Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Madison Bumgarner’s had a tough start to the 2023 season, but that doesn’t excuse his actions towards Willson Contreras.
What ever happened to MadBum? The former San Francisco Giants legend signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks a few offseasons back and hasn’t been the same since. It’s a classic baseball ‘what if’ tale.
On Wednesday afternoon, Bumgarner was offended by Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras at the plate. After Contreras fouled one back off Bumgarner, the fiery left-handed pitcher took offense for some odd reason.
It wasn’t a good look for Bumgarner, who cameras caught yelling obscenities at Contreras. I’m not a lip reader, but my goodness does MadBum have a mouth on him.
Why was Madison Bumgarner angry with Willson Contreras?
It’s unclear exactly what Bumgarner was upset about, as all Contreras did was essentially swing his bat hard, foul off a pitch and make some noise in the process. Surely Contreras wasn’t trying to offend Bumgarner, a pitcher who belongs in a different era.
Pitchers tend to grunt and make noise when they pitch relatively frequently. Bumgarner is not immune to this, either. So…why does it matter if Contreras makes some noise?
Willson didn’t understand it, and the two were jawing for the majority of Contreras’ at-bat. When the St. Louis Cardinals catcher finally walked, he responded by staring out towards the mound and flipping his bat as if he’d just hit a game-winning grand slam.
And that, my friends, represents a clear win.
Bumgarner has an ERA around 11 so far on the season. Regardless of what he’s done in the past, Bumgarner could use a fresh start elsewhere, or ought to retire and live in the glory days like most old school pitchers. It’s just not working anymore.