Madison Bumgarner injury update: Giants’ star plays catch

After his freak dirt bike accident, San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner is taking a significant step towards returning to the mound.

While still recovering from the Memorial Day melee that resulted in pitcher Hunter Strickland getting for suspended six games, the San Francisco Giants received some good news Tuesday.

All-star pitcher Madison Bumgarner played catch today for the first time since his crazy dirt bike accident in mid-April. Check out the video proof below, courtesy of Alex Pavlovic, who covers the Giants for NBC Sports Bay Area:

Bumgarner has been on the disabled list, his first ever stint in his career since April 21.  He suffered a sprained left shoulder and bruised ribs while riding his dirt bike during a Giants off day. The expectation at the time was that Bumgarner would miss at least 6-8 weeks or perhaps longer.

While the dirt bike injury sounds epic at first, Bumgarner recounted that it wasn’t so much of an interesting story:

"“I wish I had some kind of cool story for you that it was some kind of crazy wreck, but it really wasn’t anything spectacular, just super unfortunate. I was actually being pretty safe the whole time; it was just a freak deal. It happened right at the end. That’s really it,”"

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At the time of his injury, Bumgarner was in the midst of a somewhat rough season, at least by his standards. He’s currently winless on the year (0-3) with a 3.00 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 27 innings.

Bumgarner is about six weeks removed from the injury. It is certainly a good sign that he is able to play catch at this stage, which could mean a rehab assignment is not far off.

The Giants could desperately use Bumgarner. They are just 22-31 and in fourth place in the National League west in a season in which many felt they would contend for another World Series crown.