Cole Hamels' start isn't the problem, his situation is

The Texas Rangers have to be at their most presentable with Cole Hamels pitching and, if Thursday is the best version of themselves, the first half of the season will be a stroll down Kick Me In the Face Lane every night.

At this juncture, I'm trying not to think about the second half of the season. That's 10 months away.

Hamels, the unquestioned ace of what is a suspect, at best, Rangers' pitching staff is due a total of $42.5 million in '18 and '19, and if he's not good ....

Shelve the fear of a mediocre Hamels for a second and just go with his Opening Day performance on a beautiful afternoon at the Ballpark: The first batter hit a home run, the second smacked a double, and by the time Hamels was done he had allowed three runs in 5 2/3 innings.

It could have been considerably worse, too.

If this shaky ship has any prayer of floating near .500, Hamels has to be a seven-inning guy who is a stopper. For a rotation that has so many potential leaks, and will need 44-year-old Bartolo Colon, Hamels has to be a win. Not necessarily for him, but for the team.

Should Rangers manager Jeff Banister need his bullpen for three to four-plus innings in Hamels' starts, like he did on Thursday, forget it. The Rangers needed five pitchers on the day their ace went, that's two to three too many.

The Rangers lost 4-1 in Opening Day to the Houston Astros, and it wasn't even Hamels' fault. That's how good the Astros are, and how perfect the Rangers have to play to be close to a team of that caliber.

An offense that is designed to score four to five runs per game managed to squeeze out one against Astros ace Justin Verlander and his buddies. Their lone run came on a wild pitch with two out in the ninth inning.

The bullpen coughed up some runs, too, but at least the Rangers did not lose what was a competitive dot race.

The highlight of the day was second baseman Rougned Odor drawing a walk. You have to assume that ball is going to Cooperstown.

Other highlights of note: Shin Soo Choo didn't go on the disabled list, and the Astros put a third baseman in the outfield to defend Joseph Gallo at the plate.

Hopeless optimism aside, Hamels is 34, and looks like a guy who has pitched a lot of innings and logged a lot of miles on his left arm. His velocity on Thursday was down a bit, he fell behind 2-0 too often, and he walked four batters.

He also struck out seven 'Stros, and locked in when necessary against a lineup full of frightening bats. The score could have been much worse than 3-0 when he left the game in the sixth inning

"I'm going to have to pitch better and hold them to less runs," he said after the game.

Yes, if his offense insists on not scoring, things are going to be tough.

Hamels is far from bum status, but he's also far from the pitcher whom the Rangers acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies in July of 2015.

Rangers general manager Jon Daniels took on Hamels and his massive contract with that season in mind, not for 2018. Hamels was a "Go For It" acquisition designed to put the Rangers in the World Series. The move instead pushed them to Game 5 of the American League Division series, and no further.

Now the Rangers are dealing with the long-term effects of this deal — they have a guy who should age well and be an effective pitcher, but because of this staff's many concerns, they need him to be younger version of himself.

The version that was a nasty All-Star who routinely pitched 200 innings a season.

"People's expectations are you're going to throw it 98 [mph] all the time and that's not going to happen," he said. "I've never been that guy. I'm a guy who gets by being smarter than the opponent. I physically feel better, and I feel smarter."

Hamels was never a dumb guy, either. Given his talent and effortless delivery, he could pitch until he's 40.

What he is now is the only starting guy on his staff his manager can look at and trust without hesitating. The remaining four starters — Doug Fister, Matt Moore, Mike Minor and Colon — all come with unnerving concerns.

Other than his age, Hamels has none.

And if on the day Hamels goes and Banister still needs four other pitchers ... then the best version of the Texas Rangers is a kick in the face, too.

This story was originally published March 29, 2018 at 7:23 PM with the headline "Cole Hamels' start isn't the problem, his situation is."