Gary Kendall on Dylan Bundy: "He had dominating-type stuff"

The box score says Double-A Bowie pitcher Dylan Bundy turned in his finest start in 2015 yesterday afternoon in Erie, Pa. His manager says it wasn't the first time that Bundy impressed. The results just happened to match his stuff.

Bundy, still ranked as the Orioles' top pitching prospect, struck out five batters in three perfect innings.

Before yesterday, Bundy had allowed four runs and eight hits in nine innings, with two walks and nine strikeouts. He gave up two runs and four hits over three innings in each of his last two starts.

"It was his best start, but all of his starts have been really good," said Baysox manager Gary Kendall, whose team is off today before beginning a seven-game homestand. "He's had good stuff and the results haven't gone with it. His other outings have been very good and it may have been a two-out cheap hit after a walk that cost him a run or something like that and it messed up his line. But each outing, he's gotten better.

"Yesterday, he had dominating-type stuff. I only had him one year in 2012 and in those innings back then he'd throw a curveball but there wasn't a slider. Yesterday, his slider was superb. I mean, above-average. He located his fastball to both sides of the plate and his angle was good, it was down. Just a really clean delivery. You just knew the difference from when it left his hand and it was really nice to sit back and watch."

Because there's always going to be an obsession over Bundy's velocity, I fed into it by asking whether he still topped out at 94 mph.

"He was in that range," Kendall said. "The gun readings in Erie were really off, but the range yesterday was 90-94. He's sitting at 92-93. But the way he stayed over the ball and the angle of it, he looked better. Just cleaner."

Bundy, who underwent ligament-reconstructive surgery on his right elbow in 2013, will be restricted to three innings and around 60 pitches for one more start.

"Then we're going to increase it to four and hopefully by the end of the year build up to a five-inning plateau," Kendall said.

The Baysox are using a five-man rotation, but an extra reliever in the bullpen allows them to cover for Bundy.

"We don't piggyback because it's a different guy," Kendall said. "Yesterday, Ashur Tolliver picked him up in the fourth inning. We've got to get some length out of the bullpen, but going with 13 pitchers helps."

Brandon Snyder, the Orioles' first-round pick in 2005, homered yesterday in his second game with Bowie. It was Snyder's first hit with the Baysox since 2009.

The Orioles signed Snyder, 28, out of the independent Atlantic League.

"It's good to have Brandon back," Kendall said. "What's funny is the other night I couldn't sleep. I woke up at 2:30 in the morning and wondered what he was doing. We have a mutual friend, Mark Harris, who's the hitting coach in Harrisburg. We talked about him earlier in the year and Mark said he was playing independent baseball in Southern Maryland. I texted Brandon and asked what he was doing and his interest level in coming back, not just with us but anybody if the opportunity presented itself. I went back to sleep and woke up at 8:30 because the phone rang, and it was him on the other end. We talked and it just worked out."

Once Brian Graham got involved, a minor league deal easily was struck.

"We had an injury to (Mike) McDade and Brandon called Graham and he decided it was a good signing," Kendall said. "He played first base for us the last two days and he's done real well. It's good to have him back in the fold. I last managed him in 2006 in Delmarva. It's been a while but it's good to have him back.

"He has good memories of Baltimore. He drove up to Erie and we sat and talked about all the good things, so he has a lot of positive things to say. He still had his Orioles gear, believe it or not, so we didn't really have to send down for it. It was a lot of nostalgia. He had the old bird and different things, but he still had his Orioles gear."

Snyder's age doesn't necessarily make him stand out in the Eastern League.

"What's amazing in this whole league so far, Jake Fox is in New Hampshire," Kendall said. "Brendan Harris was the shortstop yesterday in Erie and he's 34. Brandon's not real old. Not that 28 is great and all that, but it's really not that old in Double-A anymore, surprisingly."