BSN Exclusive: Story breaks down Bumgarner matchup, then breaks record

With a two-run home run into the left field bleachers on Sunday, Trevor Story put his club ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the first and provided a big shot in the arm to starting pitcher Kyle Freeland, who gave up a leadoff home run to put the Rockies behind early.

“(We) just tried to switch the momentum a little bit,” Story said of the three Colorado runs in the first. “We ran with him after that. We feel like we’re a really good team and we feel like we can battle back from tough spots like that.”

Two batters later, Nolan Arenado hit a solo homer in what would be the decisive run in the 6-3 victory. Another one in the fifth marked the 18th multi-homer game in his seven-year career. One might suggest a case of one-upmanship, if not just a friendly rivalry between the two power-hitting infielders.

“We’re not blind to it,” Story admitted of his 25th home run of the season being followed closely behind by Arenado’s 23rd and 24th. “We see each other. We have tabs on each other, sure. It’s kind of an unsaid thing. We love to push each other and compete with each other.”

Story’s dinger marked the fifth straight contest with a homer against San Francisco, tying Andrés Galarraga for the longest streak verse a single opponent in Rockies’ history; the Big Cat set the mark against St. Louis in 1996 during games between May 28-August 22.

Even more impressive, Story joins an elite class of only two Hall of Famers who have homered in five straight games against the Giants’ franchise: Rogers Hornsby (Aug. 25-Sept. 24, 1922) and Mike Schmidt (May 13-July 9, 1979).

“It’s always humbling be next to those guys,” he said of the historic home run. “Really good baseball players. They got pretty hot. It’s cool to be beside them in that aspect.”

The link between Friday night’s homer off RHP Shaun Anderson and Sunday’s against RHP Tyler Beede was four-time All-Star and three-time World Series Champion LHP Madison Bumgarner. The 449 ft blast was one of Story’s deepest of the season, coming on an 89 mph cutter down in the zone. 

“Bumgarner is tough to face,” Story conceded. “You know, he’s got some good stuff. He attacks. I tried to get a good pitch that I could handle. I chased the at-bat before, so I just tried to zone him up a little bit and got a good pitch that I could handle.”

The five-pitch, swinging strikeout in the first inning didn’t leave Story expecting to see the same thing twice, as if the equivalent of his hitting kryptonite had been discovered by Bumgarner. 

“No. Not really. I just kind of felt a little uncomfortable at that first at-bat. And then just tried to settle in a little bit in the second one. I just kind of calmed myself, took it as a normal at-bat. I wasn’t really playing off the last at-bat,” he said of the initial matchup.

As hard as it may be to believe, most hitters prefer to face a pitcher in which they have familiarity, even if that includes a hurler of Bumgarner’s caliber. Clayton Kershaw. Zach Greinke. Max Scherzer. The more, the better.

Familiarity may breed contempt, but for ballplayers, it’s breeds positive visualization. All of which means that before the crowd of 47,540 at Coors Field witnessed Story’s two-run longball on Saturday night, he had already envisioned it.

“(That’s) a big part of my game for sure. I visualize a lot before the game, during the game, pretty much all over the field, I’m visualizing. It’s a big part of my game, like I said, so it’s something I really do believe in,” he concluded.

While Story might only have a lifetime batting average of .219 in 32 at bats against MadBum, he’s 6-for-23 (.261) since his rookie season, and it’s the memory and vision of four career home runs and nine runs batted in during that span which will leave a lasting impression.