Bartolo Colon presumably sets eight or nine major league records every time he steps on a major league field, so it’s understandable if this one escaped the bookkeepers’ notice. To be fair, it’s probably not a record, but I’m gonna say it is.
By defeating the Atlanta Braves, 7-2, on a rain-delayed Thursday night/Friday morning at Turner Field, Bartolo brought home his club’s 79th victory for the second consecutive season. He was the pitcher of record when the Mets put a 79th win in the books in 2014 and the pitcher of record on that same numeric occasion in 2015.
Probably not a record. More like a coincidence. But it’s worth noting because in 2014, the 79th win came in Game 162, a.k.a. Closing Day, a.k.a. the last game of the year. It took Colon and those Mets an entire season to round up 79 wins. Fans of arithmetic — and the Mets — probably realize 79 wins left room for 83 losses, making 2014 what is known as a losing season.
Which was nothing new when Colon was throwing six innings of eight-hit ball at the Houston Astros at Citi Field last September 28. The Mets went on to win, 8-3, sending the last of us Flushing pilgrims off into winter on a pleasant note. We had watched our team equal its high for most wins since it had stopped winning more games than it lost as a matter of annual course. The 2014 Mets matched the 2010 Mets by going 79-83, which served to bracket records of 77-85, 74-88 and 74-88 while offering little satisfaction in the process. Some progress was clearly evident on the road to a zero-sum gain across four years. Some was well hidden. It was up to us to infer what we could about future performance based on the sample size we had just witnessed.
I doubt any of us peered ahead to the following September and saw a 79th win posted with more than three weeks remaining in the schedule. Not that anybody exactly aims at 79 wins as a benchmark, but for the Mets who had been losing more games than they had been winning with sickening regularity since 2009, 79 wins had been the top, their veritable Tower of Pisa.
Today, at 79-61, it is a pit stop. Seventy-nine is an incidental total about to be surpassed. The Mets will capture an eightieth victory in short order; then an eighty-first, which will ensure they will not lose more than they win this season; then an eighty-second, which will guarantee their first winning record in seven attempts.
And then? Then, we will have the gall to predict, those numbers — 79, 80, 81, 82 — will look smaller and smaller as bigger and better totals, milestones and achievements move into their grasp. It’s what happens when you’re winning far more than you’re losing. The relative accomplishments represented by what looked enormous in one era will appear insignificant in the next one.
We are firmly entrenched in the next one. We are in the bigger and better era that can be traced in part to what went on in the smaller and lesser era that directly preceded it…but just in part, because these are very new, different and welcome times for this ballclub. These are times that would not be occurring if some astounding changes hadn’t been effected as this present era was rapidly developing into its own self.
If you need someone to link the era we left behind with the era we have entered, you could do worse than Bartolo Colon as your bridge. He is sturdy enough to handle the traffic. It is tempting to say he is bigger and better in 2015 than he was in 2014, but that probably applies mostly to his presence.
When Colon downed the Astros to end last year, it raised his won-lost mark was 15-13 and his ERA was 4.09. Thursday night, as he took care of the Braves on seven hits in six-and-two-third innings, Bartolo went to 14-11 and 4.13. There are more advanced metrics one could explore, figures that indicate he tends to drift onto the wrong side of average over the span of the long season, but Bartolo Colon predates the conception of most of those statistics. Measure Bartolo by traditional standards. He looks sharp as can be that way.
Bartolo’s basically the same pitcher he was when he arrived from Oakland at the beginning of 2014, charged with replacing an injured ace starter and maybe helping to lift a 74-88 outfit to slightly bigger and better things. He’s the same, but more so, you might say. He stays settled into his grooves longer, as attested to by his 31 consecutive scoreless innings, a streak snapped at last by a brief Brave uprising. He has become a perfectly decent-for-a-pitcher hitter, with his average of .148 demonstrating basic competence and his fourth-inning RBI less exotic than it would have seemed in the recent past. He still handles his position like a pro, hustling to first in the sixth to complete a 3-6-1 double play.
Colon’s doing what Colon does, except now he’s doing it for a first-place team that leads its division by a larger margin (7½ games) than at any juncture since 2006, back when he was a lad of 34 pitching for somebody else. Bart is 42 now, pitching his best baseball of the past two seasons for us at exactly the right moment. A moment when the bullpen needs a blow. A moment when the magic number could stand a little reduction. A moment when even a logical person intermittently in thrall to baseball superstition has to acknowledge there is a magic number at play and that it ticked down from 17 to 16 shortly after 12:30 Friday morning. Somewhere in the middle of all this activity, Bartolo Colon gave the Mets quality, distance and another nudge toward a title that was unthinkable a year ago at this moment.
The connection between the Mets striding almost unassailably atop their division and the presence of Colon among those very same Mets probably isn’t altogether coincidental.
I guess given Bart’s age and the abundance of young pitching talent in the organization (and hopefully the 9-figure payroll addition for Cespedes), there’s a good chance that he will not be a Met in 2016. But if he isn’t, there will be times when we will regret it.
I agree. I would not scream if they re-signed him. He’d probably want two years again, but if they can get him for a similar price, why not. They’ve wasted more money on that for less return. And with young pitching, you just never know. If one or two of them go down (somehow I feel that’s inevitable), Bartolo would be looking better and better.
Spahn dropped off sharply after age 42 (after which of course the Mets signed him) but I still think Colon’s worth another shot.
He probably is worth it, just speculation on my part that they’d probably rather have a less expensive option if they (fingers crossed) sign Yo. But it’s also nice to be able to spend September focused on what’s happening now instead of already thinking about next year, so we can ditch this subject for now anyway :)
Well now, Dave, with Boras most likely imposing an innings limit next year on Harvey, Wheeler coming back from TJ, and perhaps Niese departing for Nice, there just may be some room in a (perhaps — it’s the wave of the future) 6-man rotation.
If he returns next year, Bart appears flexible enough to serve in any role — starter, middle-relief, spot relief, whatever. Plus serve as a role model of calm professionalism for our young studs, and he’s a guy who knows how to have fun out there. On the other hand, one wonders when age will catch up with him.
i was at that game last year, as pleasant a last game for a noncontender as possible, with highlights including bobby abreu’s sendoff; lucas duda’s 30th homer; jose altuve securing a batting title.
mainly, it held promise, the one we’re seeing the team make good on now. (the astros, too, though it appears september will finish up a lot dicier for them.)
i hope there’s a way to keep colon on the post-season roster (if, i hasten to add, the mets should make the post-season). he’s the only mets pitcher who’s actually, yknow, played in the postseason.
When they signed him I thought they were nuts giving a 40-year-old coming of a semi-career-year a two-year deal. Now it will go down as one of their best free agent signings ever.
He has been all a team hopes for when making a signing like that. A complete professional, an artist on the mound, an excellent fielder, a competent hitter, and said to be a great teammate. He’s easy to root for and a joy to watch. I can’t imagine how much the young pitchers learned watching the way Colon conducts himself. He’s sort of been to the pitchers what Granderson has been to the hitters.
The Mets have gotten a couple of lucky breaks with deals that WEREN’T made….a year ago Bart was on irrevocable waivers. How many teams are kicking themselves now?
The Latroy Hawkins of starters (the Bartolo Colon of relievers). Too bad the Mets didn’t hang onto Hawkins, too.
I love Bart and he’s a had a good two years but it’s kinda sad that he is among the team’s best FA signings.
I think the best one ever was Carlos Beltran.
Between what he did while wearing a Mets uniform and what he fetched in a trade, R.A. Dickey is right up there (but he was a less-than-nothing signing at the time so kinda hard to put him in this category).
Cliff Floyd as mentioned previously was a good signing.
Robin Ventura was a really good signing.
Billy Wagner was a good signing.
Todd Zeile was a good signing the first time around.
Here’s the site I was using to look up guys if people are interested… http://ultimatemets.com/trades.php
Here’s one stat that Bartolo undoubtedly improved on: more behind-the-back throws to first to nail the runner. This is a good guy to have on the team – veteran, does his job well, has fun, keeps the guys loose, and father-figure for the team’s Latinos. The Mets could do a lot worse than signing him next year for a reasonable deal.
Bartolo sits near Cliff Floyd in my pedestal of “solid signings”. He’ll likely always get a few cheers from Met fans if he ends up a visiting Pitching Coach, and it’s deserved (y’know, as long as he doesn’t give up 7 runs in 0.1 innings in a big game).
Crazy to think that not so long ago I would be sweating a visit to Turner Field during a pennant run.
I am so happy to have been pleasantly surprised by Bartolo Colon over these past two seasons. Although I doubt he’ll be given a postseason start (can I stop saying “should we qualify,” now?), I’m sure he will have a significant role to play. Think Orel Hershiser in the 1999 NLCS; without his 3.1 heroic relief innings in Game 5, we would be lacking an iconic moment in that riveting season.
(can I stop saying “should we qualify,” now?)
No.
Yep. 16 with 22 left to play is exciting, but it’s far from 0 yet. There’s work left to do to finish the job.
http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/62671/mets-fans-dont-read-this-greatest-september-collapses
With the Nationals’ remaining schedule, they can go on a run. If the Mets fail to take care of first things first, they can stumble into a season-ending series with the Nationals that’s changed from a tune-up for the play-offs to a winner-take-all match against an angry, hot Nationals team.
The Mets sked prior to the season-ending series vs the Nats is as follows:
3 @ATL, 3 vs MIA, 3 vs NYY, 3 vs ATL, 4 @CIN, 3 @PHI
Assuming the Nats get hot during that time and go 16-4, if the Mets merely go 12-7, the last series of the season won’t matter.
And I know the Nats COULD get hot, but there’s no reason to believe that is at all likely. That team has played mediocre baseball throughout the year and when it had a chance to close the gap and make it a crazy race, the Mets crushed them with three devastating comebacks. More likely is that bunch goes 13-7 and the Mets merely have to go 9-10 to clinch.
BUT even if the Nats do close the gap and make the last series matter, I would still bet on this Mets team to take care of business. The Mets have now beaten that bunch 6 in a row and KNOW they can beat them. Plus, the Mets now boast arguably the best offensive lineup in the NL and one of the best in MLB. And even skipping starts, the Mets pitching staff is a formidable bunch and the bullpen has options and of course Clippard and Familia. Plus, the Nats have Matt Williams managing them.
Bottom line…there’s no reason to fear except past history and the 2015 Mets aren’t part of that history. This team will win the NL East and nothing we say or think will change that. So just relax and enjoy and stop worrying about worst case scenarios. This team is a best case scenario.
And while Bartolo was refusing to give up a run in those five games, he both scored AND drove in more runs than he allowed. One of each.
Good follow-up win by Colon and a B+ line-up that, typically for these Mets, spread out the offense.
Dispatching the Braves calmly was exactly the kind of game the Mets needed to follow up the 2nd sweep of the Nationals and start closing out the season smoothly and readying the team for the post-season. Collins was able to rest his bullpen and veterans, like Murphy and his bat-hurting quad, who need to be handled carefully with an eye on the post-season. Reed and Alvarez (auditioning for post-season LOOGy) logged in valuable reps.
In that regard, I’ll add this bookend aspect to Colon’s game: Colon also started the 12-1 win in Miami on August 3, the 1st game following the 1st sweep of the Nationals. That was also an important stabilizing win coming out of a stressful season-turning series.
Colon has recovered admirably from his worrying stretch of in-game batting practice. He’s providing a valuable pillar of veteran calm for a starting rotation in a state of flux everywhere else right now. His fellow starters are struggling mightily (Niese), still establishing themselves in the big leagues (Matz), varying degrees of gassed (Syndergaard, deGrom), or being bubblewrapped (Harvey). Verrett, but hopefully not his HR habit, will be mixed in.
We don’t know for sure yet what the NLDS starting rotation will look like. deGrom will lead the staff. After that, will Harvey pitch? If he will, how much will Harvey be available? And how rusty will he be for a play-off start being re-activated from mothballs? Will Matz and Syndergaard start, or will one of them be shifted to the bullpen? Will Niese even make the post-season roster?
We had assumed Colon was auditioning for a post-season bullpen role and was on the outside looking in the post-season starting rotation. Now, with the questions about his fellow starters and as well as he’s pitching, Colon looks like a leading candidate for the Mets 4th, maybe even 3rd starter in the play-offs.
Next season, there’s a place on the staff for Colon and I think the Mets will welcome him back. It wouldn’t be for a regular starting role, though. Colon would start the season as the 5th starter again, but when Wheeler returns, he would be shifted to a Carlos Torres/Logan Verrett type role, ie, primarily out of the pen while on call for spot starts.
Colon might not accept a changed role on the Mets if another team offers him a regular rotation turn.
Colon was brought in last year to eat innings competently while the young stud starters transitioned to the big leagues. He’s done his job admirably.
Next year? Pencil in deGrom, Harvey, Syndergaard, and Matz. Wheeler comes back in June/July for his TJ recovery season as the Mets potentially all-time starting rotation takes the next step to fruition. (Don’t trade Harvey! He’s not the Dark Knight of Gotham anymore, but he’s still one-fifth of a potentially all-time great staff.) Niese is still in the mix.
I think the Mets will make Colon an offer. If he leaves, it will be for an offer that includes a regular rotation turn.
Curtis Granderson, RF
Yoenis Cespedes, CF
Daniel Murphy, 2B
David Wright, 3B
Lucas Duda, 1B
Travis d’Arnaud, C
Michael Conforto, LF
Ruben Tejada, SS
Steven Matz, LHP
— Back to an A line-up tonight. Maybe an A- line-up if you prefer Flores’s bat at SS, but I like Tejada as an 8 hitter when he’s on his game grinding ABs. I’d like more time off for Murphy to rest his quad, which affects him in the field and at bat. If Duda can get hot for the playoffs, that’ll be big.
Day 2 of the Matz post-season watch. Maybe Matz can do for the Mets this year what rookie Bumgarner did for the Giants in the 2010 post-season.
I would slightly prefer YC at cleanup and DW in the 2 hole, but that’s just nitpicking.
Much as we like him, Bartolo will be somewhere else next year. The starting pitcher corps is overcrowded as it is: Harvey, DeGrom, Syndergaard, Matz, and either Niese or Verett. Not to mention Gilmartin (who was a starter until this year) and Wheeler.
Besides, Bart’s salary has to be dumped if there’s any chance of signing Cespedis.