Morning Phil Up – 4/23/2014 – The return of Cole Hamels

Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

Yesterday’s Game

Phillies defeat Dodgers 3-2

Tweetcap

Emotional reaction immediately after the game

Zzzzzzzzz…Phillies win? Awesome!

Less emotional, more optimistic reaction after thinking about it a bit

Nice to see the Phillies take advantage of another team’s shaky fielding, instead of the other way around.

Heroes

Domonic Brown drove in the winning run with his 10th inning double. A.J. Burnett pitched well and also chipped in offensively with three hits.

Goat

Carl Crawford‘s drop of Carlos Ruiz‘s fly ball set up the winning run.

Today’s Game

Philadelphia Phillies (10-10) at Los Angeles Dodgers (12-9)

Game time: 10:10 PM ET

TV: CSN

Starting pitchers: Cole Hamels (0-0) vs. Zack Greinke (3-0)

Preview

This is the game that Phillies fans have been waiting for all season: Cole Hamels makes his season debut.

The ace lefty famously suffered some biceps tendinitis in the off-season, causing all sorts of alarm. Hamels assured everyone that he wasn’t really injured, but he would just have to start the season a little later than everyone else.

Hamels claims that he won’t be limited tonight, and that’s a good thing because the Phillies’ hitters might have a tough time of it. The Dodgers will send Zack Greinke to the mound, and the former Cy Young Award winner is off to another spectacular start this season. He’s 3-0 with a 2.42 ERA, and his 7.25 K/BB ratio is Cliff Lee-like.

Link of Interest

Philly.com – Hamels hopes to end string of disturbing debuts

Everyone is rightfully excited about Hamels’ return, but it should be noted that Hamels has traditionally fared poorly in his first start of the season. It isn’t clear why he has struggled, but the 9.55 ERA in his past five season debuts speaks for itself.

Tweet of Importance

The Phillies’ company line has been “if we stay healthy.” Well, they’re healthy now. There are no more excuses.