Chicago Cubs are better off not paying Cole Hamels $18 million

Chicago Cubs may have hurt themselves with Hamels’ injury

But that didn’t detract the Braves, who bolster a rotation that already features the likes of Mike Soroka, Max Fried and Mike Foltynewicz. If we’re being honest, they probably shouldn’t be too concerned – especially given Hamels’ recent comments about his pushing to come back from the injury too soon.

"“Then trying to come back, I knew that I needed to be back there because I was doing so well and so after healing up and not throwing a ball for almost 18 days, I rushed back into my throwing program and I was just never able to get my shoulder the right strength,” Hamels told NBC Sports Chicago. “I felt like, you know what, it will slowly go, it will be more like a spring training. But when you’re in games that count, you’re gonna grind away and put a little bit more effort on it when you probably can’t sustain it and my shoulder was just getting more tired and more tired."

Our friends at Bleacher Nation have some thoughts on how the Cubs handled this (among other) injuries – and it’s definitely worth taking a quick look. But the long and short of it is pretty simple: the team has been nothing short of abysmal when it comes to managing injuries in recent years and that no doubt played a part in Theo Epstein cleaning house in that regard this offseason.

Simply put, when Hamels was healthy, he was as reliable as ever. For much of his time in Chicago, he was the team’s most reliable and consistent starter – which became even more critical in 2019 as Yu Darvish struggled once again early and guys like Jon Lester and Jose Quintana failed to pitch up to expectations.