Madison Bumgarner will probably be on at least 75% of my teams this year. In the rankings, which start this upcoming Monday, I’ve ranked him way higher than any rational person so I’m bound to have him. You can’t even guess how high I have him. I mean, you can, but even if you’re right I’m not going to say like how you used to guess your Christmas gifts and your mom would say, “You’ll have to wait and see,” or “Only Santa knows for sure.” Last year, Bumgarner had an ERA of 3.21 and a K-rate of 8.40. Those are solid numbers, but they shouldn’t get me all goose-pimply. So what gives and what exactly can we expect of Madison Bumgarner for 2012 fantasy baseball and what makes him a keeper?
No other pitcher last year had as high a K-rate as Bumgarner (8.40) with as low as a walk rate (2.02) except Halladay (8.47, 1.35) and The Adverb (9.21, 1.62). Not Verlander. Not Kershaw. He was sixth in the NL for K/BB with a 4.15 rate. When you’re striking guys out and not putting on runners, you’re setting yourself up for success. Not to mention, most of the teams in his division would have a hard time scoring 3 or more runs in 2001 if they fielded 9 Bondses. (Bondsii? Nah, that sounds like tiny plants.) Further — oh, yeah, I’m going further! — his home park is a pitcher’s park and he’s 22 years old. Last year, he had 23 Quality Starts, which was the same number as Lincecum and his FIP was 2.67. Yeah, it’s gonna be a good year for Bumgarner. To give you an idea of how good of a year, please allow me to pull away the curtain and present my 2012 projections for Bumgarner… Three ladies and gentlemen, my Madison Bumgarner projections… A duck in a tuxedo? Hmm… Sorry, went behind the wrong curtain. Let’s try this one… My Madison Bumgarner 2012 projections… A 2012 Kia Soul! Hmm, that’s not bad, still wrong curtain though. Okay, last curtain… My Madison Bumgarner 2012 projections are…15-8/2.90/1.18/200. There they are.
