Bartolo Colon, believe it or not, probably plays a critical role in the Mets rotation this year. With all of the young guns coming up, Colon represents the veteran in the rotation. Plus, while the offensive talents of the team are still in question, an effective Colon could be the extra edge the team needs. (Brace yourself for the dumbest sentence I’ve ever wrote): Colon was great last year, except for the starts where he wasn’t. Those starts were awful and brought down his numbers. Colon was able to put up these numbers last year:
2014 Stats: 15-13, 31 G, 202.1 IP, 151 K, 30 BB, 1.23 WHIP, 4.09 ERA
Did you remember that K to BB ratio? I completely forgot about how effective he was. Anyway lets take a look at the projections:
PECOTA (BP): 10-10, 28 G, 175 IP, 123 K, 29 BB, 1.16 WHIP, 3.54 ERA
PECOTA (MLB.com): 9-9, 144 IP, 100 K, 41 BB, 1.16 WHIP, 3.63 ERA
MLB.com: 10-13, 193 IP, 137 K, 32 BB, 1.23 WHIP, 3.96 ERA
ZiPS: 26 G, 167.2 IP, 115 K, 27 BB, 4.03 ERA
Steamer: 9-10, 27 G, 163 IP, 113 K, 27 BB, 4.17 ERA
ESPN: 10 W, 122 K, 1.23 WHIP, 4.00 ERA
Average: 9.6 – 10.5, 27 G, 168 IP, 127 K, 31.2 BB, 1.20 WHIP, 3.89 ERA
The computers are split on whether Colon is going to have a better year, a similar year or a slightly worse year. So it averages together to be about the same year. I will honestly take a 3.89 ERA from a back of the rotation pitcher on the Mets who is at age 42.
