Bartolo Colon to pitch in Dominican League

One of the league’s most entertaining and lovable characters, Bartolo Colon clearly wants one more shot at big league action.

Though he may be the subject of an occasional joke or meme, Bartolo Colon is one of the most prolific pitchers of the last two decades. In a career spanning over 20 years, the one they call “Big Sexy” has pitched over 3400 innings, won over 245 games and has kept his career ERA to a solid 4.12.

In addition, he is first among active pitchers in wins, starts, and complete games, second in shutouts, third in strikeouts and 20th among all active plays (of all positions) in wins above replacement (WAR). Though the last few years of his career (4.80 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 43-47 record since 2015) haven’t been stellar by any means, he’s still been consistently a force to be reckoned with in this league.

Despite spending the last ten seasons with eight different teams—his playing for 11 different franchises over the course of his career place him tied for third in baseball history—it is now being reported that Colon, now 45, would like to continue his major league career. According to Emily Waldon of the Athletic, Colon is going to pitch in the Dominican League for the Águilas Cibaeñas. Waldon also notes that Colon is reportedly scheduled for five starts.

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If Colon returns to play another season, he would become just the eighth pitcher in MLB history to pitch at the age of 46. Already the oldest active player in the league, he would continue his long career that has seen him start over 552 games, the 29th most in baseball history.

Going even further, JJ Cooper of Baseball America noted that with the retirement of Adrian Beltre, Colon is now the only active player to have played in the 20th century. He is also, per CBS Sports, the only active MLB player who suited up for the now defunct Montreal Expos.

Strategically, it remains to be seen if Colon, who has been trending downwards as of late, can actually contribute to a major league baseball team. It’s possible that a floundering team could take a flyer on him and attempt to flip him at the deadline, but that seems to be a stretch, at least for now. Although, it’s often surprising how the pitching market can shift in a hurry, especially in such an uncertain offseason landscape.

In 2018, he suited up for the Texas Rangers, pitching to an ERA of 5.78 ERA in 146.1 innings, striking out 81 and walking 25. According to ESPN, Colon had the fewest strikeouts among pitchers who tossed more than 140 innings, and had the second highest earned run average among those same pitchers.