Cole Hamels: The Unluckiest Man in MLB?

For anyone else, the unique combination of indignity and improbability of losing two 1-0 games to the Mets in the span of six days might be too much to bear. For Cole Hamels, it was par for the course in a season where  his won-lost record suggests a fourth or fifth starter despite an underlying performance that should earn him some down-ballot Cy Young Award votes. 

Through August 13, Hamels has made 24 starts in 2010. His 3.33 ERA is tied for 16th best in the NL as of Saturday; he's fourth in the league in strikeouts with 157, 15th in innings pitched (154), 14th in WHIP (1.23) and 7th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.27). He's won seven of those 24 starts. In the other 17, he's gone 0-9 with eight no-decisions despite turning in quality starts in 11 of the 17. Incredibly, Hamels' stats in his seven wins are barely better than what he's done in the other 17 starts.

Take away Hamels' rain-marred and rain-shortened start against the Braves on June 1--when he pitched 2/3 of an inning, allowing three earned runs, before the heavy rain that had fallen through the inning forced a stoppage of more than an hour, after which he didn't return--and his non-win ERA in 16 starts is 3.38 with a non-win WHIP of 1.18. That's pretty much indistinguishable from his overall numbers.

As friend-of-the-blog FTN (a/k/a PhuturePhillies) noted here, great efforts put in without a Win to show for them have been a hallmark of Hamels' career. In past seasons, though, his no-decisions often came in games where he left with a lead before some reliever, usually Ryan Madson, fouled the figurative bed. With few exceptions, including one horrific case, that hasn't been the problem this year; rather, it's been run support, either overall or while he was in the game. During Hamels' remarkable stretch of six starts since his last win on July 11--a period in which he's thrown 42 innings of a 2.14 ERA yet absorbed two losses with four no-decisions--the team has scored 19 runs (including the zero in the last two against the Mets)... but only 8 while Hamels was pitching.

It's worth noting that of Hamels' eight no-decisions, the team won six of them--victories in which he was probably the most significant contributor. That might not mean much to Joe Morgan, but it's pretty telling nonetheless. Here's hoping all those missing runs in support of Hamels' outstanding work this season are waiting for him in October.