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Colon 'excited' to make Braves debut in New York

Alex Trautwig / Major League Baseball / Getty

Big Sexy is back in the Big Apple, and he's feeling pretty delicious about it.

Bartolo Colon - the beloved 43-year-old who signed with the Atlanta Braves this winter following a glorious three-year stint with the New York Mets - will make his long awaited return to Citi Field on Wednesday, albeit in a different uniform, and he admitted being pretty stoked to make his debut with his new club in Queens, against his former teammates, and in front of the fans that can't help but adore him.

"I'm happy and I'm excited," Colon told David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday through an interpreter. "I've done it before in my career where I’ve opened up against other teams that I’ve pitched for. The difference is you're doing it in New York, one of the biggest cities in the world. Other than that, business as usual."

Braves manager Brian Snitker is similarly confident the moment won't rattle Colon, a former Cy Young award winner with All-Star nominations in three different decades.

"I know it"s not bothering him," Snitker said. “It’s just another day at the office for Bart. I’m sure he’s excited and looking forward to it. He had a lot of good times here. So it’ll be cool to see.”

Over the last three seasons, no pitcher logged more innings for the Mets than Colon, who made at least 31 starts per year over that span while managing a 3.90 ERA (97 ERA+) and 4.83 strikeout-to-walk ratio. In 2016, despite opening the campaign in the bullpen, Colon ended up leading the Mets' staff with 191 2/3 innings pitched, and parlayed a 3.43 ERA (119 ERA+) into his fourth career All-Star berth.

"Playing against him is going to be very interesting," Mets outfielder Curtis Granderson said. "I've done it before; a lot of these guys haven't. He's going to come at you, he's going to compete, he’s going to battle and he's going to give his team the best opportunity to be victorious."

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