Arizona Diamondbacks relief pitcher Andrew Chafin was recently asked who the toughest hitter he's ever faced is, to which the veteran had a surprising response. Chafin cited former teammate and three-time World Series champion Madison Bumgarner as the toughest guy he's ever had to try to get out.
Tuesday afternoon, an Instagram account by the name @MLB.Fits posted a video of a young reporter asking Chafin that the hard-hitting question, along with Chafin's reponse.
Chafin was asked, "Who do you think is the toughest batter that you've ever faced?"
"You're going to laugh at me when I say this," Chafin said. "Bumgarner. I hated facing him because he came out there and he swung out of his shoes every single time. He didn't have a real approach. Any hitter, you know what they're looking for and what they can't hit and whatnot. [With him], there [was] no real scouting report. So yeah, it was a tougher at bat for me. There was just no real approach to be able to have out there."
While still a member of the San Francisco Giants between 2014 and 2015, Bumgarner batted .252 with nine total home runs and 24 RBI over 65 games and 143 at bats. With those numbers, Bumgarner would have been on pace to hit 22 home runs and collect 60 RBI over 162 games. Bumgarner wanted to compete in the Home Run Derby in 2016, but was unable to.
With two years and $34 million remaining on his contract, Bumgarner was designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks last week. The club signed him to a five-year, $85 million deal following the 2019 Major League season.
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