Setting the bar: Expectations for Bumgarner’s return and the Giants’ next month

San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner throws against the Kansas City Royals during the first inning of a spring baseball game in Scottsdale, Ariz., Friday, March 23, 2018. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)SAN FRANCISCO–The excitement was palpable, the energy off the charts and the enthusiasm apparent from the moment he arrived on the scene.

And those were only Madison Bumgarner’s rehab starts.

The Giants ace will make his much-anticipated 2018 debut Tuesday evening at AT&T Park with his club in the thick of the National League West race. The expectations are understandably enormous for Bumgarner, a four-time All-Star and the 2014 World Series MVP who never seems to mind the pressure.

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