Dylan Bundy #1 Prospect

[Frobby]

Tommy Milone

http://www.baseball-reference.com/mi...d=milone001tom

He's a piker at 10-to-1. Koji was 11-1 for us last year, and 23-1 during his Texas stint this year. But Bundy is better than 30-1! (In high school, of course.)

[Tony-OH]

Probably about as many times as you.

And as I pointed out in my comment, I would go with Machado based on a different philosophy than what Tony is using in his picks. As it appears from the pole on who the #1 will be, I'm not in the minority.

You can build a case for either guy to be number one. There really is no wrong answer here at this stage.

[CA-ORIOLE]

My favorite stat, half of which you mentioned: 158 K's, 5 walks. I've never seen a K/BB rate like that, at any level.

So we can safely assume he didn't outpitch his peripherals then.

[Hallas]

Of course. I just get the impression that there were plenty on this board willing to dream on Machado after the draft largely based on comments from Callis and others, yet many more seem skeptical of Bundy. Just curious why.

My main concern is that projecting a pitcher in high school against lower-than-rookie-league competition seems dicey at best, and while I do take into account that scouts universally consider him to be an exceptional, exceptional pitcher, the actual performance part simply has too much noise for me to really take it seriously.

Machado isn't that much older, and has performed well while by far the youngest player in his leagues, all while having an extremely aggressive promotion schedule. Even if he didn't light the world on fire, he played in high-A and looked like he belonged, as an 18 year old. He may not have looked like God, but he could still have a God-like progression simply because he reached that level at such a young age.

So for me it's a question of whether I take a scout's word (Bundy) versus taking a scout's (slightly less glowing) word in combination with his performance, which has been exceptional given his age (Machado). I went with the latter.

[RVAbird]

My main concern is that projecting a pitcher in high school against lower-than-rookie-league competition seems dicey at best, and while I do take into account that scouts universally consider him to be an exceptional, exceptional pitcher, the actual performance part simply has too much noise for me to really take it seriously.

Machado isn't that much older, and has performed well while by far the youngest player in his leagues, all while having an extremely aggressive promotion schedule. Even if he didn't light the world on fire, he played in high-A and looked like he belonged, as an 18 year old. He may not have looked like God, but he could still have a God-like progression simply because he reached that level at such a young age.

So for me it's a question of whether I take a scout's word (Bundy) versus taking a scout's (slightly less glowing) word in combination with his performance, which has been exceptional given his age (Machado). I went with the latter.

Completely logical. You could make a strong case for either. No argument for me.

My post, then, was not directed at you. It was directed at some posters who felt comfortable projecting Machado as an elite talent straight out of the draft but do not feel comfortable doing the same with Bundy. It seems to me the "scout's word" had more weight with Machado around here. Could just be my perception though.

[OrangeJerseys]

Will either Machado or D. Bundy be going to ML spring training?

[Hallas]

Completely logical. You could make a strong case for either. No argument for me.

My post, then, was not directed at you. It was directed at some posters who felt comfortable projecting Machado as an elite talent straight out of the draft but do not feel comfortable doing the same with Bundy. It seems to me the "scout's word" had more weight with Machado around here. Could just be my perception though.

Sure. part of this was in response to the post I had in the Machado thread.

[allstar1579]

Of course. I just get the impression that there were plenty on this board willing to dream on Machado after the draft largely based on comments from Callis and others, yet many more seem skeptical of Bundy. Just curious why.

Yeah I know what you mean. I think it's just the big media impression. Not a ton of people are really subject matter experts on the draft. I'd take the knowledge of a handful of posters here over some of the media coverage the draft gets, but when those big names jump and praise someone the masses follow the lead.

There's that extra stigma that follows HS pitchers even more than HS hitters, and that's probably the case here, but people tend to forget Kershaw was a HS pick too, they aren't all busts.

[allstar1579]

Will either Machado or D. Bundy be going to ML spring training?

Hmmmm....I could MAYBE see Machado and Schoop getting a little taste and going to AA since Stockstill is pretty aggressive, but Bundy won't this year.

[Larry18]

Hmmmm....I could MAYBE see Machado and Schoop getting a little taste and going to AA since Stockstill is pretty aggressive, but Bundy won't this year.

Doesn't Bundy have a major league contract?

[allstar1579]

Doesn't Bundy have a major league contract?

Yeah but that doesn't mean he'll be in Major League Spring Training, they'll want him working with the appropriate group and working on specific things. They could have him work there for a while if they want the higher level instructors working with him a little while, but it would do him no service at all to have him pitching against ML players in the spring at 18 years old.

[Larry18]

Yeah but that doesn't mean he'll be in Major League Spring Training, they'll want him working with the appropriate group and working on specific things. They could have him work there for a while if they want the higher level instructors working with him a little while, but it would do him no service at all to have him pitching against ML players in the spring at 18 years old.

I've never heard of a player with a MLB contract not coming to camp.

[allstar1579]

I've never heard of a player with a MLB contract not coming to camp.

Go track HS players that signed ML contracts and see where they went. Signing a ML contract does nothing except force a team to keep them on the 40-man roster, which makes them start using their options right away and lets them get to FA younger. They don't play with the Major League team in Spring because they are on the 40-man, they will still go wherever they belong. You'll see college guys that sign ML deals go to camp with the big team because they are within a year or two of the bigs and the team wants to evaluate how far they are from ML. Doesn't make any sense with the 18 year old kids because they are no where near ready for ML hitters. They need to compete against the lower competition and build on success.

What good would it do letting Dylan pitch to Pujols in the Spring? It'd just beat his confidence down.

[Frobby]

I've never heard of a player with a MLB contract not coming to camp.

Neither have I. But probably just for a few days.

[csgordos]

Yeah but that doesn't mean he'll be in Major League Spring Training, they'll want him working with the appropriate group and working on specific things. They could have him work there for a while if they want the higher level instructors working with him a little while, but it would do him no service at all to have him pitching against ML players in the spring at 18 years old.

With the Orioles lack of development in the past with the minors, this may not have been a bad idea. Hopefully, that will be different now with a different GM. I would think in the better organizations I would want the minors coaches who are used to dealing with the issues a new pro has vs. a MLB coach who is refining what they have already learned. I could be way off base with this thought though.