Oakland KOs Bumgarner — not his old self
Madison Bumgarner still hasn’t solved his problems. He’s still struggling to get outs. After a rough 2020, 2021 is no smoother.
Until further notice, the Giants haven’t been haunted by the departure of one of their legends.
On Monday night, the A’s chased Bumgarner in the fifth inning, simply more of the same for the troubled lefthander who once stood on top of the baseball world as a threetime champion and World Series MVP.
That’s the distant past. The present is not going well, and the future does not appear bright for an Arizona team that gave him a fiveyear, $85 million
contract.
The A’s scored six runs off Bumgarner on seven hits and three walks and pulled out a 95 interleague victory in Arizona, their fourth win in five games, an impressive turnaround following an 06 start.
Matt Chapman homered to cap a threerun rally in the fifth, and Bumgarner was pulled after he plunked the next batter, Sean Murphy.
While Bumgarner scuffled again in a duel of Opening Day starters, Chris Bassitt overcame what appeared to be an injury in a rare atbat and powered his way through five innings.
When Bassitt flinched on a check swing, on the first pitch thrown to an A’s pitcher since 2019, so did the A’s organization. Bassitt walked out of the batter’s box, apparently feeling pain in his shoulder, and as he was visited by a trainer, Cole Irvin began getting loose in the bullpen.
However, Bassitt didn’t exit the game. He returned to the box and actually swung again, probably not a good idea. Regardless, he stuck around to throw 93 pitches, a good sign for a rejuvenated team that needs its starting pitchers.
Bassitt issued five walks — one to Bumgarner, who swung through a 30 pitch — but allowed just two hits and managed to get the big outs at the right time, including his final two. The Diamondbacks loaded the bases with one out in the fifth, and Bassitt retired Asdrubal Cabrera on a popup and David Peralta on a lazy fly.
Oh, Bassitt did step in the box once more. But this time, there was no big swing. He acted like a statue the first three pitches, then started moving around and squaring to fake a bunt, and suddenly the count was 32 before Bumgarner struck him out.
The bullpen inherited a 62 lead, and the Diamondbacks scored three times off Yusmeiro Petit and J.B. Wendelken to make it a onerun game, but the A’s rallied for three late runs. Jake Diekman pitched 11⁄3 scoreless relief innings and got his first bigleague atbat, a strikeout, of course.
For Bumgarner, he’s far removed from his peak form. His velocity continues to be an issue, and if he can’t get the fastball by hitters, his offspeed stuff is far less effective.
Bumgarner gave up four extrabase hits, doubles by Mark Canha, Murphy and Jed Lowrie, all on cutters, and Chapman’s homer off a curve.
After posting a 6.48 ERA in nine starts last season, Bumgarner has an 11.20 ERA in three starts. On Monday, he trailed 30 by the third inning and found himself ticked off with umpire David Rackley’s calls during both of Canha’s first two atbats.
The sight of Bumgarner showing dissatisfaction with umpires is nothing new, of course. As Bay Area fans know, he displays his feelings more than most pitchers, part of the winning edge, which he hasn’t had in a while.