Hamels speaks
Breaking news from Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr.: Cole Hamels will leave Clearwater tonight for the Philadelphia area to have his left elbow examined tomorrow by team doctor Michael Ciccotti. Amaro said that Hamels’ had complained of “a little bit of a persistent soreness” in the elbow. “We thought it was important at this time for Dr. Ciccotti to check it out,” Amaro said, while downplaying his concern. The GM was asked if Hamels’ April 5 opening night start could be in jeopardy. "It's a possibility, I guess," Amaro said. "But again, we won't know anything until the doctor sees him. Right now he's still on course to do that. We'll see if there are any further issues. “We thought it was important for Dr. Ciccotti to check him out and see if there is anything more serious than what we think it is. He'll decide once he sees him tomorrow morning if he needs to do any testing or any further testing. We did do a physical on him before we ended up finalizing the multiyear deal with him and felt comfortable with the diagnostics and such. But, you know, he's had a little bit of persistent soreness and we want to be cautious about it and have him checked out." Hamels pitched four innings in a minor intrasquad game yesterday, and pitching coach Rich Dubee said afterward that “he did fine.” “He was (fine),” Amaro said this morning. "But he's still got a little bit of soreness in there. We don't feel that it's serious, but again, I don't have a crystal ball. I can't look inside his elbow. We just want to be cautious, and we thought it was important that he sees our doctor in Philly." Including the postseason, Hamels pitched 262 1/3 innings last season, by far the most of his career. In 2007, he spent time on the 15-day disabled list with a left elbow strain. Amaro said that Hamels does not feel pain when he throws. "(The elbow) starts to get tight in between innings. It's more of a tightness than anything else… I don't believe he feels it when he throws." Dr. Ciccotti will determine tomorrow morning if any further tests are necessary. Hamels will apparently address the media later this morning, so keep checking.
Hamels speaks
Andy Martino
Breaking news from Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr.:
UPDATE (10:01 AM): At about 9:45 AM, the Inquirer's Jim Salisbury saw Hamels long tossing at a distance of about 125 feet in the outfield at Bright House. The lefty is currently taking PFP (pitchers' fielding practice) with the team, fielding choppers on a back field. That tells us that the team feels okay about having him on the field and throwing a baseball, at least.
UPDATE 11AM: Hamels just addressed the media. Like Amaro, he downplayed the level of concern. "It's not a big deal," Hamels said, explaining that he was experiencing "inflammation" just below his left elbow. "It's something I don't want to have to deal with through the season...I have it every spring training, but normally it lasts about a week to two weeks." Because the issue hung around longer than usual, Hamels said, "that's when the flashing lights go off."
Hamels and team officials had been monitoring the situation for weeks, and decided this morning that a check-up would be wise. He still expects to start opening day.
Yikes....hopefully not time to panic.— KarenA- Uh oh! Hopefully some just some mild biceps insertional tendinopathy.— flyfantx
- Cole knock it off you are married now.— rockinrob
- Good thing we have Happ and Park throwing very well right now and other quality arms fighting for a bullpen spot. Also, we won't need a fifth starter early. Nevertheless, I hope is nothing serious. Give Hamels the extra time he needs.— EL Zorro
- I certainly hope that this is nothing major. Given Coles history as a great pitcher that happens to be a worry wart I'm sure he'll be fine. The only bad thing is that it's an injury that his team supplied chiropractor cant fix. Unless cracking his back can some how alleviate the pain in his elbow; which if I remember correctly is along the lines of what Cole was thinking when the whole chiropractor thing first came up. So that being said maybe the chiropractor can help after all--— Truth
- Cole has had a chronically kranky back and thats why he wanted a chiropractor. He spends several hours each day prior to games doing back strengthening activities. The reason he felt a chiropractor would cut down on injuries for him was that when his back gets out of whack he starts compensating for it by throwing differently which leads to arm problems. So its not that a chiropractor can fix arm problems... its he feels it can prevent them. And even if there is nothing to that... he thinks there is so at the very least there is a placebo effect.— Chewy59
- I think Cole Hamels could be a hypochondriac. It seems to me he is too worry about his health. The great Roberto Clemente was labeled a hypochondriac because he was always complaining about injuries and other medical ailments. That didn’t stop him from being a Hall of Famer, anyway. Let’s hope the same thing is happening to Hamels.— EL Zorro
- I dont' care if COle is a mass murderer as long as he's healthy and can pitch for teh Phils like he did last year in teh Post season. I'm glad to see that the team is sending him north to be checked out and not playing games with this. It seems to be a different OP this year, instead of hiding injuries, they are informing us of every scrapped knee and bruised finger. We did ask for management to be more open, right Truth??— jeff gross
- Cole is someone who is always "cautious" about his health, either with the chiropractor, or in how he discusses aloud the fact that he threw so many innings last year, but I won't be concerned until he's on the shelf. Its nice that we have other pitchers in camp throwing well, but I sure as heck don't want to see them filling in for Cole at the beginning of the season. I want to come out of the gate with guns blazing.— Gary Varsho
- Well to be honest I don't mind that Hamels is always concerned about his health. It means to me that he really wants to do what he can to stay healthy and on the field. I'd rather he be a little overly cautious and stay healthy than be cavalier and then find out the pain he's been pitching through worsened a minor injury and now he's out 6 motnhs. If you think about it, the Phillies are paying him millions to be a productive star, the least he can do is try to take care of his body to protect their investment.— Chewy59
- I thought it was also positive that prior to the contact signing, he passed his physical with flying colors. Rather err on the side of caution. Please its way early in the season and hopefully not time to panic.— KarenA
- I agree and I'm glad the Phillies are taking every step necessary to take care of him properly. We don't want another Freddie Garcia fiasco. My point is that some people, players included, have this condition and Cole could be one of them. Sometimes it could be problematic. I have a friend that gets sick or think he is sick if he is around someone sick and starts taking medication. This is due dillegence by the Phillies, anyway. Jeff “mass murderer’’, isn’t that a bit overboard?— EL Zorro
- I hope my Karma of hoping Santana was healthy works.— ktdb05
- Chewy(very interesting name) I do care about how he projects his health and his image. If your star pitcher is a wus at 25 before his big contracts where is he going to be when he is 29 with the contract? I really don't think Cole is liked in the club house I don't know but his constant worrying gets on my nerves Im sure it gets on the nerves of ppl that have to here hi whine and moan daily. Jeff your mass murdering stmt is way over the top, it borders on pathetic. Stop craving for attn if your comments warrant it you will get it. I would like to see what Cole does if a Met pitcher throws at him would he fight back would he retaliate or would he just wuss out.— Truth
- Ever get the feeling Dave and Andy are covering the same stories from the same angle...— e4stringer
