San Francisco Giants: Madison Bumgarner to DL Comes at Worst Time

The San Francisco Giants have placed Madison Bumgarner on the 10-Day disabled list with an injured throwing shoulder suffered in a dirt bike accident.

According to Alex Pavlovic on NBC Bay Area, the Giants have called up Chris Stratton from Triple-A to replace Bumgarner on the 25 man roster.

This means that current relief pitcher Ty Blach will replace Bumgarner in the starting rotation. Blach is a long time starter through the minor leagues as well as the end of the 2016 season in San Francisco.

Bumgarner injured himself during the Giants off-day in Colorado. According to Pavlovic, the team believes the injury could have been much worse.

“The main thing here is to be grateful he’s not hurt worse than he is,” catcher Buster Posey said. “You have to look at that. We’re thankful he’s not hurt any worse.”

Bumgarner is said to have bruised ribs and a grade one or two left shoulder AC sprain. Bumgarner is out of the hospital, currently resting at the team hotel and will be reevaluated next week.

San Francisco Giants

Another option could have been Tyler Beede. The Giants former first round pick is currently in Triple-A and pitching well to begin the season. He is likely the next choice if the Giants have to make another change.

According to Andrew Baggerly, they do have a 40 man spot if they choose to bring up Beede.

Bumgarner has yet to win a game this season, but he had been pitching terrific.

Despite being 0-3 in four starts, Bumgarner has an ERA of 3.00 with 28 strikeouts and only four walks.

Initial reports have Bumgarner out for six to eight weeks, missing most of the rest of the first half of the season.

The Giants, who have started the year 6-10, did not need to lose their best pitcher to an injury.

However, as we saw with the Los Angeles Dodgers last season after they lost their ace, anything can happen in baseball.

Other Injury News: Melvin Upton, one of the many options to help the Giants in the outfield, will be out eight weeks after hand surgery.

Next: Giants vs Rockies Preview

The Giants start another series with the Colorado Rockies Friday night with  Johnny Cueto (3-0, 3.79 ERA) vs. Tyler Chatwood (1-2, 3.54 ERA) at 5:40 pm PT.