Madison Bumgarner Suffers Broken Bone in Pitching Hand

Pitching ace Madison Bumgarner of the San Francisco Giants broke the fifth metacarpal on his pitching hand after he was hit with a line drive off the bat of Whit Merrifield during a spring training game in Scottsdale, Arizona versus the Kansas City Royals.

On Friday, Bumgarner was making his last appearance before starting on Opening Day for the Giants, when he was struck with a hard liner during the third inning. Giants Manager Bruce Bochy ran to the mound with San Francisco’s team trainer to examine the southpaw ace, who was removed immediately from the field.

Following the game, Bumgarner said he would have pins placed in his hand on Saturday to help the healing of the bone. A Major League Baseball source said the southpaw would be sidelined between six and eight weeks.

Bumgarner said about his missing action that it will be tough but he could handle it. He added that his teammates can handle it as well. Bumgarner did not expect something like this to happen, but it did and he will deal with it, he insisted.

The left-hander, the MVP in the 2014 World Series, missed almost three months in 2017 after suffering an accident on a dirt bike April 20 while enjoying a day off.

Friday’s injury is a big blow to San Francisco as they attempt to rebound from a last place finish last season in the National League West losing 98 games.

Bochy said the injury was disappointing and that he feels for Bumgarner. Obviously said Bochy the team knows what their ace means to them, and he was in a very good position for this point of the spring before Friday’s injury.

Following six consecutive seasons with 10 wins or more, over 200 innings pitched and 30 or more starts, Bumgarner was 4-9 with an ERA of 3.32 in just 17 starts in 2017. He threw only 111 innings.

Bochy would not say if veteran Johnny Cueto would become the No. 1 starter and appear on Opening Day when the Giants visit defending NL champions the Los Angeles Dodgers next Thursday.

Bochy did not have a very good Friday. Another starter Jeff Samardzija will be sidelined for up to four weeks with a pectoral muscle strain putting even more pressure on the team’s starting rotation.

Bochy was visibly upset about the Samardzija injury saying he did not want to speak about it since it was such bad news.