Bartolo Colon has given New York Mets fans plenty to cheer about during his three-year tenure in Queens. He’s started at least 31 games each season, has double-digit victories in each year, and has provided the Mets a durable, rubber-arm every fifth day on the mound.
We even got to witness Colon’s first major league home run this season, a shot to left off RHP James Shields when the Mets were visiting the San Diego Padres in early May. Colon became the oldest player in baseball history to hit his first career home run that afternoon, and etched his name into Mets’ lore forever with that blast.
The home run became such a fan favorite that Topps produced a Topps Now card in honor of the feat, which sold 8,826 cards in a 24-hour period, which shattered Topps’ previous record of 1,808 cards sold from Jake Arrieta’s no-hitter.
Colon has been the calm and steady influence the Mets’ rotation needed this season, where fans had such high hopes and envisioned a rotation featuring Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz, and Zack Wheeler, with Colon eventually heading to the bullpen for the stretch run of the season. With the injury bug plaguing the Mets’ rotation at an unprecedented level this year, Colon and Syndergaard have been the two mainstays in the rotation, and have shouldered the load for the Mets to be in the wild card hunt at the end of September.
As Colon moves up the leader boards in strikeouts, wins, and innings pitched per start, he’s in contention to add another special accolade to his impressive resume which includes a Cy Young Award in 2005 and four All-Star appearances — a Gold Glove Award.
While those who don’t regularly watch Colon’s starts might scoff at the idea of the forty-three-year-old, rotund right-hander winning a Gold Glove Award, those of us that have had the sincere pleasure of watching “Big Sexy” toe the rubber and turn in quality start after quality start know better. We’ve witnessed the quick reflexes he flashes when there’s a comebacker up the middle. The soft hands he has when fielding a slow roller up the first/third base lines. The terrific fielding position he gets into after delivering his pitch, and the awareness he has on the mound are all attributes he puts on display for every start he makes.
Winning the Gold Glove for Colon would also put him in another “oldest” category, just like his home run in Petco Park on May 7, as Colon would become the oldest player at any position to win his first Gold Glove Award, surpassing Hall of Fame pitcher Phil Niekro, who won his first at the age of 39 in 1978 with the Atlanta Braves. Niekro went on to win the next three Gold Glove Awards from 1978-80, and then two more in 1982 and 1984.
The numbers back up Colon’s strong case for the award this year. As of Sunday, Colon was tied with Chicago Cubs’ ace Jake Arrieta for 40 total assists, which is six better than Colon’s previous high back in 1998 with 34 with the Cleveland Indians. Colon is also tied for second in baseball with five total double plays, only one behind Arrieta for the lead. Colon also ranks fourth in baseball in range factor, a number derived by dividing putouts and assists by the number of innings or games played at the position, to arrive at total number of outs that the pitcher participates in. Colon’s currently fourth at 1.63, trailing only Arrieta (1.67), Zack Greinke (1.85), and Mike Leake (2.07), according to MLB.com.
Taking a look at FanGraphs, Colon ranks first among qualifying pitchers in defensive runs saved (DRS), at 9 runs. That’s two runs better than the three pitchers tied for second place (Greinke, Keuchel, and Tanaka). That’s also six runs better than his previous high from last year, when he had three DRS in 194.2 innings pitched. His nine DRS this season was achieved in only 184.1 innings pitched.
The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) has their own defensive rankings, known as SDI (Sabermetrics Defensive Index). Through August 7, their most recent update on their website without a subscription, Colon ranks first in the National League among pitchers with a SDI of 2.8, which is 0.3 better than the second place pitcher in Zack Greinke (2.5). SABR accounts for 25 percent of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award voting process, along with the managers and coaches across baseball. Managers and coaches cannot vote for their own players, and have to vote for players in their league. If you want to learn more about how SABR develops their SDI numbers, click here.
When looking at more traditional stats, such as errors, Colon has only had three errors this season. And while that’s not a career low for him (he had zero errors in 2005 with the Los Angeles Angels), Colon’s had the most total chances of his career with 55 (total chances is assists plus putouts plus errors), eclipsing his previous high of 54 in 1999 as a member of the Indians. Of the three errors Colon has committed this season, two have been of the throwing variety, leaving just the one fielding error on the year.
Colon pitches to contact, as evidenced by his low K/9 numbers of 5.96, and being 4th in the National League with the number of air outs he’s induced (212) and 13th in ground outs in the N.L. with 201. So of course, Colon is going to get more opportunities with fielding his position and showcasing what he can do once his pitch is released. Because he squares up to the plate once he finishes his delivery, he gives himself the best opportunity to get to batted balls quickly off the mound, something he does with near regularity for every start he makes.
Colon definitely is in the running for the award this year, and also has an incentive if he were to win. Before he re-signed with the Mets in December of last year, the Mets wrote in $50K bonuses if he earned an All-Star nod, won the Cy Young, Silver Slugger, or Gold Glove Award. Colon has already earned $50k for his All-Star selection this year, and looks to cash in with another incentive with the Gold Glove.
Colon has been one of the best Sandy Alderson signings in his tenure, and for that matter, one of the best New York Mets signings in franchise history. At $7.25 million, Colon has been a relative bargain this season, and has earned every penny of that contract with his excellent play on the field, prompting most fan to hope for his return in 2017.
It just goes to show that not every player has to be of herculean proportions to be considered for an athlete, and to never judge a book by its cover. Colon has proved that with his cat-like reflexes off the mound and smart baseball intellect. Not bad for a soft-tossing 285-pound man.
