[Jon Meoli writes for the Towson Times and is a senior columnist for SoxProspects.com. He's covered four of Bundy's games this season and wrote a piece on his development last month.]
To say nothing of the wisdom of the move, the Orioles’ decision to bring top prospect Dylan Bundy out west to assume a bullpen role at the very least puts the 19-year-old right-hander in a position to succeed.
Bundy’s repertoire as I came to know it during four looks this season is, at this point, best suited for a relief role. His mid-90s fastball, which touched 98 mph in my first look in April while Bundy pitched for Low Class-A Delmarva, provides an explosive primary pitch for Bundy to jump on hitters with at the major league level. When he can’t command his four-seam fastball, Bundy turns to a two-seam offering that sits in the low 90s.
However, in the setting that best compares to a game in a September pennant race -- the MLB Futures Game in Kansas City -- Bundy admittedly over-threw.
In that game, Bundy left several fastballs up in the zone, and the extra effort in his delivery caused his breaking pitches to stay up as well. If Bundy -- who told me shortly after the Futures Game that he’d be just as effective against major league hitters as he was against Carolina League batters -- stays within his delivery and doesn’t overthrow, his fastball command will, at worst, keep him competitive.
Ultimately, Bundy’s success will hinge on his breaking pitches. Bundy’s 75-77 mph curveball is effective when he keeps it down in the zone, but at times this year he struggled to maintain consistent depth and location for the pitch.
His changeup, a pitch he only recently began developing, was Bundy’s most important developmental point this season, and only late in the year did he begin to throw it consistently. In his final Carolina League start with Frederick, Bundy began to attack hitters with his 85-87 mph change in the late innings, eliciting several swinging strikes.
If all three pitches are working, then Bundy will look every bit the pitcher who should anchor the Orioles rotation for years to come.