Professional slugger Bartolo Colon sets lofty goal for his production at the plate in 2015

Bartolo Colon sets lofty goal for offense in 2015

By Mike Bertha

March 2, 2015

Bartolo Colon has been a very productive pitcher in Major League Baseball for nearly two decades now. He's maintained a 3.95 lifetime ERA, struck out 2,101 batters, earned 204 wins, made three All-Star teams and won the 2005 AL Cy Young over the course of his 17-year career with the Indians, Expos, White Sox, Angels, Red Sox, Yankees, Athletics and Mets.

Most of those teams are American League clubs, meaning Colon has rarely had to hit in his career. He's made exactly 48 appearances for National League clubs in those 17 years and accumulated merely 158 at-bats. He's scored a total four runs.

Last year with the Mets, Colon earned two base hits in a career-high 62 at-bats, including this wonderfully entertaining double:

bartolo

So what does Colon have in store for Mets fans after that incredible performance? More of the same, basically.

New Mets hitting coach Kevin Long recently spoke with the media down at Spring Training in Port St. Lucie, Fla., and addressed the goals he and Colon have discussed heading into the 2015 season.

"Bartolo's got some work to do," Long chuckled. "He's not too vested in putting that much time into getting his swing where it needs to be. He said he had two hits last year. I said how about four hits this year? He said how about three. That's where we're at with Bartolo."

A professional's job is never done.

You want to see Bartolo Colon take batting practice? You want to see Bartolo Colon take batting practice. pic.twitter.com/YhXBl4uQAQ
— Jared Diamond (@jareddiamond) March 2, 2015