Stephen Strasburg is all the rage in baseball this week with the cover of Sports Illustrated, player of the week honors and sold out stadiums just to get a glimpse of him and for good reason, the kid has some nasty stuff and he is must see TV. However for Giants fans we have our own pitching prospect that we have been waiting for in AAA and it seems like the wait may be almost over.
Madison Bumgarner is too good for AAA and he has shown that there is nothing left to say for why he doesn’t deserve at shot to be a part of the every day rotation.
Bumgarner had his electric stuff yesterday and showed why he is such a highly touted prospect. It is also beginning to look like there is nothing left for him to do in AAA and to continue to grow he needs the challenge of the big leagues.
Mad Bum got off to a slow start in Spring Training and in Fresno but since then with some minor tweaks to his mechanics he has come alive and regained his form. In his last 10 starts in Fresno he is 6-0 with a 2.23 ERA in 64.2 innings that is supported by 47 strike outs against only 16 walks.
Last night was a show of how good he can be when he has his stuff going. Bumgarner went 7.2 innings, gave up 5 hits 3 runs (2 in the first inning and 1 on a homerun given up after he left the game), he had 11 strike outs against 2 walks. His stuff was electric with the fastball exploding out of his hand and he had nice control and confidence with his secondary pitches.
Bumgarner had a chance to win the fifth starter spot in the spring but couldn’t, it looks like he has taken the necessary time in the minors and has added to his craft. He has developed the secondary pitches to the point that he has confidence in them even when behind in the count. He has regained the zip on his fastball and is consistently throwing strikes with it.
He is a much more complete pitcher who can be effective even when he doesn’t have the dominating stuff.
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