Hamels' terrific return: 'He did everything right'

CHICAGO -- Cole Hamels took the mound at Wrigley Field and served as the ballpark's metronome. Instead of a methodical click, there was the crack of a bat and another out collected.

Hamels worked through the Brewers' order seemingly with ease, hardly looking like an aging arm that had just missed a month's worth of innings. Fresh off the injured list, Hamels was given a pitch count of 75 and he ended his day one throw under the limit in his five shutout innings, helping set the tone for a 4-1 victory over Milwaukee.

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"He did everything right," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said.

Hamels’ outing was a great development for a Chicago team that counts on its rotation as the backbone of a club trying to not just make the playoffs but recapture the division and experience World Series glory again. In an at times trying season for Chicago the defense has experienced lapses, the offense has been inconsistent and the bullpen has been a trouble area.

The rotation was meant to be the one source of reliability, yet that has also been tested this year. Jon Lester was shelved with a hamstring injury in April. Kyle Hendricks dealt with a shoulder issue in June. Also last month, following a string of impressive starts that had him resembling his youthful days with the Phillies, Hamels walked off the hill in Cincinnati with a left oblique strain.

In the wake of that moment on June 28, Hamels offered some ominous comments, knowing how tricky an oblique injury can be for a pitcher. He lost two months of pitching in 2017 with a right oblique injury and the effects of that setback -- including mechanical problems upon his return -- lingered deep into his '18 campaign.

Given that history, Saturday's performance was a mental lift for Hamels.

"It's a tough thing to actually have to have an injury like that before," Hamels said. "You don't want them to ever occur again. But I understood it wasn't going to be as drastic and the time wasn't going to take as long. But, like anything, you just want to be smart and you just want to build everything back up, because those types of injuries, you have to completely shut down everything.

"So, you're kind of starting from scratch and if you rush it or don't do something correctly, something else can occur and that's kind of what I wanted to prevent. And I think we did a really good job."

In June, the 35-year-old Hamels spun a 1.22 ERA with 37 strikeouts against nine walks in six starts (37 innings). When he took the mound in Cincinnati on June 28, he did so with 2.3 WAR (per Fangraphs), which was the ninth-highest mark in the National League at the time. He was also fourth in ERA (2.92) and ninth in innings (98 2/3) in the NL before the injury.

Against the Brewers, Hamels picked up right where he left off.

Over his five frames, the left-hander averaged 91.1 mph on his fastball, per Statcast. That was right in line with his season rate (91.6 mph) before the injury. Hamels ended with six strikeouts, four scattered singles and no walks issued. He fired his signature changeup 19 times and generated eight of his 16 swinging strikes on the day with that offspeed pitch.

"He had a playoff slash World Series changeup going on today. He was very good," Maddon said. "Threw a couple good curveballs. He just pitched really well today. So, that was very impressive for his first time back."

Hamels walked away with a no-decision, but Albert Almora's go-ahead home run in the seventh helped the Cubs find the win column.

In Hamels' absence, the Cubs' rotation posted a 3.75 ERA as a group, ranking fifth in the NL in that time period. That included a 2.25 ERA from Hendricks (six starts), a 2.93 ERA from Yu Darvish (five starts), a 3.93 ERA from Lester (six starts) and a 4.15 ERA from José Quintana (six starts). Rookies Alec Mills and Adbert Alzolay, along with reliever Tyler Chatwood, made spot starts as well.

Hamels appreciated how they kept the rotation steady while he worked his way back.

"It was great," Hamels said. "We have a good staff and I think that's what we have confidence in each other to do. We're always going to push each other to become better."