Fifteen years after Jeff Kent’s fateful motorcycle accident, another star San Francisco Giants player is on the disabled list for the same reason. Pitcher Madison Bumgarner was placed on the disabled list Friday with bruised ribs and a “grade one or two” AC sprain sustained during a dirt bike accident on a day off in Colorado, reports Ken Rosenthal.
The Giants today placed left-handed pitcher Madison Bumgarner on the disabled list with bruised ribs and a grade… https://t.co/l0gT4G4NoA
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) April 21, 2017
Needless to say, this has big ramifications in the NL West. We don’t know how long Bumgarner is on the DL for, but any length of time is a problem for a Giants team which has struggled out of the gate.
In four starts this season, Bumgarner has a 3.00 ERA and 2.36 FIP — 36 percent better than average when adjusted for park according to FIP-. For some amount of time, the Giants will go without their best pitcher and in a competitive division, that is disastrous.
The Giants are already 6-9. Other than Bumgarner, their starting staff is not particularly impressive and their bullpen is unreliable at best. Their bats have underperformed and will rebound as the year goes on, but the fact of the matter is that it’s tough to find reason for optimism, especially with the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks playing well.
Update: The expectation is now that Bumgarner will be out 6-8 weeks.
Source: Expectation is that #SFGiants’ Bumgarner will be out 6 to 8 weeks.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) April 21, 2017
This is some really bad news for a Giants team that needs to get back on track here soon. It will now have to do that without the team’s best player.