Bartolo Colon to replace Madison Bumgarner on NL All-Star team
Bartolo Colon has been tapped to replace Madison Bumgarner on the National League All-Star team on Friday. At 43 years of age, Bartolo Colon will become the oldest All-Star since Mariano Rivera made the squad in 2013.
National League (and New York Mets) manager Terry Collins made the decision when Bumgarner, scheduled to pitch Sunday for the San Francisco Giants, became unavailable for Tuesday's All-Star Game.
Congratulations, Bartolo Colon! #BigSexy has been named to the 2016 @AllStarGame. ??? pic.twitter.com/nONdE3eaHE
— New York Mets (@Mets) July 8, 2016
"It means a lot, especially for someone my age," Colon said through an interpreter, via ESPN. "It surprised me a lot. There's a lot of great ballplayers around the league, and I wasn't expecting this."
Colon joins Yoenis Cespedes, Noah Syndergaard and Jeurys Familia as the other Mets to be named the roster. New York hasn't had this many players on the team since 2009.
"It was surprising and means a lot since I'm in the final stages of my career." - Bartolo on his @AllStarGame nod. pic.twitter.com/ddkSaQAlgd
— New York Mets (@Mets) July 8, 2016
Colon hit his first career home run back in May, but he really doesn't want to try his luck at the plate on Tuesday night.
"No, no. I pray to God it doesn't happen," he said.
Washington's Max Scherzer (9-6, 3.21 ERA, major league-leading 155 strikeouts) was selected to his fourth straight All-Star Game. He will substitute for Nationals teammate Stephen Strasburg, who came off the disabled list this week and won't pitch in the showcase as a precaution.
Major League Baseball also announced Friday that Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Michael Saunders and San Francisco Giants first baseman Brandon Belt won the final two All-Star roster spots, elected by fans in online balloting.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
