Dillon Atkinson: What potential postseason role will Showalter give Bundy?

It's been a journey, but the former top prospect is shining and making an impact in not only a major league starting rotation, but also in the Baltimore Orioles rotation. After his first career start in Tampa Bay on July 17, Dylan Bundy has recorded a 1.90 ERA, 11.03 K/9, 1.14 BB/9, 4.56 H/9, 1.14 HR/9 and a 50.9 groundball percentage in 23 2/3 innings over four starts.

Having only pitched 65 1/3 innings in the minor leagues since the end of 2012 heading into this season, I was a bit shocked when manager Buck Showalter moved Bundy into the rotation so early. But so far, the 23-year-old rookie has been a huge boost to the club's subpar rotation. However, after mentioning that, it's tough to imagine the team doesn't have some sort of season innings or pitch count limit on Bundy. They may not share it with the public, but they might have some sort of landmark in mind.

Assuming the club does have a limit on Bundy, to protect his health, I do have one question: What role will Bundy be placed in during the playoffs if the Birds do indeed make it that far? Three roles are possible for Bundy, in my opinion: starter, reliever or not on the roster at all.

Even if there is a limit on Bundy, I do think it's possible the club has him starting in the postseason. Waiting until mid-July to insert him into the rotation may have allowed Showalter some wiggle room to have the right-hander throughout the rest of the season into the postseason, whether it ended in early or late October. If it's within their limitations and Bundy keeps up the dominance, he may see a postseason start before Kevin Gausman does.

Speaking of Gausman, the next possible role for Bundy could be the bullpen. The reason why Gausman is involved in this discussion is because Bundy could be in a similar role that Gausman had in 2014. If you remember, Gausman got moved to the bullpen in the playoffs - and did extremely well - while Chris Tillman, Wei-Yin Chen, Bud Norris and Miguel Gonzalez got the starts. Bundy could get moved to the 'pen for the playoffs, especially if Wade Miley and Yovani Gallardo pitch well down the stretch for the Birds. Bundy starting is fun, but also having Bundy rearing back and letting it fly for two-to-three innings would also be exciting.

The third option is unlikely, in my opinion, but is still a possibility. If Bundy reaches his limit before the season ends, it'll be interesting to see whether or not the O's try to push him through the playoffs.

Of the three options listed above, I think Bundy will most likely be starting - mainly due to Bundy's dominance being too good to leave out of the rotation and because I don't think both Miley and Gallardo will pitch well enough to keep a postseason roster spot. In the end, if the O's reach the playoffs, I think we'll be seeing a rotation of Tillman, Bundy, Gausman and Miley.

I polled fans on Twitter to get their take on what role they think Bundy will be in. Of the 353 people who voted, 76 percent said he'll start, 19 percent said he'll be in the bullpen and five percent said he'll be shut down prior to the postseason. What do you say? Not what you necessarily want, but what do you think Showalter will do with Bundy during the playoffs?

Dillon Atkinson blogs about the Orioles for Orioles Uncensored. Follow him on Twitter: @DAtkinsonOU. His thoughts on the O's appear here as part of MASNsports.com's continuing commitment to welcome guest bloggers to our little corner of cyberspace. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.