Former Phillies ace still wants to make a comeback

Former Philadelphia Phillies ace Cole Hamels says he isn’t done yet.

The 2008 World Series champ and MVP who wore red pinstripes for the first decade of his career was placed on the 60-day IL almost immediately after signing on with the Los Angeles Dodgers for $1 million.

Hamels also missed almost the entire 2020 season after signing a lucrative deal with the Atlanta Braves. He pitched in one game for the Phillies’ division rivals, and has been recuperating and rehabbing ever since.

But according to Jon Heyman, Hamels “isn’t yet ready to retire.” Most players aren’t, especially when injuries are robbing them of the chance to leave of their own volition.

Turning 38 in late December, Hamels would be a risk for any MLB team, especially after the way his signings turned out for the Braves and Dodgers, who each paid him millions, essentially for nothing. Every team obviously has the money to take a flier on him, but few are eager to spend on any player, let alone an aging pitcher with shoulder problems.

Cole Hamels wants to end his MLB career on his own terms

No one who spends their whole life dreaming of and working to be a professional athlete ever wants to give it up. It’s why so many athletes keep coming back long after the tank is empty, trying to recapture their glory days.

Rarer still is the athlete who gets to end their career on their terms.

Hamels clearly wants to be one of the few, and you can’t really blame him. No one wants to end a World Series champion career the way his last two years have gone.

Could Cole Hamels end his career with the Phillies?

Many Phillies fans were hoping that their former homegrown star would return to them this season.

At this point, it’s better that he didn’t. If what transpired with the Dodgers had happened with the Phillies instead, it would have been a tragic ending to his illustrious Phillies career.

Over 10 big-league seasons with the Phillies, Hamels posted a 3.30 ERA over 295 games (all but one of them starts), with 1,844 strikeouts in 1930.0 innings. On the franchise leaderboards, he’s ranked fourth in pitcher WAR, strikeout rate, and games started, sixth in wins and innings pitched, and third in strikeouts and WPA.

Maybe Hamels will eventually do what Shane Victorino and many others have done when they’re finally ready to walk away from the game, and sign a one-day contract to say goodbye where he first said hello.