Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Madison Bumgarner began looking ahead to free agency. Bruce Bochy looked ahead to Sunday.
In a surprise announcement Friday night, the big lefty will not be starting Bochy’s farewell — and possibly Bumgarner’s farewell to San Francisco. But it sounds as if Giants fans will get a chance to say their asterisk-filled goodbye.
“He’ll have his spikes on, I’ll put it that way,” Bochy said before the Giants played the Dodgers at Oracle Park on Saturday.
Bochy has said he wants Bumgarner with him in the dugout shadowing him. He said Bumgarner will not pitch, though he trails Stephen Strasburg by 1 1/3 innings for the NL lead. It would not surprise if Bochy once more taps Bumgarner as a reliever. Nor would it surprise if Bumgarner is used as a late-game pinch-hitter.
Bumgarner smiled when he was asked the possibility.
“I wouldn’t think so,” he said.
With Bumgarner no longer starting Sunday, Bruce Bochy was asked if #SFGiants fans will have one more chance to acknowledge him. pic.twitter.com/NOd9HhKI5I
— KNBR (@KNBR) September 28, 2019
All along, the Giants had been planning for Bumgarner to be on the mound for at least one goodbye. Manager and ace discussed it in the last two or three days, Bumgarner said, and they reached the decision that “made the most sense for both of us.”
Without another Bumgarner appearance, he would enter free agency as a 30-year-old with an unmatched postseason resume, fresh off a league-leading 34-start season in which he compiled a 3.90 ERA.
The open-market sell job has begun.
“I feel great. I feel really good,” said Bumgarner, who’s thrown 207 2/3 innings. “Just like I felt when spring training started. It’s always pretty consistent with me. Try to put in all the work I can and go about it the right way, try to take care of myself. That part of it, I’ve been pretty fortunate that I haven’t had to deal with a lot of [injury] stuff like that. Proud to say I feel really good.”
Perhaps Bochy’s last managerial act is ensuring Bumgarner does not tweak anything shortly before his big payday. The two forever will be linked, and Bumgarner said whether he plays Sunday is “not going to change” any of the history between them. He said there wouldn’t be any disappointment if his last appearance in the orange and black is a humdrum, seven-inning, four-run start against Colorado on Tuesday, after which he trudged off the mound to a crowd expecting to see him one more time.
“Who knows what the future holds,” said Bumgarner, whose market value will be hurt by the Giants’ qualifying offer. “I got a long career ahead of myself. Excited about free agency. I’m sure I’ll find my way back here one way or another. Whether it’s back in this uniform or not, I’m sure I’ll be back here.”