Madison Bumgarner Addresses Media on His First Day Back
Monday was the official report date for Spring Training 2022. Madison Bumgarner showed up to Arizona Diamondbacks camp with a long beard. It makes him look a bit thinner, but he says he hasn’t lost weight. He just decided to let it grow. Although it resembles the beard of former San Francisco Giants closer Brian Wilson, it is not a tribute to him.
Madison Bumgarner addressed the media Monday afternoon in a press conference. He spoke on several subjects.
Press Conference
On How He Feels:
Good. Really good, actually. I usually come in and get my feet wet a little more. Today I stepped up the intensity just a touch from what I would usually do on the first day, and everything felt good.
On How It Feels to Get a Fresh Start after a Tough 2021:
I’d like to sit here and tell you that I forgot about it and we’ve moved on. That’s the goal. We’re here, and we do have a fresh start, and we’re gonna take advantage of that. But I don’t know if anybody’s forgotten about it. It’s pretty tough to go home with.
You can learn a lot from that (losing 110 games), and you can learn a lot every year. Whether you win the World Series or finish in the middle of the road, there’s always plenty to learn.
On Whether He Had Had a Chance to Talk to New Pitching Coach Brent Strom:
Yeah. Not as much as I would like to. I’m looking forward to getting to do that. Obviously, we were not allowed to for most of the offseason, but I’m looking forward to it. I think it’s gonna be a really good fit here.
I’ve heard a lot of stuff (from guys around the league). Nothing (bad). I have an idea. But everything is lined up with what you would imagine. I think it’s gonna be good.
On His Whether His Offseason Throwing Program Was Different Given the Report Date Uncertainty:
No different. I ramped up like we were coming back to spring training normally and tried to hold that. (You want to) keep building as much as you can. It’s hard without pitching in actual games, but I think I did a good job.
On How He Feels Now versus How He’d Feel on This Date in a Regular Spring:
Maybe somewhere in between where I would right now and the start of the normal spring. There’s no way to replicate the games, even the spring training games. But I think everybody did their best to.
On How He Feels about Double Headers Being Nine Innings Again:
It was pretty nice when we had to play a doubleheader knowing that it was gonna be two sevens instead of two nines. But I’m a traditionalist, so I would rather have it the way we’re doing now, two nine-inning games. It sucks a little more, but I like the traditional baseball style better.
On Whether He’s Lobbied Manager Torey Lovullo to Be the Designated Hitter at Times:
No. (Chuckle) I didn’t (even) bring any bats or order any bats.
On the National League Now Having a Designated Hitter:
Everybody knew it was coming, so it’s not any surprise to me or anyone else, I imagine. If I was the only fan, then I would want to go back 20 years in time. (Note: He later said, “I said 20 years but meant the 80s.”)
On Not Being Able to Hit His 20th Career Home Run:
(Laugh) Yeah, that’s unfortunate. I’m glad you brought that up. I’d almost forgotten about that until today. (Smile)
On Whether He’ll Be Asked to Pinch-Hit in Extra Innings:
We’ll see. Hopefully, it won’t come to that.
On His Favorite Memory as a Hitter:
If (Luke) Weaver was standing here, I would say hitting a home run off Weaver (while Weaver was with the St. Louis Cardinals). (Laughter) I don’t know.
Two home runs on Opening Day at Chase Field in 2017?
Yeah, that was that was pretty good.
On Whether His Workout Routine Was Different with the Shorter Rampup:
No, it was pretty similar. I don’t notice a lot of the differences that some people do. I’ve mixed up my workout routine enough, but it stays somewhat similar. So everything feels pretty much the same, start to finish.
It’s always evolving, trying to find an edge trying to get better. Sometimes those searches lead you down the wrong direction and end up being worse. (Chuckle) But it’s just always trying to find that edge somewhere. You always feel like you’re on the right run until you see that you’re not, but I feel good about where I am.
On How 2022 Should Compare with 2021:
Everybody thinks a little differently and perceives stuff differently. But I think everyone knows that we’re not the team that we showed you we were last year. I think that we can come out and accidentally do better than that.
On Why He Feels There Isn’t Much of a Difference between First Place and Last Place Teams:
I don’t know. Mostly playing against teams, I would, early in my career, have some of my worst games against last place teams. (If you’re) off by just that much, you learn pretty quickly that there’s not that big a difference.
On Whether He Sees Himself in a Leadership Role:
Don’t know if I would put it quite so bluntly. I just try to do whatever I think is best for each guy and to help us be a better team, mainly. Whatever that is, it’s not always right, and people don’t always handle it, the way that I think that they would. A lot of times they do, it’s just that everyone’s different. I just try to do whatever I can to help us be a better team and help me be a better teammate.
On the Quick Turnaround from the CBA Being Reached and the Beginning of Camp:
I would have liked a little more time to pack but besides that, I don’t think it’d be too bad.
(Editor’s Note: There were three more questions, but the background noise drowned them out in the recording.)
