Alan Mills on Givens and Bundy (plus more on O's struggling offense)

He was drafted as a shortstop, but now he is playing to rave reviews as a pitcher in the Orioles farm system.

Mychal Givens was selected by the Orioles out of Plant High School in Tampa, Fla., in the second round of the 2009 draft. He was signed to an $800,000 bonus, and the Orioles envisioned him developing into an athletic shortstop that could eventually produce some power.

But when Givens' offense didn't come around as they had hoped, the Orioles moved him to the mound. He had pitched some in high school, and Givens could throw with good velocity from a very unique arm slot that is now basically a sidearm delivery.

His pitching career began in 2013 with Single-A Delmarva, and the Orioles limited his innings and basically scripted out his whole year - when he would pitch and how much. In his first two seasons as a right-handed reliever, he pitched 101 innings and walked 58.

But in the last eight months - starting with his time in the Arizona Fall League last October - Givens has made some tweaks in his delivery. He is repeating his unique arm slot more often and the strikes are coming more often.

The results this year at Double-A Bowie have been quite impressive. His latest save was last night. Protecting a 4-2 lead over Erie, he pitched out of a second and third, one-out jam in the ninth by striking out the No. 3 hitter and getting the No. 4 batter to fly out.

Alan Mills, the former Oriole and Bowie's pitching coach, didn't work with Givens before this year, but he has been impressed by what he has seen this season.

"He throws the ball very hard from an unorthodox position. Has a good slider, good changeup. Very good fastball. Good velocity and movement," Mills said.

Givens has had some very solid instruction since he converted to pitching. His pitching coach in the AFL was Triple-A Norfolk pitching coach Mike Griffin. Then, he attended the Orioles pitching minicamp in Sarasota, Fla., in January and worked with Dave Wallace and Dom Chiti of the Orioles. Now he works with Mills every day.

Givens, who turned 25 two weeks ago, is 2-1 with an ERA of 1.37 for the Baysox. Over 26 1/3 innings, he has allowed 19 hits with nine walks, 37 strikeouts and a .202 average against. Right-handed batters hit just .153 against him.

He has a fastball that can touch the mid 90s and sometimes even a tick or two more than that. It is very unusual to see a sidearm or submarine-type pitcher throwing with that much velocity. Givens has some heavy sink on the ball as well, and at times, can be a groundball machine.

"Kind of makes him a unicorn," Mills said of that armslot coupled with that velocity. "Most times guys throw from the side, the velocity seems to drop. His goes up. Puts him in a category with not too many other players."

Mills said Givens has been very coachable.

"He is always asking questions. Always trying to get better and always trying to find a better way to do things. He's learning how to pitch to guys, reading bats and swings and understanding sequences. All that. He's been a pleasure to work with," Mills said.

Before last night's game in Bowie, Baysox right-hander Dylan Bundy said said he is scheduled to have an MRI today on his right shoulder. Bundy said he felt something with his shoulder the day after his most recent start. He saw a doctor yesterday and doesn't feel he has a serious injury.

"Just soreness in one of the cuff muscles, so hopefully we just take some anti-inflammatories and get it taken care of," he said.

Mills said Bundy had been throwing the ball very well, going 0-3 with a 3.68 ERA. Over 22 innings, he allowed 21 hits with five walks and 25 strikeouts, allowing a .253 average against.

Bundy's velocity has started to reach levels seen before he had Tommy John surgery in June 2013. Mills said velocity is important for Bundy, but is not everything.

"I think velocity is important to any pitcher that has been deemed a power pitcher, and that is the way he came in," Mills said. "His velocity at the beginning of the year, coming to a cold climate here, was low 90s and it has gone up to mid to upper 90s.

"The thing with Dylan for me is the fastball command to both sides and creating a downward angle. There have been outings he has had this year where he created a real good downward angle."

O's catcher Matt Wieters played for Bowie last night, getting two hits and throwing out a runner trying to steal second base. After that game, Wieters talked about his night on the farm.

Looking for some offense: The Orioles scored just one run on five hits in last night's loss to Houston. The Orioles have now scored two runs or less eight times their last 15 games. They have scored just eight runs the last four games, going 3-for-25 (.120) with runners in scoring position and batting .197 overall.

The Orioles' team batting average was a season-high .286 on April 29 but now is down to .255.

In their last four series, the Orioles scored five runs in three games versus the Angels, 16 over three games against Seattle, 10 in three games at Miami and five the last two games versus Houston.

What can be done to get the O's offense going?