Colon Injury a Major Concern

The lower-back injury that forced Bartolo Colon out of Sunday’s game against Seattle in the sixth inning is more severe than the one that sidelined the ace for five days in spring training, and that could be cause for concern for the Angels.

“There’s no comparison,” Colon said through an interpreter Wednesday. “In spring training it was more tightness. This is more pain in the back.”

Colon, who is 18-6 with a 3.24 earned-run average and is a leading candidate for the American League Cy Young Award, said he felt “a little better” after receiving treatment Wednesday, but the right-hander is still having trouble bending from the waist.

He appears to be in jeopardy of missing Saturday’s start against the Chicago White Sox, and with the Angels locked in a tight race with Oakland for the AL West title, they can’t afford to be without their best pitcher for too long.

“I want to pitch,” Colon said. “We’re in the middle of something good, and I want to keep contributing to it. That’s why I want to wait as long as I can to make a decision.”

If this were April or May, Colon probably would miss his next start. But this is September, and every game is important, so Colon must weigh the benefits of pitching with some discomfort against the possibility of risking greater injury to his back.

“It’s one of the hardest decisions I’ve faced in my career,” Colon said. “Not only am I thinking about myself, I’m thinking about my teammates and how I don’t want to let them down if I don’t pitch well.”

Colon probably won’t throw in the bullpen today or Friday, but he will need to throw off flat ground to convince Manager Mike Scioscia and pitching coach Bud Black he is ready to start Saturday.

“There’s a line he’ll have to get over where he can function, execute his pitches and not jeopardize his next start,” Scioscia said. “We trust what Bart says. He’s been very open with us. If he can’t go, he’ll be very candid with us.”

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Colon’s injury also weakens the bullpen, because if he can’t pitch Saturday, Kelvim Escobar, who sparkled in his first relief appearance Tuesday night, will start. And if Escobar is going to be ready for Saturday, Scioscia can’t use him in relief tonight or Friday. A Saturday start also would knock Escobar out of the bullpen from Sunday through at least Tuesday.

Would the Angels be better off using left-hander Joe Saunders as an emergency starter and keeping Escobar, who threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings and escaped a two-on, one-out jam in the seventh inning against the Red Sox on Tuesday night, in the bullpen?

“Some guys [in the bullpen] have struggled, and having a power arm like Kelvim’s could take some pressure off the other guys,” Scioscia said. “But you have to balance that with the impact he could have starting.”

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Reliever Jason Christiansen essentially confirmed reports that he was the unnamed San Francisco player who scuffled with Giant slugger Barry Bonds in the SBC Park lunchroom in early June, but the recently acquired left-hander also moved to put the incident behind him.

“The only thing I’ll say about it is that was three months ago, it’s old news,” Christiansen said Wednesday. “As baseball players we treat the clubhouse as our sanctuary, and whatever happened in the clubhouse, I’d rather it stay there.”