San Francisco Giants Mailbag: Injuries, Sandoval, Bumgarner
Apr 6, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner against the Arizona Diamondbacks during opening day at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
@MaggiePilloton great! After throwing for 52 2/3 innings, does Bruce hold him back for the first few starts or just let him go as usual?
— Nathan Bannerman (@G8N8FLAdventure) April 15, 2015
Nathan had asked before he submitted this question if he could ask one about Madison Bumgarner, so that’s who this question pertains to, in case you weren’t sure.
First of all, Bumgarner won’t want to be held back, and Bochy won’t hold him back.
In Bumgarner’s last start, he threw 79 pitches in just three innings, and Bochy took him out after those three innings and after surrounding 10 hits and five earned runs. That wasn’t necessarily “holding him back” and limiting his pitches in a dud of a start, but if there is an opportunity like that to somewhat give him a break, Bochy will do it. However, I don’t see Bumgarner having many more starts like that this season.
In a recent documentary made by Comcast Sportsnet Bay Area about the Giants’ 2014 season, Mike Krukow spoke about Bumgarner’s mastery in the 2014 postseason, and he also explained why fans shouldn’t be worried about Bumgarner’s workload last year.
Krukow discussed how pitchers used to throw 300 innings per season and how Bumgarner is built that way. He’s so strong (country strong) that his workload last season won’t affect his pitching this season and that he won’t become fatigued.
It’s impossible to predict a player’s level of fatigue in the future, but I mostly agree with Krukow that Bumgarner’s strength and endurance is unmatched in MLB right now, which suggests he shouldn’t become too fatigued this season.
Also, Bumgarner’s struggles in his second start aren’t indicative of fatigue. He noted that he’s still working out a couple mechanical issues that he sometimes experiences in the beginning of seasons when he’s still fine-tuning everything.
In a worst case scenario situation, if Bochy and Dave Righetti do see some signs of fatigue later in the season, they could potentially have Ryan Vogelsong or Yusmeiro Petit make a spot start in his place, but Bumgarner probably wouldn’t like that idea. That is an option though.