The hopes of the Braves and Cole Hamels that the left-hander could be a postseason difference maker abruptly ended Monday.
The Braves placed Hamels on the 10-day injured list with left shoulder fatigue, ending his season. Hamels was set to make his second start Tuesday, the middle of three scheduled outings to build him up for the postseason.
“Cole came in a little after 4 p.m., closer to 4:30, and just said his shoulder didn’t have the strength behind it,” general manager Alex Anthopoulos said. “He threw a side (session) after the Baltimore game and didn’t have or express any concerns. But he came in here to the training staff, around 4:30 or so, and we made the decision. He didn’t think he would be good to go tomorrow.”
Since signing a one-year, $18 million deal with the Braves last winter, Hamels has battled shoulder and triceps injuries that have prevented him from pitching in games. He made his long-anticipated debut last week, allowing three runs on three hits in 3-1/3 innings against the Orioles, but that will be all for his short-lived Braves career.
“We had it lined up to get him these three outings to build up,” Anthopoulos said. “And right now, with him not being able to make the start tomorrow, we’re going to make changes in terms of our (postseason) player pool and things like that. We’ve already started the process with MLB in terms of our 40-man player pool and so on.”
Credit: Atlanta Braves
Add Hamels' latest setback to the Braves' extensive list of rotation misfortunes. They lost ace Mike Soroka to an Achilles tear. They jettisoned the ineffective Mike Foltynewicz and Sean Newcomb. Felix Hernandez decided against playing. Youngsters Touki Toussaint and Kyle Wright struggled for much of the year, though the latter has seemingly turned a corner.
Last week, the rotation situation seemed to be stabilizing. The Braves had a healthy Max Fried, impressive Ian Anderson, rejuvenated Wright and Hamels, who spoke confidently about his ability to contribute in the postseason.
The rotation is now down to three. Making matters more interesting, MLB’s new postseason scheduling quirk - no off days during series - means a shorter rotation will hurt the Braves more this October than it would in normal postseasons.
“There’s no doubt the rotation has not performed to the level we wanted it to or expected it to,” Anthopoulos said. “In spite of that, the bullpen has been fantastic. The offense has been fantastic. We’ve been able to be a top three, top four team in the NL. We’ll obviously continue to review things in the offseason, but I know that each year you’re not going to have all parts of your club firing and everything going exactly how you wanted it to. That’s why depth is so important, and being able to make changes.”
The Braves recalled right-hander Bryse Wilson to fill Hamels' vacated roster spot. They haven’t announced who will make the spot start Tuesday. There will be an another start available this weekend, when Hamels was scheduled for his final regular-season tune-up.
Hamels, 36, will be a free agent after the season. The 2008 NLCS and World Series MVP has had a 15-year career with the Phillies, Rangers, Cubs and Braves.
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