It’s no secret that Bartolo Colon has put on a few pounds over his 21-year MLB career.
He was listed at 185 pounds as a rookie in 1997. That number is officially 285 on MLB.com in 2018. And that evolution of Big Sexy culminated in an epic moment Wednesday afternoon, when he credited his “big belly” with saving him from a 101 mph line drive.
It was the fourth inning of Wednesday’s game in Seattle when Jean Segura hit a screaming liner back up the middle. It missed Colon’s glove and hit him square in the stomach, but he recovered and threw out the Mariners shortstop.
SportsCenter posted video of the play:
The 44-year-old chuckled after the play, waving off trainers who were jogging to the mound to check on him.
"The important thing is we won the game and I was able to get the out," Colon told reporters, according to the Associated Press. "He got me on the side. It was not in the middle. And I have a big belly, so I can [handle] it."
The classic play was part of another gem of a performance in a fountain-of-youth season for Colon, who turns 45 next week. He tossed 7.2 shutout innings in the win, lowering his ERA to a remarkable 2.82 – the best in the Rangers’ rotation.
