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Cole Hamels

Cole Hamels Uncertain For Braves’ Opening Day Roster?

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Triceps tendinitis prevented Cole Hamels from throwing a side session today, Braves manager Brian Snitker told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Gabriel Burns and other reporters.  While Snitker gave no indication that Hamels wouldn’t be ready for the start of the season, the timeline cited by the skipper would seem to leave things cut very close for Hamels to make the initial 30-man roster.

“I think we’re probably a week away from seeing where things are [with Hamels].  He’s day to day now as far as when he gets back on the mound,” Snitker said.  “His shoulder feels great.  He said he’s going through normal things he has before in spring training.  We’re probably a week away from seeing where he’s actually going to be when this thing starts.”

Since Hamels has yet to throw a simulated game or throw to live hitters, he’ll have less than a week before the Braves’ July 24th opener to get properly ramped up, going by Snitker’s “probably a week away” assessment.  Hamels could be pushed back to the fifth starter’s role to give him more time to prepare, and he wouldn’t have to pitch for very long, as the club is planning to use a piggyback strategy with all of its rotation — the starter would throw around three innings before being replaced by a reliever — in the season’s early days.  However, even if Hamels’ workload was limited, the team might also decide that it isn’t worth having him on the mound at all until he is is completely ready, so as to avoid further injury.

Ironically, Hamels was on pace to miss the original Opening Day, as shoulder issues kept him out of Spring Training prior to the league shutdown.  He had recovered from those problems and was expected to be ready to go for the second opener prior to this latest setback.  Hamels signed a one-year, $18MM deal with the Braves over the offseason to add some veteran experience and potential upside to a young Atlanta rotation.  With Sean Newcomb looking like the favorite to win the normal fifth starter spot, Josh Tomlin or Kyle Wright look like the top choices to fill in for Hamels if he does miss time at the start of the season.

NL Notes: Camp Delays, Dodgers, Cardinals, Gallegos, Health Updates, Senzel, Hamels

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Expect delayed arrivals to camp to become somewhat of a recurring story early in training camp as players attempt to clear the many hurdles to return to play. The Dodgers, for instance, will be missing a few players at the start of camp, though manager Dave Roberts wasn’t able to name specific players, per J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group. Likewise, the Cardinals will be missing reliever Giovanny Gallegos, who is delayed in his return from Mexico, per Anne Rogers of MLB.com. The Cardinals have not given a specific reason for his delay, per The Athletic’s Mark Saxon. Rather than speculate on reasons for the holdup, let’s check in on some health updates from around the league…

  • Nick Senzel’s had a banged-up rookie season, appearing in 104 games with a .256/.315/.427 slash – but he’s ready to go for his sophomore campaign. His first season ended early when a torn labrum required Senzel to get shoulder surgery. That injury is fully recovered now, but only just now, as Senzel reported having throwing pain as recently as a month ago, per Bobby Nightengale of The Enquirer. Senzel may not have a steady defensive home when play begins, but he figures to be an everyday presence in the Reds’ lineup regardless, especially with the DH now in play.
  • Cole Hamels was never going to get a full Spring Training, not once a shoulder injury took him out of commission for a few months. The 36-year-old knows that the four-week leadup to the newly-rebooted 2020 season isn’t exactly the same, not at his age, but he plans to be ready to contribute, per Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Said Hamels: “It’s not as if I’m going to go out there expecting to pitch seven to nine innings. There’s going to be a gradual buildup process, and there’s going to be guys who will be able to piggyback on you, like in a high school or a college season. All that really matters is putting up zeroes. If you can put up two or put up five zeroes, that’s really helping the team, more so than (other pitchers) having to pick up and try to eat a lot of innings.” 

Braves Expect Cole Hamels To Be Ready For Season

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Left-hander Cole Hamels, one of the Braves’ key offseason acquisitions, dealt with shoulder irritation during the first version of spring training a few months ago. If not for the coronavirus forcing camp to shut down, and if the regular season would have started on schedule, Hamels would not have been ready to open 2020 in the Braves’ rotation. That’s no longer the case, though. With the season now on track to open in a month, Hamels should be part of Atlanta’s starting staff from the get-go, general manager Alex Anthopoulos said Wednesday (via Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution).

The Braves inked Hamels to a one-year, $18MM contract over the winter in the hopes that he’d help fill the voids left by Dallas Keuchel and Julio Teheran, capable innings eaters who departed in free agency. Hamels, 36, does have a long and successful track record as a workhorse in his own right, having tossed at least 200 innings in eight different seasons. However, injuries slowed Hamels last year as a member of the Cubs, with whom he amassed 141 2/3 frames (the second-lowest figure of his career) and logged a 3.81 ERA/4.09 FIP with 9.08 K/9 and 3.56 BB/9.

While Hamels no longer seems to be the front-end starter he was during his prime, there’s nothing to suggest he won’t give the reigning NL East champions respectable production this year. Barring any injuries during spring training 2.0, he’ll join Mike Soroka, Max Fried and Mike Foltynewicz as locks in Atlanta’s staff. The fifth spot’s less certain, though Felix Hernandez, Kyle Wright and Sean Newcomb were all candidates for the role before the game’s abrupt halt.

Regardless of how the Braves’ season-opening rotation looks, Anthopoulos stated that he expects they’ll be conservative with their starters’ workloads for at least a couple turns, per Burns. That could mean appearances ranging from two to four innings at the outset of the campaign.

Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos On Hamels, Third Base, Bullpen

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As part of the team’s “Opener At Home” special on Friday evening, Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos spent nearly 20 minutes chatting with broadcaster Chip Caray about the current state of baseball, the Braves’ roster and some of his offseason dealings (YouTube link).

First and foremost, the GM made clear that southpaw Cole Hamels, signed to a one-year, $18MM contract this winter but slowed by shoulder troubles, is now pain-free. “Under normal circumstances, he would’ve been going right now to get ready to start to prepare,” Anthopoulos said of the 36-year-old, implying that Hamels could’ve been embarking on a rehab assignment. Given that update, it seems reasonable to expect that Hamels will be a full strength if play is indeed able to resume this season.

Of course, that also have a domino effect on the rest of the pitching staff. Per Anthopoulos, two of Kyle Wright, Sean Newcomb and Felix Hernandez would’ve opened the season in the rotation. All three were throwing well in Spring Training, and a decision on those rotation spots was coming “down to the wire,” with the final couple of weeks set to prove pivotal in making that decision. Prior to the spring shutdown, here’s how each of the three had fared:

  • Hernandez: 13 2/3 IP, 13 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 14 K (1.98 ERA)
  • Wright: 13 1/3 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 15 K (2.03 ERA)
  • Newcomb: 9 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 2BB, 11 K (2.00 ERA)

A healthy Hamels would likely take one of the rotation spots for which that trio is vying, although depending on how a new schedule is constructed — frequent doubleheaders and fewer off-days have been oft-speculated upon — it’s possible that a sixth starter could be needed. At the very least, one would imagine that with expanded rosters early in the season, it’s possible there could be a place for all three.

Also discussed was the Braves’ third base battle: a competition known to be comprised of slugger Austin Riley and the versatile Johan Camargo. Neither player was going to fill the Josh Donaldson-sized void in the lineup, but both had their share of promise. Riley was a consensus top 100 prospect entering the 2019 season and had a strong debut before tailing off over the final few months. Camargo enjoyed an excellent season in 2018 before a step back last year. But while the debate had long centered around which of the two would make the Opening Day roster, Anthopoulos indicated that it was no longer an either-or-scenario:

Camargo and Riley were playing unbelievably well. We hadn’t made a decision yet. We had started to talk — the fact that with the minor league season scheduled to start on April 9, and we were going to start the 26th of March — we had started to talk about just carrying both. There was no reason, really, to leave them down in Florida. They both had been playing well enough to make the team. If it got to a point where we thought one of them needed to play each day, that would’ve been a conversation we could’ve had right when Gwinnett was going to open the season around [April 9], we could’ve sent a player down at that point.

It still seems likely that one of the two would’ve been tabbed for the lion’s share of playing time, but the fact that both were possibly in line for an Opening Day gig is of note. That’s particularly true given not only the likelihood of expanded rosters but also because it’s not yet certain just how (or if) the minor league season will be able to come together. With minor league play even more uncertain than big league play, it’s all the likelier that the Braves would carry both players on the roster to ensure they could get both could get in-game reps — even if it’s on less than an everyday basis.

Asked about his aggressive bullpen makeover — the Braves acquired Shane Greene, Chris Martin and Mark Melancon last July before re-signing Martin and Darren O’Day and signing Will Smith — Anthopoulos was candid about how his moves were shaped by his relievers’ struggles early in 2019.

I think a lot of it was just not having to live through the experience that we had in 2019. Obviously we had a great year — we won more games than we did in 2018, we had a great team — but our bullpen was up and down the entire year. … Having to give up a ton of young assets at the trade deadline is not something we want to have to go through again.

The Braves, Anthopoulos explained, had sought to make upgrades in the previous offseason but didn’t find deals to their liking either in free agency or on the trade market. But the poor first half and the postseason struggles — the GM pointed out that the Braves blew late leads in two of their first four NLDS losses prior to the Game 5 blowout — pushed the Braves to take an “aggressive” approach to the bullpen. Atlanta indeed spent a combined $56.25MM on Smith, Martin and O’Day this winter — plus the $14MM of the Melancon deal they took on at the deadline and a $6.25MM arbitration salary for Greene — in hopes of creating a deeper bullpen that could be called on to hold leads late in games but also in the middle innings.

Assuming the season is able to resume, the Braves will be considered clear postseason favorites, and the depth to which Anthopoulos makes frequent reference in his chat with Caray will be all the more vital if a condensed schedule is to be played. If nothing else, it’s a welcome distraction to hear a top-ranking executive talk about roster construction, offseason maneuverings and challenges/advantages that’ll be relevant the next time his team takes the field.

Still No Timetable For Cole Hamels

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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.

Cole Hamels Slowed By Shoulder Irritation

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Recently inked Braves lefty Cole Hamels isn’t reporting to camp just yet, the team informed reporters including David O’Brien of The Athletic (Twitter links). He’ll remain at home for a stretch after experiencing shoulder irritation this winter.

The news isn’t drastic just yet, but it’s certainly not what you hope to hear at this stage of the pre-season. Hamels is set to be reevaluated in three weeks’ time, which means he’ll almost certainly miss most or all of Spring Training. While manager Brian Snitker is expressing optimism, it’s hard to imagine that Hamels won’t be delayed at the start of the season.

For the Braves, the hope will be that this is just an early-season blip. The club had inked Hamels to a one-year, $18MM deal with the expectation that the durable veteran would anchor the rotation at a solid value, without any long-term entanglements.

Hamels has been one of the game’s most reliable arms over his 14 seasons in the majors. The 36-year-old missed a handful of outings last year (27 starts) and was sidelined for a bit in 2017 (24 starts), but has otherwise taken the ball more than thirty times in ten of the past dozen campaigns.

At this point, it doesn’t seem there’s reason for the Braves to go scrambling for fill-in options. The newfound concern could help explain why the club just added Josh Tomlin, a potential swingman, to a group of non-roster invitees that already includes Felix Hernandez. There are plenty of younger pitchers who could be candidates to fill in for a few early-season starts as well, though obviously the calculus could change if Hamels doesn’t respond as hoped to rest and treatment.

Pitcher Notes: Hamels, Phils, Wheeler, Twins, Bundy, Lindblom

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The latest pitcher-relates news from around baseball…

  • Left-hander Cole Hamels said earlier this offseason he’d be open to a return to Philadelphia, where he thrived at the beginning of his career. Hamels wound up accepting the division-rival Braves’ one-year, $18MM offer on Wednesday, but the Phillies were among his suitors before then. They put forth a one-year proposal worth roughly half what Hamels got from the Braves, per Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. With that in mind, it’s no surprise Hamels turned down a return to Philadelphia. Meanwhile, the starter-needy Phillies made a much bigger splash to improve their rotation Wednesday, as they agreed to sign ex-Met Zack Wheeler to a five-year, $118MM pact.
  • The Twins were also among the most ardent teams in pursuit of Wheeler, according to La Velle E. Neal of the Star Tribune. They offered Wheeler a five-year, $100MM offer, but the Phillies upended them. Had Wheeler taken the Twins’ offer, it would have been the richest in franchise history. Now, even after Jake Odorizzi accepted a qualifying offer from the Twins, they’re still in clear need of starting help. Odorizzi and Jose Berrios are the only sure things for Minnesota’s 2020 rotation, meaning we probably haven’t seen the last of the team’s starting pursuits this winter. Indeed, the Twins seem to be aggressively going after free-agent left-hander Madison Bumgarner.
  • The Angels and Orioles swung a headline-grabbing trade Wednesday, when Los Angeles acquired righty Dylan Bundy from Baltimore. Even after picking up Bundy, the Angels remain “in the market for pitching,” said general manager Billy Eppler (via Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com). As for the non-contending Orioles, in parting with Bundy, they took “a big step toward our stated goals to accumulate and develop as much young talent as possible as the club rebuilds its roster and gets our talent level back to the level needed for consistent playoff contention,” per GM Mike Elias (via Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com).
  • Korea Baseball Organization right-hander Josh Lindblom officially became a free agent Wednesday, the Yonhap News Agency relays. Lindblom was terrific as a member of the KBO’s Doosan Bears from 2018-19, as MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently explained. Before that, he was unremarkable in the majors from 2011-17 with several teams. However, Lindblom’s KBO performance could overshadow his MLB history as he seeks a big league contract this offseason.

Braves Sign Cole Hamels

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1:15pm: The Braves have formally announced the signing and (unlike most clubs) confirmed the terms of the contract in their press release. Their 40-man roster is now up to 38 players.

11:18am: The Braves have struck a one-year deal with lefty Cole Hamels, per ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan (via Twitter). It’s said to include a $18MM guarantee for the John Boggs client.

Hamels can still get the job done as he closes in on his 36th birthday. Despite losing more than a full tick on his fastball from 2018-2019, he generated swings and misses at close to a twelve percent rate — much as he has done throughout his 14-year career. Since landing with the Cubs in the second half of the 2018 campaign, Hamels has spun 218 innings of 3.30 ERA ball over 39 starts while maintaining 9.0 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9.

This match has long made sense — for all the reasons the team decided last year to ink fellow veteran southpaw Dallas Keuchel to a rental contract. MLBTR predicted Hamels to land in Atlanta in our ranking of the top fifty free agents.

Entering the winter, we believed Hamels could command a two-year deal at a $15MM AAV. But it emerged soon after the market opened that the veteran southpaw actually preferred a single-season mercenary arrangement. That’s just what he’ll get, and he’ll command a bit of a salary premium by foregoing any long-term security.

Hamels drew widespread interest over the past month. That continued into the month of December, with Bob Nightengale reporting (Twitter link) that a half-dozen organizations were still involved as of yesterday. The Phillies, White Sox, Rangers, and — surprisingly — the Giants were among the teams in the market until the end, per the report.

That Philadelphia link only further increases the NL East intrigue that we’re bound to see in 2020. While he is a few years removed from his tenure with the Phils, Hamels will always be known first and foremost as a long-time Phillies hurler who was one of the team’s key players during its last run of success.

Now, Hamels will try to help the Braves get over the hump. The Atlanta org has won the past two division crowns, but hasn’t yet managed to translate that success into the postseason. Hamels promises to step in for Keuchel as a durable veteran who has been there and done that plenty of times over a long and prosperous career.

This is the latest early strike for the Braves, who have already ticked through quite a few items on the checklist before the Winter Meetings even kick off. Hamels isn’t the top-of-the-rotation arm that might be preferred, but his addition doesn’t preclude further adds. For now, though, the focus will likely remain on re-signing or replacing third baseman Josh Donaldson.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Quick Hits: Yankees, Ozuna, Pirates, Hamels

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The Yankees have made a notable addition to their player development staff, hiring Rachel Balkovec to serve as a minor league hitting coach, reports Lindsay Berra of The New York Times. Balkovec, 32, played college softball with both Creighton and New Mexico and went on to earn two master’s degrees in kinesiology and the science of human movement. She broke into the industry as the Cardinals’ minor league strength and conditioning coordinator and landed a job with the Astros in Latin America after teaching herself Spanish. With Houston, she would meet Dillon Lawson, who now works as the Yankees’ hitting coordinator and recommended Balkovec for the job. She has also worked with Driveline Baseball, conducting research on hitters’ eye tracking and pitchers’ hip movement, which she hopes to apply in her work with the Yankees. As Berra writes, Balkovec is believed to be the first woman employed as a full-time hitting coach at any level of professional baseball. She’ll begin her work in earnest when spring training rolls around in February.

  • Free agent outfielder Marcell Ozuna could be in line for a five-year deal, according to J.P. Morosi of MLB Network (video via Twitter). Interestingly, Morosi also names a market of five teams that have expressed preliminary interest in the 29-year-old slugger—which includes a few teams that haven’t been mentioned as obvious suitors for Ozuna. It’ll come as no surprise that the Cardinals remain connected to Ozuna, but Morosi also lists the Rangers, Reds, Diamondbacks, and Braves as teams that could pursue him. Five years still feels a bit optimistic for a player who has yet to show that the career-best numbers he put up in 2017 are repeatable; MLBTR tabbed Ozuna for a three-year deal at the outset of the offseason. However, it’s hadly surprising that Ozuna is drawing his fair share of interest, given his age and raw skills.
  • The Pirates are no longer considering Joey Cora for their unfilled manager post, Tweets Enrique Rojas of ESPN. That leaves Twins bench coach Derek Shelton and the Rays’ Matt Quatraro atop GM Ben Cherington’s wish list. Cora has worked as a coach within the Bucs organization for the last several years, first as the Double-A skipper and later as a base coach for the big league team. His ascent up the coaching ladder will be temporarily put on hold, with the Pirates apparently turning their focus to external candidates. The Pirates’ is the last remaining managerial vacancy, so it looks like they won’t have to compete with other clubs for Quatraro or Shelton—assuming they are willing to leave their current employers.
  • Turning our attention to free agent pitchers, The Athletic’s Jayson Stark is hearing from Cole Hamels’s agent that the 35-year-old southpaw is a hot commodity, having drawn inquiries from as many as 14 teams. We’ll see just how much of this rumbling is a representative trying to drive up the price for his client, but it’s not hard to see why Hamels has a robust market. There’s no shortage of clubs vying for help in the starting rotation, and Hamels provides exactly that while coming at a considerably lower cost than consensus top options like Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg, and Zack Wheeler: Hamels doesn’t come saddled with a qualifying offer, and, at age 35, won’t rival the market’s juggernauts in contract length or yearly value. For pitching-needy teams that have balked at the asking prices for Cole, Strasburg, and Wheeler, Hamels represents a short-term, reasonably-priced alternative who’s shown he can still hang.

Cole Hamels Drawing Significant Interest

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Free-agent left-hander Cole Hamels has indicated he’s open to signing a one-year deal, but that doesn’t mean the veteran is nearing the end of his career. On the contrary, agent John Boggs told Jon Morosi of MLB.com that the soon-to-be 36-year-old Hamels aims to pitch “at least five more seasons” in the majors.

Whether Hamels has another half-decade left in him is up for debate. What’s not debatable? Hamels is one of the best, most accomplished starters on this year’s open market. Unsurprisingly, there has been plenty of interest in the former Phillie, Ranger and Cub. Thirteen teams have already reached out in regards to Hamels, according to Boggs. The identities of those clubs are unclear, though Hamels has made it known his preference is to sign with a contender. It’s also worth noting Hamels is from San Diego, and though the Padres are mired in a painfully long playoff drought, he seems open to signing with his hometown team.

“It’s cool for him to think about coming home to San Diego,” Boggs told Morosi. “More than anything, he wants to compete for a championship. The chance to win is what’s going to drive his decision-making.”

The Padres happen to be among a slew of teams in line to chase starting pitching this offseason. Hamels isn’t a top-end free agent like Gerrit Cole or Stephen Strasburg, nor is he even a second-tier type like Zack Wheeler, Madison Bumgarner, Hyun-Jin Ryu or Jake Odorizzi, but he still looks capable of improving just about any team’s staff. While injuries limited Hamels to a mere 141 2/3 innings in 2019, he did give the Cubs a 3.81 ERA/4.09 FIP with 9.08 K/9, 3.56 BB/9 and a 47.3 percent groundball rate. Now, with no qualifying offer weighing him down, a large selection of teams seem to be zeroing in on the still-effective Hamels.

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