Madison Bumgarner is ‘not going to pitch’ Bruce Bochy’s final game
Bochy said Bumgarner will stay by his side in the dugout for the season finale.
SAN FRANCISCO — It’s possible Madison Bumgarner has already made his final start in a Giants uniform.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy said Friday that Bumgarner will not start the team’s season finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday.
“I talked to him and we discussed the whole thing,” Bochy said. “I’ll just have him hang with me and watch the game with me and I didn’t want him to feel like he had to get out there.”
Bochy declined to name a starter for the last game of his 25-year career, but mentioned right-hander Dereck Rodríguez is a candidate if he’s not needed out of the bullpen on Saturday.
The decision came as a surprise as the Giants have left Bumgarner on regular rest throughout the month of September with the hope he would pitch in Bochy’s farewell game.
Bumgarner has made 34 starts this season and owns a career-high 3.90 ERA over 207 2/3 innings. As the Giants ace prepares to enter free agency for the first time in his career, Bochy said the decision was made to protect Bumgarner’s arm.
“He’s been out there every start and he’s pitched enough,” Bochy said. “The game is not going to determine anything. He’s got a lot of baseball left and I just like to take care of him.”
If the Giants do not re-sign Bumgarner this offseason, his seven-inning start on Thursday against the Rockies in which he allowed four runs in a 15-inning, 8-5 loss will be his last.
It would mark a rather unceremonious finish to one of the greatest tenures of any player in Giants history, as the 2014 World Series MVP played a leading role in helping the franchise win three World Series titles.
Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has said the organization expects to have discussions regarding Bumgarner’s future with his agent following the season, but it’s unclear what level of interest the front office has in signing Bumgarner to a long-term deal.