SF Giants: Will Madison Bumgarner make the Giants pay?

It was announced that former SF Giants legend, Madison Bumgarner, is set to face his old team for the first time at Oracle Park on Saturday night as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

There are going to be many weird things about Madison Bumgarner pitching at Oracle Park on Saturday. It speaks volumes that the weirdest thing is he will not be in an SF Giants uniform. The fact that there are no fans in the stands to give him the rousing ovation that he deserves pales in comparison to not being in a Giants uniform.

Saturday’s game will be interesting for many reasons,it is Bumgarner’s first start since coming off the IL due to a back injury. The 2020 season has not gone as planned as he has posted a 9.35 ERA and an 0-3 record in four starts.

SF Giants fans know Bumgarner as the pitcher who gave them so many memories, especially in the playoffs. None more notable than in Game 7 of the 2014 World Series:

Bumgarner’s 2020 numbers are very un-Bumgarner-like, and perhaps they were simply due to injury. But Saturday’s game in Oracle Park, a place he dominated and called home for a decade, will be a good test to see if he can get back on the dirt bike.

Maybe he should stay off of those. Perhaps get back on the bull would be more apt. Eh, still not great. Maybe get back on the horse?

Yeah, I like that one the best.

Another thing to look for will be the possibility of Bumgarner facing longtime teammates like Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford. Belt is in the lineup tonight, but manager Gabe Kapler has Crawford out of the starting lineup.

It would have been really fun to see Buster Posey face Bum after being his battery-mate for so long and being the one person who knows his stuff better than anyone else. Alas, we will have to wait another year for that at-bat.

Overall, there are going to be a lot of weird things about Saturday’s game. But the game provides an opportunity for Bumgarner to make his old team pay for not re-signing him last offseason as well as a chance to get back on track.