Who didn’t see that one coming? 39-year-old Bartolo Colon, who leads the A’s in wins, ERA, and innings pitched, was suspended 50 games on Wednesday for violating MLB’s performance-enhancing drugs policy. I’m sure you’re shocked by this revelation.
This is the same Bartolo Colon who was out of baseball for all of 2010 after his arm practically fell off in 2009 while he was with the White Sox (he actually had an elbow injury). He had a stem-cell procedure done on his pitching arm and returned to baseball last year with the Yankees after having success in the Dominican Winter League.
He went 8-10 over 26 starts with the Yankees last year, posting a 4.00 ERA. He was even better this year going 10-9 with a 3.43 ERA over 25 starts for the A’s.
I’ve long held suspicions about Colon’s comeback. The guy seemed like he was done after going 6-8 with a 6.34 ERA in 2007 with the Angels. From 2006-2009, he had so many arm problems he never topped 100 innings in a season. And then he comes back and starts pitching his best since his 2005 Cy Young-winning season? Yeah, that never added up. Oh, and Colon never deserved that Cy Young; it should have gone to Johan Santana.
There are no details about the type of performance-enhancer Colon was using, but we know he had elevated levels of testosterone which triggered the positive test. The rotund hurler is the fifth Major League player to be suspended this year for a violation, joining Melky Cabrera, Guillermo Mota, Marlon Byrd, and Freddy Galvis.
Photo Credit: Ed Szczepanski-US PRESSWIRE
