I'm not crazy about Colon's production, that's for sure. And Manuel is being protective of Colon by limiting his pitch count more conservatively, lately. Perhaps because he already has 5 CG and he still wants Colon to has gas in his tank at the end of the season, which might be a very smart move to make in the long run. I don't expect Manuel to let Colon go 9 innings tomorrow unless his pitch count is on the low side. So, no he won't be " the workhorse, the complete gamer, the one who gets stronger as the game goes on" because JM will pull him at or near 100 pitches.
However, if we are going to do any post season damage, simply put, we are going to have to have a strong healthy Bartolo Colon.