Madison Bumgarner’s fastball directed at ownership, applying pressure to keep together this bewildering Giants squad, was seen by millions online.
The video and quotes got back to his team, too.
“That’s him,” Bruce Bochy said before the Giants hosted the Mets on Friday night, vying for their seventh straight win. “He loves it here. He loves his teammates. He’s excited about how we’re playing, so [his speech] does mean a lot. He’s not looking for anything else but to go out and help this team hopefully go to where we want to go.”
Bumgarner never said the words, but after throwing nine one-run innings Thursday, he pleaded through media that this is a Giants team worth saving, not selling. He doesn’t “give a shit” about trades, he said, and laid out his argument for a team that has won 13 of 15 being a serious playoff contender.
“Not surprising,” Kevin Pillar said of his first-year teammate. Asked if Bumgarner were speaking for the team, the center fielder wound up.
“I think in some ways, he is a reflection of this team, obviously. He’s been here a long time,” Pillar said of a resurgent ace who has a 1.17 ERA in his past 23 innings. “And he’s meant a lot to this organization. So for him to kind of step up and make a public statement like that is a really cool thing for him to do, and hopefully we can go out there and continue to win games and really back up what he said.”
The Giants entered play 2 1/2 games back of the second NL wild card, though they would have to leapfrog four more teams to be in a playoff spot.
If Bumgarner weren’t solely speaking for himself, he would have been speaking for Will Smith, the Giants’ All-Star closer who’s also on the trade block. Smith did not want to look past the day-to-day.
“We got Giants black and orange on, then we’re trying to win for this team right now,” said Smith, 24 of 26 in saves. “And that’s really all we can control.
“Every team you’re on you believe is a playoff club. Whether you’re in last place or not, you got to believe that you’re one of the best out there.”
It’s up to Farhan Zaidi to discern whether this is a playoff club or a club best sold for its parts. The decision has gotten progressively harder as the July 31 trade deadline nears, the Giants’ transformation an epiphany or a mirage.
According to Pillar, Bumgarner’s fire resounded.
“It obviously builds confidence among everyone that’s on this club,” he said of Bumgarner. “Those are all positive things to hear.”