Cole Hamels completed his third bullpen session Friday morning at Truist Park as the Atlanta Braves opened summer camp in preparation for the 2020 MLB season. Hamels was unable to take part in spring training back in February due to a shoulder injury that he suffered while working out during the offseason. He was slated to miss the first part of the regular season. Of course the regular season was delayed and Hamels has used this extra time to get himself ready for a season that will be much more of a sprint than the usual marathon.
“The shoulder feels great, now it is about trying to build up the endurance,” Hamels said during a media session Friday morning. “It is good to just get back into a rhythm and be around some guys where it is a little bit more competitive and you can kind of get the adrenaline going and then kind of staying within yourself for the next couple of weeks so that we all are really healthy and ready to go.”
Hamels said that he probably would have been ready to go at the end of May if not for the shutdown. After things were put on hold, he slowed his rehab process from seven days a week to 4 or 5.
“We really had a good schedule with the training staff where I was FaceTiming four to five times a week so that I could still get in a lot of shoulder exercises, strengthening to just be able to take advantage of the time off.”
The big question for Hamels and for all of the Braves pitchers will be, how much time will they need to get ready? Alex Anthopoulos told reporters a week ago that the Braves would bring their pitching staff along slowly during the early part of the season. Starters are likely to work in a piggyback situation at least for the first couple of weeks. How much time pitchers will need though will most likely vary.
“I know that is going to be a big question just because you have to build up pitch counts,” Hamels said when asked about ramping up activity. “I think all of us, especially with the stretch that we have to start the season, I don’t think any of us are going to be going out there with 90-100 pitches like you would normally see in a regular season.”
“I know if I can get up to 45-50 pitches at game speed, because before that you are throwing about 35 in a bullpen. That right there, I would feel really comfortable knowing that I could go into a game and get those kind of four to five innings to begin with. Some of these guys have been in a lot better shape than I have just because they didn’t have to build back up. I think if I am able to get probably about three possible starts, I don’t even know what that is going to look like. I guess it might be against my own guys which is always kind of a difficult thing to do. I think I will feel pretty confident knowing that If I am able to throw roughly 50 to 60 pitches in a game environment I will be really good to go.”
Back during the spring, Hamels talked about learning from an instance where he rushed back from injury too quickly and he said that open communication between the pitchers, coaching staff and front office will be essential to make sure that doesn’t happen during the abbreviated season.
“I think just being able to have good open communication with the front office, with the guys. I think what really helps is knowing that we have a bigger roster. I think guys are going to be able to piggyback a little bit more. It is not as though I am expecting to go out there and pitch seven to nine innings a game from the very beginning. There is going to be a gradual build up process and you have guys that are going to be able to piggyback on you. Almost kind of similar to probably like a high school or college type of season.”
The Braves are counting on Hamels to provide value both on and off the field. With a number of young pitchers in the team’s player pool, providing veteran leadership to his younger teammates is something that Hamels is preparing for.
“This is a really young and talented pitching staff,” Hamels said when asked for his thoughts on Atlanta’s young pitchers. “They have more guys on the way in the lower levels that are extremely talented. It was fun to see just what type of players they have in the mix. They are going to be a really good pitching staff for a really long time. Anything that I can try to provide to make them better. I know that is another reason why I am here so I am excited to be around those guys. They are going to push me which I do like. I like the competition especially if I might be a few years older than them. We are just going to push each other and I think that is what baseball is all about. I was fortunate enough to have that when I was young with some older guys that I think we pushed each other and I think that is what made us good. Its just another role reversal. They have really good competitive guys that want to win and that will be fun to be a part of.”
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