It’s hard to remember amidst the Delmon Young signings and closer flip-flopping that the Baltimore Orioles still have a 21-year-old stud with an ace ceiling. Sure, Dylan Bundy was set back by Tommy John surgery, but the O’s righty is now throwing pain free.
Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun is fortunate enough to be out of this delightful Charm City weather and is covering the Bundy’s comeback in Sarasota.
Now he has circled June 28 — one year and one day after his Tommy John surgery — as the target date for his return. Right now, he is throwing from 60 feet every other day as part of a throwing progression that will eventually increase to 200 feet.
Eventually, he will move to a half mound and then a full mound, which he hopes to do by the end of spring training. If he starts pitching in simulated or Gulf Coast League games by the beginning of June, Bundy’s goal to return in late June will be realistic.
Everyone has been depressed by the storyline of this offseason, but good news about Bundy has to make O’s fans feel a little more optimistic about the future. Bundy’s ace ceiling, with Kevin Gausman as a number two starter, Eduardo Rodriguez in the third slot and Mike Wright as an innings eater in the back of the rotation.
These kids can’t get here soon enough.
