Madison Bumgarner adds to his legacy — as a hitter

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Sometimes it’s hard to determine whether what Madison Bumgarner does as a pitcher or a hitter is more impressive.

Entering Thursday’s game against the Atlanta Braves as one of the hottest pitchers in the major leagues, Bumgarner homered in the fifth inning, kick-starting a six-run rally in the San Francisco Giants’ 6-0 win.

The home run was Bumgarner’s second of the season. Noah Syndergaard of the New York Mets is the only other pitcher in the majors with more than one home run in 2016. Only two players on the Braves have more than two home runs this season.

Historical context

Looking at the context of Bumgarner’s team and all of baseball, he has been among the most prolific homer-hitting pitchers.

Powerful arms

Most home runs by a pitcher in baseball’s divisional era (started in 1969)

Carlos Zambrano24Mike Hampton16Madison Bumgarner13Don Robinson13Rick Wise13

He is tied for third for most career home runs by a pitcher in the divisional era, which started in 1969.

Since the start of the 2012 season, Bumgarner has 13 home runs. The next most by a pitcher in that time is seven (Travis Wood). Bumgarner has 39 RBIs since the start of 2012; the next closest by a pitcher is 24, by Adam Wainwright.

Bumgarner is …

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