It has now been nearly three weeks since news emerged that Braves starter Cole Hamels wouldn’t be ready to report to Spring Training on time due to some shoulder irritation. There’s still no timeline in place for him to get back to action, manager Brian Snitker said today, as David O’Brien of The Athletic reports (Twitter links).
There is some evidence of progress, it seems, but the update largely confirms that the Atlanta organization is going to endure a fairly lengthy stretch without the veteran southpaw. A recent medical exam — held, as promised, three weeks after the initial concern arose — revealed that Hamels’s shoulder has improved but that he’s still not ready to resume throwing.
There really isn’t much to go off of here in assessing the situation. The Braves haven’t given much indication of just what Hamels is dealing with, so there’s no context to work with. It isn’t clear when Hamels will go in for another check-up, either. Presumably, he won’t pick up a ball until he receives clearance.
What is clear is that Hamels is certain to miss the start of the season — and not just the minimum 15 days. (Yes, the 15-day IL is back for pitchers.) Even if Hamels is cleared to throw in a week’s time and doesn’t experience further issues, he’d be about a month behind the regular ramp-up schedule and wouldn’t have a chance to tune up in Spring Training competition.
The Braves can certainly weather the loss of Hamels. Sean Newcomb and Felix Hernandez are likely to round out the rotation to open the season, but there are a host of interesting young arms available to call upon depending upon how things progress. Snitker said today that Kyle Wright, Bryse Wilson, and perhaps Touki Toussaint could still challenge for roles. Still, it’s obviously disappointing to lose the team’s major offseason rotation addition — particularly since Hamels was signed in large part to provide reliable innings.
Look, Newcomb and king Felix are fine and all, but I’d rather see both Wright and Wilson be the guys to start the season off as starters. Felix spring #’s are misleading so far…
Yes on wright. No on wilson. I think Wilson belongs in the pen. Also I’m not a gm or coach so my opinion is just that.
Wilson certainly looks to be pen material.
He’s not Penske material
But he was put in charge of the Penske file.
He did, however, give a very nice toast at Grace’s birthday. She’s such a sweet woman.
Hahaha
Wilson was one of the best pitchers in the international league last year with the juiced ball, and one of only a few in that AAA league to have an era below 4.00 as a starter. Don’t give up on Wilson too quick.
I’m not giving up on Wilson. I honestly thing he would be a great late innings guy. Dudes got power stuff
Felix will be fine? He’s been a dumpster fire or years now.
Agreed, he’s garbage
Well I didn’t say he will be fine… I just meant if they ultimately went with him it wouldn’t be the worse decision ever. But I’m with you, he’s been terrible. And for the rest of y’all trashing Wilson, he’s barely been giving a chance and he’s the same age as Ian Anderson and Muller…. y’all do realize he progressed better and faster than they did. I still think he’ll end up being a really good #3 (on most teams) and ultimately settle as a great #5 for the future Braves. His high school and minor league #’s are video game like… he’ll regress in the show of course, but he can pitch
If Wilson is to be a reliable and successful starter, at the big league level, then he has to continue to develop his third and fourth offerings.
Unfortunately, until he’s able to command and control those pitches, he will likely struggle in the Majors, as a starter. It is very feasible that he can get away with just his fastball and big breaker out of the pen in short stints, because they are just THAT NASTY of a combination, but his change-up has to be more than just a “show me” pitch if he wants to start..
A pitcher can get away with mixing and matching two plus pitches throughout high school, college, and most of the minor leagues, but that is what ends up separating alot of relievers and starters at the ML level..
I hope Bryse eventually figures it out, because I love his mentality, and he does have some filthy stuff..Regardless though, there is still plenty of time with Bryse as he’s still in his early 20’s..
Everyone harps on him being able to offer a good 3rd pitch. He actually has a pretty good one.. but I do agree that it can improve. His real problem (which is hard to figure out why he does this) is he walks way more in the majors vs the minors. So we he does give up his inevitable base hits, they look way worse. Why his locating disappears when he gets out of the minors is beyond me. Think he just needs more reps to handle the mental side of it all
I never understood 18 mill for a clearly declining Hamels- The guy had a 1.39 whip last year with worse underlying stats
His zone charts are scary as hell , hes now getting hammered down in the zone as well, if he loses a tick of control on the plate hes going to be sub replacement and essentially batting practice-
As a Cubs, he sucks
What are you talking about?? He had an excellent season last year, before he got hurt..He clearly showed, when he’s healthy, he’s still capable of being an extremely solid middle of the rotation starter on a contending team..
It amazes me how people sp freely and confidently judge performances and players without knowing what is going on…
That is the equivalent of saying Freddie Freeman is past his prime, and he’s no longer a top hitter, because of how he ended last season…
Also, they had to up the contract value, to get Hamels to sign a 1 year deal, because he had other multi-year offers..
They wanted a veteran to help mentor some of the younger pitchers, and they wanted a consistent presence on the mound that would always give the Braves a chance to win. That is exactly what Hamels is, and to get him for a year, without blocking their younger pitchers is a huge plus for this team.
Would you rather they have signed MadBum for multiple years at that price?? lol
Just sheer ignorance
I mean if excellent is a 3.82 era,/4.09 Fip with a 1.39 whip sure, he was excellent
Have you seen his zone rates from last year? As I stated before,if hes loses a tick of control hes sub replacement –
Pop the hood and take a look for yourself
Still shocked the Braves spent 18M on him.
Anthopoulos lit that money on fire as fast as Matt Klentak lights John Middleton’s dollar bills on fire.
I think there is a very good chance that Kyle Wright makes the rotation out of spring. Felix Hernandez looks like he is throwing the ball 85 mph. My guess is Wright and Newcomb make the cut out of Spring Training. Whoever is worse goes to AAA or the bullpen when Hamels is ready.
Cole had good success while with the Rangers although did have some down time with an oblique strain. Was a good competitor. Hope he can come back.
It was a dumb signing from the beginning.
I’ll never forget when the Sox wouldn’t trade Swihart for him.
King Felix might just have gotten the Anibal treatment. Id still like to see the dark horse pick win a spot – Tyler Matzek
Matzek is solely a bullpen piece..He has barely pitched since about 2016..lol
Seriously though, I’d love for him to somehow make it to the Braves 25man at some point. I think he could actually be effective as a multiple inning arm out of the pen, or play the role that Tomlin essentially had last season.
More than Matzek, I’d really love to see Weigel make the big league squad. He isn’t stretched out to start, but he could give you 2-3 solid innings, if necessary..
Maybe they could have Weigel piggyback off Newk..
Either way, whether it is Matzek, Wright, Weigel, Davidson, Anderson, etc. they’re all looking ridiculously good this far in spring..But, it is spring training, so EVERY FAN knows to take it with a grain of salt..
Well, I take that back, every EDUCATED fan knows to take spring stats with a grain if salt…lol
Maybe in 2021 the Braves will spend/trade to move past a worthless division title.
Maybe in 2021 you’ll finally stop complaining so we don’t see your negative BS on every braves post.
Haha iced that guy
Fatality!
Is MLBTR your equivalent to a therapists couch? I mean you don’t really discuss baseball anything anymore. You just come on and..vent your feelings..I guess?
What is there to discuss? This team is will
1. Finish in third or worse
2. Acuna will prove to be a headcase
3. and the most overrated player in baseball.
4. They will waste the final two years of Freeman
5. The rotation will be on the bottom
Greg Maffei loves his money and he’s keeping all of it and adding a lot more every year.
” top five highest paid CEOs in the U.S. Number three on the list is Gregory Maffei, CEO of Liberty Media Corp., who made $391 million in fiscal 2012″
Guess the 18 mil they wasted this year will just make a small dent on his income.
You said essentially the same thing last season also. Braves didn’t finish in 3rd. Acuna had a few non hustle moments but was not a head case like you suggest. Acuna had 40hrs/37sbs/5.6 war/all star/top 6 in mvp voting/ 2nd team all mlb team all as a 21 yr old. One of the best seasons ever for a 21 yr old., so he us not overrated. The rotation was not at the bottom of the league. I guess your opinions are just that.
Love the the trolls are teaming up. It’s Statler & Waldorf in the box seats from The Muppets.
and that is why they got embarrassed in the playoffs. They overachieved in an underachieving division. You would think casuals would stop caring about worthless division flags. Guess not!
And Acuna is overrated and he will prove it. Talk to me in 2-3 years when he gets traded.
They took the Cardinals to 5 games dude…and that series could have easily went either way…from an outside perspective the Braves seem to be doing a good job to compete for the long haul…this guy reminds me of Clepto on cardinals post
The Cardinals were the afterthought of the playoffs. The Braves crawled their way to game 5 only to get embarrassed in the first few innings. If the Braves were a good team, they would have swept them the same way the Nats did. Not exactly something to be excited about. But again, casuals and fanboys buy into everything and believe everything.
And considering his quote is almost 9 years old, there’s no telling how much he’s got now
I will talk to you in 2-3 years and maybe by then you will actually stop whining about everything. Try some positivity for a change. 29 teams lose every season and do you call all of those teams losers also.
How can you be positive when this team continuously lies? I’ll believe they care when they put their money where their mouth is.
On the flip side negative ninnies spend their entire time tearing down as opposed to being constructive. The Nats got hot at the right time. Anything can happen in a small sample size. However, you have to get there. Misery loves company.
I don’t have to be constructive because the results on the field speak for itself. Again, talk to me when they make the playoffs once AA gets fired.
Your stupid boy
Everything you have to say is rhetoric. I haven’t read a single industry analysts that is so down on the Braves as you are. You are speaking from emotion because you are apparently an enormous MadBum fan who can’t see out the writing on the wall. Let’s look at some of the things you said:
1. Finish 3rd or worse.
Nobody in the profession has predicted this but YOU do. Doesn’t seem strange to you?
2. Acuna will prove to be a head case.
Why? The only thing I can think of that maybe you are going off of is the hustle issue? You really think that’s going to take him down for the year or something?
3. Acuna is overrated.
Again, NOBODY is saying this. Just you. You sound like some crazy guy on the side of the road screaming about how the end is near. Can you even point to a peripheral that justifies your claim that Acuna is overrated? You said results are important right? Pretty sure nobody has to defend Acuna’s results.
4. Waste of Freemen.
Nothing to respond to as you are basing this on all your other points stemming from your irrational emotions.
5. Rotation at the bottom
Why? They werent last year or the year before. Hamels is at least equivalent to Keuchel who only gave the Braves 19 starts which even witg Hamels injury, should be able to duplcate the same amount of starts.
The Braves got embarrassed in the playoffs because of 1 inning in game 5. The bullpen blew 2 leads though. Now the bullpen has been addressed.
I don’t know why you are sooo focused on Acuna. Can you point to ANYTHING solid that validates this point?
“I don’t have to be constructive because the results on the field speak for themselves.”
Okay, I can be okay with that. The results on the field have been in the last two years 2 division titles and 187 wins. You can say division titles don’t matter but where it DOES matter is that it completely conflicts with your view that they will finish third..or worse.
Also wouldn’t mind hearing about what thd lies are. If you are referring to the budget, well, the Braves are behaving like a middle market club. Lot’s of teams do this. It sucks..move on. That isnt going to change.
I know the media is up Acuna’s *** but they were the same way for Heyward. People like you back then would have argued with me that Heyward was better than Freeman. Heyward was a mess. Acuna reminds me of that already. Acuna emits ego and I believe his ego will get the best of him long term. I would love to see him not strike out 200 times this season. Maybe then I will believe in him.
Even if you exclude game 5, the point is the Braves did not play like a team ready to take a step forward in the playoffs. Again, they barely took 2 games from a bad Cardinals team. You can argue all you want but the entire team played bad last postseason. This offseason they took a step back at third and did not improve the rotation at all. Like Acuna, I’m not sold on Fried or any of their prospects. Soroka is the only one I trust in the rotation.
When the Braves rebuild, they promised they will spend when the time is right. Apparently, this year was not the year. Until they spend or trade, they are liars.
jus,
If you’re going to poke someone in the eye for being stupid, you can’t spell and punctuate like a dimwitted 4 year old. I’m just sayin’…
So the only proof of Acuna’s future failure is Heywards past failure? I didnt ask you to show reasoning that good prospects sometimes, even MOST of the time fail to live up to their potential. I asked you to show why you think Acuna will. You made the statement that results are what counts. Maybe Acuna WILL fail but he has had 2 back to back allstar caliber seasons. The results are on my side.
I don’t exclude the results of game 5 at all. If you used it to state that Folty is WILDLY unpredictable and you trust him at your peril, I could see that. Did the Braves play poorly? If results are what you want to talk about then yes of course. No matter what any individual player performance was, they didnt get the job done. But one of the two issues that cost the Braves the series has been addressed. The bullpen has been upgraded. Seeing as that cost them 2 games, I would say that is a pretty significant upgrade. As for Folty we have to wait and see.
You know that the Braves set a new franchise record in salary right? This is all the fulfillment to that promise you are going to get. It sure isnt the Dodgers, Yankees, Cubs or Red Sox but if you thought the Braves were ever going to dip their feet into those waters than you set yourself up for that failure.
Do you even believe half of that nonsense you type??
Kind of yes but no not really. Was that clear enough? =D
Well this is looking to be a bad move.
This deal just keeps getting worse all the time!
This is partly why baseball contracts shouldn’t be full guaranteed. The Braves signed this guy for 18 million and for all we know he could get paid 18 million dollars to not even throw a single pitch this season. Boy it must be nice to be an MLB player
Totally agree. A guy should at least be able to report to spring training without any restrictions. All reports say it was his training and/or workouts that caused it. Again I will say I thought this was a horrible waste of money when they signed him.
Newsflash – they didn’t have to offer him $18mil. They didn’t have to offer him anything.
Both sides knew the terms and the risks, and both sides entered into a contract.
If Teams want to protect their money from injury risk, then simply don’t give that kind of money out in the first place.
I wish the media would hop off the Felix rambling it doesn’t make sense to add him to the roster. We have 4 or 5 pitchers who were in minors last year that are hands down better then Felix. Yes Felix has had a decent spring so far but he faced a lineup of orioles prospects for one game and he’s throwing so slow it’s be giving games away to have Felix around. I’d rather Pfifer Wilson, weigel or Wright slotted behind newcomb.
I view the holding of Felix’s rights a luxury not a curse –
According to his chiropractor, his left shoulder has come to the realization he must never pitch for the braves. The rest of him just hasn’t yet gotten the message.
Some time in July I heard from Braves Officials !
Good thing Theo did not offer him a contract !
He needs to retire and give that money back like any good samaritan would. Lol. He will collect his 18 million then retire next year. Nothing like a free 18 million in the old bank account
I’m sure you’d give it all back.
So true! He’s obviously been playing the long grift. He’s been planning to hatch this sinister plan on the braves for 14 years.
Well I can understand why he can’t find one, I did a google search and came up empty. Where does one acquire one of these “Timetables,” and does it work like the TARDIS phone booth looking thing in Dr. Who?
Cole is 36yrs old and is 37 wins away from 200. Can he do it? It’s an average of ~ about 9/10 wins for the next 4 years. At 39 or 40, winning that many games can be very tough.
I’d take the under unless I was getting phenomenal odds, though there could always be another Jaime Moyer.
Well with leftys you can never tell. Look at Jim Kaat or Jesse Orasco as well pitch for 25 years.
Cole “busted asset” Hamels
Well worst case scenario is it’s only a 1 year deal and next year we will have Ozuna, Hamels, Green, Melancon, Flowers and Markakis off the books and with near 80 million dollars potentially available.
they’re saving him, so he’s fresh at the end of the season
As a Phillies fan, I sure as hell glad we didnt sign him.
Watch wheeler have issues
Physical, mental, metaphysical?
Magazine
Oops, good pickup.
Another win for Smingleberry, Smingleberry and Smingleberry