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For Madison Bumgarner and the Diamondbacks, days like Sunday have been few and far between. His stuff was crisp. His command was good. His results were even better.
For five innings, Bumgarner looked like the pitcher the Diamondbacks had hoped he would be all year. Then, come the sixth, he was gone, removed from a game the Diamondbacks would eventually lose, 3-2, to the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.
While taking out their Opening Day starter after five shutout innings, his pitch count at 80, might seem like an odd move on the surface, finding positives in an otherwise dreary season made sense to the Diamondbacks’ coaching staff, manager Torey Lovullo said.
“I think it was decided that 80 pitches and walking off the mound with a really positive, good feeling about the outing was the best strategy,” Lovullo said.
Lovullo had to add the qualifier about the decision — “I think” — because, he said, he was not a part of it. He was ejected in the top of the fourth for arguing balls and strikes, leaving such decisions to the rest of his coaching staff, namely pitching coach Matt Herges, bench coach Luis Urueta and quality control/catching coach Robby Hammock.
The move made sense on a number of levels. For one, Bumgarner had watched a potential win vanish five days earlier when Lovullo chose to send him back out for the sixth, a move Lovullo admitted was the wrong one.
Moreover, there just haven’t been many opportunities lately for Bumgarner to feel all that good about himself. Even five days ago, had he departed after five, his line still would not have been pretty.
In each of his three appearances since returning from the injured list, Bumgarner had given up two home runs. He also had just six strikeouts in 14 1/3 innings.
Things were different on Sunday, a day that likely ranks as Bumgarner’s best of the season.
He struck out seven and walked one. He did not allow a home run. He allowed little in the way of hard contact, with only two balls coming off Astros hitters’ bats at 95 mph or harder.
Even his velocity ticked up. Bumgarner’s fastball averaged 88.9 mph, up from its season average of 88.1. His cutter (84.3, up from 83.3) and curveball (77.4, up from 76.8) were up, as well.
Bumgarner was ahead in the count often. And for perhaps the first time this season he was able to put hitters away with relative ease. Bumgarner faced 18 hitters on Sunday. Against 14 of them, he was ahead in the count after three pitches or had already recorded an out on three pitches or less.
“We made a lot of good pitches,” Bumgarner said. “Still made some mistakes. Nobody is going to go through an entire game without (any), but the less you make the less chance you have of them hurting you, too. We made some good pitches. Made some adjustments to what I was doing. Not physically. Mentally. Thought process and all that. Did things a little different and it showed up.”
Bumgarner would not go into specifics about what those mental changes were — “I’m going to keep that to myself,” he said — but he did admit to feeling better about the way he pitched after a stretch in which Lovullo said Bumgarner had been “battling through some frustration over the past couple weeks.”
“I don’t know if I would word it exactly that way because that’s what I expect,” Bumgarner said when asked if the outing were refreshing. “But, yeah, haven’t really had many like that. I felt good about what we did today and the way we did it.”
Said Lovullo: “He did a great job of controlling the zone, throwing all pitches, hitting his spots. He gave us five scoreless and handed off to the bullpen. That was a real, real encouraging sign.”
Bumgarner said he wanted to remain in the game but didn’t have a problem with the decision.
“Some of the discussions we’re having with Matt Herges,” Lovullo said, “we’re getting to that point in the season where we’re looking for positive outcomes. Not just Bum, but we want to make sure these guys are walking off the mound feeling good about themselves in preparation for their next outing. Bum’s not exempt from those conversations.”
Short hops
Second baseman Josh Rojas exited Sunday’s game early due to what Lovullo described as “lower back discomfort.” Rojas is considered day-to-day, Lovullo said.
*Second baseman Ketel Marte is expected to get a handful of at-bats in a simulated game on Monday and remains on target to return from the injured list during the season’s final homestand. Marte has been on the injured list since Sept. 9 due to left wrist inflammation.
*Right-hander Taylor Widener was reinstated from the injured list before Sunday’s game, in which he allowed a run on two hits and two walks in two-thirds of an inning while working in the sixth. Widener, who had been out since Aug. 31 with a strained right rib cage, took the place of right-hander Joel Payamps, who was optioned.
Reach Piecoro at (602) 444-8680 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @nickpiecoro.
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