San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
IS BUMGARNER FINISHED?
Madison Bumgarner, the forgotten man. Four years removed from the San Francisco Giants and four weeks removed from the Arizona Diamondbacks, Bumgarner is out of sight and out of mind, a cruel reminder that sticking in the big leagues is hard.
Even for a 33-year-old threetime World Series champion who once was on top of the baseball world.
Last we saw of the decorated pitcher, he was having all kinds of command and velocity issues as batters were reaching base at an alarmingly high level.
His five-year commitment to the Diamondbacks ended early in Year 4 because of awful numbers in four starts — 0-3 record, 10.26 ERA, 25 hits, 15 walks, 16 innings — a disturbing and ongoing trend that carried over from 2022.
We’ve heard hardly a peep on Bumgarner, who’s still owed $36 million from the Diamondbacks but could sign with any other club for the prorated league minimum. Nevertheless, no reports or rumors have emerged about teams expressing interest.
“I haven’t heard anything,” a National League scout said. “His name never comes up anymore, so that’s probably a sign.”
It would seem the Rangers would take a chance on Bumgarner. Nobody knows his value to a playoff team more than Bruce Bochy, who’s in his first year managing Texas, currently atop the American
League West, thanks largely to a rebuilt pitching staff. And Brian Sabean has a voice with the Yankees in his first year as an adviser to general manager Brian Cashman.
If it’s not the Rangers or Yankees, it could be another team that knows Bumgarner’s historic postseason history — highlighted by his 0.25 World Series ERA, lowest of any pitcher in history with at least 25 innings — and would be willing to give him an opportunity to resurrect his career.
Third baseman Evan Longoria,
who was Bumgarner’s teammate for two seasons in San Francisco and joined the Diamondbacks this season, had a long conversation with Bumgarner and hinted we haven’t heard the last of the four-time All-Star.
“I won’t tell you what all that we talked about, but I will say that I’ve been around him enough to know he’s not a quitter by any means,” Longoria said. “There’s some part of me that says he’s going to address some of the things he needs to address, get back right and give it another go.
“That’s just me talking. That has nothing to do with what he said. Just from the mentality of that guy, he’s a competitor. He’s not a quitter. So I think if we do see him come back, it’ll be because he feels he can be competitive and effective again.”
Clearly, Bumgarner needs to change a few things first. As we’re told over and over, baseball is a game of adjustments, and some people are more stubborn than others. Like it or not, Bumgarner needs to embrace the modern game if he wants to succeed again and have a chance to walk away on his own terms.
That means he can’t get ticked off every time a hitter Hollywoods his way out of the box and on the basepaths. He needs to listen to pitching coaches who share analytic data that would give him an edge over hitters. He must be open to a repertoire tweak or a mechanical tweak, especially if it leads to better control.
Perhaps it would help if Bumgarner did enhanced weight work to increase his velocity and durability. He has thrown 2,699 innings in his pro career, and arm fatigue could have been a factor. No doubt this rest is doing him good.
Bumgarner might not be too far off. The NL scout saw him early last season and noted, “He actually looked good back then. The cutter and fastball had life.”
A friend of Bumgarner told me the lefty is open to a comeback and would be willing to make adjustments on several fronts but pointed out what has made him such a fierce competitor is his raw on-field emotions, which don’t simply go away.
“For as much as you want to say about Madison, sometimes the way he acted on the mound, he’s a little bit gruff, it’s just his personality,” Longoria said. “I wouldn’t take anybody else. That guy standing out there is as competitive as anybody in this game and wants to win as bad as anybody that I ever played behind.
“If and when he gives it another go, it’ll be because he feels ready and he wants to. He’s committed to it.”
Around the majors
• We know now Farhan Zaidi made the right call by not re-signing Bumgarner to a long-term deal, but what will history say of the Giants not signing Aaron Judge or Carlos Correa? Check back in five years. For now, Correa is barely hitting .200 with a careerlow OPS while Judge is on his way to another huge year, though he has missed time with a hip strain.
• One of our favorite batters, Miami’s Luis Arraez, had a 12-game hit streak during which his average slipped from .425 to .408. Definition of Champagne problems.