VIDEO: Atlanta Braves Bartolo Colon and His Offseason Workouts
By Jeff Schafer
Braves Big Sexy Getting Ready For 2017
Can’t blame a guy for getting ready for the upcoming season, right? Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Bartolo Colon is currently working out in the Dominican Republic preparing for the 2017 season, his first in Atlanta.
The 43-year-old (will be 44 on May 24) signed a one-year deal with the Braves on November 17 for $12.5 million. The Braves are planning on Colon being slotted into the starting rotation day one of next season.
Fitness and exercise has always been an important part for Colon, but I think he’s grown okay within his own skin. The 5’11” 285 pound pitcher has the nickname Big Sexy and he embraces it.
The terrible swings at the plate, the belly grabbing inside the dugout, the helmet falling off his head, we’ve seen plenty of hilarious videos of Colon, but the video posted today is just fantastic.
Thank you to MLB.com reporter Jesse Sanchez on posting the video. If you haven’t seen the video, enjoy!
Bartolo Colon is getting after it in the Dominican Republic. He's chasing Marichal for the most wins by a pitcher from the DR. #Braves pic.twitter.com/8yBO5Z3oQh
— Jesse Sanchez (@JesseSanchezMLB) December 15, 2016
Colon will be entering his 20th season in 2017 and he’s chasing Juan Marichal for most wins by a pitcher from the Dominican Republic. From 1960 to 1975, Marichal had 243 wins. Currently, Colon has 233 wins and has had at least 10 wins in a season in five consecutive years dating back to 2011.
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Now if you’re thinking “wins” don’t define who a pitcher is, you’re right. The wins statistic is a horrible category for a pitcher and shouldn’t diminish or help his statue…but it does. For the casual fan, wins and losses are usually the first category they would look at, followed by ERA.
So wins aren’t a good representative of a common pitcher, but Colon isn’t a common. Bartolo is a winner and will do anything he can to help his team win. That’s one thing we’ve learned over the years about Big Sexy. I’d be okay with an 11 win season and Colon gets the record.
Colon also gives back…did you know he has the Bartolo Colon’s Baseball Academy in the Dominican Republic? The facility trains and develops young Dominican players.
Why wouldn’t he have a statue out from of the facility?
On Twitter this afternoon, Braves General Manager John Coppolella participating in an “#AskCoppy” where he answered fans questions for about three hours. If you missed it, it’s worth going back through the Atlanta Braves timeline. During this, the video of Colon starting going around the web and Coppy reacted to it.
Is this video real? I can't look turn away from it ... https://t.co/lURGG2RmD3
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) December 15, 2016
And that was before the video! Our fans should be excited about watching Bartolo help the Braves and break some baseball records. https://t.co/QoSQeuqbcZ
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) December 15, 2016
Bartolo is definitely something to be excited for as we head into the 2017 season. One can only hope that he continues to have the success he’s been having. He’s like the Benjamin Button of baseball.