BOOM: Cole Hamels is the NL Pitcher of the Month!

Earlier today, Cubs pitcher Cole Hamels learned that he was the Texas Rangers’ Roberto Clemente Award nominee, an honor bestowed upon the player each team best represents the game through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions. He’ll be going up against Jon Lester and many others for the final award, but even being nominated is considered quite special.

But it wasn’t his only good news of the day, as Hamels was also the NL Pitcher of the Month for August!

Congratulations to NL Pitcher of the Month, @ColeHamels! #EverybodyIn pic.twitter.com/6MkTTaJYc6

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 4, 2018

Hamels made his first start with the Cubs/in the National League on August 1st this season, so he was able to sneak in six full starts before the month was up. He was a winner in four of those starts, and ultimately allowed just 3 earned runs over 39.0 IP (0.69 ERA). Thanks to a 25.7% strikeout rate, 7.4% walk rate, 55.9% ground ball rate, 21.7% soft-hit rate, and 19.4% fly ball rate, Hamels even had the sort of peripherals that really help you feel confident about deserving the honor. And, hey, that ERA was the best in all of baseball during August.

There were other similarly deserving candidates, to be sure, including four pitchers the Cubs faced this month (Jacob deGrom, Aaron Nola, Max Scherzer, and Noah Syndergaard, among others), but Hamels stands out above the rest. What a well-deserved win for Hamels and what an awesome outcome for the Cubs. Trades rarely go this well.