Madison Bumgarner, LHP, Giants
What’s up: Bumgarner’s misfortunes have come to symbolize the Giants’ season of woe. When the 28-yearold ace crashed his dirt bike in the mountains west of Denver on April 20, it was a bad omen because the Giants’ season essentially crashed at that point, too. The Giants return to Denver this week for a three-game series beginning Monday. Bumgarner was scheduled to pitch Tuesday, but he was scratched from his start against St. Louis last week because of flulike symptoms and his scheduled return to the Giants’ rotation is still up in the air.
Background: The 2014 World Series MVP suffered bruised ribs and sprained the AC joint in his left shoulder when the accident occurred during the Giants’ day off in Colorado. He returned to the Giants on July 15, but by the time of his return, the Giants’ playoff chances were about zero.
Saunders’ take: Bumgarner is old school, in the best sense of that term. He goes out and does his job, regardless of the situation. This season, he lost a game in which he struck out 11, walked zero and hit two home runs. San Francisco also lost a game in which “Madbum” didn’t allow a run for seven innings. But he doesn’t whine and he doesn’t complain — even though he’s vastly underpaid compared with other aces in the majors. (The Giants hold a $12 million club option for 2018.) I also love the fact that he takes tremendous pride in hitting. In 2014, he became just the second pitcher in big-league history to hit two grand slams in one season.