For the second consecutive year, the San Francisco Giants must get through most of the first half of the season without ace Madison Bumgarner. On Friday, Bumgarner took a line drive off his left hand and immediately exited the spring training game. Tests later revealed Bumgarner fractured his left hand and will now be out of action for at least seven weeks. Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic first reported the news.
Bumgarner's 2018 season now will feel very similar to last year for the Giants and fantasy owners. He missed two months last season due to an AC joint sprain, then returned in July and battled through some rust issues to finish the season with a 3.43 ERA, 4.38 FIP and 73 strikeouts in 84 innings pitched.
The injury is officially diagnosed as a displaced fracture of his fifth metacarpal and he'll undergo surgery tomorrow to insert pins into the knuckle, per Baggarly's report. The pins will then be removed in four-to-six weeks. After that point, the team will progress Bumgarner to begin the rehabilitation practice. As Baggarly notes, former Giants' pitcher Ryan Vogelsong suffered the same injury years ago and missed just over two months.
Before today, Bumgarner's average draft position saw him go around the 25th on average, according to FantasyPros ADP data. Among pitchers, fantasy owners targeted him fifth at his position with expectations for an ace season and a potential Cy Young candidacy. Now because of the injury, Bumgarner will plummet down draft boards and could find himself outside the top-35 starting pitchers due to the likelihood of missing eight-plus starts.
Without a firmer timetable for a potential return and with the risks that come from a pitcher missing up to two months of action then having to work his way up to where he is comfortable and ready for MLB competition again. For fantasy owners who already drafted and without DL spots, this is just a situation where a roster spot will be burned earlier in the year and you have to deal with the cost. The good news is just that this shouldn't negatively influence Bumgarner's skills or limit his repertoire or velocity when he returns.
San Francisco will likely turn to Derek Holland to step into the rotation, but he is not a fantasy relevant pitcher.