Colon replaces Bumgarner on NL All-Star roster

Bartolo Colon, the 43-year-old Mets pitcher whose first career homer was one of the highlights of MLB's first half, has been named to the National League All-Star team in place of Giants lefty Madison Bumgarner, who's scheduled to start Sunday night in San Francisco.

Colon supplants retiring Red Sox slugger David Ortiz as the oldest All-Star on either roster, becoming just the eighth player age 43 or older in MLB history to be selected to the Midsummer Classic. Fittingly, he'll be returning to Petco Park in San Diego, where he went deep off James Shields on May 7 to become the oldest player ever to hit his first home run.

The Mets right-hander received the nomination from his own manager Terry Collins, who was tasked with finding a replacement for Bumgarner because the Giants ace is unavailable to pitch in Tuesday's All-Star Game. Colon joins teammates Yoenis Cespedes, Noah Syndergaard, and Jeurys Familia on the NL team.

Now a four-time All-Star, Colon remains as popular as ever in baseball even though he isn't having one of his statistically strongest seasons. He's pitched to a 3.28 ERA across 17 starts - nearly a full run below his higher FIP mark - while managing his fewest strikeouts per nine innings (5.9) since 2013.