Dylan Bundy announced as Sunday's starter

TAMPA - The Orioles found a starter in their bullpen.

The club announced this morning that Dylan Bundy, 23, will make his first major league start on Sunday versus the Rays at Tropicana Field. The news came about three minutes after my flight landed in Tampa.

The rotation against the Rays includes Yovani Gallardo on Friday and Chris Tillman on Saturday. Kevin Gausman will start Monday night against the Yankees in the Bronx.

Bundy, the fourth-overall pick in 2011 out of Owasso High School in Oklahoma, is 2-1 with a 3.08 ERA in 22 relief appearances. He hasn't gone more than three innings or thrown more than 57 pitches this season, but the club is willing to give him a shot.

It could turn into a bullpen game with multiple relievers used, but how does that differ from other games? The rotation ranks 28th in the majors with a 5.15 ERA.

In his most recent outing on July 6, Bundy shut out the Dodgers over 2 1/3 innings and struck out seven batters. He hasn't surrendered an earned run over his last six appearances, allowing 11 hits and striking out 19 batters.

Bundy made his major league debut on Sept. 22 in Boston and pitched twice in relief before undergoing ligament-reconstructive surgery on his right elbow in June 2013. He was shut down at Double-A Bowie last year due to discomfort in his right shoulder caused by calcification in the Teres minor muscle, and again in the Arizona Fall League with a strained muscle in his right forearm, further slowing his assent to the rotation, but he reported to minicamp and spring training healthy this year and was viewed as a starting candidate next season at the latest.

The future is now.

When I asked executive vice president Dan Duquette on July 7 whether we'd soon find Bundy in the rotation, he noted the outing versus the Dodgers and added, "We drafted and signed him to be a starter. It looks like there's an opportunity on this club."

It's wide open with Mike Wright and Tyler Wilson at Triple-A Norfolk and Ubaldo Jimenez perhaps headed to the bullpen. The Orioles were down to four starters before including Bundy and they still haven't announced whether Jimenez will get another opportunity.

In nine games working on four or more day's of rest, Bundy has allowed two runs over 17 1/3 innings and struck out 20 battes. The switch to a starter's schedule also has hiked the velocity on his fastball to the upper 90s.

Bundy has faced the Rays once in his career, shutting them out over three innings and striking out four batters on June 26 at Camden Yards.