MadBum exits with shoulder injury in loss

Madison Bumgarner exited Wednesday afternoon's 7-6 loss to the Mets with left shoulder discomfort and was scheduled to undergo an MRI, D-backs manager Torey Lovullo announced following the ballgame.

Bumgarner gave up six straight hits to start the game, including a three-run homer to James McCann, and was only able to complete two innings. The lefty was charged with five runs after giving up eight hits before his exit.

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Lovullo said Bumgarner was in visible discomfort after talking with pitching coach Matt Herges, and they noticed some differences while the lefty was pitching. Lovullo added that he knew taking Bumgarner out of the game after two innings and 48 pitches was “a no-brainer.”

“You spend a lot of time watching the body language of your players, and Matt Herges was just making comments about just the way he was stepping back and moving around the rubber,” Lovullo said. “And he just didn't look like he had good tempo and good rhythm, and I started to pay attention to it, and he just lacked a little bit of finish to his pitches.”

Bumgarner said following the loss that the issue was something that flared up two or three weeks ago. He added that he thought the problem would get better.

“I didn’t think too much of it,” Bumgarner said. “This stuff comes and goes throughout the year every year. Like I told you guys before, it’s pretty rare to go out there and feel great every time, and this is just bad judgment on my part. I thought it was gonna get better and go away sooner. It’s gotten worse, and the last three or four days have been enough where it’s going to affect my pitching.”

Bumgarner did not factor into the decision on Wednesday. The D-backs immediately responded to the Mets’ four-run first inning with five runs in the bottom half of the first. That offense was capped off by a go-ahead single to left field from Bumgarner in what was a 43-minute first inning.

The two-inning outing is the shortest Bumgarner has had since Aug. 9, 2020, with the D-backs, when he also threw just two innings after giving up six runs to the Padres.

Things had begun to turn around for Bumgarner after allowing just one run in 13 innings in his first two starts in May, but in his last three starts, the left-hander has given up 16 earned runs in 12 innings.

Bumgarner said the shoulder injury was a problem for him during his last start against the Cardinals where he gave up six runs in four innings, but it was “not as bad as today.”

“But that is part of the game and you see this stuff happen,” Bumgarner said of the shoulder injury. “It’s happening a lot this year, a lot more frequently I think. I don’t know. It definitely sucks. I want to be out there competing, I want to do good, I want to help this team win. You can’t do that if you’re hurt.”

More information on Bumgarner’s injury is expected to be announced in the coming days, Lovullo said.

The D-backs are already without starters Zac Gallen (right UCL sprain), Luke Weaver (right shoulder strain) and Taylor Widener (right groin strain).