Time for more patience with Bundy, plus a few more playoff notes

Looking ahead to the 2015 season, I think the time has come for us to stop asking one question: When is Dylan Bundy going to be in this rotation?

Even though he pitched just 41 1/3 innings this season, it was a success for Bundy. He came back from Tommy John surgery, made it into a minor league game less than a year removed from the procedure and had zero setbacks with his elbow. The arm is good to go. Bundy ended the year with a lat strain, but that has also healed at this point.

Now he needs to pitch like the pre-surgery Bundy and it seems like he has a good chance to do that at some point during the 2015 season. But for now, I think we should let this kid be a minor league pitcher with a promising future in Baltimore. There is no rush on that.

He has pitched a total of 145 minor league innings of which 16 2/3 have come above Single-A ball. Time to let this kid get seasoning and when he's ready, he's ready.

The O's can wait on Bundy with some of the pitching depth they have in the rotation. He'll get here when he's ready.

I saw Bundy dominate at times in 2012 and he's worth waiting for. He is still 21, by the way, and won't turn 22 until next month.

The O's dodged a bullet here. He had surgery and everything looks good with his arm at this point. He was pitching 90 to 92 mph in extended spring games early last season and that ticked up to 91 to 94 mph later in the summer. One pitch touched 96 mph in what turned out to be his last 2014 start, which I saw on Aug. 5 for Single-A Frederick.

Bundy pitched to an 9.36 ERA in his first three starts for the Keys, but that ERA was 1.23 in his last three. The progress was evident.

Bundy is healthy and will have a normal winter, just like any other healthy pitcher. His day is coming. But for now, it's time to show patience and wait on that.

Here are a few leftover Orioles playoff notes:

* The Orioles scored six runs on 14 hits in the first game of the American League Championship Series against Kansas City and then scored six runs on 16 hits in the last three games combined.

* The O's team ERA for seven postseason games was 3.92, as the starters pitched to an 4.93 ERA and the bullpen ERA was 2.63. O's starters recorded just one quality start in the playoffs and pitched 5 2/3 innings or fewer innings six times.

O's starters this postseason:
* Chris Tillman went 1-0 with a 6.75 ERA in two starts.
* Wei-Yin Chen went 0-1 with an 7.00 ERA in two starts.
* Bud Norris went 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA in two starts.
* Miguel Gonzalez went 0-1 with a 1.59 ERA in one start.

* The Orioles trailed at the end of 35 of the 37 innings in the ALCS against the Royals. In Games 1, 2 and 4, they never led. In Game 3, they led 1-0 after the second and third innings. K.C. tied it 1-1 in the fourth and went ahead 2-1 in the sixth and won by that score.