Time to turn the page on Bartolo Colon

The reasoning behind signing Bartolo Colon made sense for the Atlanta Braves. He was a pitcher coming off a 15-win season, a beloved veteran near the end of his career. All the Braves needed was for Colon to squeeze out one more year to give their young pitchers a little more time to develop.

It just didn’t work. There’s no reason to provide the statistics. If you’ve seen Colon pitch, you know he just doesn’t have it anymore. Monday’s game, when he gave up eight runs to the worst team in baseball, was it.

Teams will always tell you prospects will “tell” you when they are ready. That doesn’t mean they’re going to walk into the manager’s office in Triple-A and proclaim they are ready for the big leagues. It means their performance will let you know when they are ready.

Well, maybe the same thing applies to a pitcher running out of gas. Colon is like an old transistor radio, and the batteries are running out where you can no longer hear music anymore. He’s done, and it is unlikely Colon will ever start a game for Atlanta again.

Now the Braves must decide what to do.

Kris Medlen is not ready yet. The former No. 1 starter is coming back from shoulder issues, and Medlen needs more time to strengthen his arm. Medlen might be ready in another month, but who even knows if that will be for a spot in the rotation.

The Braves could go with Matt Wisler or Aaron Blair, two former top prospects who have struggled so far in Atlanta. That might work for a little while, but there doesn’t seem to be much confidence either could stick for the long term.

There are two main options in Triple-A. The best seems to be left-hander Sean Newcomb, the only player left from the Andrelton Simmons trade. Newcomb is a tall power pitcher who walks too many and strikes out a lot. His hits-to-inning pitched ratio has always been solid.

Newcomb seems ready. He turns 24 years old Monday. He has 348 professional innings. Sure, his career walks-per-nine-innings ratio of 4.8 is troubling, and Newcomb will have to improve his control. But he’s pitching well right now, with a 2.08 ERA in his past eight starts. Newcomb has struck out 56 batters in his past 43 1/3 innings.

Lucas Sims, Atlanta’s first round pick five years ago out of Brookwood in Snellville, is the other main option. Sims just turned 23 last month, and he has just more than 600 innings in his pro career. Sims got off to a great start this season in Triple-A Gwinnett (2.16 ERA in his first seven starts), but he has struggled recently in his last four appearances (0-3, 8.39 ERA).

My vote is for Newcomb. Some may be scared of his high walk totals (33 in 57 2/3 innings this season and 71 last year in 140 innings), but the Braves need to challenge Newcomb to see what they have.

The Braves have two special pitchers in Double-A who need more time. Kolby Allard and Mike Soroka, both just 19 years old, have combined for a 11-5 record and a 2.34 ERA. They may be the best pitching prospects the Braves have had in years, and they may be a year away. But before we see that duo, Newcomb and Sims deserve their chance.

The time has come to start the graduation of the pitching prospects we’ve been waiting for. Colon has told us with his performance that he’s done. It’s time to start the next chapter, which will take another round of patience that will at times be difficult. It has to be better, however, than what we’ve suffered through with 12 starts watching Colon.

This story was originally published June 6, 2017 at 8:35 AM with the headline "Time to turn the page on Bartolo Colon."