Madison Bumgarner has been more powerful at plate than Belt, Upton, Puig
In the past two seasons, San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner has been nearly as impressive in the batter's box as he has been on the mound, which is evidenced when stacking him up against some of the top hitters in the National League.
Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs notes that in the past two seasons, Bumgarner holds a higher slugging percentage than outfielders Yasiel Puig and Justin Upton and teammate Brandon Belt.
The 26-year-old lefty, who hits from the right side, recently sent his slugging percentage for 2015 to .465 by slugging his third home run of the season in a July 25 outing against the Oakland A's.
Bumgarner's slugging percentage dating back to the beginning of the 2014 season is now .468, which is just enough to eclipse Upton's and Belt's .467 slugging percentages and Puig's .462 clip during that timeframe.
While it's an eye-catching comparison, it's well worth noting that Bumgarner has only had 124 plate appearances over the past two seasons and Upton, Belt, and Puig have averaged 853 plate appearances during that span.
Nonetheless, Bumgarner's success at the plate has been impressive.
The 6-foot-5, 235-pound pitcher won the Silver Slugger award last year for hitting .258/.286/.470 with four home runs and 15 RBI in 66 at-bats.
He has averaged a home run every 15 at-bats in the past two seasons, which trumps Belt, who averages the smallest interval between home runs amongst the trio at 23 at-bats.
Bumgarner's power surge has proven to be a long-lasting affair, as he's hit home runs in May, June, and July this season.
His most notable shot?
A line-drive blast off of reigning NL MVP and Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw.
(h/t Jeff Sullivan)
