Dylan Bundy Thread

[SteveO]

Just think the dude is not even throwing his best pitch yet (cutter)

[Fired-Up]

Bundy looks like he has it all. The one thing that doesn't suggest #1 prospect to me is his K/9. What is he averaging in high A? like 10? If he averaged that in the MLB I'd be ecstatic. But his K rated dropped once he got to high A. It probably will drop again when he reaches Bowie and will suffer yet another decline once he reaches Baltimore. Someone told me that Bundy pitches like more like Felix Hernandez instead of Greinke which wouldn't be all that bad. Felix is a guy who lives low in the zone, induces a lot of ground balls and has a moderately high K rate because his stuff is just that good. Greinke is more of a classic 4-seam fastball guy who throws letter high cheese for K's. If Bundy's relatively low K/9 is a result of him being a low ball pitcher then I wouldn't have a problem with it, but if he's throwing high cheese I'd consider that an issue.

[Can_of_corn]

Bundy looks like he has it all. The one thing that doesn't suggest #1 prospect to me is his K/9. What is he averaging in high A? like 10? If he averaged that in the MLB I'd be ecstatic. But his K rated dropped once he got to high A. It probably will drop again when he reaches Bowie and will suffer yet another decline once he reaches Baltimore. Someone told me that Bundy pitches like more like Felix Hernandez instead of Greinke which wouldn't be all that bad. Felix is a guy who lives low in the zone, induces a lot of ground balls and has a moderately high K rate because his stuff is just that good. Greinke is more of a classic 4-seam fastball guy who throws letter high cheese for K's. If Bundy's relatively low K/9 is a result of him being a low ball pitcher then I wouldn't have a problem with it, but if he's throwing high cheese I'd consider that an issue.

I expect the K rate to increase once he begins incorporating his cutter.

[Lucky Jim]

I expect the K rate to increase once he begins incorporating his cutter.

And his change-up continues to develop.

[CA-ORIOLE]

And his change-up continues to develop.

Good. Sounds like they are doing this the right way.

[Lucky Jim]

Good. Sounds like they are doing this the right way.

Oh, well I hope it's continuing to develop - I just meant his swing-and-miss (and K-rate) would continue to increase as he rose as those two pitches were integrated into the mix. I haven't gotten a chance to watch him pitch in a while.

[whynot38]

Bundy looks like he has it all. The one thing that doesn't suggest #1 prospect to me is his K/9. What is he averaging in high A? like 10? If he averaged that in the MLB I'd be ecstatic. But his K rated dropped once he got to high A. It probably will drop again when he reaches Bowie and will suffer yet another decline once he reaches Baltimore. Someone told me that Bundy pitches like more like Felix Hernandez instead of Greinke which wouldn't be all that bad. Felix is a guy who lives low in the zone, induces a lot of ground balls and has a moderately high K rate because his stuff is just that good. Greinke is more of a classic 4-seam fastball guy who throws letter high cheese for K's. If Bundy's relatively low K/9 is a result of him being a low ball pitcher then I wouldn't have a problem with it, but if he's throwing high cheese I'd consider that an issue.

But he's not throwing the cutter yet. That does a couple of things - first, speed wise it looks like a fastball so it should be a high swing and miss pitch. Second, will make the fastball that much harder to hit as hitters may/will be looking cutter

[Flash- bd]

I expect the K rate to increase once he begins incorporating his cutter.

What do people think about the idea that pitchers who are cutter heavy tend to lose a feel for their FB? Is this a concern going forward for Dylan? Is this part of the reason they've asked him to shelve it? (aside from handicapping him and forcing him to use/develop his other pitches)

[Fired-Up]

I don't know if utilizing the cutter will increase Bundy's K/9 by that much. If it is truly a plus-plus-plus pitch then I could see it being that big of a difference. Think, what would Dwight Gooden be without his putaway curve? It's quite possible though that Bundy's incredible high school and low A strikeout rates stemmed from the fact that he threw 100mph. Hitters on that level just can't handle that. Plain and simple.

[Lucky Jim]

I don't know if utilizing the cutter will increase Bundy's K/9 by that much. If it is truly a plus-plus-plus pitch then I could see it being that big of a difference. Think, what would Dwight Gooden be without his putaway curve? It's quite possible though that Bundy's incredible high school and low A strikeout rates stemmed from the fact that he threw 100mph. Hitters on that level just can't handle that. Plain and simple.

It's the heat, plus the curve. That's why the change-up development is so important. The cutter isn't really a swing-and-miss pitch standing alone, but among a plus-arsenal it causes that many more issues. But the change-up is what he needs to go w/ the FB and the curve, otherwise there'd be nothing w/ serious differential to speed up/slow down bats.

[LookinUp]

So the original reports said he wasn't using the cutter. Are we sure that's still the case, or are we just assuming that?

[Can_of_corn]

So the original reports said he wasn't using the cutter. Are we sure that's still the case, or are we just assuming that?

Considering how closely he is being watched industry wide I think it is safe to assume that if he had started throwing his cutter that it would have been reported.

[LookinUp]

Considering how closely he is being watched industry wide I think it is safe to assume that if he had started throwing his cutter that it would have been reported.

I could just as easily say that it's safe to assume that people would be reporting that he still isn't throwing his "best" pitch. I've heard nothing on this since his first few starts. I'm not saying he is throwing the cutter, just wondering if anyone actually has something to go on other than assumptions.

[Can_of_corn]

I could just as easily say that it's safe to assume that people would be reporting that he still isn't throwing his "best" pitch. I've heard nothing on this since his first few starts. I'm not saying he is throwing the cutter, just wondering if anyone actually has something to go on other than assumptions.

Well there was the SI article earlier this week...

[Frobby]

Are we expecting Bundy to make his next start at Bowie? I recall there was a thread from someone who had spoken to him, or someone who knows him, that had said Bundy would make his last start for Frederick on 7/26 and then get promoted. But maybe that got scuttled when his start got cut short due to rain.

(Edit -- I see that Bundy is listed as tonight's starter for Frederick vs. Lynchburg.)