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The Bartolo Colon experiment in Atlanta has not gone well so far, and the Braves may be considering a change.
After taking another beating on Thursday, Colon’s ERA ballooned to 6.96 through 53 innings and 10 starts. His FIP is a more tolerable 4.80 — not a great mark by any means, but it does indicate he’s been a tad unlucky so far. Bartolo’s strikeout rate (14.4%) and walk rate (5.9%) are the worst he’s had in 5+ years. His K-BB ratio is 8.4% after three seasons of it being around 13% with the Mets. His homer rate is way up (though SunTrust Park likely plays a factor in that).
A small sample size given the guy has been around the league for 20 years, but there aren’t too many 44-year-old pitchers around, either.
No one should’ve realistically expected Colon to come in and be a frontline starter at age 44, but the Braves certainly hoped for more when they signed him for $12.5 million last winter.
As for his future in Atlanta, Mark Bowman says he may only get one more start.
Money always plays a factor, but it's not like they're going to wait much longer. There's a possibility he might make just one more start. https://t.co/Y6zSexA37m
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) May 26, 2017
Yesterday, Brian Snitker said the plan is to keep Colon in the rotation “as of right now.”
Bowman also reported that it may be time to see what Lucas Sims can do in the big leagues. Sims currently has a 3.42 ERA (3.99 FIP) through nine starts in Gwinnett. His walk rate has declined substantially during his second stint in Triple-A and he continues to strike out batters at a high rate.
Bartolo is next scheduled to pitch against the Angels on Tuesday night in Los Angeles.