Bumgarner Solid in Final Spring Start, Youth Leads Comeback

Madison Bumgarner was looking to get a final tune-up start before facing the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 1st. He allowed four runs (two earned) on five hits, two walks, and two strikeouts in five innings in a 7-6 win over the Cleveland Guardians. He threw a total of 76 pitches.

With the Diamondbacks set to have a young catcher behind the plate in Gabriel Moreno, count Bumgarner a fan of Major League Baseball approving the use of PitchCom for pitchers. He had used PitchCom to call his own pitches in his previous two Cactus League starts. "For me, I like it because I usually have a good idea and feel pretty confident in what I want to throw" said Bumgarner. "And all the catchers know if they see something and I call a pitch and they know there's a better option, I give them the full authority to call something and I trust their judgement."

For the first three innings, Bumgarner looked sharp. He was mixing in his cutter and changeup effectively to keep Cleveland hitters off balance, holding them to just one hit and one walk with a pair of strikeouts. He also showcased a willingness to use his changeup against left-handed hitters, getting both of his whiffs. Bumgarner said his feel for the pitch was the "best it ever was". He also said he has enough movement to have more confidence to throw it behind in the count. Cleveland would scratch across a run in the fourth when Jose Ramirez tripled and then scored on a Josh Naylor single.

The wheels came off in the fifth inning for Bumgarner, where some poor batted ball luck was also compounded by some self-inflicted mistakes marring an otherwise solid outing. It started when he was slow to cover first on a ground ball hit down the first base line. That was followed by hitting a batter and committing a throwing error fielding a sacrifice bunt. After a walk to Steven Kwan loaded the bases, Amed Rosario hit a swinging bunt down the third base line to score the Guardians' second run of the inning. Bumgarner would get a pair of ground balls to third, one for a double play, to limit the damage to three runs and avoid a complete meltdown.

"Things got weird in that last inning" said Bumgarner. "I would rather not but still I'm glad we got to go through a little bit of adversity in the last game before the season."

"Bum was solid" said D-backs manager Torey Lovullo. "I know you look up and there's three or four runs, but I think there was a play where he didn't cover first base that got a rally started, an infield base hit. A few other things didn't go right, whether it was pitch selection or execution, I don't know. He got through the fifth inning, got his pitch count to where we wanted it, and all things being equal he threw the ball well enough for his last spring start."

With all the talk this spring about the young starters competing for the final rotation spot, Bumgarner was asked if having all the young guys add any motivation. Bumgarner chuckled and replied, "That'd be a cool story if I said yeah, but no."

The D-backs found themselves down 6-0 after the top of the seventh. They clawed their way back in the bottom of the inning. After the first 18 batters of the game were set down, Josh Rojas' single to lead things off broke the seal. A bunch of big hits, coming from not only the team's young core but also their top prospects, completed the comeback bid as they scored seven runs in their final two at-bats.

The first key hit came from Corbin Carroll, who hit a two-out, two-run double to put the D-backs within three. Jake McCarthy would later single him home to put them within striking distance. Cleveland countered by bringing in All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase in the bottom of the eighth. The D-backs young players and prospects were more than ready for the challenge.

Geraldo Perdomo drew a leadoff walk after taking a close pitch on a full count. Deyvison De Los Santos fell behind 1-2, but fouled off a couple close pitches before hammering a mistake into the left center field gap to bring Arizona within one. Alek Thomas grounded out to move De Los Santos to third with one out for Phillip Evans, who smoked a ground ball at 107.7 MPH, but right at shortstop Milan Tolentino for the second out. After a pitching change, Jordan Lawlar greeted Jordan Jones with a home run to left center field to give Arizona the lead.

When asked about the the impressive at-bats that the younger players in the organization delivered, Lovullo said "the future looks bright".

The comeback would also not have been possible without some terrific pitching from the backend of the bullpen. Miguel Castro and Scott McGough retired all six batters faced, striking out three. Those two figure to see the bulk of the D-backs high leverage innings out of the bullpen once the season starts.

The D-backs will return to Chase Field tomorrow to play the second exhibition game against the Cleveland Guardians. Right-hander Ryne Nelson, who won the fifth starter role, will go for Arizona while Cal Quantrill will take the mound for Cleveland. First pitch is at 12:40PM MST.