Atlanta Braves: Cole Hamels Could Miss First Month of the Season

The Atlanta Braves’ $18 million, free-agent pitcher has still not been cleared to pitch. He is in danger of missing the first month of the season.

The Atlanta Braves needed a reliable, veteran presence in the rotation and they signed Cole Hamels to a one-year deal worth $18  million this offseason. Hamels looked to be a two or three in the rotation and to work as a mentor to the young pitching staff of the defending NL East Champions, the Atlanta Braves.

Unfortunately, Hamels has been dealing with shoulder issues all spring and has been unable to pitch yet. Reports initially broke on February 12 about an incident with a medicine ball while training. Hamels would be re-evaluated but was likely to miss the start of the regular season. Today, the news got a little worse.

So, Hamels has not been cleared to start throwing yet, tweet David O’Brien of the Athletic.

MLB Trade Rumors points out in their article that even if Hamels were to begin throwing a week from now, that will still put him about a month behind the rest of the pitchers.

As of right now, the Braves are auditioning other guys for the four and five spots. The way things look now (and this could change) it appears that left-handed pitcher and former Braves starter, Sean Newcomb and the legendary Felix Hernandez have the inside track to the jobs.

Bryse Wilson and Kyle Wright are the two most likely prospects to earn a chance should Felix’s arm prove to be too shaky.

Perhaps this opens the door for a dark horse like former 11th overall selection, Tyler Matzek, who has been outstanding this spring.

The Braves have solid pitchers but Hamels brought stability to the situation. The Braves are hoping Mike Foltynewicz is the 2018-version. They are hoping Max Fried takes the next step forward and not back. They are hoping Mike Soroka can duplicate his spectacular rookie season.

Now, they find themselves hoping for Hamels to get healthy quickly.