SAN FRANCISCO–The public had Madison Bumgarner wearing a different uniform on Opening Day.

After back-to-back losing seasons and a high-profile front office shakeup, the star pitcher with a dazzling postseason résumé was ticketed by many in the industry for a contender. Surely, Bumgarner –an ace set to hit free agency at the end of the year– had little value for a Giants team that dropped 187 games in a span of 18 months and needed to rebuild.

Then again, what people think of Bumgarner is often very different than what those close to him know about the sturdy left-hander.

“I’m not so worried about my perception to guys outside this clubhouse,” Bumgarner said.

He never has been.

When the public looks at Bumgarner, 29, it sees a player in decline. Stat-lovers point to his plummeting strikeouts per nine innings (7.6) total and a career-high in walks per nine innings (3.0) in 2018 and see a pitcher who isn’t missing bats. Front offices view a decrease in fastball velocity and an increasing reliance on a curveball and see a starter who doesn’t attack like he once did. Fans watch a fiery competitor openly question umpires and draw the ire of opposing players only to wonder if his temper is finally getting the best of him.

The data is an overwhelming indication that Bumgarner’s best days are behind him. But inside the Giants’ clubhouse, his teammates believe Bumgarner is still one of the game’s elites.

“Part of the reason why he’s always going to be good and I think he could pitch until he’s 50 if he wanted to is that he can find a way to figure out how to get guys out,” catcher Buster Posey said. “One way or another he’d find a way to get guys out.”

As he enters his 10th season at the major league level, Bumgarner’s arm has the mileage of an RV that makes annual cross-country ventures. His 1,638 1/3 innings pitched rank seventh in San Francisco Giants history and if he stays healthy through the trade deadline, he’ll have a chance to move into fourth place on the list.

Whether he remains with San Francisco past the deadline is a question only president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi can answer. Whether he’ll succeed beyond July 31 is a question most Giants feel comfortable tackling.

“If you stay healthy there may never be an end,” pitching coach Curt Young said. “He loves the game of baseball, he loves getting better at it every single day and he can play as long as he wants.”

If analysts and experts agree Bumgarner is on the downslope, what gives the pitcher and his peers so much confidence in his future? That’s another war of perception and reality.

In an increasingly data-driven league where the terms spin rate and exit velocity are studied and embraced, Bumgarner is as old-school as a drive-in movie theater.

Except he doesn’t watch much video.

“As far as the hitters and stuff, I watch the game,” Bumgarner said. “I look at how a guy is built, how he’s put together, where he stands in the box, his stance, all that different stuff. I don’t go and watch tape of any hitters. I don’t look at any of the numbers either.”

Bumgarner’s lack of desire to turn on the tape or filter through spreadsheets fits the old-school narrative. But old-school in the baseball world is often confused with ignorant. In Bumgarner’s case, that’s wrong.

He sees hitters through a different lens, one that even his teammates can’t fathom. When they see an opponent take a swing, Bumgarner watches a hitter reveal a hole that can be exploited.

“He’ll be messing with you one second and the next he’ll be giving you some really good advice you’ve never heard,” fellow starter Dereck Rodríguez said. “Like ever.”

Rodríguez attributes part of his successful assimilation to the big leagues to a steady stream of advice provided by Bumgarner. The veteran lefty has a knack for eyeing a hitter’s mechanical flaws and he’ll eagerly share observations with teammates.

Despite being a willing teacher, Bumgarner’s legacy gives him the aura of a legend. Teammates may not consider him the most approachable player, but he’s self-aware enough to understand when his help is desired.

“The young guys, I remember they were like, ‘Don’t go up to Bum because he won’t talk to you.’” Andrew Suárez said. “And he came up to me and started talking to me and you have to talk to him, he’s one of the best pitchers ever. I’m just going to listen to whatever he says.”

Suárez had more chances than most young pitchers to take in Bumgarner’s personality last season. During the second half of the year, Bumgarner asked the rookie left-hander to sit next to him on the Giants’ team plane, an opportunity that gave Suárez a chance to see “how much of a good guy he is.”

If the conversation is friendly, so is the competition. While Bumgarner was sidelined with a fractured pinky last season, he challenged members of the starting staff to outperform him upon his return.

“I just remember when he was on the DL, he came up to me and said, ‘I bet when I come back I’m going to throw more innings than you do.’” Suárez said. “I was like, ‘Alright, game on.’”

Bumgarner returned to the Giants on June 5, 2018. No pitcher surpassed the 129 2/3 innings he threw the rest of the way.

Like Bumgarner, Jeff Samardzija is a 10-plus year veteran coming off a season when he was limited by injury. The Giants told Samardzija this spring they no longer expect him to throw 200 innings each season, a feat he accomplished in five straight years from 2013-2017.

Before a dirt bike accident led to a partial tear of his pitching shoulder, Bumgarner reached the 200-inning threshold in six straight seasons. After freak incidents robbed Bumgarner of more than two months of time in each of the last two years, the Giants could have passed the same memo Samardzija received to their ace.

Instead, Bumgarner will treat 200 innings as less of a goal and more of a requirement.

“He’s an ultra-competitor so he wants to do so well and so good that he’s constantly working his tail off,” reliever Will Smith said .”It’s almost like when he gets knocked down he comes back even better because he wants to prove he’s still the dude. And he is, he’s Bum.”

Bumgarner and the Giants have been knocked down. It was half a decade ago when he willed them to their third title in five seasons with one of the greatest performances in postseason history. Since then, nearly the entire roster has turned over, the franchise has gone from a peak to a valley and a once-immortal pitcher has looked human for quite some time.

He remains one of the greatest pitchers in the Giants’ San Francisco era. He’s third in wins, third in ERA and fifth in strikeouts. Bumgarner can continue climbing most of those lists too, but his future is more uncertain than ever before.

Over the last two weeks, several franchises have worked out long-term contract extensions with their top players. The Astros agreed to terms with Justin Verlander, the Mets worked out a contract with Jacob deGrom and the Cubs reached a deal with Kyle Hendricks.

Bumgarner already signed one in 2012, a five-year extension with two club options that were exercised in each of the last two years. It’s possible the Giants approached Bumgarner about solidifying his future this spring, but after suffering injuries in 2017 and 2018, the left-hander has significant leverage to gain if he bets on himself and flourishes again.

Though former Astros lefty and current free agent Dallas Keuchel remains unsigned heading into Opening Day, Washington Nationals southpaw Patrick Corbin inked a six-year, $140 million deal at the beginning of the offseason.

There is always a market for durable left-handers, but there’s no industry consensus on what Bumgarner would command as a free agent or as a trade asset. Corbin’s career innings total is barely half of Bumgarner’s, and he entered free agency at age 29, a full year ahead of Bumgarner, who will turn 30 in August.

After a spring in which he showcased a slight uptick in fastball velocity, Bumgarner will begin the year with the type of confidence the public would expect from a pitcher with his status. He hasn’t lost an ounce of his signature competitive drive and he’s only developed more of an appreciation for an art he knows so well.

“I like to see people get better and I love pitching,” Bumgarner said. “I like to see people appreciate it as much as I do.”

When he takes the mound Thursday in San Diego, Bumgarner will do so on Opening Day for the fifth time in his Giants career. That will surpass Tim Lincecum for the second most Opening Day starts in the team’s San Francisco era history, another achievement that adds to his Giants legacy.

The data indicates he won’t be at the front of a rotation much longer. His contract status suggests this could be the final time Bumgarner leads the Giants’ starting staff out of the gates.

So much remains unknown about Bumgarner’s future. But as the perception rapidly changes, the reality doesn’t follow along as fast.

Bumgarner is still the No. 1 for the San Francisco Giants. A few months ago, not many believed that would be the case.