Giants’ Bumgarner says he’s ’95 percent’ healed

San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner pronounced himself “95 percent or more” healed after a bullpen session Saturday at AT&T Park.

“Hitting, throwing, any baseball stuff feels normal,” he said, per MLB.com

Bumgarner suffered a fractured left hand late in spring training when he was hit by a line drive off the bat of the Royals’ Whit Merrifield on March 23.

The MVP of the 2014 World Series said he’s speeding up his recovery pace to get ready to return, faster than his usual spring training regimen. He is to throw live batting practice on Tuesday in Houston and then make an injury rehabilitation start May 26 for Sacramento, the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate.

“I’m trying to get it going as fast as I can,” Bumgarner said. “That’s a little bit different approach to it. Spring training, I’d start out with a little more feel and not quite the same effort level. Here, I’m trying to throw at close to game-speed effort as you can in the bullpen at 10:30 in the morning.”

Bumgarner also missed three months last season because of injuries he sustained in a dirt bike accident in April. His spring training stats were strong this year, fueling hopes of a bounce-back year.

Bumgarner, 28, had a 3.32 ERA in 17 starts last season. He is 104-76 with a 3.01 ERA for his nine-year major league career.

–Field Level Media