Although Jake Arrieta of the Chicago Cubs holds the distinction as the best hitting pitcher right now, there’s probably no arguing that Madison Bumgarner has been the best one over the past few years.
Hell, he even has the support of his manager.
Earlier this season, for a few examples, Bumgarner batted for himself in the American League during interleague play and even made a strong case to be included in the 2016 Home Run Derby (there’s still hope for 2017).
So, then, it should probably come as no surprise to anyone that Bumgarner was asked to pinch hit for Matt Cain on Sunday – Bumgarner likes to hit and is pretty good at it – but the fact that Cain was working on a no-hitter AND THEN Bumgarner crushed a double is pretty crazy:
1. Bumgarner pinch-hits for Cain
2. Bumgarner doubles
3. Samardzija pinch-runs for Bumgarner
4. Samardzija scores pic.twitter.com/dsQxGqqx5H— MLB (@MLB) July 31, 2016
Cain was on a strict pitch count – and it was only the fifth inning – so don’t feel too bad for him, but that does add a level of crazy to this story. But back to Bumgarner, Statcast has more details on the hit:
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Apparently, Bumgarner hit that ball 102.7 MPH off of Gio Gonzalez, placing the ball 367 feet from home (a home run in some stadiums). After being lifted for Jeff Samardzija, that run wound up scoring as the winning run of the game. What a huge moment.