Bumgarner takes hill for spring debut with Diamondbacks
Madison Bumgarner showed the Arizona Diamondbacks he’s more than a rodeo star.
The team’s marquee free-agent acquisition of the offseason was solid in his first spring training outing on Thursday against Cincinnati. He retired his first five batters, including four on strikeouts, before giving up a solo homer to the Reds’ Derek Dietrich. He allowed one run over two innings.
Bumgarner signed an $85 million, five-year deal in the offseason as the Diamondbacks tried to close the gap in the NL West with the Dodgers, who have won seven straight division titles.
It was also the fourtime All- Star’s first pitching appearance since it was revealed his side hobby as a rodeo participant. The 30-yearold has been competing in rodeo events under the alias of Mason Saunders and won $26,560 in a team-roping competition December. LAWMAKERS PUSH FOR FLOOD’S ENSHRINEMENT IN HALL » Curt Flood’s widow has a simple explanation for why her late husband, who is revered by players for sacrificing his career to advocate for free agency, has not been enshrined in baseball’s Hall of Fame.
“I think the holdup is that he got on a lot of people’s nerves,” Judy Pace Flood said.
Flood has some powerful advocates on his side.
Members of Congress sent a letter to the Hall of Fame asking that Flood be elected in December by the next golden era committee. The recognition would coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Flood’s defiant letter to baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn in which he wrote, “I do not feel that I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes.” MLB APPOINTS FIRST BLACK UMPIRE CREW CHIEF » Kerwin Danley became the first African American umpire crew chief in Major League Baseball when a series of promotions, additions and retirements were announced.
The moves included Alfonso Marquez being elevated to the first Hispanic crew chief in MLB history born outside the United States and second overall. BRAVES’ FREEMAN SAYS ELBOW OK » Freddie Freeman hopes to return to the Atlanta Braves lineup next week after his surgically repaired right elbow swelled and forced him out of action a few days ago.
The four-time All- Star had three loose bodies removed from his elbow in October to address yearslong pain that caused an ill-timed slump last season. Freeman arrived at spring training saying he felt better than he had in years, but the elbow ballooned Monday after he put in a particularly long day Sunday. INDIANS’ CLASE OUT WITH BACK INJURY » Indians reliever Emmanuel Clase could be sidelined three months with a strained back muscle. The hardthrowing Clase, the centerpiece of an offseason trade that sent two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber to Texas, experienced upper arm discomfort following a bullpen session last week. He continued to have issues this week and the Indians had him undergo imaging tests Wednesday.
An MRI confirmed a moderate strain of the teres major muscle in his upper back. The team said he will be re- evaluated weekly, but the 21-year- old is expected to miss 8-to-12 weeks. SALE TO START SEASON ON INJURED LIST » Boston ace Chris Sale will start this season in the same place he ended 2019: on the injured list.
The left-hander will be placed on the IL after reporting to spring training with pneumonia.
Sale did not pitch after Aug. 13 last season due to elbow inflammation. The left-hander agreed with the decision, even though he’s not happy about it.