MLB Bullets thinks Bartolo Colon can still play

It’s difficult to dislike Bartolo Colon. For Cubs fans, he has sometimes been something of a thorn in our sides when he played for the Mets (and to a lesser extent with the Braves), but since he was largely an AL pitcher for the bulk of his MLB career, he’s still the kind of guy you can root for.

Colon was trying to make a comeback bid early in the 2019/2020 offseason, with a variety of rumors circulating about potentially interested teams, but nothing came to fruition, and now with the current coronavirus concerns it seems likely he might be forced into retirement.

However, all that said, Colon recently posted a workout video online, and I gotta say, he looks fit for a guy in his 40s.

And if you are a Bartolo fan, you’re in luck, because he just released his autobiography last week, called Big Sexy: In His Own Words.

• Rachael McDaniel brings us a weird and wonderful story out of baseball history, and this one is so odd you definitely shouldn’t skip reading it.
• Ken Rosenthal talks with Nolan Arenado about trade rumors, Blake Snell’s recent comments on not taking paycuts, and more. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Mike Petriello has a little glimpse of alternate baseball history, and the team that could have been the Los Angeles Browns.
• Reader requests are fun when they result in columns like James Fegan asking “Do you remember Scott Ruffcorn?” (The Athletic subscription required.)
• In an effort to appeal to a broader sports audience, micro-TV platform Quibi (where all the episodes are 5-10 minutes long and meant to be watched on your phone) are producing an Astros sign-scandal docuseries, reports Joe Price.
• Joe Posnanski revvisits the famous George Brett pine tar game. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Do sports teams really care about the health of their players? Ann Killion points out that coronavirus will show which teams live up to their claims.
• Eno Sarris asks the age-old question: What defines an ace? (The Athletic subscription required.)
• A heartbreaking story this weekend as two people drown attending a pool party at Carl Crawford’s house.
• In what is sure to be contentious, Patrick Saunders ranks all 30 MLB parks. Wrigley ranks high.
• I accidentally had a tweet go semi-viral (by my standards) so here, you guys get to enjoy my weekend birdwatching observations, too.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.