SAN FRANCISCO — For most of Madison Bumgarner’s career, the Giants have wanted the ball in his hand in the season’s biggest moments.
Times have changed and so has Bumgarner, who now wears a Sedona red road jersey with gray trim at Oracle Park instead of the familiar cream top he donned at home for a decade.
Bumgarner is no longer one of the most feared pitchers in the majors, but a Giants club that’s attempting to secure its first National League West title since 2012 probably isn’t thrilled he has a chance to play spoiler on Thursday.
“I think everybody understands the importance of and obviously respects Bumgarner’s history here in San Francisco and the fans will probably really appreciate having him back on the mound,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “I’m sure our players are looking forward to really good competition.”
Bumgarner will pitch in Thursday’s series finale between the Giants and the Diamondbacks and face San Francisco left-hander Scott Kazmir, the 37-year-old who completed a surprising major league comeback this year and is now making important starts for the Giants down the stretch.
The former Giants ace owns 60 career wins and a 2.73 ERA at Oracle Park, but all but one of his 141 starts in San Francisco took place when he played for the club that selected him 10th overall in the 2007 MLB Draft. After signing a five-year, $85 million deal with the Diamondbacks prior to the 2020 season, Bumgarner returned to the Giants’ waterfront ballpark last season and tossed four innings of three-run ball in a 4-3 Giants win.
Thursday’s start will mark Bumgarner’s first in San Francisco in front of Giants fans, who gave the left-hander a standing ovation in August of this season when the Diamondbacks were in town for a two-game set in which Bumgarner didn’t pitch.
Thursday will also mark the first occasion in which he’ll likely face longtime teammates Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford. Bumgarner beat the Giants on August 3 at Chase Field when he threw seven innings while allowing just one run, but neither Posey nor Crawford were in the starting lineup.
Kapler indicated Tuesday that Crawford will likely start every remaining game for the Giants while he said Wednesday the team’s current plans call for Posey to catch Kazmir. Bumgarner never played with right-handed slugger Darin Ruf, but the Giants are expecting to activate one of their most dangerous hitters against lefties (right oblique strain) from the 10-day injured list Thursday.
With the Giants’ magic number at four entering play on Wednesday, the club can end the Dodgers’ reign atop the division by finishing with a 4-1 or 5-0 record. Any Los Angeles losses will also drop the magic number by a game, but the Giants know they can’t count on a Dodgers team that’s pushed them all summer to lose in the final week of the regular season.
Cueto headed to bullpen
Kapler said Wednesday the Giants are hoping to activate right-hander Johnny Cueto this weekend and Cueto’s most likely role will be as a reliever.
The 14th-year major league veteran has made all 329 appearances of his career as a starter, but with the Giants likely to lean on Kevin Gausman, Anthony DeSclafani and Logan Webb against the Padres this weekend, Cueto’s best chance to prove he’s ready for the postseason could come in relief.
Cueto has been sidelined throughout September with a right elbow strain, but threw 40 pitches in a rehab start last Thursday for Triple-A Sacramento and is healthy enough to rejoin the Giants.
Doval a closer?
Right-hander Camilo Doval became the youngest Giants pitcher since Rod Beck to earn a save as the 24-year-old pitched a scoreless ninth inning in the club’s 6-4 victory over the Diamondbacks on Tuesday.
The rookie struggled early in the season with his fastball and slider command, but recorded his 12th scoreless appearance of the month on Tuesday and has quickly earned Kapler’s trust as a high-leverage option moving forward.
Closer Jake McGee, who is on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain, threw a bullpen Wednesday and could be activated as soon as Friday, but the Giants clearly view Doval as a strong candidate to pitch in the ninth inning, particularly if an opponent’s best hitters are right-handed.
“I think it’s totally reasonable to say he’s earned quite a bit of trust over the last month,” Kapler said. “Obviously it’s not just his ability to close the ninth, pitch last night’s game, throw hard, bounce back, execute the sliders, I just think it’s the culmination of everything he’s experienced. How he’s managed the stress and some of the bumps along the way and the growing confidence level.”
