San Francisco Giants: Madison Bumgarner shelled in second rehab start
By Jason Burke
The San Francisco Giants have been without their ace since the middle of April, and it was announced yesterday that Madison Bumgarner could be set to return to the big league rotation right after the All-Star break, which just so happens to be next week.
“It’s a possibility, yeah” Bruce Bochy told Daniel Brown about his ace’s chances of returning to the starting rotation on July 15, the second game of the second half. The manager of the San Francisco Giants didn’t seem too dead-set on that date, and Wednesday’s shellacking by a Hi-A team probably doesn’t breed a lot of confidence.
It sure doesn’t help when his replacement in the rotation, Ty Blach, held the Tigers to three earned in six innings on the road on the same night. By no means does that mean that the Giants will keep Blach in the rotation while pondering what to do with Mad Bum. Instead, with the Giants winning seven of their last eight, it could buy Bumgarner an extra start or two in the minors to work out some of the kinks.
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Wednesday’s start was just his second rehab appearance since his notorious dirt bike accident that sent the Giants 2017 hopes, and their ace, off a cliff.
After tossing 62 pitches in 3 2/3 innings that led to four earned on seven hits and a walk in his first start with Triple-A Sacramento, Bumgarner went down two levels (to keep him closer to San Francisco, traveling from Sacramento to San Jose) and faced the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, a Los Angeles Dodgers affiliate. Of course.
Bumgarner needed 76 pitches to complete four innings, and outside of a disastrous final frame, he actually looked pretty good, striking out four and allowing a single run on a solo homer.
DJ Peters made sure Bumgarner knew his name by night’s end. The Dodgers’ fourth round pick from the 2016 draft and number 21 in their system per Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook, led off the fourth inning with a solo shot. From there, the Quakes went: Fly out, triple, single, single, homer, single, line out and double. Then Peters stepped up to the plate again and capped off an eight-run fourth inning against the former World Series MVP with his second home run of the inning.
To be fair to the rehabbing Bumgarner, Peters now has five homers in his last four games, and leads the California League in homers with 17. Add that mix to the fact that there is definitely a book on Bumgarner to pass around and a chance to make a name for yourself, and there are really only negative outcomes that come for the rehabbing player.
According to MiLB.com, Peters got ahead in both counts, 2-0 in the first at-bat and 2-1 in the second, and anyone that follows baseball knows that getting ahead in the count is a great way to have success whether you’re a batter or a pitcher.
The other two homers that Bumgarner gave up were to Ibandel Isabel, his 16th of the season, and Drew Jackson, number six for him. Jackson was acquired by the Dodgers earlier this season from the Mariners in the Chase De Jong deal.
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The Giants starter will try his luck again on Monday July 10, again in San Jose. This time he’ll be facing the Modesto Nuts, an affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. Luckily for him, the Nuts’ team leader in bombs is Joey Curletta, who has just nine on the season. The other side of that coin is that he was drafted by the Dodgers in 2012.