GIANT PROGRESS
Star’s fastball rode up but offspeed stuff was crisp in San Jose rehab start
Madison Bumgarner missed three months of the season while the Giants went over the handlebars and skidded to the bottom of the National League standings.
He’s ready to return now. And after throwing six tidy innings in a final rehab start at Single-A San Jose on Monday night, he offered a sincere apology.
He really wanted to strike out the beer batter at Municipal Stadium.
“Yes I am. I’m very sorry, San Jose,” Bumgarner said. “Both times, I tried really hard, but I could not do it.”
The capacity crowd forgave getting half-price suds and poured out nothing but appreciation for the 2014 World Series MVP, who unleashed his cutter and changeup on Modesto Nuts hitters who weren’t prepared for that kind of movement. Bumgarner gave up two singles and an unearned run while striking out eight and walking one. He threw 86 pitches.
His fastball rode up at times, his armside command wasn’t always there and he paid scant attention to Modesto’s few baserunners. But the outing was much cleaner than his previous rehab start for San Jose, when he gave up four home runs and nine runs in all.
This time Bumgarner wasn’t merely pumping heaters. His fastball was just 89-90 mph, but the offspeed stuff appeared crisp. And he proclaimed himself ready to face the San Diego Padres on Saturday at Petco Park — his first major league start since he separated his left shoulder in an April 20 dirt bike accident.
“I’m ready to help contribute,” he said, “like I should’ve been doing this whole time.”
That statement is as close as you’ll get
to a profuse apology from Bumgarner, who is not one for supplication. He has acknowledged that it was not the best decision to ride a dirt bike on a day off in Colorado, which resulted in bruised ribs and two torn ligaments in his AC joint. He also has indicated that the best way he can atone is to work as hard as he can to return as soon as possible.
There is little reason left to rush him back now. The Giants are going nowhere — 34-56 and 27 games out in the National League West, their largest July deficit since 1902. Since last year’s All-Star game, they have played 162 regularseason games and lost 98 of them.
On the other hand, this is a team in need of a feisty presence and a dose of toughness — and maybe the swagger that playing behind Bumgarner used to inspire.
“His start days are obviously important, but so will having his presence back,” said Giants catcher Buster Posey, before leaving on Sunday to represent the Giants at the All-Star game in Miami. “When other teams come into a series knowing they have to face him one day, it just lengthens the rotation so much.
“It’s similar to the Dodgers if they’re missing (Clayton) Kershaw. If you knew going into that series you wouldn’t have to face him, mentally as a group of hitters, you’re able to … relax isn’t the right word, but you know you’re not going be in for the same fight as you would be if you have him or a Bumgarner in there.”
The Giants are getting Bumgarner back at midseason, but he won’t be in midseason form. After injuring his throwing shoulder, though, he knows that the accident could have been much more catastrophic. He said he did not encounter even a minor setback as he regained his range of motion and then rebuilt arm strength.
“It is a big deal because it’s your throwing shoulder, but out of all the possibilities, we were pretty happy with the results, if that’s the right way to put it,” said Bumgarner, who credited the training staff by name for devising a rehab plan. “I never really, I try not to let that doubt creep into my head throughout the whole process. … Any time you deal with something with your throwing arm, especially your shoulder, it’s pretty scary.”
The Giants’ problems this season have extended far beyond Bumgarner. They already were trending in the wrong direction when he decided to go dirt biking in the Colorado wilderness; they had lost all four of his previous starts, including his historic, twohomer game on opening day at Arizona after new closer Mark Melancon blew a save opportunity in the ninth inning.
Now Bumgarner will rejoin a disappointing rotation in which Ty Blach, who took his spot, is 6-5 and holds the only winning record among the starters. Johnny Cueto’s pedestrian 4.51 ERA is the best of the bunch.
“Doesn’t matter whether we were winning every game or we lost every game,” Bumgarner said. “It’s not going to change the fact that I want to be out there.”
A year ago, Bumgarner watched the Home Run Derby in San Diego while wearing an NL All-Star jersey and wished he could be the first pitcher to take mighty hacks in the event. A year later, he was thousands of miles away from Miami where Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Miguel Sano put objects into low-grade orbit.
Instead, Bumgarner was bathed in twilight on a Single-A diamond and grunted while trying to strike out the beer batter. It’s a hell of a way to spend an All-Star break.
It is atonement.
“It sucks. I put myself in this spot,” Bumgarner said. “I wish I wouldn’t have. I’ve tried to make the best of it, and still am.”