Orioles Take RHP Bundy With 4th Pick In MLB Draft

BALTIMORE (AP) -- The Baltimore Orioles selected hard-throwing high school pitcher Dylan Bundy with the fourth overall pick in the baseball draft Monday night.

Bundy is a 6'1", 200-pound right-hander at Owasso High School in Sperry, Okla. His fastball has been clocked at 100 mph on multiple occasions.

The top four picks in the draft were all pitchers, but Bundy was the first of them in high school.

"He was very high on our list, obviously," Orioles scouting director Joe Jordan said. "He was the best guy on the board when it was our time. We got where we wanted to be on it; we just went with the player that we wanted."

Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said, "It was a great pick. We're ecstatic because I've heard Joe talk about him."

In his senior season, Bundy went 11-0 with a 0.20 ERA and 158 strikeouts and five walks in 71 innings. He also hit .467 with 11 home runs and 54 RBIs.

The 18-year-old Bundy also has a nasty curveball, a very effective cutter and an above-average changeup, according to Baseball America.

"He's just real unique. He's so determined and very disciplined," Jordan said. "The more that everyone gets to know him and what he's about, you're going to understand a lot of our attractions in him beyond the physical abilities we think he has."

Bundy's brother, Bobby, is also a pitcher and was signed by Baltimore as an eighth-round pick in 2008. Bobby Bundy is currently playing for Class A Frederick.

Asked how he felt to be drafted by the Orioles, Dylan Bundy said, "I kind of got emotional. I started to tear up a little bit because the first thing I thought of was my brother and he's in the organization. I dreamed of playing with him, and it's actually happening now so it's amazing."

If Dylan has his way, the Bundy brothers might one day have adjoining lockers in the clubhouse at Camden Yards.

"This kid looked me right in the eye and said, 'Joe, I want to be drafted by the Orioles and I want to pitch in a major league rotation with my brother,'" Jordan said. "And I really believe that is what he wants. We're going to pay him a lot of money, he's worth a lot of money, and we'll get something done. But I believe the sincerity in that kid's face when he told me that."

Showalter acknowledged that anything can happen with a draft pick out of high school, but was ready to hope for the best.

"Hopefully we can get him in the fold and get on with his career," Showalter said. "We all sit in there and watch tape, but you can't tell. Tape is such a fooler, you know. You trust the people there with him. Joe's been in the house with him, and spoke with him and his family. That's as much of an evaluator as the skill set, and the skill set is pretty impressive."