Oh my!

A few of us scribes have a bet regarding the Phillies' top prospect Cole Hamels. If Hamels makes it to the big leagues during any part of the month of June, I win. If Hamels makes it here in July, Steve Miller of the Allentown Morning Call is the big winner. Any time after August 1 -- give the pool to the Courier Post's Mike Radano.

Of course we all laughed when Ken Mandel from Phillies.com went with May. That's just the way we are with Ken. But after Hamels' Triple-A debut, it looks like Mandel might have the last laugh.

Hamels pitched seven innings in his debut for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He allowed just three hits and he did not walk any one. Pretty good, right. Wait... he struck out 14 hitters. That's 14.

Let's look at it this way:

7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 14 K

Needless to say, Scranton won the game, 5-0, but it doesn't seem like I'm going to win the bet.

Don't blame Lieby
It's popular in some circles to heap some of the blame for a poor pitching performance onto the catcher. After all, goes the reasoning, the catcher calls the pitches (not always) and it's his job to know the hitters' tendencies, how well the pitcher is throwing, and all of the other nuances of a particular moment of a game.

Most of that is true to a degree.

What often is overlooked is that the pitcher throws the pitch. Ultimately, it's the pitcher's decision and not the catcher's.

At least that's what Ryan Madson says.

Still, Phillies' veteran catcher Mike Lieberthal has taken a lot of criticism for what many people say is his inability to call a good game.

"It's not Lieby," Madson said. "I throw the pitch."

Madson says that, yes, it's nice when he and his catcher are in synch. It helps with his rhythm to be ready to throw a pitch and see that the catcher is thinking the same exact thing, Madson says.

But more importantly, Madson says, it's not the pitch calling, relationship or rhythm that's important. It's the pitcher's confidence.

"I'm only going to be as good as I am mentally," Madson said. "It's the uncertainty that kills you."

Not Lieby, he says.