Madison Bumgarner Makes First Cactus League Start

The veteran left-hander went three innings in his first spring start.

Madison Bumgarner made his first start of the Cactus League in a 6-4 win over the Cleveland Guardians at Goodyear Ballpark. The veteran left-hander allowed two runs on two hits, two walks, two hit batters, and no strikeouts in three innings. 

He gave up a two-out RBI double to Josh Bell in the first, then loaded the bases with one out in the second on a walk and consecutive hit batters. Bumgarner was able to escape the jam with just one run scoring thanks to a great heads up play by second baseman Diego Castillo. He bounced back to pitch a scoreless third after inducing a double play.

When asked about how his outing went, the Diamondbacks left-hander said, "Feels like the first one usually does, but I was happy. There's a lot of new stuff, aside from just being the first one, so I was pretty happy to get the three [innings] up so that was the main goal."

With the new pitch timer, the veteran left-hander resorted to using PitchComm to call his own pitches in a timely fashion. Bumgarner said the team has been using it for live BPs and bullpen sessions. 

Looks like @Dbacks LHP Madison Bumgarner is calling his own pitches today using PitchComm. He had been wanting to experiment with it.

— Steve Gilbert (@SteveGilbertMLB) March 5, 2023

Manager Torey Lovullo said that Bumgarner is working to mix his pitches more. "I thought he was throwing a lot of quality curveballs and mixing some changeups. And he's going to try not to be predictable as possible. So I think he's taking that to the next level. There were some mistakes in the middle of play, some fastballs that were misfired. But overall, I think that happens which is his first outing. I'm very pleased"

Scott McGough came in the fourth and retired the side in order with a strikeout. 

Peter Solomon allowed one run in the next two innings on one hit, one walk, and two strikeouts.

Corbin Martin pitched around a one-out single to post a scoreless seventh. Martin was up to 96 MPH in this outing.

Justin Martinez ran into some control issues in the eighth, but struck out the final two hitters to escape a bases loaded jam. Martinez was hitting triple digits with his fastball and landed some really good sliders and splitters.

Corbin Carroll's monster spring continued against the Guardians on Sunday, as the Diamondbacks' top prospect reached base in all four plate appearances. Carroll walked three times out of the leadoff spot and drove in two with a double in the fourth. So far this spring he's hitting .375/.545/.625 with two doubles, a triple, and six walks in 22 plate appearances. Lovullo said that the walks are the most impressive thing to him watching Carroll this spring. 

Alek Thomas delivered a big knock in the second, as his two-run triple gave Arizona the lead for good. He also added in a couple really good catches in the outfield. Thomas has quietly had a good spring, hitting .316 and showing a much more controlled approach compared to the end of last season.

Geraldo Perdomo added an RBI single that tied the game in the second and a walk in front of Carroll's double.

Roster Moves

The Diamondbacks have reassigned these players to minor league camp: INF Jordan Lawlar, RHP Slade Cecconi, RHP Bryce Jarvis, INF Deyvison De Los Santos, and LHP Blake Walston. Arizona now has 62 players in big league camp.