Madison Bumgarner is only 25 years old. He made his major league debut in 2009 as a 19-year-old in four appearances with San Francisco. He followed that up in 2010 with an awful spring training and didn't make the opening day roster. Now he's statistically the greatest pitcher in World Series history.
It's funny to think the Giants and manager Bruce Bochy actually doubted Bumgarner for that brief moment in 2010. But how couldn't they? The starting rotation had set such a high standard with Tim Lincecum (coming off consecutive Cy Young Awards), Matt Cain (coming off his best season as a 24-year-old), Barry Zito (who still had his stuff every once in a while, but the Giants were committed to him financially) and Jonathan Sanchez (who, at that point, was improving as a starter and had a career year in 2010). After Bumgarner finished 2010 spring training with a 6.43 ERA and zero strikeouts, the final rotation spot was given to Todd Wellemeyer.
"He's 20 years old. We think a lot of him and he has a bright future," Bochy said of Bumgarner at the time. "But we think there are still some things he needs to work on. We did it now so he could go down in a little more relaxed atmosphere and get to where he needs to be. It's more important for him to control the ball. He didn't have his good command this spring. Building arm strength is part of Spring Training."
Well, Bochy didn't really doubt him, that's unfair to say. He simply wanted to be prudent in his decision to promote Bumgarner as a full-time starter because too often we see young players get the call who are unable to handle it. And the Giants didn't want to spoil Bumgarner, who throughout his career in the minor leagues from 2008 until midway through 2010 amassed a 34-6 record with a 2.00 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and three complete game shutouts in 62 starts. He compiled 24 starts in Class A Augusta, five starts in Class A+ San Jose, 19 starts in Double-A Connecticut and 14 starts in Triple-A Fresno.
After the Giants had enough of Wellemeyer's 3-5 record and 5.68 ERA in 11 starts, Bumgarner got the call and the left-hander never looked back. Through 18 starts in 2010, the 20-year-old went 7-6 with a 3.00 ERA and 1.31 WHIP. As a full-time starter he was immediately effective in subsequent years: In 2011 he went 13-13 with a 3.21 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in 33 starts; in 2012 he went 16-11 with a 3.37 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in 32 starts; in 2013 he went 13-9 with a 2.77 ERA and 1.03 WHIP in 31 starts (his first All-Star season) and; this season he went 18-10 with a 2.98 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 33 starts (his second All-Star season). His career numbers? 67-49 with a 3.06 ERA and 1.14 WHIP in 151 appearances (148 starts).
Hold on, it gets better.
When he joined the team in 2010, he happened to be on the first San Francisco Giants World Series team in 55 years. He pitched in each playoff series and went 2-0 with a 2.18 ERA, including Game 4 of the World Series in which he tossed eight scoreless innings, giving up only three hits and two walks in the win. This was the beginning of his World Series dominance.
In 2012 his overall playoff statistics were not good, but he once again delivered when it mattered most. After starting 0-2 with an 11.25 ERA against the Reds and Cardinals, he again pitched a scoreless World Series game (7 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 8 K) against the Tigers in Game 2. The Giants swept Detroit and won their second World Series in three years.
Which brings us to 2014; perhaps the greatest postseason campaign for a pitcher of all-time. Bumgarner started off with the NL Wild Card game. He tossed a complete game four-hit shutout against the Pittsburgh Pirates to advance the Giants to the NLDS against the top-seeded Washington Nationals. He lost Game 3 (7 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 6 K) of that series by the score of 4-1 because of a throwing error on his behalf. But the Giants still advanced to the NLCS to face the Cardinals and the left-hander made two starts (15.2 IP) with a 1.72 ERA and 0.77 WHIP. Then came the World Series, which we haven't heard the end of because it's so incredible. Bumgarner made two starts (Games 1 and 5) and one relief appearance (Game 7), compiling a 2-0 record (and one save) with a 0.43 ERA, 0.48 WHIP and 17 strikeouts. He took both the NLCS and World Series MVP honors.
Now let's look at his career totals in the postseason and World Series:
Postseason total: 7-3 with a 2.14 ERA, 0.88 WHIP and 77 strikeouts in 14 appearances (12 starts)
World Series total: 4-0 with a 0.25 ERA, 0.53 WHIP and 31 strikeouts in 36 innings pitched (four starts and one relief appearance).
So where does this all stack up in terms of the all-time greats? Well, Bumgarner is the best as of right now. Here's the complete list of ERA leaders in World Series history:
1. Madison Bumgarner: 0.25 ERA in 36 IP
2. Jack Billingham: 0.36 ERA in 25.1 IP
3. Jon Lester: 0.43 ERA in 21 IP
4. Harry Brecheen: 0.83 ERA in 32.2 IP
5. Claude Osteen: 0.86 ERA in 21 IP
6. Babe Ruth: 0.87 ERA in 31 IP
7. Sherry Smith: 0.89 ERA in 30.1 IP
8. Sandy Koufax 0.95 ERA in 57 IP
9. Christy Mathewson: 0.97 ERA in 101.2 IP
10. Mariano Rivera: 0.99 ERA in 36.1 IP
*All statistics provided by BaseballReference.com
Pretty crazy, huh? Bumgarner also has the best WHIP (0.53), rate of hits allowed per nine innings (3.5), and is tied for first for the best win-loss percentage (1.000). These career statistics require 20 IP or four decisions by a pitcher, which Bumgarner just recently achieved.
And if you really look at the list of rankings per category, there aren't many pitchers in recent history that have achieved such greatness. Jon Lester is up there in ERA; Tim Lincecum is top-five for WHIP, hits per nine innings and strikeouts per nine innings; Orlando Hernandez and Josh Beckett are atop the list for strikeouts per nine innings and; Mariano Rivera has the most games played. Tom Glavine, David Cone, Mike Stanton, Curt Schilling and Andy Pettitte are also top-10 in a statistic or two, but are nowhere close to Bumgarner's dominance.
So for all of you who think that baseball is dying, I'd feel confident in saying you're wrong. The stars of today (Bumgarner, Mike Trout, Clayton Kershaw, Chris Sale, Bryce Harper, and numerous others) are well on their way to greatly influencing the game, which will keep fans engaged for years to come. Bumgarner is only 25 and he's already rewritten the record books.