The current state of the MLB Most Valuable Player awards started in 1931. Since then, a pitcher has won the honor just 22 times between the two leagues. There were significant droughts in both leagues in pitcher MVP victories, but the NL’s was much longer. Clayton Kershaw took home the NL MVP in 2014, the first hurler since Bob Gibson in 1968 to bring home the silverware. With the season he’s putting together thus far, at the plate as well as on the mound, Madison Bumgarner is making a case to have the gap be much shorter between pitcher MVP wins.
Madison Bumgarner is no stranger to the spotlight. He’s cemented himself as one of the premier postseason pitchers in the game. His 2014 World Series will go down as one of the finest individual displays in the history of the Fall Classic. But it isn’t as if Bumgarner’s regular season statistics have been garbage. In a full season he’s never had an under .500 record. He’s pitched 200+ innings for five straight seasons. His worst ERA and WHIP figures in full campaigns are 3.37 (in 2012) and 1.21 (in 2011) respectively. But being consistently good doesn’t win you the Cy Young. It surely doesn’t put you in the MVP discussion. However, this season Mad Bum is dueling with the last man to do the double, Clayton Kershaw, for both awards.
The two are very similar pitchers in terms of their approach. Kershaw is putting up otherworldly numbers at the moment, but outside of walks peripherals is quite comparable with Bumgarner. They both have ERA’s under two and strike out north of ten batters per nine innings. But something that could tilt the proceedings more in Madison’s favor down the road is the fact that his Giants are four games ahead of Kershaw’s Dodgers in the standings.
Another nugget that could help sway voters is his hitting. Now on the surface it doesn’t look that impressive. He’s hitting just .147 and has struck out in 14 of his 37 plate appearances. Nevertheless, he’s continued his run of power that he’s shown in two consecutive Silver Slugger winning seasons. His most recent dinger came with 7 2/3 shutout innings of baseball against the Braves. His first of the season though came against none other than Clayton Kershaw. This marks the second straight year that Bumgarner has taken his NL West rival deep. Kershaw is the only pitcher Bumgarner, owner of 13 career round trippers, has homered off more than once. Bumgarner has as many home runs as two every day Giants players, Matt Duffy and Denard Span, have.
It will be intriguing to see if Bumgarner can continue his transformation from an All-Star pitcher to an All-World one. He’s curtailed that aforementioned walk issue in recent starts. He’s getting strikeouts still without staying entirely in the strike zone. His imposing pitch arsenal will only become more effective as the season wears on. As he’s shown in past years, his hitting will also improve as the thermometer readings go up.
Madison Bumgarner has plenty of accolades on his still young MLB resume. Three World Series rings topped off with NLCS and World Series MVP trophies in 2014. He’s a three time All-Star and two time reigning NL Silver Slugger. The man is an anecdote waiting to happen. There are few pitchers that one would take over Mad Bum in a big game, inning, or at-bat. The Giants are in first place and look primed for another postseason run. If he continues his season trajectory though, with some San Francisco even year magic sprinkled in, he could easily be adding the National League Most Valuable Player trophy to that list.