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Baltimore Orioles: Dylan Bundy ‘hype train’ finally leaves station

By Rick Soisson

BALTIMORE, MD - APRIL 9: Starting pitcher Dylan Bundy
BALTIMORE, MD - APRIL 9: Starting pitcher Dylan Bundy /
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The Dylan Bundy ‘hype train’ finally leaves the station for the Baltimore Orioles.

The Baltimore Orioles pitcher Dylan Bundy should be forgiven if he felt snake-bit going into his April 20 meeting with the talented Cleveland Indians. His team’s early season had been dreadful. Worse, his far better than average efforts had been wasted.

His record stood at 0-2 despite a 1.40 ERA and a WHIP of 1.091. He had pitched at least 5.2 innings in each of his four starts and twice had gone seven innings. His losses had come against Toronto and Boston after he had given up two earned runs against the Jays and one against the juggernaut Sox, the latter in totally miserable weather – against Chris Sale. Baseball-Reference.com gave his four-game, run support figure as 1.70.

In a season when the Baltimore Orioles had gotten off to a miserable 5-14 start, the 25-year-old Oklahoman and superstar Manny Machado seemed the only bright lights, and Dylan Bundy’s light was under a blackout shade.

High Expectations

The Baltimore Orioles expectations for Dylan Bundy have always been high. They had made the pitcher the fourth overall pick in the 2011 draft. Who wouldn’t? The fireballing high schooler threw 100 mph and had posted a stupefying prep average of 20.39 strikeouts per nine innings. He made his MLB debut at 19, throwing 1.2 innings of relief, and then was sent back to the minors for seasoning. While he refined a fluid motion, however, Dylan Bundy’s future seemed so bright he probably bought two pairs of sunglasses.

Somewhat predictably for a young man who had been throwing in the triple digits while his teenaged body was still assembling itself, Tommy John surgery slowed things down in 2013. Still, he never had to pitch at the Triple-A level, and cyber headlines in 2016 and 2017 included “The Dylan Bundy Hype Train Is Finally Boarding” and “Dylan Bundy Looks Ready to Breakout.” The 100 mph fastball was gone, but a cutter was added in 2017, and despite annual ERAs over 4.00 in ’16 and ’17, Bundy’s WHIP figure dropped from 1.377 to 1.196.

Above all, he was winning, posting 10-6 and 13-9 records in his age 23 and age 24 seasons.

The Cold Spring of ‘18

In Dylan Bundy’s previous game in Boston on April 15, the temperature at first pitch time was 34 degrees. On April 20 the temperature for the Baltimore evening was predicted to be in the 40s, falling towards 37, with some impressive gusts. One had to wonder if Dylan Bundy’s right elbow had been aching for three solid weeks.

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Halfway through the game, which featured milder temperatures than anticipated, Dylan Bundy may have felt as though he was enduring more of the same. Manny Machado had homered to tie the game at one in the fourth — one run in support halfway through.

But then, things started to look up. Trey Mancini doubled in two in the bottom of the fifth, and Bundy promptly struck out three in the top of the sixth. The Orioles came to bat ahead, 3-1, but Bundy was finished.

He had thrown 108 pitches, 71 for strikes – 18 pitches per inning. The earned run given up in the first on two lined singles, a walk, and run-producing hit by pitch didn’t help that average count.

Dylan Bundy had settled down, though, and his bullpen gave him his first win of the season. His ERA ticked up only two notches to 1.42.

Accordingly, MLB.com’s Brittany Ghiroli called Bundy a “bright spot” in the Baltimore Orioles terrible first month; the word “gem” appeared in her headline on the team’s website. Special attention was given to his three-strikeout sixth inning, the frame pushing the starter’s K-total to nine for the game.

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In other words, the “Dylan Bundy Hype Train,” loaded with passengers since ’16, may have finally pulled out of the station.

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