Steve Davis: Dylan Bundy Trending In The Right Direction But...
Dylan Bundy was excellent Monday night for the Orioles.
He entered a tight game, with the Orioles down 4-3 in the 3rd, and he kept it right there. Bundy pitched 3 scoreless innings, retiring all 9 batters he faced. That was his longest outing of the year. There are some fans clamoring for the Orioles to give him a shot at starting. I don't think that is going to happen, and it shouldn't.
In the last three years prior to this season, he only has pitched 66 innings combined: 0 in 2013, 42 in 2014 and 22 in 2015. He needs to build up to being a starter. It just would be too much to ask this year and wouldn't be wise. It certainly looks like he has a chance to start for them and maybe even be the prospect they thought they were getting. However, that is premature and I am getting ahead of things. He needs to get through the year out of the bullpen. He's already thrown 30 innings this year.
My guess is they probably want to keep him under 100, including the playoffs. There's still 93 games to go so my sense is they will keep him in the bullpen the rest of the way. The only caveat would be late in the year in September, maybe they relax the restrictions if he has had no setbacks at all.
Right now, it's June, and while I know they need help in the rotation now, I wouldn't call on Bundy to be that guy.
