Actually, I do have to mention Cole Hamels. Pitched 5 brilliant innings on Monday-12 strikeouts out of 18 batters faced, with 2 home runs and a walk. Sadly, with nearly 100 pitches, they let him start the 6th. Charlie Manuel (our idiot of a manager) should have pulled him as soon as he walked the lead-off batter, but instead left him in long enough to give up 5 more runs.

As Hamels matures, he is going to be a force to be reckoned with.

I'd love to believe that - Hamels has great stuff.

But over the last few years, the Philly organization has had so many potential young guns that either washed out, or haven't come close to reaching full potential:

Brandon Duckworth
Brett Myers
Randy Wolf
Vicente Padilla
Gavin Floyd

Ryan Madson shows promise, so the jury is still out. But with Hamels and Madson, I worry about them throwing their arms out.

I'm beginning to think the problems go way beyond Charlie Manuel or Larry Bowa (even though neither is a good MLB manager, especially Cholly). I think there are serious questions about the way this organization is generally run, including things like scouting, trainers, etc. Much of this goes back to Ed Wade - if so, it's going to be a long time before the damage is undone. Wade was so over-matched as a GM - I heard a rumor that he was the butt of many jokes for giving Pat Burrell a no-trade contract, given all the scouting reports about him.

Kevin