Madison Bumgarner made his return from the disabled list on Saturday night in San Diego, and Bumgarner will get another shot at the Padres Thursday.
This time, however, he’ll be making his first start at AT&T Park since landing on the disabled list on April 18.
“I really thought he threw the ball well his first time back,” Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy said prior to the game. “He’s good to go, he needs to do his thing, and we need to score runs for him.”
“It’d be nice to get a win for him tonight.”
Bumgarner is still looking for win No. 1 on the 2017 campaign. The left-hander went 0-3 before missing just under three months due to injuries sustained during a dirt bike accident. In his first start back against the Padres on Saturday, Bumgarner threw seven innings and allowed three runs in a no decision (a game the Giants went on to lose 5-3 in extra innings).
While AT&T Park’s 530 game sellout streak ended on Monday, don’t expect that to slow down masses of Giants fans to pour through the gates to support the team’s ace.
“I know he’s going to be pumped to get back on his mound,” Bochy said. “You never know what’s going to happen, but I’ll tell you this – he’ll be prepared and focused.”
Bumgarner’s only home start of the season came on April 13, a 3-1 loss to these same Padres.
Bochy said there won’t be a hard pitch count on Bumgarner on Thursday, but that the Giants will keep an eye on any high-leverage situations he finds himself in.
“More importantly are the innings,” Bochy said. “We’ll keep an eye if he has any stressful innings, make sure we don’t overtax him. He’ll tell you he’s good to go. He just wants to be himself.”
Bochy not ready to comment on Sandoval
On Thursday evening, a report from Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com broke indicating that 30-year-old third baseman Pablo Sandoval will sign a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants on Friday.
Sandoval was designated for assignment by the Boston Red Sox on July 14, and is eligible to sign with another team –provided he clears waivers– on July 21. Though a few Giants’ players like Hunter Pence and Buster Posey answered questions about a possible reunion with Sandoval prior to Thursday’s game, Bochy was reluctant to discuss the player fans affectionately called “The Panda” because he’s still under contract with the Red Sox.
“The questions about Pablo?” Bochy said. “I can’t answer anything about Pablo. I don’t know the situation right now to be honest. I haven’t talked to Bobby (Evans) about what’s going to happen there. He belongs to the Red Sox, as far as I know. And that’s where we’re at right now.”
“I haven’t even discussed Pablo with anybody.”
Sandoval signed a five-year, $95 million deal with Boston after the 2014 season, but underwhelmed in his first year with the organization before missing nearly the entire 2016 campaign due to shoulder surgery. After a slow start in 2017, the Red Sox elected to part ways with Sandoval following the All-Star break.