ANGELS NOTEBOOK: COLON'S BACK STILL IS AILING.Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer BOSTON - Pitcher Bartolo Colon remains a question mark for his start Saturday against the Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are a professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. The White Sox are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the White Sox have played in U.S. , but unless he has dramatic improvement in his back in the next day or two, he is not likely to pitch. Colon also had back problems in spring training, but he said it's different this time. ``There's no comparison,'' Colon said through an interpreter. ``In spring training, it was tightness in the back. This is pain in the back.'' The pain first occurred Aug. 31, the morning after pitching 9 1/3 innings in a 2-1 loss to the Oakland A's. Although he was the first Angels pitcher to pitch into the 10th inning in 13 years, he made only 105 pitches in that game. ``I'm usually stiff the next day, but after two or three days, it didn't go away,'' Colon said. ``That's when I started to get concerned.'' Colon made his following start Sunday against the Mariners, but the pain got worse and he was pulled after facing one batter in the sixth inning. Colon, at 18-6 with a 3.24 ERA, is a leading candidate to win the Cy Young award and become the Angels' first 20-game winner since Nolan Ryan There's also the matter of the pennant Pennant A continuation pattern in technical analysis formed when there is a large movement in a stock, the flagpole, followed by a consolidation period with converging trendlines, the pennant, followed by a breakout movement in the same direction as the initial large movement, the race. ``I want to pitch,'' Colon said. ``We're in the middle of something good, and I want to keep contributing to it.'' --Starting options: If Colon is unable to start Saturday, the Angels probably will go with Kelvim Escobar Kelvim Jose Escobar Bolivar [ess-coe-BAR] (born April 11, 1976 in La Guaira, Venezuela) is a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who currently plays for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2004-present). He bats and throws right handed. , although manager Mike Scioscia Saunders played college baseball at Virginia Tech, where he compiled a 27-7 career record. is another option. Scioscia and his staff must determine if Escobar is worth more to the pitching staff as a starter or reliever. Escobar pitched out of a second-and-third, one-out jam Tuesday night in his first outing since undergoing arthroscopic elbow surgery in June. Escobar once had 38 saves as the Blue Jays closer, but he has said he prefers to start. Now, he just wants to pitch. --DaVanon starts: Jeff DaVanon Jeffrey Graham DaVanon (born December 8, 1973 in San Diego, California) is a Major League Baseball outfielder with the Oakland Athletics. DaVanon came up through the Oakland Athletics system before being traded to the Anaheim Angels as a minor-leaguer in 1999. got the start in center field Wednesday, his first start since Aug. 23 vs. Boston and first appearance since Aug. 27. |
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