 In May 2006 , Hamels made his major league debut for the Phillies . After securing a long @-@ term spot as a member of the Phillies starting rotation in his rookie season , he made large <unk> in the 2007 Major League Baseball season and won the Phillies ' top major league pitcher award . He was the top pitcher on the team entering the 2008 season , and during the Phillies ' postseason run , during which they ultimately won the 2008 World Series , he won the World Series Most Valuable Player Award . Since then , he has been a top starter in the Phillies ' rotation . After the 2008 season , Hamels signed a three @-@ year contract with the Phillies . His statistics declined over the next two seasons , struggling through a tumultuous 2009 campaign and somewhat bouncing back in 2010 , however still not approaching his 2008 numbers . Over the next few seasons , Hamels was joined by fellow all @-@ star pitchers including Roy Halladay , Cliff Lee , and Roy Oswalt , and flourished with them , putting up some of his top career seasons before suffering from poor run support in 2013 . With the decline of his aging teammates as the team missed the postseason for the next few years , Hamels remained one of the Phillies ' consistent stars . Hamels was traded to the Texas Rangers in 2015 where he sparked their run to the AL West title . 
