released by the organization it even states that in only 50 of these cases medical examiners have listed Tasers as the cause or “contributing factor” in these deaths.

That means that the number of conclusive deaths caused by Tasers only represents a death-rate of 0.5 percent! Surely we can accept that figure as a reasonable rate in this products safety.

And as another side-note, what IS a “safe” way of subduing an individual? The use of pepper spray at a Redskins game versus the Eagles resulted in several players and fans getting sick after the spray spread throughout portions of the stadium. Nightsticks have the potential to cause severe physical injuries to the individual. Do we really want to tie security guards’ hands behind their backs and force them to chase the individual around wherever they go?

And with all this talk of Amnesty International’s reports on possible Taser-related deaths, we forget how many successes there have been in the use of Tasers. Many police officials attribute the use of Tasers to quick resolutions in potentially violent situations, preventing things from escalating beyond a reasonable point.

But back to my main point, this kid knew what he was doing. According to Yahoo! Sports columnist David Brown, he even asked his dad for permission before he ran out onto the field!

By Tasing this kid, the Phillies have sent what I believe to be an acceptable message to all potential nut-jobs: If you trespass, we don’t play games. You will be subdued. As entertaining as it is, I’m tired of watching wackos run out onto the field and disturb the flow of the game. Not only is it a waste of time, but it is potentially dangerous.

People can play the “What if” game all they want. What if the kid died? What if he had a seizure? The biggest “What if” should be, “What if he seriously injured a player, coach, or umpire? What if someone wasn’t as ‘lucky’ as Tom Gamboa and didn’t escape with just a few cuts and bruises?”

What we have to realize though is this kid wasn’t harmed, he was subdued, and no one else got hurt. What more could you ask from a success story? I think this could easily be scored: Taser 1, Naysayers 0.

And ultimately, the fool knew he shouldn’t be on the field; he should accept all the responsibility.

 

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Cole Hamels: The Phillies Favorite Hurler Is Doing Just Fine

It seems like Cole Hamels is in for another long season. Maybe he should be working on his mechanics instead of starring in Comcast Xfinity commercials.

Well, things aren’t always as they appear.

After five starts, Hamels has an ugly 5.28 ERA and an even uglier 1.47 WHIP. He’s tied for the Major League lead in home runs allowed (7) and his walk rate is up to 2.93 BB/9 from his usual 2.00 to 2.10 rate. Despite those numbers, Hamels really hasn’t been too bad.

Through 30.2 innings, Hamels has endured a gaudy 20.6 percent HR/FB rate. While Citizens Bank Park is known as a hitter’s haven, Hamels has never had a HR/FB rate over 12.8 percent and he’s likely to be a few percentage points below that.

His terrible HR/FB rate is masking the fact that Hamels is actually allowing the same number of fly balls this season (38.6%). Even more encouraging, his GB% is up to 46.6 percent and his LD% is down six points to 14.8 percent.

Despite the lower LD% and higher GB%, Hamels’ BABIP is a sky-high .357. Even when Hamels was allowing more line drives his BABIP had never topped .325.

Clearly, Lady Luck has not resided in Philly.

Digging even deeper, Hamels has also induced swings at pitches outside the strike zone more this season than he ever has in his career (31.6%) and opposing batters are making less contact than at any point in the last three seasons (54.7%).

Because all of that data is hard to look at in paragraph form, take a look at this chart:

Hamels will turn his season around once things even out because five starts isn’t even close to a great sample size. Don’t be discouraged and most of all, don’t worry about Cole Hamels.

And don’t forget to check back to Baseball Professor for more daily baseball analysis.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Phillies Fans: Menaces to Society?

Philadelphia fans in general have a bad reputation. We are loud. We are fickle. More often than not, we are intoxicated. An athlete playing for a Philly team is only as good as his last play. While some may see that as a negative, I see it as a sign of our dedication to our teams and our city. We simply refuse to tolerate a player not owning up the cash he’s paid. This makes our players better. Philadelphia bleeds red (obviously), but it’s not any old normal red, it’s Phillies red. I can’t prove there is a difference in the color, but take my word for it. However, this tendency towards raucousness has led a few bad apples to stray far from the tree of simple jeering and booing. Here are some of the most recent Phillies fans who have taken it a step too far.

Begin Slideshow

So Much for the City of “Brotherly Love”

By now we have all seen the video , be it on your sports highlight show of choice or YouTube, of the Phillies fan doing his best Keystone Kops impression for all of about 30 seconds before landing in the “Don’t Tase Me Bro!” hall of shame.

Ashamedly, I laughed at the images (just as many of you probably did).  Make no mistake, however, there is nothing funny about incidents such as these .

Monica Seles was once stabbed in the back during a changeover in a match. Randy Myers was attacked on the mound at Wrigley Field. And Royals first base coach Tommy Gamboa was once assaulted by a father and son combo in the midst of an alcohol-fueled “family bonding experience.”

We live in an era where the powers that be have recognized a direct correlation between a fans proximity/accessibility to the players and a growth in revenue.

Seats are closer to the field than ever before. Players are being immersed into our lives increasingly through new media. And our society at-large is cultivating a bloated sense of self-entitlement in regard to our celebrities.

Add that to the fact that we live in the “YouTube era,” where infamy and notoriety are mistaken for some form of genuine fame. It’s like dumping turpentine on a brush fire.

It’s those misguided beliefs that lead to moments like the one in Philly.

Yes, we do spend our hard-earned money to make everyone associated millionaires. Yes, players, owners, and the leagues themselves have thrived during this renaissance period. But sports invoke passion and we live in violent times. As Fire Marshall Bill would say, “This could be dangerous!”

In regard to this specific incident, the use of a taser was most likely unwarranted. The whole scene was calling far louder for an overdub of “Yakety Sax” than the use of high voltage force.

Personally, the only thing I take away from this display is that the field should be secured more effectively. That, and some people should not be allowed to have children.

But don’t let that distract you from the larger issue at hand. Players have no business going into the stands (yeah, I’m looking at you, Milton Bradley) and fans should, under no circumstances, ever go out onto the field of play.

Nothing good can or ever will come from it.

This article is also featured on The Rantings & Ravings Of A (Formerly) Mad Mailman.

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Use of Taser More Than Necessary on Phillies Fan

I’m confused. Downright confused. In fact, there is not an adjective that I’m familiar with that can sufficiently explain how confused I am.

So to understand just how confused I am, let’s examine what I am not confused about.

I am not confused, for example, about how a Philadelphia Phillies fan could think it a good idea to jump onto the field of play during the eighth inning and run around as police officers and security guards tried to bring him to a halt. This is Philadelphia after all.

I am not confused, for example, about how a police officer, after chasing the boy around for a while to try and get him to stop, pulled out a taser to subdue him. The boy was breaking the law, after all.

And finally, I am not confused, for example, about how police cannot release the name of the boy, who was 17 years old, because he is a juvenile. Who cares that he committed all of his crimes out in public in front of 40,000 confused fans? We must protect the boy.

But what I am more than confused about is the backlash.

No, not against the boy, but against the officer, for using a taser.

Did I miss something? Did I?

Did the boy not illegally jump over a fence, a fence he must have known he was not allowed to jump over? Did the boy not see police officers and security personnel come after him from all sides of the stadium? Did the boy not keep running as they closed in on him time after time?

No, he did. Knowingly. And he got tasered. Deservingly.

And we respond not by condemning the boy’s actions? We condemn the police officer?

That is why I am more than just confused. That is why I am trying desperately to find an adjective that could possibly be paired with confused to explain just how confused I am. Because I have never seen such an adjective.

Yet basically everyone, from David Brown of Yahoo! Sports to almost every post on the Phillies’ official message board, seems to find the use of the taser, as Brown called it, “juuuuuust a bit excessive.”

Which leaves me as the lone voice of reason.

The kid broke the law by his own choice. According to his father, he was neither drunk nor on any drugs. He clearly dodged multiple attempts by security to subdue him long before the officer brandished the taser.

Just because some boy is an idiot, the use of a taser is not justified? That’s what confuses me.

What if the officers got to him and he had a knife hidden under the white flag he was waving? Was it worth risking someone’s life to prevent the use of the taser?

What if someone in the stands suffered a stroke or a heart attack around where the security personnel was stationed before jumping onto the field to subdue the boy? Suddenly, instead of an ordered evacuation of the individual, there would be more chaos.

What if another idiot, after a minute of the boy dodging officers, decided to join in the fun? Before you know it, we might have Disco Demolition Night all over again.

Now, before someone calls me an idiot, because no matter what I write, someone will call me an idiot for one reason or another, let me state that all three of those scenarios are unlikely. But they are possible.

And from the officer’s point of view, he needs to get this boy off the field as quickly and safely as possible to prevent more chaos.

But the boy was not cooperating.

So the officer did his duty as a law enforcement agent and tased the boy down.

Was it pretty? Was it desirable?

No, of course not. I would much rather he not have to tase the boy.

But was it necessary?

Yes, because the boy needed to be stopped. Immediately.

And because we don’t like to see police use force against anyone, let alone a 17-year-old “boy,” we throw up our arms in outrage and demand stronger regulations against the use of tasers.

Heck, I’m sure there are some of you who want us to deny police the right to have firearms of any kind, even if they only fire an electronic shock. And trust me, I understand where you are coming from. But I also understand I will never convince you to accept tasers, just like you will never convince me to ban them. So at this point in the article, you may leave, because we’re just never going to accept each other’s positions.

But for those of you who can accept police having tasers, you are the ones I am speaking to.

Unless I am missing something, there is nothing wrong with what an officer at the Phillies game did Monday night to subdue a boy who was trespassing onto the field during the middle of a game.

The boy evaded arrest for a prolonged period of time and refused to vacate the field, while multiple security personnel were taken from their normal posts to try and stop the boy, leaving parts of the stadium under-protected.

He had to be stopped for the added safety of 40,000 other people, and the quickest and safest way to bring everything back to normalcy was to tase him.

The officer tased him, and now everyone is upset.

Put yourself in the stadium. Put yourself in the front row where the security personnel just leaped from to subdue the kid.

Do you feel safer now than you did a minute ago before the officer jumped onto the field?

No, you don’t, because you are in more danger without security around than you would be if that officer was still there. Sure, the level of danger is still low, but it has increased substantially.

By jumping onto the field, by evading arrest, the boy put 40,000 people in more danger than they would have been if he stayed in his seat. And all the police officer did when he tased the boy was quicken the return to normalcy for the entire stadium.

For the sake of 40,000 people in attendance, the officer did the right thing, and we have lambasted him for doing so.

That’s why I need a word to describe just how confused I am.

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