April 17, 2021 5:47 AM : Arizona pitching coach Matt Herges has been working with Bumgarner to adjust his "mindset" ahead of the left-hander's scheduled start Sunday, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports.
Analysis: Bumgarner has been pounded through three outings and enters Sunday's start with an 11.20 ERA. As Herges described it, Bumgarner's focus during bullpen sessions is to use pitch-tracking data to make adjustments to specific pitches, but the coach wants him to focus on executing the next pitch. "He's elite in terms of the feel he has for what he's doing - his body, his mechanics - but I think the mindset is what we're working on, basically," Herges said. "If I had to just whittle it down, the mindset of making the pitch right here, right now." The coach wants Bumgarner to channel the pitcher he was in previous years and pointed to the final inning of his previous start Monday against the Athletics. In that inning, Bumgarner threw just three fastballs among 23 pitches, and that's not the way he pitched when leading the Giants two World Series titles.