A Bundy of joy

With the fourth pick in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft, the Orioles selected a high school pitcher from Oklahoma. They took the one whose name had been associated with them for many weeks leading up to tonight's first round. Rather than throw the industry a curveball, the Orioles chose Dylan Bundy of Owasso (Okla.) High School. The most recent mock drafts had the Orioles selecting Archie Bradley of Broken Arrow (Okla.) High School, but the Orioles went with Bundy, the pitcher most often linked to them until less than 24 hours ago. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Bundy has a fastball that sits at 94-97 mph and often touches 100, and a plus-cutter and curveball. We've been told that his makeup is off the charts. Bundy's brother, Bobby, pitches for Single-A Frederick, so scouting director Joe Jordan is very familiar with the family. Jordan lives in Oklahoma, which strengthened the Orioles' ties to Dylan. The Pirates took UCLA right-hander Gerrit Cole at No. 1, the Mariners crossed up everyone by taking University of Virginia left-hander Danny Hultzen at No. 2 - they were expected to pick Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon - and the Diamondbacks took UCLA right-hander Trevor Bauer at No. 3. Bundy went 11-0 with one save and a 0.20 ERA in 71 innings, with only two earned runs and 20 hits allowed, five walks and 158 strikeouts. If this pitching thing doesn't work out, he batted .467 with 11 homers and 54 RBIs in 105 at-bats. I was hoping for Hultzen, a polished college pitcher who could provide more immediate help to an organization that hasn't posted a winning record in 13 years. However, he never made it to No. 4, and I've never seen him pitch. I've never seen Bundy or Bradley, either, and I'm assuming the same is true with the vast majority of readers here. If the choice came down to Bundy or Bradley, I think the Orioles made the right call. Rendon had to be a major temptation, and they're badly in need of more position prospects, but the medical reports on his shoulder obviously caused him to fall in the draft. Check Steve Melewski's blog on MASNsports.com for more on Bundy and comments from scouting director Joe Jordan, who will be made available to the media via conference call.