After a season that saw basically everything go wrong, the 2018 campaign for the Giants is not starting out on the right foot. Ace starter Madison Bumgarner is expected to miss several weeks and will open the season on the disabled list after breaking his pinkie in his final spring start on Friday.
Madison Bumgarner needs surgery for broken pinkie, out several weeks
Giants starters Bumgarner & Samardzija expected to open season on DL
Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports
Royals infielder Whit Merrifield lined a ball back at Bumgarner to start the third inning on Friday in Scottsdale. The ball his Bumgarner’s hand flush and the left-hander immediately exited the game with a trainer.
The news got worse after the game, with Bumgarner suffered a fractured fifth metacarpal in his left hand.
Bumgarner was slated to start opening day for the Giants on Thursday, March 29 against the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Now that’s up for grabs, and he’s not alone in bad news for the Giants rotation. Jeff Samardzija is out a while, too.
This is the last thing the Giants needed after a 2017 season that snowballed out of control on the way to 98 losses. Bumgarner missed significant time last season after a dirt bike crash and Johnny Cueto had an up-and-down year. San Francisco’s top trio of starters totaled just 74 starts and posted a mediocre 4.19 ERA.
In 2016 Bumgarner, Cueto and Samardzija posted a 3.09 ERA in 98 starts and the Giants were a wild card team.
After an offseason of reloading with the acquisitions of veterans Andrew McCutchen and Evan Longoria, prospects of a San Francisco turnaround in 2018 seemed more probable if that trio of starting pitchers were healthy and productive. But now two of the three will open the season on the disabled list, which doesn’t bode well for the Giants.
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