Who would have thought that our last chance for a 1990s-2020s four decade player would be Big Sexy?
94 pitches, only four baserunners.
Highlights:
I'm happy for him. I was in freaking elementary school when he started pitching. WOW. I kind of wanted him to be a Met again. Oh well.....
I genuinely don’t know.
That way, if nothing else, we can have official Diamondbacks jerseys with Bartolo Colón's name and number on em. Send 'em Sherfy or something.
Both Twins legends are actually in the middle of really strong starts to their 2018 campaign.
Bartolo Colón
1-1 /3.29 ERA / 25 K
Career-high 8.33 K/BB, and leads the AL with 0.7 walks per 9 innings. His 7.3% whiff rate is his highest since 2005. Not to mention, he's putting up decent numbers while utilizing basically only a 90MPH fastball outside to set up offspeed pitches even more outside. Now compare this to where batters are making contact on Big Sexy, and we can clearly see why he attacks the outside of the zone. Now hey, this isn't revolutionary or anything, but I say, keep pounding the outside of the zone Big Sexy. If I had to guess, hitters are trying to take advantage of Bartolo's "fastballs" and taking a more reckless approach to the plate; batters are swinging at 49.2% of Colón's pitches, good for 15th highest rate in the league. They're swinging away, and Big Sexy isn't giving them anything great to hit. That's a recipe for success.
Francisco Liriano
3-1 / 2.97 ERA / 26K
Liriano is off to his best start since 2006, but it doesn't really make much sense. His 1.073 WHIP and 152 ERA+ are his best since 2006, but he's not striking out very many batters while walking plenty (1.63 K/BB). His 9.1% whiff rate is a career low. Backed by a .211 BABIP (.299 career average), Liriano is exceeding expectations thanks to strong defensive play (or at least very fortunate ball placements) during his starts. Liriano's strong start seems to be due to some good luck and strong defense, more so than any adjustment he has individually made. Unlike Colón, Liriano is not trusting his fastball anymore, with an astounding 1.5% of his pitches being considered a fastball. That's 4 pitches all season. Let me hypothesize a couple of things. By throwing only offspeed and breaking pitches mostly away from the batter, Liriano is playing a pitch-to-contact game, but optimizing the amount of weak contact allowed (70.4% weak-medium contact). This is keeping the ball in the park, and giving his fielders good chances to record an out. He's not striking out many batters because none of this is set-up by a fastball. Throughout the season, Liriano will probably live and die by the BABIP, but it seems that's where he is in his career and that's the fate he has accepted.
So there's a brief, barely educated analysis on
... keep reading on reddit ➡On Sunday night, Bartolo Colón took a perfect game into the 8th inning. Wait, one more time: On Sunday night, Bartolo Colón took a perfect game into the 8th inning. Actually, once more, and let’s all say it together: Bartolo Colón took a perfect game into the 8th f%%ng inning.
Let’s talk about how we got here.
A Brief History
Bartolo Colón is a pitcher who has been pitching for a very long time. He’s the last active player to have played for the Expos. He’s pitched on 11 teams now, after signing a 1-year deal with the Rangers, for a running total of 21 years and 669 teammates. Bartolo Colón is 44 years old.
Also, he looks like this.
How does Bartolo Colón maintain his figure, you ask? It’s simple: he eats innings. Colón leads all active players in career innings thrown, with well over 3000 in the books. And, even into his forties, Colón hasn’t slowed down, having reached 190 innings in four of his last five seasons played.
His career hasn’t been without its fair share of accolades, either. Colón’s gotten the All-Star nod 4 times, and in 2005 he brought home a Cy Young en route to a 21-win season for the Angels.
As for his accomplishments this decade, Colón has produced a fairly respectable body of work as a good-not-great, middle of the rotation type player. In nearly 1260 innings since 2010, he’s posted a 3.92 ERA, securely nestled between an FIP of 3.86 and an xFIP of 4.03. His strikeout rate over the same span of time sits at a modest 6 per 9, to go along with a tidy walk rate of 1.5 per 9.
As far as Colón’s individual seasons have gone, it’s been a mixed bag. In 2013, he collected 18 wins in tandem with a career-best 2.65 ERA. In 2016, he put up a 3.43 ERA to help bring the Mets to their second consecutive postseason berth in franchise history. Sandwiched between those performances were two mostly forgettable years with the Mets. And, in 2017, Colón absolutely blew up. His age-43 campaign saw stints with 2 teams and near-career worsts across the board. Colón finished with a 6.48 ERA in a season
... keep reading on reddit ➡I know, it's a long shot, but does anyone by chance have a Bartolo Colón jersey (any team) they'd be interested in selling? Thanks!
