In 2010, Madison Bumgarner and Buster Posey were two rookies who made a contribution to leading the city of San Francisco to their first ever World Series. As NL Rookie of the Year and winning the 2010 World Series, Buster Posey stole the show and became the face the of San Francisco Giants and it's biggest star since Barry Lamar Bonds. Giants already had a starting staff of All Star Matt Cain, 2 time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum, along with Barry Zito and Jonathan Sanchez to round out the rotation. Bumgarner, was a big part at age 21 and a rookie in the league, in helping the Giants win the 2010 World Series. From 2011 to this day, Madison Bumgarner has improved year-after-year whether his team puts together a winning or losing team. Madison Bumgarner has quietly put together his game at a high level that gets overlooked by Clayton Kershaw, Felix Hernandez, Adam Wainwright, Cliff Lee, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Jon Lester, and Stephen Strasburg. Bumgarner is not a man for attention. He just goes out there and gets the job done. Bumgarner's game isn't flashy, but he finds a way to get guys out swinging and by putting the ball out in play to let his defense make the outs. Clayton Kershaw is very difficult to land a hit off in games and hitters tend to fear he is going to pitch eight to nine innings a game. Madison Bumgarner doesn't instill that fear, but he finds ways to get hitters out. Madison isn't invincible and hitters tend to rack up hits, but he has a low walk rate and holds the runners on. Bumgarner works his way into the some of top categories in baseball statistics every season, but there is one thing that separates himself from the rest: He was born for the playoffs.
At age 25, through the 4 years Bumgarner has been in the playoffs, he currently holds the MLB record in the playoffs for the lowest ERA in road starts. His ERA of 0.53 is lower than the likes of Hall of Famers Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, and to be Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera. Of the starting pitchers who get attention, they don't even fit in this category nor have some even smelled the playoffs. That stat is incredible and Bumgarner always seems to be consistent through regular season and the playoffs. Clayton Kershaw will always be credited as the best pitcher in baseball and the National League, but if I were to reevaluate what makes the best pitcher, I would simply put Madison Bumgarner at the top. Here is a look of the career playoff statistics so far for Madison Bumgarner and Clayton Kershaw:
Clayton Kershaw - 4 Playoff Appearances, 11 Games Played, 8 Games Started, 51 IP, 1-5 5.12 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 58 K's 0 World Series
Madison Bumgarner - 3 Playoff Appearances, 9 Games Played, 8 Games Started 51.2 IP, 4-3 2.96 ERA, 1.08 WHIP 48 K's 2 World Series
Some may argue, Clayton Kershaw doesn't have the supporting cast or staff the San Francisco Giants had in the success to their 2 World Series Championships. I will give them that, but you can't discredit the imbalance of Clayton Kershaw in the regular season and when he reaches the playoffs. In the regular season, Clayton Kershaw is not human. When the playoffs come around, he is a different kind of pitcher and someone who needs to mentally work on his game to step up in the playoffs.
Madison Bumgarner is only 25 years old and Clayton Kershaw is 26 years old. These two will be battling it out for the next decade and will continue to electrify. While it may not be the popular vote, if I am starting one game (home or away) and you need one pitcher to help you win that game, I am putting the ball in Madison Bumgarner's hand and letting him lead my team. I would choose Madison Bumgarner over the likes of Clayton Kershaw, Felix Hernandez and others. Buster Posey has company in San Francisco, Madison Bumgarner is another top face right next to him.
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