Diamondbacks noncommittal on Madison Bumgarner’s future with team

Madison Bumgarner‘s future with the Arizona Diamondbacks appears uncertain after another rough outing by the veteran pitcher.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo offered a noncommittal response when asked about the franchise’s plan for Bumgarner, whose ERA ballooned to 10.26 with Wednesday’s 14-5 loss to the Cardinals.

“I don’t know,” Lovullo told reporters. “I don’t know. As we do with every situation after every start, we group up as a staff and then sit down with the front office and figure out what to do next.

“That’s what we’re gonna end up doing. … The staff will sit down and figure out what’s going to give us the best option in five days. We do the same thing after every start, and we’ll do that again.”

Bumgarner lasted just three innings in Arizona’s 14-5 loss in St. Louis, yielding seven earned runs on seven hits and four walks. He allowed five batted balls with an exit velocity of at least 100 mph.

Bumgarner fell to 0-3 this season and has yielded 19 earned runs in just 16 2/3 innings over four starts. The four-time All-Star’s average fastball velocity this season is just 89.5 mph, a drop from his 91.2 mph average in 2022.

“I wish I had some kind of answers,” Bumgarner told reporters. “Not that I’m not gonna look for them — I’m gonna look for them. But right now, I don’t have any for you guys. I wish I did. But I don’t.”

Bumgarner, 33, will make $23 million this season, the fourth year of his five-year, $85 million deal with the Diamondbacks. The left-hander is set to make $14 million in 2024.

General manager Mike Hazen said last month that Bumgarner’s salary would not impact his role, emphasizing that the Diamondbacks “need to win baseball games.”

“We’ve never been asked to make decisions based on money or anything like that,” Hazen said, according to the Arizona Republic. “We need to win baseball games. We’re trying to win every single baseball game we’re going out to play. We want the five guys in the rotation to solidify those spots and give us some stability there. … We’ll continue to assess it as we go, but we need to win baseball games.”

The Diamondbacks have gotten off to a fast start this season and enter Thursday’s game against the Padres in first place in the NL West with an 11-8 record, but they are 1-3 in Bumgarner’s four starts.

“It’s very tough,” Lovullo said Wednesday. “The empathetic side of me hurts for him, and I want every pitcher to do well and I know how hard he’s working. He’s just grinding.

“The other side of me is extremely frustrated. I just want to see everybody do well to help us win baseball games, and of course that didn’t happen today.”

Bumgarner, renowned for his fiery temper on the mound, also was involved in a brief verbal spat Wednesday with Willson Contreras after the Cardinals catcher fouled off a pitch. The two appeared to exchange multiple expletives before Contreras walked and emphatically flipped his bat.

Bumgarner did not reveal specific details about what Contreras said or did to bother him, telling reporters, “If you can’t see it, I don’t know how to help,” before ultimately acknowledging that he needs to “pitch better.”

“Contreras plays the way he does, and we feel a certain way about his style inside of this clubhouse,” Lovullo said. “He does what he does, and you gotta accept it.”

A three-time World Series winner with the Giants, Bumgarner has struggled during his three-plus seasons with the Diamondbacks, going 15-32 with a 5.23 ERA over 69 starts.