Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
What has seemed clear for so long — Madison Bumgarner will make the final start of Bruce Bochy’s career, and perhaps his final start as a Giant on the last day of the season — has been muddied.
The Giants list Sunday’s started as TBA (which is not a little-known September call-up), and Bochy said he will have a more affirmative answer about Bumgarner on Friday night.
Bochy said Bumgarner — who threw 106 pitches Tuesday — is OK. He trails Stephen Strasburg by four outs for the NL innings lead, and Strasburg will not make another start this season. It is possible Bochy wants to call in the big lefty out of the bullpen one more time. It is also possible he doesn’t want Bumgarner to feel pressured to make his 35th start of the season.
The two would talk later in the day Friday before Bochy announced the plan after the Oracle Park matchup against the Dodgers.
“I’ve seen him play a lot of games here. I don’t want him to feel like there’s any obligation there obviously,” Bochy said of Bumgarner, who has a 3.90 ERA, which would float over 4.00 with a bad turn.
Buster Posey has not played since catching 13 innings Tuesday, after which he vented about the pitching adventures — the Giants used 13, the Rockies 12 for a major league record 25 — with rosters bloated by the September rules. He again was out of the lineup Friday, and Bochy said he would return Saturday.
Bochy also expected Donovan Solano back in the lineup Saturday. The middle infielder hasn’t started since Sept. 8, but has pinch-hit with a right calf injury.