Two years ago, Cole Hamels suffered an oblique strain that he would later describe as feeling like he got shot in the side. On Friday, Hamels seemed pretty certain the oblique injury he’d just suffered against the Reds was not that severe, but it’s nice to have the MRI results that seem to confirm it.
While an MRI did confirm a strained left oblique for Cole Hamels, the Cubs feel like they avoided a worst-case scenario and a repeat of the injury that sidelined him with Texas in 2017. The Cubs can take the All-Star break and then reevaluate the Hamels situation.
— Patrick Mooney (@PJ_Mooney) July 2, 2019
The good news is that the previous oblique strain cost Hamels two months, so you might be able to project something less than that this time around. That said, he also felt like he came back about a week too soon last time around, which led to mechanical problems that plagued him for a calendar year thereafter.
Which is to say, even if you’re comfortable projecting a less-than-two-month absence for Hamels, you should not be expecting him to miss less than a month. An oblique strain is an oblique strain, and it can be a lengthy recovery.
Thankfully, the All-Star break is mixed in there, so even if Hamels misses, say, five weeks, he might miss only about four starts.
But it’s all just educated guesswork for now. We’ll see what the timeline looks like after the break.