Former SF Giant Bumgarner's conflict with former pitcher led to 'amicable divorce' with Arizona
When the Arizona Diamondback released Madison Bumgarner with nearly two full years remaining on his contract, some of it was due to his disappointing performance on the mound. But their decision to cut bait on their big-money pitcher was made easier because Bumgarner didn't get along with the coaches.
Zach Buchanan's informative look back at the Bumgarner era in Arizona discusses the conflicts between Bumgarner and his coaches, but highlights a particular moment in 2021 as the beginning of the end.
Bumgarner had bounced back from a terrible pandemic-shortened 2020 - he later admitted he hadn't picked up a baseball during the long layoff - to start 2021 strong. He even threw a full-game, seven-inning no-hitter in late April, even though it didn't count as an "official" no-no.
But a few weeks later, when he was asked about the changes he'd made in the 2021 season, Bumgarner said, "I'm not going to throw anybody under the bus." Then he proceeded to throw Dan Haren, the Diamondbacks' pitching consultant, directly under the bus.
Bumgarner didn't like to use the extensive scouting reports that Haren gave to all of the Arizona pitchers. He didn't want to use an attack plan, choosing instead to focus on "feel" and what he saw from hitters. Of course, that strategy works better when Buster Posey is calling pitchers, and there aren't ten years and four postseasons of mileage on his left arm.
The mistake Bumgarner made was boasting to the press that he'd ditched the scouting reports, leading to an angry confrontation with Haren that led to the two men not speaking for the rest of Bumgarner's time with the team.
Haren was a three-time major league All-Star who succeeded without having much velocity on his own fastball - his Twitter handle is @IThrow88, a reference to his unimpressive heater. In theory, Haren is the perfect advisor for a pitcher who needs to make adjustments to make up for a physical decline, as Haren himself did when he added a cut fastball in the middle of his career.
But when Bumgarner struggled, as he did almost immediately after the blowup with Haren, he tended to fall back on what had worked in the past. Arizona wanted him to make changes to his approach, his spot on the rubber, the angle he faced the batters, his pitch selection - everything except how he fed and cared for his cows. And when those changes didn't work quickly, Bumgarner bristled and changed back.
The lack of trust went both ways. Bumgarner may have embarrassed Haren, but he got embarrassed and distrustful when Diamondbacks staffers' criticism of him became public. Ultimately, the Diamondbacks stopped telling Bumgarner what to do at all.
One issue might simply be the Diamondbacks' lack of authority. Manager Torey Lovullo won 93 games in his first season at the helm in 2017, but has struggled since ,winning just 39% of his games in Mad Bum's first three years in the desert. Advice from Lovullo and his staff doesn't have quite the same cachet as similar statements coming from Bruce Bochy.
And while Bumgarner had a below-average ERA in 2021, that was the case for every Diamondbacks starting pitcher aside from Tyler Gilbert, who started a whopping six games and had a 3.15 ERA. (Gilbert's FIP was 4.27, indicating he may have gotten lucky.) Overall, the team had the second-worst ERA in baseball.
So while it must have been frustrating for Arizona to deal with Bumgarner - who by all accounts was well-liked in the clubhouse - it's also understandable that Bumgarner was dismissive of the pitching advice that wasn't leading to success for the rest of the staff.
Even in 2022 when Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen pitched well, the D-Backs were 23rd in ERA and 24th in strikeouts per nine innings. Bumgarner may have dragged those numbers down slightly, but he was just one in a sea of mediocre Arizona pitchers.
Of course, Arizona expected better than mediocrity from a five-year, $85 million deal. There's always an inherent risk in pitcher contracts - Bumgarner's 2023 salary is almost exactly the same as Carlos Rodon's deal with the Yankees, and he hasn't made a single start yet.
Will Bumgarner make tweaks to his approach and come back to the majors? There's probably some team that would take a flyer on the former World Series MVP, no matter how bad his relationship was with his old team. But with Bumgarner getting most of the balance of his deal - $5 million in deferred money comes annually from 2025-27 - he may simply ride off into the sunset.
After all, no one gives you scouting reports on your own ranch.
