Take a Good Look in the Mirror

Boys will be boys, but Cole Hamels had better grow up fast.

After breaking his pitching hand the other morning in a fight outside a bar, Hamels, one of the Phillies’ top pitching prospects, is expected to be out of action for about three months. With pitchers and catchers scheduled to report to camp in a few weeks, that means Hamels would miss all of Spring training.

To make matters worse, Hamels lost most of last year to injury, so it is safe to say he is far behind whatever schedule the parent club envisioned for him. To make matters even worse, this may be he second injury he has suffered that is fight-related. The Inquirer’s Jim Salisbury reports there were rumors Hamels suffered a broken arm in high school because of a fight. Hamels denied it.

Hamels is one in a series of hot-heads the Phils seem to attract. Brett Myers and Vicente Padilla often lose their cool to the detriment of the club, but they at least have completed their minor league apprenticeships and pitched well at times in the majors. In Hamels case, management has made him one of the cornerstone of their future plans, refusing to include him in any trade discussions. Having let the side down, he is in real danger of upsetting the Phils best laid plans and in the process never making it to the big leagues. He needs to take a good look in the mirror.