Madison Bumgarner, San Francisco Giants
We save what’s probably the most obvious make-or-break season before free agency for last in Madison Bumgarner. Typically an elite innings eater (at least 200 innings between 2011 and 2016), he’s combined for just 330.2 since the start of 2017 due to various injuries.
While MadBum’s fastball velocity hasn’t taken as drastic of a nosedive as Wood’s has, it’s still something to keep an eye on during his age-29 campaign. The southpaw’s 7.8% walk rate was a career-high mark, while his strikeout rate came in below 20.0% for the first time since 2010. Making matters worse is the consistent rise in hard-hit rate allowed. After posting a 25.8% mark in 2013, that number has gone up each year, culminating with a 41.6% clip this past season.
He also took advantage of taking the mound in one of baseball’s most pitcher-friendly parks. Bumgarner produced a 1.63 ERA and .252 wOBA allowed at home in 2018, a stark contrast to the 4.97 ERA and .347 wOBA allowed he produced on the road.
Bumgarner’s value to the Giants as a legacy player is there, but it’ll be hard for any team to justify paying him a hefty sum of money if his peripherals continue to worsen.
About Matt Musico
Matt Musico currently manages Chin Music Baseball and contributes to The Sports Daily. His past work has been featured at numberFire, Yahoo! Sports and Bleacher Report. He’s also written a book and created an online class about how to get started as a sports blogger. You can sign up for his email newsletter here.
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