SARASOTA, Fla. - Fresh off their time in major league camp with the Orioles, first-rounders Dylan Bundy and Hunter Harvey have reported to minor league camp at the Buck O'Neil Baseball Complex at Twin Lakes Park.
O's director of player development Brian Graham said this afternoon that he was not certain yet when they would pitch in a minor league exhibition game.
"We'll see. They both threw bullpens today," Graham said. "So it will be a couple of days down the road. The other thing with them is we've got to get some innings projections on them. Harvey was 90 innings last year, so my guess is he'll be around 120 and Bundy will probably be close to 100 this year total. We'll have a more specific numbers come the end of camp."
That likely means both pitchers will be held to starts of three or four innings early in the year so the organization can monitor their innings totals and have innings available for one or both pitchers to potentially use in Baltimore later in the season.
Meanwhile, Graham expects that Notre Dame basketball player and Orioles minor league pitcher Pat Connaughton will report to the O's minors after the NCAA tournament. There has been some speculation that Connaughton could pursue an NBA or pro basketball career.
"I don't know. That is up to Pat," Graham said. "I know Pat loves basketball and wants to play basketball. But I also know that we anticipate that he will be here. I talked to him the other day and he did say that he was planning on being here after they win in basketball.
"As far I know, he is going to show up and pitch. Certainly, he might pursue a basketball showcase, but I know he wants to pitch. He told me he wants to pitch."
Today was the first day of minor league exhibition games. The Orioles Triple-A and Double-A teams played in Ft. Myers against Boston while the club's Single-A teams played at home against the Red Sox.
We don't get much information on the minor league games and certainly no one publishes any box scores. I did see lefty Brian Gonzalez struggle today and give up several hard-hit balls, including a homer. I also saw David Hess have a strong outing where a scout said his fastball was consistently in the 92-93 mph range.
Young third base prospect Jomar Reyes has missed a few days due to the flu. But he was better today, did some on-field work and should play in games starting tomorrow.
Graham is thrilled how minor league camp has progressed this year.
"Extremely pleased. First and foremost, the injury rate is very low," he said. "The guys are getting great work in, the weather has been terrific, which is a huge plus. Everybody came into camp in tremendous shape. The camp this year, there is a real serious, business-like attitude, more so than even in the past, so it's been good."
Even though he gave up three runs in three innings today, it was a good day for 19-year-old lefty Travis Seabrooke, out of Ontario, Canada. The Orioles' fifth-round pick in 2013 was finally back on a mound. He suffered a torn ACL late last May and missed the rest of last season.
Today, he came on in relief of Gonzalez in the Single-A Delmarva game. He could break north with the Shorebirds in April.
"Felt good, good to be playing games again, have really been looking forward to it," Seabrooke said. "This is the first time I've been on a mound since last May. But I put my time in, worked hard in the offseason to put myself physically in the best situation for spring training. I didn't feel like it was a bad outing at all, felt comfortable and that was good."
Seabrooke's father Glen was a first-round pick in the 1985 NHL draft and spent three seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers. The younger Seabrooke went 0-0 with a 1.13 ERA over eight innings for the Gulf Coast League Orioles after the 2013 draft.
Here are some pictures from minor league camp today:
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