Extra curricular activities backfire on Giants

Giants ace and MLB superstar Madison Bumgarner will be out of the rotation for some time. He was reportedly injured in a dirt bike accident and as a result, put on the DL for the first time in his career. According to various sources, Bumgarner injured his pitching shoulder and will be assessed next week.

If you’re looking for a silver lining, Bumgarner had started on Giants’ previous game just before the accident and was scheduled to start only twice during his forced absence by DL. But it’s likely he’ll be out for quite some time.

Accuscore’s simulations indicate that despite Giants’ disastrous start, they were highly likely to make the playoffs.

With Bumgarner fully operational, Giants record at the end of the season is predicted to be 89-73, making them 25.79% likely to win their division. With 89 wins, their probability to go to playoffs was 79.13%.

But Bumgarner is arguably the most influential player in Giants roster and the simulations confirm that assessment. He has lost all three of his starts, but hasn’t had much help in those and boasts ERA of 3.00.

Without their talisman ace in the rotation, the Giants lack that surefire sling to win those all-important close and low-scoring games, especially against winning teams.

After simulating the season with Bumgarner out until the All-Star break, the results were staggering: Giants predicted record plunged to 81-81 and their probability to make playoffs reduced to 33.33%.

Recent and latest information suggest that Bumgarner is likely to miss 6-8 weeks, which already brings heavy clouds on Giants season: even with shortened absence, their predicted record without Bumgarner fell to 85-77 and playoffs probability to 52.3%.

Giants better hope the injury sustained is not too serious and MadBum will be back sooner rather than later – and just as good as before. Of course if the injury proves more serious, trading for another ace is always an option, albeit a costly one.