| Authored by Jason Follain - 11th August, 2011 - 4:23 pm
 One of the most valuable assets in Major League Baseball is undoubtedly a young, controllable starting pitcher that is having success early in his career. If a player in his early- to mid-twenties is providing exceptional value to his team in his pre-arbitration years, it enables a front office to fill in would-be holes in the offseason with relatively expensive free agents. It is somewhat of a double-edged sword, as these kinds of pitchers tend to get expensive in arbitration. However, I would imagine that most general managers would love to have a problem like this.
Some of these starters that have performed since virtually day one of their major league career include standouts Clayton Kershaw, Tommy Hanson and David Price. Cream of the crop starters such as any one of this trio do not grow on trees. They are virtually untradeable, as very few teams would be able to provide equal value in any swap. Teams are constantly combing the country and world for the next major league top tier starter, but it is very rare that young pitchers realize their potential almost immediately upon arriving at the highest level.
Along with the three pitchers mentioned above, the likes of Jordan Zimmermann, Jaime Garcia and Justin Masterson have also provided their teams with premium performance this season at or near the league minimum salary. However, there is one starter that tends to get overlooked when the designation of budding ace gets thrown around. Before I reveal the name of the pitcher in question, take a look at some of the statistics that this pitcher has compiled in the first 266 1/3 innings of his career:
*3.71 K/BB ratio, good for ninth among MLB starters over the past two seasons.
*3.24 ERA with an even better FIP of 3.08, which is eighth among MLB starters over the past two seasons.
*In his second season, he has upped his strikeouts per nine innings from 6.97 to 8.3, good for a 19% increase.
*Eighth highest average fastball velocity among left-handed starters in 2011, with the ability to touch 95 mph seemingly at will.
*Excellent control, ranking 11th among MLB starters over the past two seasons with a 2.07 walks per nine innings.
I am sure every team would love to have the pitcher that compiled the numbers listed above. How much more perceived value would this player have if it was revealed that he just turned 22 last week? If I have not divulged enough information for you to guess our subject, it is, in fact, San Francisco Giants starter Madison Bumgarner. Rarely does he get mentioned in the conversation of best young lefty, much less best young starter.
There are several explanations for why Bumgarner has not received the attention of other young standouts in the last couple years. One, he happens to belong to a starting rotation that has two relatively young starters in Tim Lincecum (27) and Matt Cain (26) that have gotten a ton of recognition, having combined for a stunning six all star appearances between them. Add to that duo the emergence of Ryan Vogelsong and his league-leading ERA, Bumgarner has a tough road to hoe with regards to nationwide recognition. When the pitching staff of your team is ranked number one in both FIP and ERA over the past two seasons, it is understandably tough to make a name for yourself.
The second reason he remains somewhat overlooked has to do with his pitching style. His fastball does not sit in the mid- to upper-nineties, rather he is usually in the 92-93 range with accuracy and a natural cut. He also possesses a very effective slider, which he throws more than 31% of the time. In fact, there are only four starting pitchers in all of baseball that throw the pitch more often than Bumgarner. He also mixes in a curveball, as well. However, the aspect of his game that gives him the biggest advantage over his opponents is his unique delivery. He effortlessly delivers his pitches from a low, three-quarters arm slot, which hitters seem to have a difficult time picking up. In short, he does not have the electric delivery, blistering fastball or four pitch repertoire that you might expect out of a top young starter.
Mental makeup is an aspect of pitching, especially starting, that is often overlooked. In this department, Bumgarner certainly has the highest grade you can place on a young player. He is rarely ever rattled by anything that goes on around him and continues to execute his game plan pitch after pitch. There are no ups or downs with him, as he always has the same expression on his face. He has faced some adversity in his young career, having given up an astonishing eight runs and nine hits in one third of an inning against the Minnesota Twins on June 21st of this season. The first eight batters of the game reached base by way of a hit and the first out of the game was not recorded until Bumgarner struck out Carl Pavano, the Twins starting pitcher who, of course, was batting ninth.
This outing would be enough to throw a lot of young pitchers into an emotional tailspin, but not Bumgarner. He responded in his next start by executing one of the best games of his young career, striking out 11, while only walking one in seven innings against the Cleveland Indians a mere five days later. The kid is a rock, mentally.
Another possible reason for the relative anonymity of Bumgarner might lie in his path to the big leagues. He was always a top prospect since being drafted in the first round in 2007, but the offseason prior to the 2010 season was an especially trying one for the big lefty. He began spring training that season aiming to make the major league roster, but a severe decrease in fastball velocity had the entire Giants organization scratching their heads and he wound up starting the year in the minors. Later, it came to light that, not only did he get married in the offseason, but he also lost his half-sister to an accidental pain medication overdose. Those are two occurrences that would put anyone in a weird place mentally. Once he was able to get his fastball back up to speed, he joined the major league roster to complete what would become one of the premier rotations in all of baseball. The couple months that Bumgarner had some trouble caused his prospect stock to dip, as pundits pointed to his lack of velocity. One positive that might have come out of this was the decreased pressure on him (not that it would have affected him any), but it has certainly aided the lack of attention heaped on the youngster.
Nevertheless, a pitcher who made his debut at barely 20 years old, is left-handed and can throw in the mid-nineties and currently sits in second place behind reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay on the 2011 MLB FIP leaderboard is an extremely valuable player. Bumgarner also should be getting much more national recognition for the early success that he has experienced in his career. Shhhhhhhh, do not tell anyone: The San Francisco Giants have one of the best young starters in the game. |
