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Madison Bumgarner out 6-8 weeks with fractured hand

Well the Giants got just about the worst news they could have received on Friday afternoon, as the dark cloud of bad luck that has haunted this team since the second half of 2016 looks to continue, at least to start the 2018 season.

As most of you reading this already know by now, the Giants lost their ace for the foreseeable future in sadly, what was his tune-up start for his would be opening day assignment in LA. Granted, the news could have been worse and it could have been a season-ender, at this point it almost feels like one, and the season hasn't even started yet. We all saw how tough it was on the team last year when they lost their horse for 3 months in the middle of the season and things eventually spiraled out of control into the worst Giants' season in years. This one hurts even more though because of all the expectations that surrounded the club and the offensive makeover they went through in the offseason to provide the club with more depth in their lineup. It could all be for nothing if the team cannot find a way to survive without Bumgarner until most likely late-May or early June, and that's best case scenario. Being that the injury is to his pitching hand, it's any one's guess as to how it will effect the left-hander once he is able to start throwing again and exactly how long it will take him to get back into the form he was in prior to the injury.

Besides it being the start of a new year with a new revamped ball club, the news is especially hard because of the way Bumgarner has looked this spring. This guy came to camp with a chip on his shoulder after a disastrous 2017 season, by his standards. After missing half the year, he returned only to wind up going 4-9 with his second worst ERA of his career, albeit only at 3.32. Needless to say, the left-hander cranked up has offseason workout regimen, reporting to camp in top shape and it reflected in the way he was throwing.

Now with this injury, coupled with Jeff Samardzija's injury and Johnny Cueto not showing off his best stuff in just a few spring outings, the Giants starting rotation has gone from their foundation to a bigger question mark than their bullpen. I would expect Johnny Cueto to take the ball on March 29th in LA, but if that is indeed the case then he'd have to get in some work somewhere on Saturday as he's pitched only 9 1/3 innings in the Cactus League and, again, they haven't been all that pretty. Being that Jeff Samardzija is also slated to miss at least the season's first few weeks, he won't be in the mix either, so it would then likely fall on either Chris Stratton or Derek Holland. Stratton has been a bright spot since last September, but he's a far cry from a healthy, determined Madison Bumgarner. Holland has thrown pretty well this spring, but is coming off a season in which he posted a 6+ ERA and who knows what kind of pitcher you'll get when he starts facing nothing but big league bats and the games start mattering. The Samardzija and Bumgarner injuries now assure that Derek Holland will begin the 2018 season in the Giants rotation though, where exactly in that rotation is yet to be determined, but it wouldn't surprise me if he's their guy for game two if not the opener.

This is going to be a true test for the Giants. We're going to see just how for real this club is right out of the gate. If they can somehow manage to stay at .500 or slightly above it in the absence of their ace, then they'll be in pretty good shape when he returns, all things considered. However, if they stumble out of the gate and fall down in the standings then this very well could be an omen for the 2018 season. As the old saying goes, you cannot win a division in the first month or two of a season, but you sure can lose one. It's gonna take some people stepping up, unlike they were able to do last season, as well as a little bit of luck in order to avoid the latter.

Comments

Jason Billingsley said…
What a gut punch to the Giants season. I literally almost shed a tear when hearing this because it's so true. Pretty much everything has gone against this team since that middle season meltdown of '16. Damn, it's just starting to sink in that we won't see the Giants most valuable asset until June!? I love Posey and all, but we losing him for 2 months wouldn't be nearly as bad as losing Bum is, at least in my own humble opinion. Sad day for the Giants. I wonder if they re-visit the free agent market, although at this point, even if they signed someone it would still take them about a month to get game ready. Maybe not though. I would definitely welcome John Lackey on a minor league deal now though. IDC if he has a bad reputation in the clubhouse, we need healthy arms that have big league experience. Besides Shark and Cueto we have a bunch of rookie/sophomore guys who are going to be counted on big. I don't like it.

Just my 2 cents,
JBill
Sliderule said…
As successful as Blach has been in the past against the Dodgers, we need to arrange for him to have starting opportunities in the games with them. It's up to the hitters to produce and keep the extra pressure off the pitching staff. Fans can help by being even more supportive and give inspiration to the team. And, ... I hate the Dodgers.
Anonymous said…
What news to return home from work to??? How, what??? I still don't believe it. Now Samardzija out for april too? I guess if your going to get the injuries out of the way it's better early than later but damn, this is some terrible luck the Giants have had the last 24 hours, came out of nowhere and exactly like the first comment said, like a punch in the gut.
Trevor Cole said…
It's certainly a bad omen to start the season, but I'm not writing the Giants off in 2018 just yet. Everyone is going to have to step up for sure though, not just the guys filling in for MadBum and Shark, but also the guys in the lineup and the bullpen. Everyone is going to have to do a little extra in order to survive without their two best starters (at least based off last year).

I think they're going to try and go with a 4-man rotation for the first couple of weeks because of the off days, and that would give Tyler Beede and Andrew Suarez each a couple of starts in Sacramento and they can judge then who will come up when they need a 5th guy. As of now, we're probably looking Cueto in the opener (if he's ready), then followed by Holland, Stratton and Blach. It's possible they swap Blach and Holland but I'm pretty sure Boch will want to go RH-LH-RH-LH in terms of the rotation if he has the opportunity.

It's going to be a tough stretch to say the least though, at the start of the season, with optimism and expectations all at a high, it definitely makes this a tough pill to swallow, but it is what it is and if they're indeed a team built for October then they will find a way to navigate through this thing.
Unknown said…
I'm GLAD I FOUND A BLOG TO VENT TO.i LOVE THE GIANTS AND THATS THE PROBLEM.THIS TEAM IS SO PATHETIC THAT I AM ASHAMED TO BE A GIANTS FAN.wHAT THE GIANTS NEED DESPARATELY IS A NEW HEAD COACH THATS NOT AFRAID TO DISAPLINE THIS TEAM.BOCHY HAS NEVER BEEN CLOSE TO A HALL OF FAME COACH TO ME.hE CAME ON BOARD WITH SOME HALL OF FAME PLAYERS WHICH IS WHY 3 RINGS WERE WON.NOW YOU SEE WHAT KIND OF COACH HE IS WITH ONE OF THE HIGHEST PAYROLLS IN THE HISTORY OF BASEBALL HE GIVES US ONE OF THE WORST PRODUCT I HAVE EVER SEEN.tHERE HAVE BEEN OTHER BIG PAYROLL TEAMS THAT TANKED BUT NOT EVEN CLOSE TO THE GIANTS RECORD TO PAYROLL RATIO.tHATS WHAT GETS ME ABOUT THIS EMBARASSMENT OF A TEAM.iT'S ALMOST UNFORGIVABLE.nO THE GIANTS ARE NOT GOING TO STAY AROUND 500 EVEN IF THEY HAD NO INJURY'S.RIGHT NOW THEY ARE GETTING BLOWN OUT BY THE FREAKING PADRES 3 OUT OF 4 GAMES CHILD PLEASE!!!!! tHEY WILL BE BURRIED IN NEXT TWO WEAKS.BOTTOM OF 7TH PADRES 9 GIANTS 1 AND STILL BATTING PUT A FORK IN THEM.

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