Colbert Michael Hamels has been like a whole new pitcher since the time he arrived in Chicago, displaying improved velocity and results from the moment he escaped the Rangers’ Globe Life Park. Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say that Hamels has been like a whole old pitcher, by which I mean his old self and not just that he’s old.
But he is old by baseball standards, having turned 35 in late December, so he’s not exactly at the point where you’d expect him to suddenly learn new tricks or throw harder.