By all appearances, Cole Hamels is ready to rejoin the Rangers starting rotation.
In his second rehab start, Hamels breezed into the sixth inning for Double-A Frisco Wednesday afternoon, allowing Midland hitters just two hits and a run. It follows a three-inning scoreless outing in his first rehab start.
Hamels threw 81 pitches and got two outs in the sixth inning before leaving even though he’d only been scheduled to pitch five innings. The extra hitters allowed him to build up his pitch count. Having to get up and down an extra time certainly was a good test.