Madison Bumgarner has two or three more starts left this season.
Those could be Bumgarner's final starts in a Giants uniform.
With the playoffs out of sight for the Giants and free agency looming for Bumgarner, he is starting to field some of the same questions he got before the July 31 trade deadline.
Has Bumgarner started to think about the end of his time with the Giants?
"No, I hadn't," Bumgarner told reporters after the Giants' 4-2 loss to the Marlins. "I don't want that to come across the wrong way, but same deal, just take it one game at a time. Who knows what the future holds. Can't get caught up in that, so we had a ballgame to win today and I did my best to give us a chance to win and that's all I can really do."
Bumgarner was his vintage self on Saturday night. In seven strong innings, he allowed four hits and two earned runs. One pitch to Miami catcher Jorge Alfaro cost him.
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Despite the two-run homer allowed to Alfaro, manager Bruce Bochy liked what he saw from his ace.
"I thought he was great tonight," Bochy told reporters. "Really good, effecient job. One pitch there left the ballpark, but overall, there he is, seven innings, two runs, that's pretty nice work. We're just struggling offensively, couple runners left on third with one out, that's not going to help out matters either."
[RELATED: Where Bumgarner projects among free agents]
Bumgarner will hit the free agent market for the first time this winter. With the Giants rebuilding, it's quite possible that president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi lets Bumgarner leave in free agency. Or Zaidi could bring back Bumgarner to anchor the rotation for a few more years.
As Bumgarner said himself on Saturday night, who knows what the future holds.
