Braves place Cole Hamels on IL with shoulder injury

It’s safe to say the Cole Hamels experiment was a failure for the Atlanta Braves.

Hamels, who was activated from the 45-day injured list on Wednesday, pitched in just 3.1 innings of action upon his return and is now being placed on the 10-day injured list, effectively ending his season.

Hamels signed a one-year, $18 million deal with the Braves prior to this season after one-and-a-half years with the Chicago Cubs. The southpaw’s contract was prorated to $6.66 million for the shortened season, but he still earned a fascinating $128,205.14 per pitch thrown this year.

According to general manager Alex Anthopoulos, Hamels’s shoulder felt fine during his Braves debut on Wednesday, but it started to bother him again during a recent bullpen session.

The 36-year-old had a 4.09 ERA+ in 27 starts last year, finishing 7-7 while allowing 141 runs in 141.2 innings.

Max Fried, Kyle Wright, Ian Anderson, and Huascar Ynoa will now make up the Braves’ starting rotation with the postseason just over a week away. Atlanta kicks off a four-game series against Miami on Monday before finishing the season with a three-game set against the Red Sox at home.