Baltimore Orioles Not Planning to Shut Down Dylan Bundy
The losses are starting to pile up for the Baltimore Orioles in the final weeks of the regular season.
The team has gone 2–8 in their last 10 and they are now 5.5 games behind the Minnesota Twins for the second wild-card spot in the American League. With their playoff hopes in tatters, a lot of observers have suggested that it may be time for the Orioles to call it a season and shut down starting pitcher Dylan Bundy. However, manager Buck Showalter disagrees.
"No, I don't think we're at that point yet. Stuff's fine, he feels great between starts, he's getting extra days' rest. As long as we think it's beneficial for him and the club, then we'll continue down that path. But we're not at that point yet," Showalter said, via MLB.com.
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The Orioles have been conservative with Bundy's workload and he has been getting plenty of rest lately. Still, he has already pitched 169.2 innings this season, and that's by far the most he has ever pitched in his career. Bundy has been struggling of late and fatigue may be setting in, but Showalter thinks the pitcher can handle it.
"I mean, it could, yeah. But it doesn't matter. It's September. Everybody is tired right now. So, you've just got to battle through it and work on it in my next bullpen [session] and get ready for the next one," Showalter stated.
Still, shutting him down remains a possibility if the Orioles are officially knocked out of the wild-card race.
Bundy has been inconsistent all season for the Orioles, but he has shown flashes of brilliance as well and he has a bright future ahead of him. In 28 starts this season, he is 13–9 with a 4.24 earned run average (ERA) and a 1.20 walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP). He also has 152 strikeouts and 51 walks.
