Is This Really Happening?

Is that really Bartolo Colon out there on the mound?  Pitching not just decently or effectively, but pitching well?  6 innings of 2-hit, 1-run ball against the Rays?  With his fastball still sitting in the mid-90s in his last inning of work?  How the hell did this happen?  What was Colon doing in winter ball that showed the Yankees he was capable of doing this?  How did they manage to see through all the fat rolls, skin flaps, and man boobs to see that there was still some gas left in the tank?

And is Colon really going to win the 5th starter spot in the 2011 New York Yankee rotation???  With all that's going on in the world, the revolutions, the tsunamis, the global warming, that happening might actually be the final thing that leads me to believe we are heading towards the end of days.  I can't even wrap my mind around that thought.  I keep expecting my TV to cut to a shot of Morgan Freeman sitting in the oval office giving one of his speeches from "Deep Impact."

Seriously, though, I have to have the same tempered expectations for Colon going forward as I did with Freddy Garcia a few weeks ago, but I can't deny that Colon has been impressive this spring.  I would have been excited if he was able to make it out to the mound for first inning warmups without hurting himself or having a heart attack, and he has gone out and been one of the best pitchers in camp.

Obviously you don't put his and Garcia's stats next to each other to make a decision if you're Joe Girardi, but if you're using the patented Jay Bilas eye test, Colon passes that easily when compared to Freduardo.  His stuff has been better than Garcia's, his approach has been better than Garcia's, and his cleavage is better than Garcia's.  I can't believe I'm going to say this, but out of all the starter candidates left in camp, Colon is the best option for 5th starter right now.