The day the San Francisco Giants have been waiting for is finally here.
On Saturday, Madison Bumgarner will return from a three-month absence and start against the San Diego Padres, rejoining a rotation and a team in desperate need of a lift.
Since Bumgarner’s mid-April dirt-biking accident that resulted in a Grade 2 shoulder sprain, San Francisco has struggled through one of the worst seasons in franchise history. But on Saturday, Bumgarner has a chance to help restore life into the Giants’ clubhouse, despite the fact his team began the second half of the year 27 games back of the first place Dodgers.
Though San Francisco announced Bumgarner as the Saturday starter earlier this week, the Giants made it official by activating the left-hander off of the 60-day disabled list and placing starter Johnny Cueto on the disabled list.
Cueto started for the Giants on Friday evening in San Diego, but lasted just four innings and threw 82 pitches before manager Bruce Bochy removed him from his outing. Cueto has dealt with blister issues this season, and confirmed after the game to a group of reporters that he’ll need to take time off to properly heal his hand.
The loss of Cueto is a significant blow to a Giants’ team that was hoping to pair the top two starters on its roster back-to-back in the rotation for the remainder of the season.
A four-team All-Star, Bumgarner started just four games this season before his dirt-biking accident wiped out the first half of his season, and sent San Francisco into a tailspin. For the first time in his career, Bumgarner landed on the disabled list, and it’s unclear how one of the Giants’ greatest stars will respond to the first serious injury as a Major League pitcher.
Over the first four starts of his season, Bumgarner posted an 0-3 record, but sported a 3.00 earned run average and struck out 28 hitters in 27 innings.
Throughout his career, Bumgarner has been one of the Giants’ most dependable arms, logging at least 200 innings in his previous six seasons, while recording at least 190 strikeouts in all six of those campaigns. Both of those streaks will come to an end this year, though, regardless of how well the Giants’ ace performs during the second half of the year.
It’s fitting that Bumgarner will make his return against the Padres, the one team in the National League West the Giants have a legitimate shot at passing in the standings. San Francisco defeated San Diego 5-4 on Friday night despite a short outing from starter Johnny Cueto, and the Giants now trail the Padres by four games in the division.