“Cole is a big-game pitcher."
—Teammate Ryan Howard

"We knew he was good, but I didn’t know he was that good."
—All-Star Evan Longoria

"He’s a great kid. He’s learned a lot … I think he’s well on his way to becoming a great pitcher."
—Teammate Jamie Moyer

"He’s impressive. He’s made the progression to throwing more strikes and being more aggressive with all his pitches."
—Future Hall of Famer Tom Glavine

"He didn’t leave anything over the plate for us to drive."
—All-Star B.J. Upton

"Hamels has probably the best changeup—one of the best changeups—in all of baseball."
—Rays manager Joe Maddon

"He’s going to go out there and have the normal bumps and bruises everyone has, but he just needs to take that in stride and have some fun."
—Future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr.

"He doesn’t seem to get rattled."
—Former teammate Rheal Cormier

"We don’t like dwelling on numbers or anything like that, but if I go out and pitch seven, I want him to go out and pitch eight. I want him to outpitch me."
—Teammate Brett Myers

"For him it’s about throwing all three pitches for strikes early in the count, and then not making a lot of mistakes."
—Teammate Chris Coste

"He really doesn’t have a ceiling … I’m not going to predict that he’s a Hall of Famer or  anything like that. But he’s going to be an ace of a pitching staff for a long time."
—Coste

"Cole’s pretty good, man. I’m glad he’s pitching for us."
—Phillies manager Charlie Manuel

"When I send Cole Hamels to the mound I expect to look good."
—Manuel

"He’s our guy. He’s our go-to guy."
—Teammate Jayson Werth

"He seems like he’s got it all figured out already."
—Former teammate David Bell

"The way he handles himself on the mound and the clubhouse … that’s what superstars are made of."
—Former teammate David Dellucci