Giants ace Bumgarner eager for a new slate after bike injury.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Madison Bumgarner has been back on a bike, though it’s hardly his first choice for fun. He rode a horse a handful of times this offseason.
More than anything, Bumgarner is looking for a bounce-back season after the most forgettable one yet for the ace of the San Francisco Giants.
“I always worked hard but I spent a little bit more time getting myself in shape and getting stronger,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press ahead of spring training. “I’m trying to be on the safer side, I guess. I definitely toned it down a little bit on my extracurricular activities.”
The 2014 World Series MVP missed nearly three months after a dirt bike accident April 20 during an off day in Colorado. It was an embarrassment, yet the left-hander took ownership of his mistake from Day 1.
Bumgarner is focused on baseball, with Giants pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training Tuesday and set for their first workout Wednesday at Scottsdale Stadium. Riding doesn’t interest him much these days.
“Nah, I don’t care to,” he said. “That’s just the big thing, not because I’m afraid to do something, just because it’s not the best thing for me to do. I’m kind of day to day in my regular life, too. I’m not just trying to say that just because it’s the easiest answer, that’s just how I do stuff. But not to say that I don’t think about last year now and then. As bad as it sounds, stuff like that makes people stronger and better people also.
“You’re always going to go through adversity no matter what you do. You’re always better for it. Sometimes, it has the opposite effect on somebody, but I think it’s good if you can take stuff and learn from it and be better because of it.”
Manager Bruce Bochy was in San Diego undergoing a heart procedure when he got word of Bumgarner’s accident.
“It’s like reliving a bad nightmare,” Bochy recalled. “Of course I get out of the procedure and I get the news and it was piling on. Somebody should have been penalized 15 yards for what was going on at that time with that piling on. It’s behind us now.”