Texas Rangers: Bartolo Colon looking to pitch in 2019

Bartolo Colon is looking to continue to defy Father Time, as the Texas Rangers starter is hoping to pitch again in 2019.

Few players in baseball bring as much joy to the fanbase as Texas Rangers pitcher Bartolo Colon. From his hilarious at bats, to his astonishing cat like reflexes, to his improbable home run that broke James Shields, he is the gift that keeps on giving in baseball. However, at 45 years old at the end of the 2018 campaign, one had to wonder how much longer he would be able to keep going.

Fortunately for the fans, Big Sexy is not ready to call it a career just yet. Instead, Colon is looking to pitch again next year, in what would be his 22nd major league season.

More from Call to the Pen

• Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
• Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
• Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
• Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
• 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals

Colon did not exactly light the world on fire last season. After a strong start with the Rangers, he faded as the year went on, finishing the 2018 campaign with a 7-12 record, along with a 5.78 ERA and a 1.346 WHiP. His strike throwing ways got the best of him at times, as he allowed 32 homers in only 146.1 innings last season.

Yet, there were still reasons to hope that he would be a useful option. Colon walked only 25 batters in those 146.1 innings, while notching 81 strikeouts. he even added another wrinkle to his arsenal, mixing in a cutter to his fastball/changeup diet.

Even beyond his entertainment value on the diamond, Colon is a link to the bygone days of baseball history. He is only seven degrees removed from Harry Wright, one of the founders of professional baseball. He is also only six degrees removed from the first professional baseball league, the National Association, in which Jim O’Rourke played beginning in 1872. That is 146 years of baseball history that Colon can be linked to.

Baseball is simply a better place with Bartolo Colon on the mound. Fortunately, the Texas Rangers pitcher is not ready to call it a career just yet.