Dylan Bundy has dealt with injuries, but Bobby Bundy has been through more

SARASOTA, Fla. - If you think pitcher Dylan Bundy has been through a lot with elbow and shoulder issues over the years, his older brother, Orioles minor league pitcher Bobby Bundy, has been through more.

Bobby Bundy has had not one, but two major right knee ACL surgeries. He had bone spurs removed from his right elbow twice and, like Dylan, he also had Tommy John surgery.

Bobby Bundy had right knee ACL surgery in December 2007. Despite that, the Orioles selected him in round eight of the 2008 draft and signed him for $600,000. His career was going well and he went 11-5 with a 2.75 ERA at Single-A Frederick in 2011, showing a fastball touching 93 and 94 mph. Three times, he was ranked by Baseball America among the Orioles' top 20 prospects, most recently at No. 17 following that 2011 season.

But in recent seasons, another injury always seemed to be right around the corner. From 2013-2015, Bundy pitched just 22 2/3 innings. It looked like he would be healthy for the 2015 season, but he blew out his right knee again while fielding a ball May 5 for Double-A Bowie. Then, 13 days later, another major surgery. If he didn't have bad luck - no, make that absolutely terrible luck - he had none at all.

Finally, there was last season. He was fully healthy and back to pitching at times like his old self. In the Bowie bullpen, he went 3-1 with a 3.49 ERA. Using a fastball mostly in the low 90s but sometimes touching more, along with a curve, cutter and changeup, Bundy pitched 49 innings and allowed 46 hits with 19 walks and 46 strikeouts.

Despite everything he has been through, and that lengthy list of injuries, Bundy just kept working to get back and he kept playing.

"Just with all the things I've been through, just trying to stay head strong and believing in what I had done," he said Tuesday at Twin Lakes Park. "All the things I have worked on and tried to accomplish, just tried to stay with it. I knew if I could stay healthy, I could pitch well. Always just tried to stay positive and keep putting one foot in front of the other.

"Going through basically about three and a half years of issues - maybe four, I can't even keep track - I knew some day there would be a light at the end of the tunnel."

At one point, the Bundy brothers were both rehabbing from Tommy John surgery around the same time.

"We had Tommy John surgery 12 weeks apart," Bobby Bundy said. "Not that that is or was better for either one of us to have it at the same time necessarily. But we did have someone to say, 'Hey are you feeling this? What is my next step? What do I have to look forward to?' "

Dylan Bundy had the Tommy John procedure on June 27, 2013 and Bobby Bundy had his on Sept. 23, 2013.

You have to wonder if there was ever a time when Bobby Bundy had to think that he might just be snakebit and that this baseball thing was just not going to work out for him.

"That thought creeps into your mind from time to time when you've gone through all I had," he said. "You wonder, 'Will I really ever get healthy?' At the same time, I always just tried to stay positive. But last year I was healthy for a full season for the first time in four or five years."

May we all now knock on wood for this young man.

For the last two winters, Bundy has been a minor league free agent. Each time he re-signed with the only organization he has ever known.

"I had a few teams that wanted to negotiate with me but it all came down to what the Orioles have done for me and the opportunities they have given me," he said. "Throughout my surgeries and time on the DL, I felt like I have a home here and people that understand me. I really wanted to come back."

Dylan and Bobby Bundy have pitched in the same game as professional pitchers three times: once in spring training of 2015 and twice later that year with Bowie. (Read about the first such instance here).

Will both Bundys someday pitch in the same game for the Orioles at the major league level? Wouldn't that be a nice happy ending?

"I think it is impossible not to think about that," Bobby said. "The Orioles are kind of historical for having brothers in their organization. Dylan and I have talked about it. It is impossible not to dream about it and hope that goal is a reality one day."

United States wins: Team USA beat two-time champion Japan 2-1 last night in the World Baseball Classic semifinals. Now, for the first time, the Americans play for the championship tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern time against Puerto Rico. Right-hander Marcus Stroman of the Toronto Blue Jays gets the start against right-hander Seth Lugo.

The Orioles' Adam Jones was once again involved in a key Team USA rally. His fielder's choice grounder in the eighth inning broke a 1-1 tie. Brandon Crawford and Ian Kinsler singled with one out to put runners on first and third for Jones, who got the go-ahead run in for the lead. In the WBC, Jones is batting .226 (7-for-31) with two doubles, two homers and five RBIs.