Colon Stiffens Up

"I think I hurt it on that swing where my helmet fell off," Colon said last night through first-base coach Luis Alicea, who translated.

Bartolo hit the DL today thanks to having to swing a piece of wood at great velocity through air, as opposed to having to put one foot in front of the other quickly, a rather normal action for a baseball player even of the pitching persuasion.  The big question: will "The Oracle" reiterate his opposition to the NL rules now that the hated Sox have had injury befall one of their hurlers?

Comments

[Paul SF]

On the bright side, it's just in time for Daisuke to come off the DL. Masterson gets to keep plying his trade in the bigs -- where he definitely belongs.

But what the heck was Colon doing, swinging like that? More galling, it's not even the first time he's injured himself taking a swing!

[A YF]

Darn! I hope this doesn't affect the Yanks slamming that Colon at the beginning of July. You know, cause you'd rather have have him pitching than Masterson!

[Paul SF]

You know, cause you'd rather have have him pitching than Masterson!

That's not even a close approximation to what our point was, and you know it.

[A YF]

I didn't say who "you" referenced! :) If anything, there was a clear diversity of opinions, but most SFs here seemed to agree that signing Colon was a great move. Meanwhile, I'm *still* glad the Yanks didn't. I highly suspect that those SFs will come around to my view of things by the time the season's out. If not, you win!

[Pat (SF)]

Not psyched about the fat man?!?!?!!

The guy is like this whale that fell from the heavens and graced us with his pitching. If he didn't pitch another game for us the rest of the season I would still be psyched about Colon! Still, he will pitch again, and he will punish teams that aren't as good as the Phillies (or Yankees). We'll see.

[Paul SF]

When I thought Colon's injury was worse than it was, I thought: "Well, just in time for Daisuke to come back, and Buchholz still in the minors. If he never comes back, it's still one of the best moves of the season."

Sorry, A. Colon came in during what could have been a crisis time (two starters injured, including the ace-to-date) and pitched much better than anyone had anticipated, let alone hoped for. Terrific signing, even if he never throws another inning for the Red Sox.

[A YF]

I think you'll end up changing your opinion of that "terrific" signing. For instance, Buchholz could have done what Colon just did last night. In his last start, Buck pitched a shutout over 6 IP with 8 k's. Failing that, I'd love to see what Charlie Zink can do. He's really deserving of a shot. Between the two, they could have covered Colon's starts, and probably just as well if not better.

IMO, it all comes down to what they do when that busted Colon heals. If they activate him and option Masterson, I think that's about the worst outcome for your team. But hopefully it's just in time for the Yankee series!

[Dan]

"For instance, Buchholz could have done what Colon just did last night."

You mean Buchholz could have injured himself hitting (or rounding third even)? Yeah, that would have been sweet.

I'm not buying your point that having the option of using Colon or not using him is a bad thing. You might think differently but I reckon the Yanks would prefer to have the option of Colon available right now rather than not.

[Paul SF]

Exactly, Dan. If Colon had NEVER pitched an inning or, worse, if he had pitched two terrible innings, gotten hurt and retired, it still would have been a good signing because of how little risk it represented and how much potential upside there was.

As it is, Colon has provided quite a bit of value at a time when the Red Sox needed decent starts during a rough patch of injuries. If he's misused to take starts away from better pitchers while he struggles, that doesn't make it a bad signing. It makes Terry Francona a bad manager. (Note that I find this scenario implausible, but after all it's not my scenario).