Is It Time to Officially Start Fearing Madison Bumgarner's 2014 Workload?

Last October, Madison Bumgarner was superhuman—and that's barely hyperbole.

You remember the image: the big left-hander, bearded and glowering, striding out of the bullpen and mowing down the Kansas City Royals on two days' rest to clinch another championship for the even-year-loving San Francisco Giants.

It was among the greatest Game 7 performances in baseball history, and it capped a truly historic postseason for Bumgarner.

When the dust had settled and it was time for champagne, Bumgarner's 2014 playoff line looked like this: 52.2 IP, 6 ER, 45 SO, 6 BB.

To put an even finer point on it: This is probably the closest any player—and certainly any pitcher—has ever come to single-handedly winning a World Series.

So that's the background, and it's glorious to relive if you're a Giants fan.

Now comes the hand-wringing.

Peer up at that playoff line again. Does any number jump out at you? Like, say, the 52.2 innings Bumgarner tacked onto his arm after tossing 217.1 frames in the regular season?

In all, FanGraphs' Jeff Zimmerman calculated, Bumgarner threw 4,074 pitches in 2014, second only to Kansas City's James Shields, who threw 4,080.

That's a weighty workload, even for a horse like MadBum. Inevitably, there would be questions about his gas gauge come 2015.

"I've had these questions before, during the 2010 season," Bumgarner said after reporting to the Cactus League, per ESPN.com's Christina Kahrl. "I've kind of been through that a little bit." 

That was Bumgarner's rookie campaign, when, at age 20, he made 18 starts in the regular season and tossed another 20.2 innings in the postseason en route to San Francisco's first championship. 

In 2011, the left-hander came back strong and cracked the 200-inning plateau, a feat he's accomplished every season since. During that span, he's made two All-Star teams and hoisted three Commissioner's Trophies.

Still, the doubts linger. And those inclined to fret could fixate on the 15 hits and eight earned runs he's coughed up in 8.1 spring innings. 

Ah, but madness lies. Don't focus on the results; focus on the process.

Bumgarner has looked better with each appearance. The fastball and cutter, his bread and butter, appear to be working, and he said he's getting a feel for his changeup and curveball after a March 13 start against the Chicago White Sox, per The Associated Press (via Fox Sports). 

If you still require proof that exhibition stats are meaningless, here's a number for you: 9.20. That was Clayton Kershaw's spring ERA last season, and—let me check—things worked out OK for him.

Or how about this crazy comparison? In 2001, another southpaw by the name of Randy Johnson tossed 249.2 innings in the regular season and another 41.1 in the postseason. He even came out of the pen in the World Series to complete the symmetry.

Oh, and the following year, he won a Cy Young Award.

Matt Slocum/Associated Press/Associated Press

Yes, if the Giants manage to make an odd-year run and Bumgarner is again asked to shoulder the load, the questions will resurface. Fatigue may ultimately set in, Johnson outliers notwithstanding.

For now, though, we're talking about a 25-year-old stud who's done nothing but get better with each passing year.

"Look at the guy, how big and strong he is," Bruce Bochy told KNBR's Brian Murphy and Paul McCaffrey when asked about the status of his ace. "Nobody puts more work in that weight room than Bum. He's so religious with his workouts."

"Religious." That's a fitting word choice. In fact, might as well just etch it over the entrance to the Giants clubhouse until further notice: "In MadBum we trust."

All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference unless otherwise noted.