SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The second week of March started with Joe Panik arriving in the desert to begin a 10-day stint as an instructor in Giants minor league camp. A night later, there was a full-blown 2014 reunion at Scottsdale Stadium.
Hunter Pence was in the dugout with the Giants. Dave Righetti was in the bullpen as a coach for Team USA. Javier Lopez was in the broadcast booth alongside Duane Kuiper. During batting practice, several of them had long conversations with Ron Wotus and Brandon Crawford, the last one standing from that era.
Crawford is now by far the longest-tenured Giant, but he's not quite alone from that last Giants title team.
Last Friday, about 200 yards from the main diamond at Salt River Fields, where Crawford and the Giants were taking on the Colorado Rockies, Madison Bumgarner got his pitch count up in a minor league game on a back field. If you ignored the Sedona red he was covered in, the scene was a familiar one. Bumgarner fired cutters in on hands and dropped curveballs for strikes. He struck out six while freezing several Chicago Cubs minor leaguers with well-placed fastballs. But there was a huge difference between pitches.
Bumgarner had a PitchCom device attached to his glove and called his own game. The man who for so many years seemed to have a telepathic connection with Buster Posey is now mixing technology into the way he works through innings.
"I love it," he said as he walked off the field a few minutes later. "Love it."
Bumgarner, 33, is in his 15th year in the big leagues. He might carry a reputation for being one of the more old-school players in the big leagues, but he has embraced the changes to the game in 2023.
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Earlier this spring, Bumgarner said he was fine with the pitch clock. "Out of all the rule changes, I probably like this one the most," he said. In his third inning of work last Friday, Bumgarner twice threw over to first to hold a runner. He then did it a third time, something that's now outlawed.
The decision led to a funny moment. The young Cubs baserunner stood still for a moment, seemingly knowing that a rule had been broken but also perhaps wondering whether it was a good idea to make the call himself. Bumgarner gently pointed to second base and the runner took his free bag.
"I just really wanted to see what would happen," Bumgarner said. "I'll do it again the next game, I just want to pick over twice regardless of the situation just to see what guys are trying to do after that, because I don't want to find out firsthand when the season starts. And then he was going to stay just because. I was like, 'Hey, it's okay.'"
The outing was the second of Bumgarner's fourth spring with the Diamondbacks, and it's perhaps more important than ever that he gets off to a good start. Bumgarner had a 4.88 ERA last season as the Diamondbacks started to come out of a rebuild, but they should compete for a playoff spot this year and their top-tier farm system is starting to churn out big league rotation options.
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Bumgarner is signed through next season and the Diamondbacks could use him back in form if they are to chase a playoff spot and sneak into October. The left-hander might have more big-game experience than the rest of the organization combined, and he's encouraged by the way the ball is coming out of his hand this spring.
"There are times where, if your stuff is right, it doesn't matter if you tell them what's coming -- you're going to be successful," he said. "I was maybe being predictable (last year) and stuff just wasn't moving very good. The cutters I threw today, I probably didn't throw any like that last year. It's not to say that they're going to be like that next time out. We're working on it and I'm trying to make sure I can get it that way, because it used to be that way. It's just staying on top of it and trying to make it as good as it can be."
As Bumgarner talked about his outing, Evan Longoria stood a few feet away, completing his morning workout. They are two of the most experienced players in the big leagues, but even though it's been nearly a decade since Bumgarner strolled out of that bullpen in Kansas City, he'll still run into some old friends this season.
Nearly all of that last championship core is retired, but Bumgarner will again face Crawford this season, and the Diamondbacks open their second half in Toronto against Brandon Belt and the Blue Jays. The game is changing quickly, but there are still matchups out there that will bring the nostalgia rushing back. Just not as many as there used to be.
"I do look around the league," Bumgarner said. "There's not many guys that are still here that we came up with."