Final-week quandary for Rangers: What to do with Colon?

All Saturday afternoon's game was, in the mind of the Texas Rangers and their Game 1 starting pitcher, was another Cactus League contest.

Bartolo Colon has been better than he was against the Kansas City Royals, who scorched him for five runs in four innings of a 7-6 loss. Colon entered his fourth spring outing having allowed only one earned run.

It wasn't a make-or-break outing for Colon, who is pitching on a minor-league deal and hoping to wedge himself into the amorphous Rangers pitching staff. They know who he is and seem to have an idea of what he means to them.

But ...

"What are they going to do with Bartolo?" one Rangers veteran whispered before the game.

Good question, and what happens with Colon will be one of the top storylines for the final week of spring training.

"Right now, he is competing," manager Jeff Banister said. "Bartolo, based on who he is and the respect we have for him, we are going to allow to continue to prepare as if he is competing and has a chance to make this club.

At the very least, he is the next man up should either of the initial five be unable to post by Opening Day. He's not a swing man, at least not yet despite his willingness to do so, and at present would need an injury or a shifting of Mike Minor to the bullpen in order to open the season with the team.

The latter isn't happening.

"I think Minor has done a really solid job of solidifying himself into that rotation," Banister said. "We are running downhill with that one."

Left-hander Martin Perez, though, hasn't been green-lighted for Opening Day. He will start Sunday against the Los Angeles Angels in his first A game of the spring after being slowed by a broken right elbow.

Perez is dead set on being ready for the first week. The Rangers aren't quite as certain, though they acknowledge that there is time for him to avoid starting the season on the 10-day disabled list.

But if he can't, there's an opening for Colon.

"We need at least five," Banister said. "It would be hard to start the season with four. Until Martin gets on that field, hits all the marks — everybody is involved, this is a group decision, including him — on where he is at and ready to go, you have to prepare for what’s next if he’s not ready to go. Or any of them. We have to have these guys go pitch and be ready as if they were going to be a part of it."

Colon surrendered three home runs to the Royals as his sinker wasn't sinking like it does when he's on, but he didn't seem to think the outing will affect the Rangers' upcoming decision. He is confident that he will have a job somewhere in the majors this season.

But does he think he's done enough to make the team?

"I'm going to continue to do what I normally do and pitch the way I normally do," Colon said. "The results will speak for themselves, and they will take care of the decision. That's not up to me."

Colon has been better than he was last season, when he toiled between the Atlanta Braves and Minnesota Twins. Assistant pitching coach Dan Warthen said that Colon has been the same pitcher he was for the three seasons Warthen had him while serving as pitching coach for the New York Mets.

Colon came to camp having made adjustments in his delivery and his approach after posting a 6.48 ERA (5.18 ERA in 15 starts with the Twins).

"He's making his turn and he's getting his hand where it's supposed to be," Warthen said. "I saw him last year, and he has a lower arm angle, he has lost his good sinker and he was throwing a lot of off-speed stuff. He looks like he's back to where he was in those years. In 2016, he was an All-Star."

Banister said that he has not spoken to Colon about serving as a swing man, which would require time in the bullpen. Colon has pitched in 537 games in the majors, but only nine of them have been as a reliever.

He worked out of the bullpen effectively for the Mets in the 2015 postseason, and Warthen has suggested to Colon to at least be open-minded to the idea of working out of the bullpen with the occasional spot start. The Rangers have Jesse Chavez as another option for that role.

Colon, though, is buying in.

"I'm ready to do whatever possible to make the team," said Colon, who turns 45 in May. "No matter what happens, my goal is to pitch in the major leagues."

This story was originally published March 17, 2018 at 6:28 PM with the headline "Final-week quandary for Rangers: What to do with Colon?."