Back in the halcyon days of 2005, Bartolo Colon had a career year for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim — he finished that season with a 3.48 ERA and a 3.75 FIP on his way to a career-best 4.1 fWAR and the AL Cy Young award for that season. Suffice to say, Anaheim brings back good memories for Bartolo Colon and the currently-struggling pitcher is surely hoping that tonight is the night for a bounce-back performance.
If the bounce-back is going to happen, then it’s going to have to come against an Angels team that’s currently reeling from the news concerning Mike Trout and his injured thumb. There was a good chance that the Braves weren’t going to see Trout this week, and now there’s a 100 percent chance that nobody will be seeing Mike Trout play baseball for the next six-to-eight weeks.
It’s a bummer of the highest order for the Angels and an big bummer as well for anybody who likes watching great players play baseball at a very high level. With that being said, I don’t think the Braves are going to miss him for these next two games.
The Angels’ loss of Trout means that all of a sudden, our old friend Andrelton Simmons is now their most dangerous player — as evidenced by the dinger he hit last night against Julio Teheran. Simmons will also be one to look out for at the plate tonight, as he’s done pretty well against Colon over the years. Over his career, Simmons is 12-23 with a walk and five RBIs against Colon. Meanwhile, Ben Revere is 10-30 against Colon, and while Albert Pujols is 6-22 against Colon, two of those hits were dingers. The Angels still have some decent hitters (like another old friend, Cameron Maybin) and they’ll be looking to take advantage of a pitcher who’s currently going through a rough patch.
Meanwhile, Atlanta’s offense will have the privilege of welcoming Parker Bridwell to the life of being a starting pitcher in MLB. Bridwell only has 3.1 innings of experience at the major league level, but the Angels decided that he was better suited being a starter than a reliever, so here he is now. Bridwell had done a good job sawing through minor league pitching, but we’ll see what happens when he has to face big league hitters for more than just three innings.
The Braves’ offense may have a shot at beating up on an inexperienced pitcher, but it would be nice if Bartolo Colon snapped out of his funk and assuaged the Braves’ concerns about his abilities going forward. Will this be the night where he begins to recover? Or will this be further evidence that even Big Sexy isn’t immune to the grip of Father Time?
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Tuesday, May 30, 2017, 10:07 PM ET
Location: Angel Stadium, Anaheim, CA
TV: FOX Sports Southeast
Radio: 680 AM, 93.7 FM, WYAY 106.7, Braves Radio Network
Loading comments...