Madison Bumgarner DFA: Diamondbacks call veteran pitcher on call after brutal 23-start
The Arizona Diamondbacks have selected veteran left-hander Madison Bumgarner, the team said Thursday. Bumgarner, 33, started Wednesday against the St. Louis Cardinals, giving up seven carries for seven hits and four walks in three innings. That outing left him with a 10.26 ERA in four starts that year.
Bumgarner originally joined the Diamondbacks in the 2019-20 offseason and signed a five-year, $85 million contract. Previously, he had established himself as an above-average starter with a knack for post-season heroics during his time with the San Francisco Giants. Bumgarner couldn’t live up to that reputation in the desert. He finishes his Arizona career with an 80 ERA+ from 69 starts. Even at his best performance in a single season in 2021, he still has a below-average grade for beginners with a 90 ERA+.
Although Bumgarner will no longer field for the Diamondbacks, Arizona will be responsible for paying the balance of his contract — he had $37 million left at the start of the season, including $14 million next year.
The Diamondbacks got off to a hot start this season. They go first in the National League West Thursday with an 11-8 score, two games better than the Los Angeles Dodgers. They clearly felt that their competitive aspirations were being undermined by Bumgarner’s presence in their rotation. After all, he had only completed five innings once in his four attempts.
“We were never asked to make decisions based on money or anything like that,” Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen told the Arizona Republic on Wednesday. “We have to win baseball games. We try to win every single baseball game we go to. We want the five guys in the rotation to solidify those points and give us some stability there. … We’ll keep evaluating it as we go, but we gotta win baseball games.
The Diamondbacks have several rotation candidates to call on in Triple-A, including top pick Brandon Pfaadt and leftward Tommy Henry, who is already on the 40-man roster and made nine starts for the club last year.
