Analyzing Madison Bumgarner’s Swing: What Makes Him Such a Threat at the Plate?
The Giants’ ace hit two homers on Opening Day, and shows no signs of slowing down
One of the best pitchers to ever toe the rubber is also a serious power threat at the plate. MadBum can do it all.
When you think of Madison Bumgarner, you usually think of lights out performances on the mound. Bumgarner is absolutely filthy with a three quarters arm slot and a wipeout slider. Arguably one of the best pitchers in the bigs, MadBum has proven he can also hit.
When we talk about pitchers who produce at the plate, it’s usually in terms of, “Well not bad for a pitcher.” But when it comes to Madison Bumgarner, that saying doesn’t come into play.
I’m not trying to say he’s a stud at the plate who hits for average and power. It’s literally only power. But that’s a big deal, and he’s helped his club quite a bit because of it. In eight seasons in the majors, the North Carolina native has hit 16 home runs with his best season being 2015, where he hit 5 homers in 77 at bats.
Then there’s this year. In his first start of the season Bumgarner was lights out as always, tossing seven innings and giving up three earned runs while sitting down eleven Diamondbacks hitters via strikeout. But what he did at the plate got people talking. MadBum went 2–2 with two no doubters, one of which came against the elite arm of Zack Greinke. Take a look for yourself:
Pretty impressive. Let’s analyze his swing, and understand what makes him such a home run threat to opposing pitchers.
The Swing
When you’re 6' 5" 250 pounds, it definitely helps. Bumgarner is a big, physical presence both on the mound and at the plate. But he has a serious feel for hitting. His swing is flawless — every part of it.
He features a leg lift when loading up, just like in the windup on the mound, except not as high. But as that front leg lifts and his hands load back all his power and weight moves to the back leg and back side, actually very similar to pitching. But if you notice in the slow motion video below, he transfers his weight from the back side through the front side perfectly:
When the front foot hits the ground all the force from the back side of his body transfers through the front side, and he explodes through the baseball. If you also look at his front foot when it lands it’s on a 45 degree angle, which is great because when he does connect with the baseball all the torque created by the midsection is there as part of the swing, a vital part of bat speed. He keeps the bottom hand (and bottom elbow) tucked in close to his body so the bat path to the ball is literally perfect. It also creates a ton of bat lag, which equals more bat speed, and the barrel of the bat flies through the hitting zone.
And then the finish. The balance in his swing is just as good as any. He doesn’t lose traction, has a nice two arm follow through, and keeps his head on the ball through the zone.
We know MadBum pitches left-handed. But in a right-handed swing his strong arm, the left, is the bottom hand on the bat. That’s the dominant hand in a swing, which is another reason he’s got such great bat speed.
In fact, in the Opening Day game in Arizona where he belted two bombs, each home run had an exit velocity of at least 112 mph. The next player to match a stat like that in the statcast era? Giancarlos Stanton. Pretty impressive company for Madison Bumgarner.
Two-Way Threat
It’s definitely comforting for Bruce Bochy to know he’s got a solid bat off the bench to pinch hit. Who knows what role Bumgarner could play in the Giants season offensively when he’s not on the mound. But if one thing is for sure, he has a lot of power. I don’t see any reason to believe he won’t continue to rake at the plate, as well as carve up opposing hitters when he’s on the mound.
