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Orioles’ Dylan Bundy only part of solution for reeling rotation
- Updated: July 23, 2016
12:49 AM ET
BALTIMORE — Before the All-Star break, Dylan Bundy had finally gotten comfortable in the Orioles’ bullpen. A week after the break, he’s looking pretty darned comfy in the starting rotation.
On the final weekend before the All-Star game, Bundy showed up to Camden Yards with a dozen T-shirts he’d gotten custom-made for himself and the other Baltimore Orioles relievers. The black shirts, which say “YEE YEE” in orange letters on the front, are a nod to a phrase that comes from one of Bundy’s favorite country tunes (Granger Smith’s “Country Boy Song”); the phrase has become a rallying cry for the bullpen. The T-shirts are also a sign of just how far Bundy — a rookie who’s been forced to learn on the job because he’s out of minor league options — has come in terms of confidence and feeling that he belongs.
After a bumpy beginning to the season, the 23-year old right-hander seemed to finally find a niche as a long reliever. In his six games prior to the All-Star break, with manager Buck Showalter making a concerted effort to give his young hurler starter-like rest in between each outing, Bundy tallied 19 strikeouts in 14 innings and didn’t allow an earned run. In the last of those six appearances, he worked 2.1 scoreless frames against the Dodgers, with every out coming on a whiff.
Dylan Bundy struck out five, walked none and didn’t allow an earned run in five innings against Cleveland. AP Photo/Gail Burton
He was so successful — and the Orioles’ rotation so shaky — that even though the team had originally planned to limit Bundy to about 70 innings in his first big league season after three injury-plagued years in the minors (including Tommy John surgery), Showalter decided he had no choice but to shove the former first-rounder into the rotation.
Innings limit, schminnings limit.
In Bundy’s first career start Sunday, he lasted just 3.1 innings and threw 70 pitches, which was 13 more than his previous season high as a reliever. He showed flashes of why he was a fourth overall pick (see: fastball, high 90s), but he also served up three gopher balls and raised questions as to whether the Orioles were …
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