Fantasy Baseball: 5 Top-Tier Starting Pitchers to Avoid
Madison Bumgarner, San Francisco Giants
NFBC ADP: 73rd
Starting Pitcher (SP) Rank: 22
Draft Round (12-team league): 7th
With injuries derailing each of his last two seasons, limiting the workhorse to a combined 38 starts, Madison Bumgarner remains in the SP2 mix for drafters thus far. That feels a bit like Fool's Gold.
While the injuries could be the culprit, a steady decline has been eroding Bumgarner's excellence recently:
| Season | K% | BB% | Hard-Hit % | Swinging-Strike % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 27.5% | 5.9% | 31.6% | 11.5% |
| 2017 | 22.4% | 4.4% | 35.0% | 10.2% |
| 2018 | 19.8% | 7.8% | 41.6% | 9.2% |
With nearly every key statistic declining across the board from 2016 to 2018, do yourself a favor and let the early seventh-rounder slide on past and draft a different starting arm.
