Despite a public campaign to become the first pitcher to participate in the Home Run Derby, San Francisco Giants southpaw Madison Bumgarner will not be part of this year’s event on July 11.
Connor Grossman of KNBR was among the first to report the news, citing Giants manager Bruce Bochy’s comments before his team’s showdown Thursday with the Oakland Athletics.
“There’s no Home Run Derby with Madison,” Bochy said. “That’s been nixed.”
Bumgarner told ESPN’s Buster Olney on June 5 that he wanted to join the event, but Bochy shut down the idea because of safety concerns for his ace. Bochy said last week he was “open-minded” about the idea, per Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News, but that sentiment now appears to be gone.
Bumgarner was part of a contingent of pitchers lobbying to be in the Derby. Chicago Cubs ace Jake Arrieta and the New York Mets’ Noah Syndergaard also expressed interest, per USA Today‘s Scott Boeck. Both players have hit multiple homers this season.
Bumgarner’s hitting stats are among the best in baseball for a pitcher. He has 13 career dingers and 45 RBI in 407 at-bats.
On the mound, Bumgarner is 8-4 with a sparkling 1.99 ERA.
Bumgarner is pitching and acting as the designated hitter Thursday. It is the first time a team purposefully put its pitcher in that role since the Chicago White Sox did so with Ken Brett in 1976, per the Associated Press (via ESPN).
This is justified, according to ESPN Stats and Info:
Having Bumgarner participate would have been a nice jolt of energy for an event that could use a new dynamic. However, San Francisco has legitimate World Series hopes, as it sits atop the National League West with a 49-31 record, so Bochy is right to be cautious with his best pitcher.
Statistics are courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.
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