10 best seasons by fat pitchers in MLB history

Bartolo Colon did not have a Slim Fast shake in his hand when he reported to camp today. The dude’s even bigger than I expected. Even John Farrell was surprised.

Just to give myself a little ray of hope for Colon, I thought I’d make a list of the 10 heaviest pitchers ever to have a good season in the major leagues. To qualify for this list, a pitcher must have posted a season ERA of less than 4.00 and logged at least 80 innings.

Here’s the list, sorted by weight (as listed at baseballreference.com):

1. Jumbo Brown, 295 pounds: Jumbo is not only the biggest pitcher to have a good season—he’s the biggest pitcher ever. His best season came in 1938, when he tossed 90 relief innings in 43 games for the New York Giants, posting a 1.80 ERA. Congrats on being the biggest dude ever to pitch in the majors, Jumbo.

2. C.C. Sabathia, 290 pounds: One of two guys on this list who won a Cy Young, Sabathia was lights out for the Indians in 2007. He’ll be a free agent after the 2008 season, and he’ll be looking for a contract that will pay him roughly $600,000 per pound.

3. Garland Buckeye, 260 pounds: I didn’t expect a 35 point spread between the fattest and second fattest pitchers, but it is what it is. In 1925, Buckeye made 18 starts for Cleveland, tossed 11 complete games, and posted a 3.65 ERA.

4. Bobby Munoz, 252 pounds: In 1994, Bobby Munoz finished the season with a 13-8 record when he put up a 2.67 ERA for the Phillies. He allowed 40 runs in 104.1 innings, with a WHIP of 1.306. 

5. Chris Young, 250 pounds: Young’s 2007 season was largely overshadowed by Peavy’s Cy Young performance, but he put up great numbers for the Padres. In 30 starts he gave up 72 runs, had 2.32 K/BB and an ERA of 3.12.

6. Carlos Zambrano, 250 pounds: Wow, he have a lot of fat dudes pitching these days.

Zambrano’s best season came in 2004, when he had a 1.216 WHIP, allowed only 73 runs in 209.7 innings, and won 16 games for the Cubs.

7. Bartolo Colon, 250 pounds: The man who inspired this list. Colon won the Cy Young in 2005 before injuries shut him down for most of the next two seasons.

8. Jeff D’Amico, 250 pounds: He made 23 starts for the Brewers in 2000, and won 12 of them. He finished the season with a 2.66 ERA and a 2.16 K/BB. He pretty much sucked in every other season, though.

9. Tim Stoddard, 250 pounds: Stoddard was pretty awesome for the Orioles in 1980. He pitched 86 innings and earned 26 saves, striking out 64 and posting a 2.51 ERA in the process.

10.Johnny Hutchings, 250 pounds: Hutchings was a pretty mediocre pitcher for the majority of his 6 year career, but he put up pretty good numbers for the Boston Braves in 1945. In 185 innings he allowed 87 runs and finished with a 1.341 WHIP and 3.75 ERA.

That rounds out the best seasons by fat pitchers, but it feels incomplete. Who was the heaviest player ever, regardless of position?

That would be the infamous Walter Young, who had 37 plate appearances for the Orioles in 2005. He weighed 322 pounds.

And yes, in 2nd place is our very own Jumbo Brown.

Theo speaks on Colon signing

Theo described the signing of Bartolo Colon as “a no risk potential high reward signing. He’s on a minor league contract, going to show up here at camp tomorrow and we’ll do an evaluation of how far he is away from helping us. But it takes more than five starting pitchers to get through a season. Obviously he’s an accomplished guy and if we can get him back to a point where he’s throwing well, he can certainly help us at some point this season.”

There is no guaranteed money in the Colon deal.

The Red Sox have set a date on which they’ll measure his effectiveness and decide whether or not to pursue the out clause. However, they’re not going to reveal that date to the media—and rightly so. It would put counterproductive pressure on Colon.

I’m still skeptical that Bartolo will ever pitch a meaningful inning for the Red Sox, but it would be really nice if I’m wrong.

Sox to sign Bartolo Colon to minor league deal

An unnamed source told Jerry Crasnik that the Red Sox have reached an agreement with Bartolo Colon on a minor league contract.

I have to admit that I was a bit blindsided by this move. I’d heard some rumors that the Red Sox might be interested, but none of them were terribly credible. I expected him to end up with the White Sox or Astros, who were more vocal in their interest.

Many people are speculating that Colon will be used as a starter to fill the hole left by Schilling. Though that’s certainly possible, I doubt that the Red Sox are expecting him to be reliable in that role given his poor performance in winter ball and his frequent injuries the last couple seasons.

I see him more as an additional arm in the bullpen who can potentially start in a pinch—this is all assuming, of course, that he ever gets called up.

Nice low-risk signing by Theo and friends.