Cole Hamels faces Bryce Harper first time after plunking - MLB Update
Welcoming Bryce Harper to the Majors with a deliberate throw at his back, the Philadelphia Phillies’ starter Cole Hamels had invited anger of the Washington Nationals’ higher management. It was taken as an attempt to intimidate the 19-year old hitter.
Hamels later had confessed and had defended himself on the grounds that he wanted to invoke classic baseball era by doing so.
That incident had exposed Hamels negatively in the media. Ploy he used to unsettle Harper was taken by some of the fans as a strategy to block Harper from unleashing his best against him.
The fact Harper was upbeat to stand out at the start of his Major League debut and therefore only way he thought, as fans believed, to counter him was by destroying his composure on plate.
Nationals’ General Manager Mike Rizzo was infuriated at Hamels. Using derogatory epithets for him, he had called it a weirdest thing that had ever happened in the baseball. So outspoken he was in criticising Hamels, Major League Baseball had to announce
penalty for him.
Against this backdrop, Hamels’ confronting Harper on Wednesday inspired an unconscious fascination among the fans. How Hamels will approach Harper this time was under discussion.
One was expecting that Harper may be stepping on plate with vengeance in mind and using his top-notch form in the season to maximum, he will knock Hamels down.
Nothing like this happened. Instead Hamels made him struggle straight away, giving him a tinge of reminder of what he actually is. Not just Harper, none of the batters stood up against him.
Harper acknowledged the difficulty he was made to deal with. Giving Hamels his due, he admitted failure against the quality pitches.
“He had every pitch working for him,” Harper said. “Fastball, curveball, change-up, cutter, you name it, he had it. . . . He’s one of the best pitchers in baseball. He’s 7-1 for a reason.”
Hamels spent eight innings on the mound on Wednesday and kept the Nationals to just four hits.
Fierce denouncement he met after plunking Harper, Hamels knew he had a point to prove. Brushing aside the stigma of being a kind of starter who employs negative tactics on the mound was necessary.
He will look to continue throwing in a similar fashion throughout the season.
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