Atlanta Braves Fans Ponder Bartolo Colon’s Struggles
By Fred Owens
Bartolo Colon’s first six starts were less than stellar and disappointed Atlanta Braves fans. Is he regressing or simply missing his spots.
The Atlanta Braves watched their young pitching prospects struggle mightily in 2016. In the offseason they signed Colon and R.A. Dickey for the specific task of pitching about 400 innings that would otherwise go to young arms not ready for prime time and stunt their growth.
Watching from afar, Atlanta Braves fans saw Bartolo Colon stabilize the Mets pitching staff for two seasons. His legend grew as he started over 30 games every year and worked successfully from the bullpen in the post season.
Fans nationwide smiled when he got a base hit and in spite of looking like Latin America’s Lou Costello, hit a home run. The media dubbed him big “Big Sexy” and fans took up the nickname to the point that Colon attempted to trademark it.
Atlanta Braves
His signing delighted Braves fans worn out after a 2016 season that saw their team look like it belonged in AAA and pitching prospects stumble on their climb towards the majors. Colon gave them something to look forward.
While his reality is less than a fairy tale has he really been all that different from the pitcher we saw with the Mets?
What’s going on?
After his last start, Atlanta Braves’ Manager Brian Snitker gave MLB.com’s Mark Bowman his view of Colon’s rough outing.
"“He’s just getting too much of the plate,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “A lot of his pitches are right down the middle. It’s just about the location for him."
Colon himself said much the same thing.
"“I feel like I’ve been missing by a big margin lately,” Colon said. “That’s been it. I feel like my best pitch is my sinker and it feels like it hasn’t been sinking lately. When that happens, that’s what good teams will do to you.”"
Some have opined that Snitker and Colon are wrong; that failure to throw strikes is the cause of his woes. Others suggest that perhaps he’s not getting the movement and velocity he’s had in the past. To answer those questions we go to the tape… err books.