The good and bad of Madison Bumgarner joining the Colorado Rockies

You won’t find a list of the top pitchers this decade that does not include San Francisco Giants lefty Madison Bumgarner. Aside from Clayton Kershaw, Bumgarner has arguably been the most dominant left-handed pitcher in the National League the last 10 years.

He has made himself into an icon in San Francisco, most notably with his legendary performance in the Giants’ 2014 World Series run, winning both NLCS MVP and World Series MVP. That being said, it is growing more and more likely that Bumgarner will not finish 2019 in a Giants’ uniform.

With the Colorado Rockies in desperate need of starting pitching help, let’s take a look at the pros and cons of bringing MadBum to Colorado.

The benefits of bringing in Bumgarner are pretty obvious. He’s finished 11th or higher in Cy Young voting in five different seasons and established himself as one of the most reliable starting pitchers in the game.

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As noted above, Bumgarner has extensive playoff experience and, more importantly, has a track record of success in the postseason, carrying a career 2.11 ERA in the playoffs.

As evidenced by his personal feuds with players like Yasiel Puig and Max Muncy, Bumgarner is a fierce competitor and a bit of a throwback to an older brand of baseball. Along those same lines, since the Giants have a long-standing rivalry with the Dodgers, Bumgarner already has plenty of animosity built up against Colorado’s arch-nemesis so he should fit right in.

Bumgarner has also pitched well against L.A., recording a 2.72 ERA in 36 games, including a 2.67 ERA in 22 games at Dodger Stadium.

The Giants’ ace would also bring some competition at the plate for last season’s pitching Silver Slugger German Marquez as Bumgarner has two such awards himself to go along with 18 home runs and 61 RBI.