The San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks began their season on Sunday at Chase Field. The pitching matchup was a good one too: Madison Bumgarner vs. Zack Greinke.
In the top of the fifth inning, Bumgarner drove in his team’s second run of the game (and season!) with a line drive home run to left field. Greinke left a fastball up and Bumgarner, who is the best power-hitting pitcher in baseball, really laid into it.
That home run was something of a record: at 112.5 mph off the bat, it was the hardest hit home run by a pitcher during the Statcast era. Statcast launched in 2015.
The home run was Bumgarner’s second against Greinke. He also took him deep back in 2014, when Greinke was pitching for the rival Los Angeles Dodgers. Bumgarner now has 15 career home runs, the most among active pitchers.
Furthermore, Bumgarner did something Sunday that hasn’t been done since 2013: he homered on Opening Day as a pitcher. The last pitcher to go deep on Opening Day was the great Clayton Kershaw. Here are the last five pitchers to hit a home run in the season opener:
- 2017: Madison Bumgarner, Giants off Zack Greinke, Diamondbacks
- 2013: Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers off George Kontos, Giants
- 1988: Joe Magrane, Cardinals off Mario Soto, Reds
- 1982: Rick Rhoden, Pirates off Jim Kaat, Cardinals
- 1969: Dan McGinn, Expos off Tom Seaver, Mets
But wait! Bumgarner wasn’t done. In the top of the seventh inning, he swatted another home run, this one against lefty reliever Andrew Chafin. This was another bomb.
Bumgarner is the first pitcher in baseball history to hit two home runs on Opening Day. He’s the first pitcher to hit two homers in a single game since New York Mets ace Noah Syndergaard did it to the Dodgers last year.
