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I just got home from taking my mother to church and lunch and was browsing to see what baseball news I had missed this morning, and came across this tweet from Rich Kubatko from MASNSports,com, via ESPN:
Showalter didn't dismiss the possibility of Dylan Bundy being called up if
#orioles are in pennant race late, but said that's a long way off.
Yes, it is a long way off, but not as in 2013 long way off. It is 2012, and would be quite surprising in my opinion. Bundy has dominated two levels of the minors thus far in 2012, but will have to see how he handles Double A ball before a promotion to the big leagues.
Here are Bundy's numbers in Low A and High A this season, courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com:
| Year | Lg | Lev | W | L | GS | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | IBB | SO | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 2 Lgs | A-A+ | 5 | 2 | 1.53 | 14 | 58.2 | 29 | 12 | 10 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 70 | 0.665 | 4.4 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 10.7 | 7.00 |
| 2012 | SALL | A | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 8 | 30.0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 40 | 0.233 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 12.0 | 20.00 |
| 2012 | CARL | A+ | 4 | 2 | 3.14 | 6 | 28.2 | 24 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 30 | 1.116 | 7.5 | 0.9 | 2.5 | 9.4 | 3.75 |
| 1 Season | 5 | 2 | 1.53 | 14 | 58.2 | 29 | 12 | 10 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 70 | 0.665 | 4.4 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 10.7 | 7.00 |
Bundy completely dominated Low A in his 8 starts there, with many saying he should have started the season in High A or Double A. He struck out 40, walked 2 and gave up 2 runs, both unearned in 30 innings pitched in Low A, where he was limited to 3 innings in most of his starts.
He gave up his first runs of the season in High A, where in 6 starts he is 4-2 with a 3.14 ERA, 1.116 WHIP and a 30-8 strikeout to walk ratio in 24.2 innings. Not as dominant as his Low A performance, but still dominating. On Friday night, he held Winston Salem to one run on 4 hits, no walks and 5 strikeouts in 5 innings to earn his 4th win with Bowie. He has given up just one run in his last two starts, and has gone 5 innings and given up 2 runs or less in 5 of his 6 starts in High A.
Here is what Keith Law wrote about him in his Midseason Top 25 Prospect Rankings back on May 25th, where he ranked Bundy as the #1 prospect in baseball:
The Orioles' bizarre, ultraconservative handling of Bundy aside, he didn't just dominate inferior competition in low Class A, he did it with the stuff and polish that could, in another organization, have had him in the big leagues this year or at the start of 2013. (The club finally promoted him to Frederick on Wednesday after he threw 30 scoreless innings for Delmarva to open the year, with 40 strikeouts and just five hits allowed.)
I don't think it's a stretch to say that a redraft of 2011's tremendous class would have Bundy on top, which would have made him the first prep right-hander to go first overall.
Bundy is just 19 years old, so a jump to the big leagues would be a huge step for him, yet Law thinks he could handle the promotion. A promotion to Double A would make sense before the call up to the big league club, assuming the Orioles are serious about bringing him up this season.
I am scheduled to attend the Trenton Thunder - Bowie Baysox game on August 17th in Trenton, NJ, and would be thrilled to see Bundy and Manny Machado on the same field that night.
So, is a September call up for Dylan Bundy too soon, or justified assuming the Orioles are still in the wild card race?