WASHINGTON – Six days after Bartolo Colon was placed on the 10-day disabled list with what was termed a strained left oblique, the struggling veteran pitcher threw a bullpen side session Monday at Nationals Park.
This was notable not just because it had been less than a week since he went on the DL – oblique strains generally take at least a few weeks before a pitcher begins throwing again – but for the fact that Colon was with the Braves on this three-game trip to Washington. The Braves usually don’t allow players to travel with the team unless there’s a chance they will be activated during the trip.
Colon can’t be activated before Friday, when the Braves open a homestand, and manager Brian Snitker made it clear he won’t be activated that soon because Colon will throw at least another side session or two before the team makes any decisions on him. Sean Newcomb was outstanding in a fill-in start Saturday against the Mets Saturday in Newcomb’s major league debut, and the Braves announced he’ll start again Friday against the Marlins.
They brought the 44-year-old Colon on the trip so he and pitching coach Chuck Hernandez could continue working on some adjustments or fine-tuning they’ve been addressing.
“(Hernandez) wanted to be around him working on stuff,” Snitker said. “It was good. (Colon) could have done this somewhere else, but Chuck wanted to get him hands on him (work with him) in the side sessions.”
Colon is 2-7 with a majors-worst 7.78 ERA, including a 10.03 ERA, .380 opponents’ average and 1.075 opponents’ OPS in his past eight starts. He’s allowed 63 hits including eight home runs in 35 innings during that stretch, gave up six or more earned runs in half of those eight starts and lasted fewer than six innings in all eight — twice as long as his worst such streak 19 previous seasons.
Snitker indicated at the time Colon went on the DL that he would return to a starting role eventually, but that’s not been said definitively by the manager or any Braves official.
“They’ll have another side in a couple of days, and then we’ll just wait till all that’s done before we decide,” Snitker said Monday. “But he’s feeling good and they worked on some stuff. He’s going to do one or more sides before we get him back out there.”
