NORWICH, Conn. – As much as Giants fans are waiting for the arrival of Madison Bumgarner at AT&T Park, so is Manny Ramírez.

Ramírez, the Los Angeles Dodgers' slugging outfielder, wants another chance at the 19-year-old kid who mowed him down on three pitches in an Arizona spring training game in April.

But for now, everyone must wait.

The lanky, 6-foot-5 left-hander from rural Hudson, N.C., is being carefully brought up through the Giants' farm system. The organization would like to ease him up the chain, but Bumgarner's 90-plus-mph stuff is making it difficult to go slow. His name has been linked to possible trades as the July 31 nonwaiver deadline approaches, but Giants general manager Brian Sabean recently has said he won't deal the club's future.

Bumgarner has torn through the Double-A Eastern League with a 7-1 record and 1.56 ERA for the Connecticut Defenders, garnering invitations to the league's All-Star Game and the Futures Game – and plenty of attention – in the process.

"I'm learning a lot fast, it seems like," Bumgarner said. "I'm glad I got to come (to Connecticut) and pitch. I'm learning a lot from these guys and from some of the older guys here."

But there's still much to learn before he's allowed to take his game to the major leagues.

Three-quarters delivery is best

Bumgarner gained prominence at South Caldwell High School in 2007 when the senior and his fastball led the school to a North Carolina state championship. The Giants selected him 10th overall in the first-year player draft a few weeks later and he received a $2 million signing bonus the day before the Aug. 15 deadline.

A combination of the late signing and mononucleosis limited Bumgarner's first pro season to only a few weeks.

With Bumgarner's comfort in mind in 2008, Giants director of player development Fred Stanley said the team purposely sent him four hours from home to its Class-A affiliate in Augusta, Ga.

"I'm glad they did that because I could just go home on off-days, go see the family," Bumgarner said. "It was a lot of fun that year. It kind of helped me settle into the lifestyle a little easier."

Bumgarner started the season 1-2 with a 7.71 ERA, but he improved after returning to the three-quarters delivery style he used in high school. He finished 2008 with a 15-3 record, including a 0.90 ERA over his final 21 starts and a five-game stretch from July 28 to Aug. 21 without allowing an earned run.

Augusta won its first South Atlantic League title in nine years.

There's more to pitching than fastballs

Connecticut pitching coach Ross Grimsley hopes the mistakes Bumgarner will make come sooner than later.

In a recent game against New Britain, Grimsley told Bumgarner to start batter Juan Portes with a curveball and a changeup. But Bumgarner threw a first-pitch fastball, and Portes, the only player to hit a home run off him at that point, slugged another.

"Now, here's a young guy who is learning that you have to pitch now and you can't just go out and throw," said Grimsley, who also tutored Bumgarner in Augusta. "The better hitters watch if you throw a first-pitch fastball to every hitter. They see what you do to left-handed hitters in a situation. If you get to the big leagues, they're going to know when you go to the bathroom."

One big-leaguer who certainly will keep an eye out for Bumgarner's ascension is Dodgers star Ramírez. In the final Cactus League game this past spring against Los Angeles, Bumgarner threw three shutout innings while striking out four Dodgers – one of them Ramírez.

"He's nasty," Ramírez told reporters in Arizona after the game. "Unbelievable. He has a fastball and a curveball. He's sneaky. He throws hard."

Paying his dues with the right attitude

The Giants are taking several precautions with Bumgarner, including starting both he and right-hander Tim Alderson, the 22nd overall pick in the 2007 draft, in San Jose in April.

"With their age and having not ever experienced pitching in the cold like this, (we wanted) to get them started and get them used to pitching on a daily routine and keep them strong," Stanley said after a recent Connecticut home game. "When the weather gets better, we'd ship them here, and that's exactly what happened."

Connecticut manager Steve Decker, a former Giants catcher, said Bumgarner's stint with the Defenders has gone as intended.

"This is moving awfully quick for him, and he's done a great job of handling it," Decker said. "He's coachable, he'll listen and these are all things that are (a crucial) part of his development."

Though Stanley would like to see Bumgarner remain in Double A through the end of the season, he admitted the decision is entirely up to Sabean.

While a call-up to Triple-A Fresno remains a possibility, Sabean has been noncommittal on whether Bumgarner will be called up to the big club later this season. The Giants' GM did, however, say during the team's last homestand that Bumgarner was untouchable in any trade talks.

Bumgarner eventually joining a staff that includes 2008 National League Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum and 2009 Cy Young candidate Matt Cain would strengthen the Giants' rotation, already considered one of the best.

"If I could fit into that pitching staff, I'd definitely be happy," Bumgarner said. "I mean, in my mind, that's the best pitching staff in the league."