SARASOTA, FLA. — The Orioles still have big plans for top pitching prospect Dylan Bundy. The 22-year-old right-hander will arrive at spring training next month nearly 20 months removed from ligament reconstruction surgery on his throwing elbow. He's graduated from the rehab phase of his career to the rediscovery part.
Bundy and the Orioles see him helping the major league club in 2015, despite constant offseason inquiries from other teams about his trade availability.
Now, the question is how they get to that point.
Bundy was the Orioles' first-round pick (fourth overall) in the 2011 amateur draft and almost immediately became the organization's top prospect. He climbed the Orioles' minor league system quickly in 2012, his first full season, a year that ended with Bundy earning a promotion to the big leagues when rosters expanded in September.
His career was derailed by Tommy John surgery in June 2013, and his return to the mound last season offered mixed results. He initially struggled at High-A Frederick and then settled down, all while being limited to 80 pitches per start.
For Bundy, the long road back taught him patience, above all, especially after previously having frenetic tunnel vision focused on getting to the big leagues.
"I've learned to be more patient," Bundy said. "I wasn't very patient before. I just had to be patient through the whole process and take my time coming back and not really rush it."
The reins will be loosened this season — to an extent. Orioles manager Buck Showalter said Tuesday that no physical restrictions will be placed on Bundy this spring training.
"He'll be a regular pitcher. He's crossed every hurdle," Showalter said. "He's treated like anybody else. He's crossed every physical hurdle and then some."
Much like right-hander Kevin Gausman last season, the Orioles will structure an innings limit for Bundy that will focus on him pitching in the major leagues by the end of the season.
The plan with Gausman has worked out exquisitely, and despite some abrupt shuttles between the majors and Triple-A Norfolk, he was one of the Orioles' top starters down the stretch and a bullpen weapon in the postseason.
"It will be structured more toward normalcy," Orioles player development director Brian Graham said about the plan with Bundy. "He'll have the same pitch limits we have with all of our pitchers now.
"Last year, he was on a structured program for himself, and in 2015, based on the fact that he didn't throw a lot of innings in 2014, we're going to have to figure out, organizationally, where we want him to finish 2015 in terms of number of innings."
The Orioles will decide that innings total and work backward from there. If they want Bundy pitching six innings in late August, it might mean that his first few starts of the season might be just three innings.
"He's on a normal pitch limit," Graham said. "He's not on any injury-rehab pitch limit. … It's a normal pitching progression."
Bundy will go into spring training hoping to compete for a big league roster spot, but he realizes he's more likely to start the season in the minors, probably at Double-A Bowie.
"Even though my surgery is over and my arm is healthy, I've still got to be patient getting back to the big leagues," he said. "I've still got to put in the work and put in the time in High-A, Double-A, however many A's there are to get back to the big leagues again.
"That's up to the organization. All I have to do is pitch. That's my job. That's what I'll do, and they can make all the decisions after that."
Last season, Bundy had a 9.36 ERA in his first three starts at Frederick, but he recovered with a 1.23 ERA in his next three outings before a freak lat injury prompted the Orioles to end his season.
"I was hoping to get to Double-A, but I'm happy with where I ended and how I ended the year," Bundy said. "I was healthy, except for the lat thing, which really didn't count. My arm was healthy. The [velocity] was getting back up. I was getting more command towards the end of the year, so I was happy with the way it ended."
Bundy also has pulled back on his offseason workouts, learning that it's more important to make sure his body can endure the physical rigors of a full season than being the strongest guy in the room.
"I'm not flipping tires in the air and throwing sledgehammers and stuff," Bundy said. "I've calmed down a little bit. ... [Those workouts] got me really, really strong and really, really lean, but maybe that's not the thing as a pitcher.
"Maybe you don't need to be bulked up and all cut up to be a pitcher. Flipping tires, that's not what most pitchers do. It's fine with me. The big leagues is the ultimate goal, so tweaking the workouts, that's fine."
Showalter has noticed that Bundy learned he can get more with less, but knows Bundy remains focused on getting back to the big leagues.
"He's still one of our best workers," Showalter said. "He's just working smarter. In years before, he would have gotten here 10 days before camp. He's going to get here a day or so. He told [pitching coach Dave Wallace and bullpen coach Dom Chiti] and instead of them going, 'Oh God,' they go, 'Good.' He's starting to get it that this is a long [season].
"There will come a time where we'll have to say, 'Hey, hey, hey.' He's going to push. He's always pushing. You never have to push him forward. The only thing you have to do with Dylan is pull him back."
Bundy has one minor league option remaining, so if he is sent to the minors this year, the Orioles can't send him back in 2016 unless he clears waivers.
Ideally, Bundy would build a foundation of big league innings this season, since the Orioles will be forced to keep him in the majors next season.
"It's really the same as any other year, other than that I'm more healthy this spring training than I was the last two or so," Bundy said. "I'm still going to try to come out and make the team just like anybody else would."
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