The Phillies' left hander Cole Hamels was at one point a perennial Cy Young candidate. Now he is just trying not to embarrass himself on the mound. Sitting with a record of 1 and 8 (or 1 and 9 depending on what happens in the game tonight as I am writing this) with a 4.86 ERA. This is coming off of two seasons in which Hamels averaged a 2.92 ERA and almost 16 wins.
Sure, you can blame lack of run support, but the ERA above 4.50 just looks too ugly to go with even a few more wins.
If Hamels had started the season even a modest 6 and 4, the Phils would actually be in the postseason race. They still have a chance, but I can't put them into the playoff picture until they can play at least three, four, or five games above .500 baseball.
