‘Everything is fine’ with D-backs’ Madison Bumgarner, expected to make next start

“Everything is fine” with Arizona Diamondbacks left-handed starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner, manager Torey Lovullo told reporters pregame on Monday.

And as things stand, the 33-year-old Bumgarner is still on track to make his next start on Friday against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chase Field.

The update comes after the lefty was sent back to Phoenix on Sunday to be evaluated by the D-backs medical staff following a poor season-opening start in a 10-1 loss to the Dodgers the day prior.

Lovullo told reporters on Sunday that Bumgarner was dealing with arm fatigue and didn’t expect him to miss his next start, but it marks the second fatigue-related comment since the left-hander’s March 27 spring training start in which he also mentioned being tired postgame.

“I don’t know. I was trying to figure out what happened myself,” Bumgarner said after his final spring start.

“It looked like I got tired. I didn’t necessarily feel that way, but all signs were pointing to that. It would also be hard for me to admit that so have to take that into account.”

In his first start of the regular season on Saturday, Bumgarner allowed all five runs of his outing in the first inning, including a grand slam to former Diamondback minor leaguer Trayce Thompson.

The left-hander did settle down after the poor first frame, but the damage was already done despite going 5.0 innings and allowing four hits while striking out two.

However, it was four walks and one hit-by-pitch in addition to an average fastball velocity of 89.1 mph that plagued Bumgarner, as his average in 2022 was 91.2, according to Statcast.

“There was looseness to the breaking ball and things just weren’t consistent,” Lovullo told reporters postgame. “He’s always around the zone but there were some big misses (Saturday).

“Red flags go up when we see that … Bum was OK. He actually offered to go back out there for the fifth inning. He knew the ‘pen could probably be overworked a little bit. I told him no, that was enough. We’ll figure it out from here.”

For now, the 33-year-old veteran will remain in the starting rotation. But should Bumgarner be sent to the injured list, expect to see right-hander Drey Jameson replace him after finishing second in the battle for the No. 5 spot this spring to friend and minor league roommate Ryne Nelson.

Nelson is scheduled to start against Padres lefty Ryan Weathers, as the D-backs start a two-game series in San Diego on Monday at 6:40 p.m. on 98.7, the Arizona Sports app and ArizonaSports.com.

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