Texas Rangers’ Bartolo Colon Open to Returning in 2019
By Dylan Smith
As of Tuesday, Texas Rangers pitcher Bartolo Colon has the most wins of any Latin American born pitcher, but he still has one more record to catch.
Texas Rangers starter Bartolo Colon continues to build upon his legendary resume. The 45-year-old wonder may not be as effective as he used to be, but he is still proving that he can be a serviceable Major League arm.
Going into 2018, Bartolo Colon had his eyes set on passing Juan Marichal as the all-time winningest Dominican-born pitcher. Big Sexy accomplished his goal in June with win No. 244 against the Kansas City Royals, but on Tuesday, Colon was able to fulfill a bigger milestone on his bucket list.
With seven solid innings against the Seattle Mariners, Colon was able to pass Nicaragua’s Dennis Martinez for the most wins all-time by a Latin American-born pitcher. Colon has no plans on stopping after No. 246…
“This year is almost getting close to the end. But there is one thing that I will look for, is Juan Marichal has more innings than me,” Colon said to ESPN through an interpreter. “For the Dominicans, I want to beat him also.”
Juan Marichal tossed 3,507 innings over his Hall of Fame career and Bartolo Colon currently sits at 3,445 2/3 career innings. This record is definitely within reach, but Colon may have to wait until 2019 to pass the “Dominican Dandy”.
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The 45-year-old currently leads the Rangers with 130.1 innings pitched, but it is very unlikely that he will throw the 61 2/3 innings necessary to pass his fellow countryman. In the Rangers remaining 46 games, Colon looks to be slated with nine remaining starts. However, in order to make a run at Marichal, Colon will need to hold his rotation spot and average over seven innings per start. Holding his rotation spot will be the big challenge as the last place Texas Rangers will likely turn their focus to younger players for the remainder of the season.
When asked about the possibility of Colon’s workload being lessened down the stretch, Texas Rangers manager Jeff Banister responded that “We’re still in the same rotation as before.”
It is reasonable to assume that this opinion will change as rosters expand in September, the Rangers will likely move Colon into the bullpen in order to give opportunities to young starting pitchers.
dark. Next. Will Odor keep hitting?
With all that said, it looks like all signs are pointing towards Big Sexy returning in 2019. While he might not return to the Texas Rangers, we will likely see Bartolo Colon on a Major League team. The righty is motivated to catch Marichal and has come within 60 innings, he is not going to let father time catch him just yet.