Diamondbacks ace Madison Bumgarner has discomfort in his left shoulder and will go for an MRI on Wednesday night, manager Torey Lovullo told reporters, including Zach Buchanan of The Athletic. It’s an issue he’s been pitching through for two to three weeks, Bumgarner himself said, via Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
Perhaps not coincidentally, Bumgarner’s last four starts have been disastrous. The 31-year-old began the season with three poor games, but he seemed to flip a switch before his April 18 outing against the Nationals. Beginning with that start in Washington, Bumgarner worked to a brilliant 0.90 ERA with incredible strikeout and walk numbers (32.4% and 1.9%, respectively) over his next five outings.
Unfortunately for Bumgarner and the D'Backs, that superlative level of play vanished almost as quickly as it appeared. Over his last four starts (including Wednesday’s work against the Mets), the southpaw has managed only a 10.13 ERA with 13 strikeouts and eight walks over 16 frames. Bumgarner’s velocity hasn’t been dramatically different recently, but the injury could have contributed to the downturn in his performance in some other way.
Wednesday’s loss dropped the Diamondbacks to a woeful 20-37, and it’s become increasingly apparent Arizona will wind up selling off veteran players as we get closer to the July 30 trade deadline. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams examined, it looks like it’ll be tough to find a taker for Bumgarner, who is due the balance of a $19M salary this year, with successive figures of $23M, $23M and $14M over the following three seasons. If Bumgarner now winds up requiring an injured list stint, that’d only further decrease the chances there’ll be suitors for the four-time All-Star in the coming months.
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