Cole Hamels: ‘A Spring Training invite is no risk, all reward’

Jon Heyman of The New York Post reported earlier this week that future Philadelphia Phillies Wall of Famer Cole Hamels is hopeful to pitch in 2023, despite pitching just 3 1/3 innings in the majors over the last three seasons.

The former World Series MVP confirmed as much in an excellent conversation with Dan Gelston of The Associated Press.

“A Spring Training invite is no risk, all reward,” Hamels said. “If you start me out in February, I’ll be ready by April 1. Or I’ll know exactly I can’t do it, and I will be the first one to admit, nope, I had a great career. I can hang it up and be proud of what I did.”

An oblique strain limited Hamels to 27 starts in 2019, when he was pitching for the Chicago Cubs. Still, he posted a 3.81 ERA and 4.09 FIP across 141 2/3 innings pitched that year, and earned a one-year/$18 million prove-it deal with the Atlanta Braves for the 2020 season.

As we now know, COVID-19 limited the 2020 season to just 60 games and Hamels made just one start for the Braves before a left shoulder injury ended his brief time with the team.

Following a successful showcase in July of 2021, Hamels landed a $1 million deal to pitch for the remainder of the season with the Los Angeles Dodgers. But Hamels was unable to complete a simulated game in early August, and was placed on the 60-day injured list before ever pitching a game in a Dodgers uniform.

Hamels took a step back in 2022, telling Gelston that instead of trying to pitch this past season, he underwent procedures on his left shoulder, left foot and right knee in an attempt to get back to 100% health, or as close as you can be to that when you have pitched in 15 big league seasons.

The four-time All-Star revealed to Gelston that he’s currently hitting 87 mph in bullpen sessions, which isn’t a terrible place to be when you are multiple years removed from your last Major League start. Presumably, if Hamels is signed by a team and given a chance to ramp up before the start of the season, his velocity will increase.

As is, the No. 17 overall pick in the 2002 MLB Draft is 163-122 with a 3.30 ERA, 3.68 FIP and 51.6 WAR across 2,698 regular season innings, per FanGraphs. We’ll see if the 38-year-old has one final chapter in his impressive career in 2023.

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