There may be a few “Pitchers Who Rake” in the Major Leagues, but there is only one Madison Bumgarner.
The 27-year old Giants’ ace became the first pitcher in baseball history to clobber two home runs on Opening Day, launching a solo blast off Zack Greinke in the fourth inning and then following it up with a go-ahead solo shot in the seventh off Andrew Chafin.
Bumgarner also joined Barry Bonds, Willie Mays and Matt Williams as the only San Francisco Giants to ever homer twice in a season-opener.
While he remains a career sub-.200 hitter, Bumgarner has come to inspire fear in the minds of opposing pitchers. In his first plate appearance of the season, Bumgarner drew a walk against Greinke, prompting some ball writers to wonder if the big lefty’s bark at the plate was worse than his bite.
I know the broadcasters talk up Bumgarner's hitting, but does Greinke know he's a career .183/.231/.311 hitter?
— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) April 2, 2017
it's amazing how overrated he is at hitting https://t.co/0scnWM0mhJ
— Matt Snyder (@MattSnyderCBS) April 2, 2017
Bumgarner left the yard in each of his next two at-bats.
There is something to the criticism of pitchers who don’t challenge Bumgarner—he can’t hit breaking balls well and his career OBP sits at .231—but it’s also understandable why even a hurler of Greinke’s caliber might practice caution. Bumgarner smokes fastballs of any speed and casts an intimidating shadow at the plate. Over the course of his career, pitchers have been forced to throw him more and more junk and, as a result, Bumgarner has improved at recognizing the curves and sliders designed to make him chase out of the zone. According to FanGraphs, pitchers threw Bumgarner fastballs 66 percent of the time back in 2010, compared to just 53 percent in 2016.
And, of course, the power has only increased. Bumgarner now has 14 home runs since the beginning of the 2014 season and his slugging percentage stands at a respectable .428 during the same span. Placing a hitter with that kind of power at the very bottom of a National League lineup affects how aggressive a pitcher can be against the preceding spots in the order. And with men on base, a sacrifice bunt attempt is far from a sure thing.
In short, it’s a lot easier said than done to “just go after him” when even the slightest mistake might end up in the bleachers.
Another part of Bumgarner’s mythos is that every homer he hits seems to come in a crucial spot. Nine of his 15 career dingers have either tied the game or given the Giants the lead, including the second of his two round-trippers on Sunday. And it certainly doesn’t hurt your reputation to clear the fence against pitchers like Greinke (twice!), Clayton Kershaw (TWICE!) and Jacob deGrom (only once, but still.)
Is Bumgarner a truly great hitter? No. But he is perhaps the most unique weapon in the game today, a monster left-handed ace who moonlights as a batter with the ability to put doubt in the mind of anyone he faces. There are pitchers with better form and technique at the plate, but no one approaches No. 40’s blunt force and psychological presence.
The Giants opening game of 2017 certainly didn’t end happily, as fans were forced to relive the horror that was the highlight of their 2016: poor bullpen work. Still, it’s a marvel what Giants fans have almost come to expect from their ace, who continues to upset the typical expectations of a pitcher with a bat in his hand.