All-Star outing on short rest Colon's choice to make
PITTSBURGH -- Despite being scheduled to make his final start of the first half of the season Sunday, two days before the All-Star Game, Oakland's Bartolo Colon remains eligible to pitch an inning of work in the Midsummer Classic.
Whether he chooses to do so remains to be seen, and it could very well be determined by his workload Sunday. But the decision could affect whether teammate Grant Balfour is added to the team because Balfour stands as a possible replacement for Colon.
If it were up to the A's, the 40-year-old Colon would use the time to rest. But it is not.
"I don't know right now," manager Bob Melvin said. "We'll see certainly on Sunday. I think, as an organization, based on his age and where we are with him and how much we lean on him, that we would like him to get the time off. Pitching on Sunday, you look at it and say, 'Is that prudent?' But we'll leave it up to him. It's his decision."
Colon last appeared in an All-Star Game in 2005 and, before that, 1998.