Is Madison Bumgarner the Best Postseason Pitcher Ever?

There are no words to describe San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner’s performance in post season baseball. There are words that come close – brilliant, astonishing, heroic, jaw-dropping – but no words can accurately sum up just how effortlessly dominant that man is in October.

Perhaps the closest we can come to explaining Madison Bumgarner is “historic”. And yes, all the stories today are about him, because they should be. We are witnessing pitching history, no question there. The real question becomes: given the choice, who would you choose to step on that mound come October?

Being a Giants fan, there is some bias, but put that aside and Bumgarner has to be at the top of your list. Sure, he had a less than stellar performance in the 2012 World Series run. Yes, he is still playing and we have yet to know what will happen throughout his career.

But perhaps that makes what he has accomplished all the more impressive. His story isn’t finished yet, and we are already talking history books.

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There are a few other pitchers that come to mind when you think stellar post season pitchers. Sandy Koufax, Giant legend Christy Mathewson, Bob Gibson, and more recently, Mariano Rivera make that short list.  And there is no downplaying what those men did. They are legends, household names, and rightfully so.

Mathewson holds the record for most playoff shutouts at four, but Bumgarner is nipping at his heels with three. Koufax had a postseason ERA of 0.95 and threw four complete games, including two shutouts. Rivera has an incredible 0.70 postseason ERA and is 8-1 in postseason play.

On paper, it looks like Rivera should be the guy to put on the mound. But what those stats don’t say is that he never started a post season game (he saved 42 games). That requires putting Bumgarner in a completely different category.

The best comparison would have to be the powerhouse Gibson. He was downright dominant in his World Series appearances. Throughout his career he started nine World Series games, threw complete games in eight, had a 7-2 record, and a 1.89 ERA. Oh, and he was named the 1964 and ’67 World Series MVP.

To compare, Bumgarner has started 13 postseason games thus far, boasts an ERA of 1.94, an 8-3 record, and was named MVP of the 2014 World Series. And that is including his average 2012 postseason. That means he has the best postseason ERA of all time among starters who have played as many games.

But the numbers don’t stop there. He has thrown 23 straight scoreless postseason innings. He literally carried the Giants to the 2014 World Series victory. MadBum’s ERA over his last nine postseason game? 0.79.  Wednesday’s Wildcard game is his sixth career postseason start without allowing a run. No pitcher has made more scoreless postseason starts.

As if that wasn’t enough, he is the first pitcher in postseason history with shutouts in multiple winner-take-all games.

The stats and numbers go on and on and are simply mind-numbing to think about. But the numbers don’t give the whole picture. He crushes opponent’s dreams with a calm composure that says “I’m going to beat you and we both know it”. And he is still writing history. There is more to add to the Bumgarner postseason book.

Perhaps the scariest part about all this? He acts like this is just another regular season game. Throw a nine-inning shutout and crush five beers at once? Well that’s just a typical Wednesday night for Bumgarner.