The renaissance of Bartolo Colon last season was one of the most surprising stories in baseball. The aging right-hander hadn't thrown more than 100 innings since 2005, and he was out of baseball entirely in 2010. His return was already a little controversial, as a lot of his success and health was attributed to an experimental surgery that wasn't available in the United States. It turns out there was more than just the surgery:
Baseball announces 50-game suspension of
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 22, 2012#Athletics’ Colon for using testosterone.
Colon was pitching well for the Oakland A's this season, throwing 152 innings with a 3.43 ERA and 91 strikeouts, and on April 18, Colon threw 38 consecutive strikes in a game against the Los Angeles Angels.
The A's will likely use either Dan Straily or Travis Blackley to fill the void left by Colon, with Brandon McCarthy and Brett Anderson returning to the rotation after DL stints.