What can Atlanta Braves fans expect from Cole Hamels in 2020?
By Steven Teal
What should fans expect from Hamels in a Braves uniform?
With the late start to spring training, Cole Hamels is going to miss likely the first month of the season.
So, I will take that into consideration while diving into his projections.
When looking into the previous two seasons, Hamels has pitched fairly well and was valuable to both the Rangers and Cubs.
He posted an ERA around 3.70 and 3.80 between both seasons and pitched 190 innings in 2018 and 140 of them in 2019. Had he not been injured in July of 2019, he likely would have pitched 180+ innings again.
Fangraphs projects that Cole Hamels will post an ERA of 4.26 and pitch around 146 innings. They predict that he will average 8.75 strikeouts per nine innings as well as 3.08 walks per nine innings.
Hamels is also projected to carry a BABIP of .301 and a 4.22 FIP.
It seems that the Fangraphs’ projection believes that Hamels will be a little below average this season but the numbers aren’t too far off from what he has done in recent years.
Hamels has always carried a good K/9 rate and that’s something that I believe will remain consistent in 2020.
As long as he is able to come back healthy from this shoulder strain and keep himself well through the rest of the year, I believe he will be a major piece in this Atlanta Braves rotation.