The Cubs addressed their pitching issues Thursday night acquiring Rangers starter Cole Hamels, as first reported by Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.
Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reported that at least RHP Rollie Lacy will be included in the deal with a player to be named later heading to the Rangers in exchange for Hamels. But barring any medical holdups, Hamels will be heading to Chicago to help contend for a National League Central title.
Many have made it known that Hamels' last five starts have been brutal, posting a 10.23 ERA over those five starts, but Ken Rosenthal gives some context to those poor starts.
With Hamels on the roster, the Cubs now have four starting pitchers who have started in a World Series game, those being Hamels, Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, and Yu Darvish. The 34-year-old veteran Hamels also gives the Cubs an inning eater who has promising rebound potential, post excellent road numbers with a 2.93 ERA compared to his 6.41 ERA when pitching at Globe Life Park in Arlington.
Hamels peripheral stats are encouraging as well, particularly his velocity which is still hovering around 92.3 mph according to Fangraphs. And Hamels' strikeout numbers have increased this season as well, missing bats nearly 5 percent more often this season compared to 2017.
The veteran lefty's main issue has been keeping the ball inside the park with a home run/fly ball rate double the league average and a groundball rate that is roughly 4 percent lower this season, as Hamels hasn't been able to induce the soft contact he's thrived on for 13 seasons.
With the uncertainty of Yu Darvish's elbow and his ability to seriously contribute to the rotation, plus Tyler Chatwood's inability to find the strike zone on a consistent basis, the Cubs need Hamels to help relieve the stress on the bullpen and give them 6+ innings every 5th day.
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Cubs manager Joe Maddon also showed some concern for Mike Montgomery and the drastic increase in innings he's amassed, currently on pace to surpass his MLB career-high 130.2 IP last season by almost 30 innings.
Even if Hamels ends up closer to the pitcher with an inflated 4.72 ERA and not his career 3.43 ERA, if the veteran can absorb some innings from the bullpen and keep them relatively fresh for the postseason, this move will be a success. But it's the upside of Hamels and his pedigree could make this a steal for the Cubs.