Keith Law: "O's Mishandling Bundy"

[Flosman]

I think the real interesting time will be the beginning of next season. Say this kid is the real deal and is basically ready other than building up his innings how do the O's handle him next spring? If I were the GM I would be tempted to go outside the box a little. Really pull the reins during ST and maybe leave him back in extended ST for two weeks then start a stretching out process like starters normally do in ST having him ready to go for the rest of the ML season without innings restrictions at all.

[hoosiers]

I think he'll be pitching in Baltimore next year, probably by June.

I also think mishandled is a terrible choice of words. Mishandling someone would imply that we could actually hurt his future. Like, say, starting him against AA hitters and going 7 innings and wrap the season up by August. If there's a way to hurt someone's confidence and/or make him throw too many pitches too early and/or give him an unnaturally long layoff between seasons, it's starting him in Bowie under those conditions.

I don't think the O's knew for a fact that Delmarva would be an absolute joke compared to Bundy. Now that it is, I could see the O's promoting him 1-2 starts earlier than their original plan. That, to me, would be the right compromise. Make Bundy force the issue. When he does, adjust accordingly.

I don't want to get into the semantics (as the time involved to get Bundy to the right level will be negligible, IMO) and I might agree that "mishandled" is a poor word choice.

I would question, however, whether the Os thought Bundy would find DelMarva too easy. I mean, among others, Os brass had Wright, Simon, Berry and Bundy in spring training. I find it very difficult to believe, based on prior reports and stuff displayed in spring training, that the Os did not realize Bundy was pitching on a completely different level than the other HS draft pick sent to DelMarva and the two college arms sent to Frederick.

[Gurgi]

May/June of 2013 is fine, it ensures a 7th year of team control.

Two main reasons to promote him faster then Gurgi is projecting.

1- The other players. By 2014 Nick and JJ will be in the final year of their deals, Wieters will only have one full year left under team control and Jones will probably be gone. I also want to give Bundy as much time in the majors with Machado as possible. The O's need to concentrate what talent they have.

2- The money. Bundy signed a five year deal with a fixed salary running from 2012-2016 that means he will not be arbitration eligible until the deal expires.

You make good points. I didnt understand the terms of the deal.

[Can_of_corn]

You make good points. I didnt understand the terms of the deal.

It is a unique situation and to be honest...

[spoiler=Embarrassing Fact]I heard about it from KLaw.

[tennOsfan]

I don't see why anyone would criticize the O's handling of Bundy thus far. It's only April. Jeez.

I mean, let's compare him to how the Blue Jays are handling Daniel Norris, who they paid over slot to sign after taking him in the second round last year. I pay attention to him since he's from area. He was a high school senior last year, and they still have him in extended spring training. He's expected to pitch in the Appalachian League this summer. Bundy is a higher grade prospect, for sure, and it appears the Orioles are challenging him more than the Jays are Norris. At his current rate, we could easily see Bundy in Bowie by the second half of the season. That's pretty impressive for a kid so young, IMO.

[Can_of_corn]

I don't see why anyone would criticize the O's handling of Bundy thus far. It's only April. Jeez.

I mean, let's compare him to how the Blue Jays are handling Daniel Norris, who they paid over slot to sign after taking him in the second round last year. I pay attention to him since he's from area. He was a high school senior last year, and they still have him in extended spring training. He's expected to pitch in the Appalachian League this summer. Bundy is a higher grade prospect, for sure, and it appears the Orioles are challenging him more than the Jays are Norris. At his current rate, we could easily see Bundy in Bowie by the second half of the season. That's pretty impressive for a kid so young, IMO.

The Jays could be doing something drastic like rebuilding his delivery.

[Stotle]

I don't see why anyone would criticize the O's handling of Bundy thus far. It's only April. Jeez.

I mean, let's compare him to how the Blue Jays are handling Daniel Norris, who they paid over slot to sign after taking him in the second round last year. I pay attention to him since he's from area. He was a high school senior last year, and they still have him in extended spring training. He's expected to pitch in the Appalachian League this summer. Bundy is a higher grade prospect, for sure, and it appears the Orioles are challenging him more than the Jays are Norris. At his current rate, we could easily see Bundy in Bowie by the second half of the season. That's pretty impressive for a kid so young, IMO.

Bundy should be closer to college timeline than HS timeline. I imagine if someone were to ask Law that's probably at the heart of his criticism.

Age is one aspect of a player that helps determine appropriate level of competition. It is not usually the dominant aspect of a player that should determine level of competition except to the extent that it can be generally tied to other characteristics, including physicality and refinement.

[Nigel Tufnel]

Law is doing an ESPN chat right now, so I asked him about Bundy. He answered my question, except that he didn't really answer it.

Tom (Baltimore)

Keith, could you expand on your Dylan Bundy comments? He seems too advanced for his league, but if by the end of the year he's in AA pitching full games, is that really worse than starting in AA and reaching his innings limit in August?

Klaw (1:09 PM)

Begging the question. The innings limit is an arbitrary standard. We should question what his innings limit should be, if he should have one at all.

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/43463

[allstar1579]

Law is doing an ESPN chat right now, so I asked him about Bundy. He answered my question, except that he didn't really answer it.

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/43463

Now THAT I don't agree with at all. He's saying he's so advanced physically you should ignore the guidelines on innings jumps, but I wouldn't take the kid much above adding 50IP this season, maybe an extra 10-15 if he looks ok end of season, but he threw 71 innings, you shouldn't be letting him go a full 100 above that the next year.

[Can_of_corn]

Law is doing an ESPN chat right now, so I asked him about Bundy. He answered my question, except that he didn't really answer it.

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/43463

That is interesting. Sounds like KLaw would let Bundy go for 180+ this year as long as his pitch counts were reasonable in his starts. (He did mention throwing while fatigued yesterday)

I think that KLaw would ideally have Bundy pitching in Baltimore this year.

[jamalshw]

The orioles have all but stated they know the competition is below him and they just want him to get used to life as a pro ball player. Let him mow down inferior batters while he does his own laundry for the first time in his life. This is not a big deal.

Cause I'm WAY more concerned with him learning to do his laundry than facing hitters that my allow him to grow as a pitcher. As to learning to be a pro, I think the biggest thing to learn is how to fail. I'm not advocating putting him in AAA to see him flop so he can learn how to overcome failure, but I'm just pointing out that I don't see how living on your own and all is such a hard thing that you need not be challenged in your job.

Again, I don't think this hurts him, but as an Orioles fan that has endured through so many losing seasons (as we all have), I don't want to see us waste his time and delay his arrival to the big leagues unnecessarily.

[Oriology]

That is interesting. Sounds like KLaw would let Bundy go for 180+ this year as long as his pitch counts were reasonable in his starts. (He did mention throwing while fatigued yesterday)

I think that KLaw would ideally have Bundy pitching in Baltimore this year.

keithlaw ‏ @keithlaw

No. That's absurdly aggressive. RT @IggyFenton: @keithlaw Do you see Bundy or Machado in Baltimore before Sept?

This was from a few days ago.

I'm not sure what this tweet means. He does obviously hold him in high regard, but maybe he thinks he should put in a full year's work at AA/AAA this year? Or perhaps just a higher limit than 125?

[Nigel Tufnel]

Somebody else asked a Bundy question:

Matt (VA)

Keith, when do you think Dylan Bundy gets promoted to Frederick?

Klaw (1:32 PM)

Just a guess, but I'd say June.

June sounds late to me - I bet it's earlier than that.

[ledzepp8]

Law is doing an ESPN chat right now, so I asked him about Bundy. He answered my question, except that he didn't really answer it.

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/43463

I'm not sure how that is "begging the question". Of course I right major in philosophy like Law probably did.

[Nigel Tufnel]

I'm not sure how that is "begging the question". Of course I right major in philosophy like Law probably did.

He's saying that I assumed there should be an innings limit when that's one of the things that needed to be decided.