Dylan Bundy and his innings outlook for 2017

A few weeks after a successful rookie season, Orioles right-hander Dylan Bundy turned 24 yesterday. When you consider that he entered the 2016 season out of options and having to stick on the major league roster all year, and with all of 38 2/3 minor league innings above Single-A on his resume, Bundy had a solid season indeed.

He tied for second on the team in wins, threw 109 2/3 innings, moved into the starting rotation, and certainly flashed some of the vast talent and potential fans had been hearing about for a long time. Bundy was the club's top draft pick (No. 4 overall) in 2011 and after a strong 2012 on the farm, he was the No. 2 ranked prospect in the sport by Baseball America.

Fans got excited about what he could eventually do on the major league level. But Tommy John surgery in 2013 and a shoulder ailment in 2015 limited him to 63 1/3 innings from 2013-15. Fans started to question whether he would ever make an impact at the big league level.

Those questions were answered last year when he went 10-6 with a 4.02 ERA and moved into the rotation in the second half. He went 4-2 with a 2.76 ERA in his first six starts. He built his pitch count up to 99 in one start. He fanned 9.04 per nine innings as starter. He did equally well against left-handed (.256 average) and right-handed hitters (.259). To put it in Buck Showalter terms, he sure looked like a nugget.

From July 22 to Aug. 12, Bundy ranked tied for first in wins (four) and was fifth in strikeouts (32) among all major league pitchers, posting a 1.84 ERA. He became the 17th Orioles pitcher to record 10 wins in his rookie season. The last to do that was left-hander Wei-Yin Chen (12 wins in 2012).

Looking to 2017, one concern will be how many innings Bundy can pitch. After all, this is a pitcher with just 280 1/3 innings in his pro career. That even counts two innings in the 2015 Arizona Fall League.

Bundy's innings by year as a pro pitcher:
2012 - 105 1/3
2013 - 0
2014 - 41 1/3
2015 - 24
2016 - 109 2/3

Bundy's innings by level, lowest to highest:
Short-season Single-A Aberdeen - 15
SIngle-A Delmarva - 30
Single-A Frederick - 83 1/3
Double-A Bowie - 38 2/3
Triple-A Norfolk - 0
Baltimore - 111 1/3

After pitching 109 2/3 innings in 2016, we can't expect to see Bundy throw 175 innings next season. Maybe not even 150. And if a common-sense total for his 2017 season comes up under or near 150, Bundy may not be able to make every start next year unless the club plans to have him throw several short starts at some point in the season. After all, making 30 starts and averaging six innings would take him to 180.

So how do the Orioles use Bundy next year? Maybe he pitches out of the bullpen for a month or two and then moves into the rotation. That would at least temporarily solve the issue of having six starters for five spots and add a bullpen pitcher that we know can succeed in that role.

For now, it looks like Bundy's future is clearly in the starting rotation, but he may not have enough available innings next season to be in the starting five for the full year.