What to expect from Cole Hamels, according to his former Rangers teammate

After a full news cycle filled with reports, the Cubs made the Cole Hamels match Friday morning.

The return of the veteran starter pitcher is Eddie Butler and prospect Rollie Lacy.

In Hamels, the Cubs are getting a former player of the NLCS and the World Series MVP (2008) and four-time All-Star who has finished in the top ten NL Cy Cyan votes four times. Of course, he is now 34 (he will be 35 in December) and in the middle of the worst season of his career (5-9, 4.72 ERA, 1.37 WHIP).

But the Cubs can console themselves with the fact that Hamels is going to face the designated hitter in the AHL to a NL team with an elite defense behind him and a park that often plays as a haven Pitcher with the wind blowing.

Hamels also has 1-7 with a 6.41 ERA and 1.51 WHIP at home this season while he's pitching in a batter's paradise at Arlington. On the road, his numbers are much better – 4-2, 2.93 ERA, 1.23 WHIP.

Hamels also has a 11.12 ERA in July, dropping 21 points in 17 innings. Before that, he really had a really good season – 3.61 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 97 strikeouts in 97.1 innings. You can not throw a month's worth of action on a player's stats line, but for a guy with a 3.43 MMP, a WHIP of 1.17 and 152 wins on his career CV, the track records indicate that he should be able to straighten the ship.

Hamels is making $ 23.5 million this season and has a buy-up of $ 6 million (or $ 20 million team option) for 2019, but the Cubs do not have $ 20 million. will have to pay only $ 5 million from Hamels' remaining contract. That should help them stay under the luxury tax in 2018, which was one of the front office's goals this season, in anticipation of the reunion of independent players that will include Bryce Harper and Manny Machado this winter.

$ 5 million out of the remaining $ 14 million guaranteed #Hamels on his contract (including the purchase of $ 6 million on the $ 20 million option l & # 39, next year) #Cubs send Eddie Butler, clbad A launcher Rollie Lacy and a PTBNL to the Rangers in the case.

– Gordon Wittenmyer (@GDubCub) July 27, 2018

Source: In definitive terms of Cole Hamels' contract with Texas, #Cubs will be

– Patrick Mooney (@ PJ_Mooney) July 27, 2018

It is unclear exactly how Cole Hamels will fit into the Cubs' launching staff, but with Tyler Chatwood's ongoing control problems and Darvish's health is a major question mark, Hame He gives the Cubs another option in the rotation with a lot of experience in a pennant chase and the playoffs.

The Cubs could opt for a rotation of six men – something that they had wanted to do for a while. This would help ease the burden of a rotation that features two 34-year-old players (Hamels and Jon Lester), a pitcher currently on track to establish a new career in sleeves (Mike Montgomery), a guy who was experiencing tiredness in the shoulder. the all-star break (Jose Quintana) and, of course, Chatwood and his mechanical problems that saw him walk 85 hitters in just 94 innings

With Hamels, the Cubs could also choose to move Chatwood into the # 39; bullpen. in an attempt to smooth his mechanics. At present, Montgomery (3.02 ERA, 1.18 WHIP as starting pitcher) is looking to have a locked rotation point as long as it can stay cool throughout the course.

Hamels made big games against Joe Maddon's teams, including the Maddon Tampa Bay Rays 2008 World Series, where the southpaw only allowed 4 points in 13 innings in 2 starts.

"He was pretty good," said Thursday's Maddon of Hamels. "I have not loved him for a long time, he has played very big games against teams with which I got involved and he did very well, he is an excellent competitor, he has good things but he knows what he's doing, so I have to clbadify him as a good southpaw launcher. "

Butler was out of the minor league options, so his start frees the spot on the Hamels list at once. Butler – acquired in a trade with the Rockies before the start of the 2017 season – was 5-4 with a 3.98 and 1.40 WHIP BPM in 72.1 innings in his Cubs career, establishing on 11 starts and 10 appearances in relief.

Butler activated the disabled list earlier this week after missing three months with an injury to the groin. Lacy, 23, was an 11th-round pickup last summer and is 5-2 with a 2.45 ERA and 1.10 WHIP this season sharing time between Clbad A and Clbad B clbades. A from Myrtle Beach. .

Lacy was not ranked on MLB.com's Top 30 Players list updated last month after MLB Draft 2018.