On Saturday night, Orioles top pitching prospect Dylan Bundy threw two scoreless innings against the Boston Red Sox, giving up one unearned run on one hit, while walking two and striking out one.
So far, so good. Seems like a typical, nondescript spring training outing.
However, there was one potential red flag.
According to Roch Kubatko of MASNSports, Bundy’s fastball velocity was down in the 90-93 range, down from his usual mid-to-upper 90’s numbers.
Bundy told Roch that he’s still working through some issues:
Bundy wasn’t pleased with his performance for the Orioles tonight. The two walks in two innings. Only 18 strikes among his 35 pitches. The drop in velocity.
“Two walks. I’m never happy with that,” he said. “Leave a fastball up in the zone and he (Mitch Maier) hits it down the line. But really, the two walks are about the only thing I’m concerned with.”
Bundy’s fastball was clocked at 90-93 mph.
“Last year, I was throwing harder, but I’m still working on some things, trying to figure out what I was doing in high school ball and trying to get back to it,” he said.
“Mechanics. My leg kick. My drive to home plate is slow right now. Rhythm is a little off.”
As for the 18 strikes he threw, Bundy said, “That’s very disappointing. That was horrible.”
“I was out of whack today,” he added. “I’ve got to get back to the stuff I was doing.”
Former Orioles executive (and cousin of current O’s GM Dan Duqette) Jim Duquette was down in Sarasota with the team for a period, and appeared on 105.7 the fan Wednesday morning with Steve Davis and Ed Norris. Duquette said that he heard about Bundy’s decreased velocity from several scouts, but that the scouts were not considering the velocity issue a “red flag” yet.
He noted that most starting pitchers, when they have the chance to appear out of the bullpen instead of in their usual role, see increases in their velocity (think Tommy Hunter in 2012).
I’m not sweating this issue yet, or getting concerned with Bundy in the least.
I’d expect that this is just a small blip on the radar that none of us will remember in a couple years when Dylan is dominating the American League East.
How about you – are you concerned about Bundy’s seemingly decreased velocity?
