Minor league career Hamels began his professional baseball career in 2003, pitching for the
Class A Lakewood BlueClaws of the
South Atlantic League. Later that season, he was promoted to the
Clearwater Threshers of the
Class A-Advanced Florida State League. He finished the year by receiving the
Paul Owens Award, given to the best pitcher in the
Phillies' minor league system. During the next two seasons, however, Hamels suffered through several injuries, and pitched only sparingly. He missed most of the 2004 season with elbow tendinitis, making only four starts. In 2005, he broke his pitching hand in a bar fight before the season began; after
rehabilitation, he was assigned to Clearwater. In July, the Phillies promoted him to the
Double-A Reading Phillies of the
Eastern League, where he surrendered the first home run of his professional career in his first start. Subsequently, he was shut down for the remainder of the season with
back spasms. His minor league statistics included a
record of 14–4 with a 1.43 ERA and 273 strikeouts in 35 games pitched. For his performance, the Phillies promoted him to the major leagues. In his second career start, Hamels was dominant until the seventh inning, during which he was pulled after he allowed several baserunners, but again received a no-decision. A shoulder injury scratched Hamels from the lineup of what would have originally been his third major league start. He was put on the 15-day
disabled list and returned on June 6 to defeat the
Arizona Diamondbacks 10–1 for his first major league
victory. On August 14, Hamels had his best start of his rookie season, shutting out the
New York Mets over eight innings and striking out nine in the Phillies' 13–0 victory. He finished his rookie season with a 9–8 record, a 4.08
earned run average (ERA) and 145 strikeouts (third among NL rookies) in innings (sixth among NL rookies). His tenacity came to fruition when, on April 21, 2007, Hamels pitched his first major league
complete game, allowing one run on five hits and two walks while setting a career high with 15 strikeouts. Just three days before, the Phillies moved their opening day starter
Brett Myers to the bullpen to be the
closer, making Hamels the team's number one starter. On May 16, he carried a
perfect game into the seventh inning against the
Milwaukee Brewers but then walked leadoff hitter
Rickie Weeks and surrendered a home run to the next batter,
J. J. Hardy. For his strong performance during the first half of the season, Hamels was, for the first time in his career, selected a member of the
NL All Star Team. As Hamels had been the Phillies' only consistent starter to that point, even to the point that one columnist said the Phillies are a joke "as long as we are forced to look forward to someone other than Cole Hamels on the mound", the Phillies acquired
Kyle Lohse to supplement the rotation soon before the trading deadline. Several weeks later, Hamels was placed on the 15-day disabled list (DL) with a mild left elbow strain. After the Phillies activated him from the DL, on September 28, he helped the Phillies take over first place in the
National League East by striking out 13
Washington Nationals over eight innings in a 6–0 win. Two days later, the team clinched a spot in the playoffs for the first time in 14 years. In the first game of the
National League Division Series, he started for the Phillies, but surrendered three runs, three hits, and an "uncharacteristic" four walks, while striking out seven in innings; he was assessed the loss. Ultimately, the Phillies lost the series. Hamels finished with a regular-season record of 15–5, a 3.39 ERA, and 177 strikeouts in innings. The Philadelphia chapter of the
Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) presented him the
"Steve Carlton Most Valuable Pitcher" award.
2008 season in 2008 Before the season began in March, Hamels made a complaint about the Phillies underpaying him, saying it was a "low blow" and he was "caught off-guard" with the gap between what he and his
agent John Boggs felt was a fair reward for his performance in the previous season and what he was paid: the Phillies paid him , barely above the minimum salary for MLB players, despite Hamels' strong performance. Though Hamels was the "clear-cut ace", Charlie Manuel penciled in
Brett Myers as the Phillies' opening day starter because Myers accepted his role as closer the preceding season, putting the team ahead of his personal wishes to start. By the end of April, Hamels led the Phillies in most pitching categories, including wins (3), ERA (2.70), and innings pitched (). Continuing his dominance into May, Hamels recorded his first career complete game
shutout against the
Atlanta Braves on the 15th of that month. By June, Myers had been demoted to the minor leagues due to his ineffectiveness, leaving Hamels alone atop the rotation. Hamels was snubbed from a selection to the All-Star Game despite strong numbers. For the season, Hamels was 14–10 with a 3.09 ERA and 196 strikeouts in innings; he had the lowest
on-base percentage-against (OBP) in the majors at .272.
FanGraphs also rated his
changeup as the most effective in the majors. Hamels pitched in Game 1 of the
National League Division Series against the Brewers, pitching "eight spectacular two-hit shutout innings" during which he struck out nine hitters, notching his first career playoff win, and the Phillies' first playoff win since 1993. Overall, Hamels made five postseason starts in 2008, going 4–0 with a 1.80 ERA. Hamels threw a total of 35 innings during the postseason, and held opponents scoreless in 28 of them; he never allowed more than one run in any of the seven innings in which he did not hold opponents scoreless. Hamels was named the
World Series MVP. Subsequently, sportswriter
Jayson Stark wrote, The
Philadelphia chapter of the BBWAA presented him the "Steve Carlton Most Valuable Pitcher" award for the second consecutive year.
2009 season Hamels started his 2009 season by signing a three-year, $20.5 million contract with the Phillies. On February 14, the first day of spring training for pitchers and catchers, when asked who the Opening Day starter would be, manager
Charlie Manuel responded, "Yeah, you might as well go ahead and pencil him in. I don't think there's any sense in me playing games. Go ahead, pencil him in." However, Hamels left spring training on March 16 after feeling tightness between innings, and flew to Philadelphia to have his left elbow examined by Dr. Michael Ciccotti. "This will obviously set me back a couple of days, and I don't think that should be a big deal", said Hamels. Ciccotti found no structural damage in his arm, yet Hamels still did not pitch on
Opening Day as expected; Myers did for the third consecutive season. For the first time in his career, Hamels went winless in his first four starts, and left back-to-back starts early due to injury in late April, sustaining a left-shoulder contusion and an ankle sprain respectively. From June on, however, he returned to his previous form, recording two complete-game shutouts (tied for the NL-lead), striking out at least 10 batters in two separate games, and amassing a 21-inning scoreless streak from August 21 to September 6, while allowing just two home runs in his final eight starts. In July, the Phillies augmented their starting rotation by acquiring two former
Cy Young Award winners in
Cliff Lee and
Pedro Martínez from a trade and a free agent signing respectively. Due to his early season injury struggles, Hamels posted a 10–11 record and a 4.32 ERA in the regular season, his first major league season in which he posted a sub-.500 record, and the worst ERA of his career to that point. Hamels started Game 2 of the
National League Division Series against the Colorado Rockies, allowing four earned runs through five innings to take the loss. Nevertheless, the Phillies won the series, three games to one. He earned the win in Game 1 of the
National League Championship Series as the Phillies beat the Dodgers, 8–6. Hamels started Game 3 of the
World Series against the
New York Yankees, pitching innings, allowing five earned runs and taking the loss as the Yankees won that game 8–5. Afterward, he told reporters, "I can't wait for it (the season) to end. It's been mentally draining. It's one of those things where, a year in, you just can't wait for a fresh start", comments that were criticized by manager Charlie Manuel but otherwise largely regarded as speaking out of frustration. Later in the series, after the Phillies won Game 5, a confrontational Brett Myers mockingly asked Hamels: "What are you doing here? I thought you quit." Years later, in 2018, Hamels joked that Yankee fans love him due to the fact that he helped them win the series. The Phillies lost the series to the New York Yankees in six games.
Rob Neyer, a
sabermetrician and columnist for
ESPN.com, contradicted anyone who asserted Hamels' skills had deteriorated, instead commenting: Phillies' pitching coach
Rich Dubee and Hamels himself blamed Hamels' demeanor for some of his decline, noting, "He is such a perfectionist...his approach wasn't very good last year. His success won't come back until his demeanor changes" and "The more angry you get, it's that much tougher to execute your next pitch. I think I let [expectations] get to me" respectively.
2010 season Entering the 2010 season, the Phillies traded away Cliff Lee, but in doing so, acquired
Roy Halladay in a "mega-trade". They did not re-sign Myers, and Halladay was named the Phillies' opening day starter. Among Hamels' season highlights were a start on June 7 against the
San Diego Padres during which he threw innings of no-hit baseball, winning five consecutive starts including three consecutive scoreless starts from late-August to mid-September, and striking out 13 batters, tied for his second-highest career total, on September 13 against the
Florida Marlins. The Phillies advanced to the
National League Championship Series facing the
San Francisco Giants, where Hamels took the loss in Game 3, giving up three runs as the Giants'
Matt Cain shut out the Phillies, en route to the Phillies' ultimate elimination in six games. Statistically, Hamels rebounded from his previous season by posting a 12–11 record with a 3.06 ERA, the latter of which was, at the time, a career-best. He also struck out a career-high 211 batters. Throughout the season, he was plagued by a lack of
run support; in of his starts, the Phillies did not score a single run while he was in the game. Moreover, he received the fifth-lowest run support in the NL. Nevertheless, he allowed three or fewer earned runs in 26 of his 33 starts. After this signing, the Phillies' starting rotation consisted of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, and
Joe Blanton. This rotation was considered one of the best in pitching history by many. Halladay, Oswalt, Lee, and Hamels were dubbed the
Phantastic Phour by fans and the media. By the All-Star game, Hamels was 4–3. Hamels was not eligible to play, however, because he had pitched the Sunday prior to the All-Star Game. The Phillies finished with the best record in MLB for the second year in a row. In the
National League Division Series against the
St. Louis Cardinals, Hamels started Game 3 which resulted in a 3–2 win to give the Phillies a 2–1 series lead, however the Phillies would lose Games 4 and 5 to be eliminated. Hamels finished the 2011 season with a record of 14–9, 194 strikeouts, an ERA of 2.79, and a 0.986 WHIP. He finished fifth in the
Cy Young Award voting behind
Clayton Kershaw, Halladay, Lee, and
Ian Kennedy.
2012 season In October 2011, Hamels underwent
elbow and
hernia surgeries. Hamels had missed scheduled starts in August due to a stiff shoulder, and loose bodies were removed from his elbow to fix his problems. Hamels was ready to pitch by the start of
spring training in 2012. On January 17, Hamels and the Phillies agreed to a one-year, $15 million contract to avoid
arbitration. This was the highest salary ever paid to a pitcher eligible for arbitration before free agency. On July 21, 2012, Hamels hit his first career home run, off
San Francisco Giants pitcher
Matt Cain, who had homered off him in the top half of the same inning, the first time in MLB since 1990 that two pitchers had hit home runs off of each other in the same inning. Hamels would stay a Phillie when he agreed to a contract extension on July 24. The six-year, $144 million contract was the second-largest contract ever signed by a pitcher. The deal included a vesting option for 2019 worth $24 million. If the option did not vest, it would have turned into a club option for $20 million that included a $6 million buyout. Hamels finished the season with career highs in wins (17) and strikeouts (216), His 3.05 ERA ranked second-best in his career (behind only his 2.79 ERA in 2011). In his first career opening day start on April 1 against the
Atlanta Braves, Hamels surrendered five earned runs in five innings and took the loss. Particularly early in the season, Hamels was plagued by a lack of run support; as of May 27, he had the fifth-lowest in the major leagues. He lost his eighth start on May 27, declining to a record of 1–8, which one
Sports Illustrated column attributed more to the Phillies poor offense than Hamels. Nevertheless, it was "easily ... Hamels' worst performance of his eight-year career". Towards the end of the season, however, Hamels "put it together". In his final 11 starts he surrendered more than three runs only once. In total, he amassed an 8–14 record with a 3.60 ERA in 220 innings and 202 strikeouts (sixth in NL). Despite struggles from his teammates, sportswriter Bill Baer noted that Hamels, Despite Hamels' poor record and ERA, 25 of his 33 starts were
quality starts, and thus he gave his team a chance to win 25 times, yet only got eight wins.
2014 season in Before the 2014 season, Hamels announced that he would not be ready to pitch on Opening Day because of
tendinitis in his
biceps. On April 6, Hamels pitched a rehab game at the
Class A-Advanced level, striking out four while allowing two earned runs on three hits in four innings. He made his first start of the season on April 23. Despite lack of
run support contributing to a poor win–loss record, Hamels was among the best pitchers in the National League, and was even mentioned as a Cy Young candidate. On September 1, Hamels pitched six innings of a Phillies combined no-hitter against the
Atlanta Braves. Hamels was pulled for a pinch hitter in the top of the seventh due to having five walks, a hit-batter, and 108 pitches through six innings. Overall, Hamels was the only consistent star on the Phillies, finished sixth in Cy Young voting, and was frequently mentioned as a candidate to be traded in the offseason to bolster the Phillies' lackluster
farm system, after he avoided being dealt at the July trading deadline.
2015 season At the start of the 2015 season, there was much focus and speculation regarding trade possibilities surrounding Hamels. The
Boston Red Sox,
Los Angeles Dodgers,
Texas Rangers,
Chicago Cubs,
New York Yankees, and
San Francisco Giants expressed interest in trading for him during the 2015 season. On July 25, 2015, in what would be his final start for the Phillies before being traded, Hamels
no-hit the Chicago Cubs 5–0 at
Wrigley Field, striking out 13 and giving up only two walks, both to
Dexter Fowler, and besting the Cubs'
Jake Arrieta—himself a no-hit pitcher a month later, on August 30 of that season. It was the first no-hitter against the Cubs since
Sandy Koufax's perfect game in 1965, and first at Wrigley since the Cubs'
Milt Pappas in 1972. Hamels also joined
Vida Blue,
Mike Witt,
Kent Mercker and
Kevin Millwood as no-hit pitchers who also pitched in a combined no-hitter.
Texas Rangers Remainder of 2015 season On July 31, 2015, Hamels was traded to the
Texas Rangers along with
Jake Diekman in exchange for
Matt Harrison,
Nick Williams,
Jorge Alfaro,
Jake Thompson,
Alec Asher, and
Jerad Eickhoff. Hamels became the first pitcher to be traded during a regular season after pitching a no-hitter in his final start with the team that traded him.
Bert Blyleven had been the last pitcher to pitch a no-hitter in his final start with the team that traded him; after pitching a no-hitter for the Rangers in his final start of the 1977 season, he was traded to the
Pittsburgh Pirates that offseason. With the Rangers, Hamels went 7–1 in 12 starts with a 3.66 ERA. The Rangers were under .500 as late as August 3, but posted a winning record for the remainder of the 2015 season and eventually overtook the
Houston Astros in September for the American League West division lead. The Rangers clinched the AL West title on the final day of the season, as Hamels threw a complete-game three-hitter in a 9–2 win over the
Los Angeles Angels, the team's sixth division title and seventh postseason appearance in franchise history. Hamels' positive effect on the Rangers was compared to that of the
Toronto Blue Jays'
David Price, another ace starting pitcher who helped spearhead a run to the postseason after blending in seamlessly with a struggling team who acquired him at the trade deadline. The Rangers lost to the Blue Jays in five games in the
Division Series after squandering a 2–0 series lead. Hamels received a no-decision in Game 2 as he left the game tied, but the Rangers won in 14 innings. Hamels started Game 5, and was pulled in the bottom of the seventh inning while the Rangers were leading 3–2, after Ranger infielders allowed the first three Jays batters to reach base on three consecutive errors; the Jays subsequently scored four runs to win 6–3, and Hamels was charged with the loss as he was responsible for the runners on base. (Only two of the runs he was charged with surrendering were earned.)
2016 season Hamels was named the Opening Day starter for the Rangers in 2016. To start the season, after allowing two home runs in two innings, Hamels calmed down to pitch seven strong innings, while only allowing two runs on four hits and eight strikeouts for a win against the
Seattle Mariners. On June 12, again facing Seattle, Hamels recorded his 2,000th career strikeout, becoming the 77th player, and seventh active player, to reach the milestone. He was named to the
All-Star Game. On September 28, at home against the Milwaukee Brewers, Hamels claimed his 200th strikeout of the season. Hamels finished the 2016 season with a 15–5 record and a 3.32 ERA in 32 starts. He led major league pitchers in percent of balls
pulled against him (47.1%).
2017 season On May 3, 2017, Hamels was placed on the 15-day disabled list due to a strained right oblique muscle. He was ruled out for eight weeks. In 24 starts for the 2017 season, he compiled an 11–6 record and a 4.20 ERA.
2018 season Hamels opened the season as the Rangers' ace. In 20 starts, Hamels was 5–9 with a 4.72 ERA in innings.
Chicago Cubs On July 27, 2018, Hamels was traded to the
Chicago Cubs in exchange for
Eddie Butler, Rollie Lacy, and Alexander Ovalles. He made his first appearance as a Cub on August 1, striking out nine. He gave up one unearned run and three hits in five innings, earning the win. On August 23, Hamels threw a complete game against the Cincinnati Reds, only allowing one run. Through his first five starts with the Cubs he was 4–0 with a 0.79 ERA, and the team won all five of the games. For the 2018 season between the two teams, he was 9–12 with a 3.78 ERA and led the major leagues in hit batsmen, with 19. He also led the majors in giving up the highest percentage of hard-hit balls (41.9%). Hamels pitched in relief in the Cubs’
Wild Card Game extra-inning loss to the
Colorado Rockies. He allowed two hits and a walk over two scoreless innings. In 2019, Hamels was 7–7 with a 3.81 ERA in innings over 27 starts. During spring training, Hamels suffered a shoulder injury and was not expected to be able to pitch at the start of the 2020 season. However, the
COVID-19 pandemic delayed the start of the regular season until July 24, with Hamels expected to make the Opening Day roster. In 2020, he made only one start, pitching innings and giving up three earned runs against the
Baltimore Orioles on September 16, which would be his final major league appearance.
Los Angeles Dodgers On August 4, 2021, Hamels signed with the
Los Angeles Dodgers for $1 million through the remainder of the 2021 season, plus $200,000 for each game he started in the major leagues. However, he experienced arm pain while throwing a simulated game in Arizona and was placed on the 60-day injured list, ending his comeback attempt.
San Diego Padres Hamels underwent three different surgeries in 2022 to try and prepare for another comeback attempt. On February 16, 2023, he signed a minor league contract with the
San Diego Padres. Hamels had originally intended to make starts with the Padres' Triple-A affiliate, the
El Paso Chihuahuas, as part of his recovery. However, he experienced inflammation in his shoulder while working out with the team and was unable to continue his comeback attempt.
Retirement On August 4, 2023, Hamels announced his retirement from professional baseball. On June 21, 2024, the Phillies held a pregame ceremony where Hamels officially retired as a member of the team. Though his number has not been officially retired by the Phillies, two days before his retirement ceremony with the team, Phillies outfielder
David Dahl changed his number from #35 to #31 out of respect for Hamels, who had known Dahl during his stint with the Padres. ==Pitching style==