The Los Angeles Dodgers were hoping MLB veteran Cole Hamels could provide some help in their rotation down the stretch. Instead, they were only left with the bill.
The team announced Monday that it had placed Hamels on the 60-day injured list, effectively ending his season. According to MLB.com’s Juan Toribio, Hamels experienced arm pain during a simulated inning on Monday.
The injury creates some question of whether Hamels will appear in another MLB game. He missed nearly all of the 2020 season with a shoulder injury, pitching only 3.1 innings in one start on a one-year, $18 million contract with the Atlanta Braves.
Hamels attempted to mount an MLB comeback earlier this year and had a number of teams intrigued, but ultimately signed with the Dodgers for $1 million. He wasn’t expected to contribute to the team immediately as he required some stretching out, but the team was certainly hoping for some help by the time September rolled around.
It’s unclear if the Dodgers had any sort of insurance on Hamels’ contract that could mitigate the payment they owe him. Obviously, this is the risk teams take on when they sign 37-year-old pitchers who have appeared in one game over the past two seasons, and it’s hard to blame Hamels for taking the money that teams give him.
Without Hamels, the Dodgers are left with a rotation severely low on depth. Walker Buehler, Max Scherzer and David Price remain healthy, but Clayton Kershaw, Julio Urias, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May and Danny Duffy are all on the injured list with varying degrees of injury.
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