Orioles shut down top prospect Bundy
Right-hander hasn't pitched since May 21 due to right shoulder inflammation
BALTIMORE -- Orioles pitching prospect Dylan Bundy, the club's No. 1-ranked prospect and No. 15 overall, has been shut down from throwing with nothing imminent on his return.
Bundy had some inflammation in his right shoulder and hasn't pitched in a game since May 21. His initial MRI exam showed the inflammation but no structural damage, but the follow-up after he rested wasn't what the team was hoping for, and he was prescribed more rest and a follow-up visit with Dr. James Andrews.
"Is [Arizona] Fall League this year? It's considered this year, right?" Orioles manager Buck Showalter said when asked if Bundy would pitch again in 2015. "He's just kind of shut down for the near future. For a while. Kind of let everything calm down, see where we are. But, depending on how you look at it, probably as good of news [on the MRI] as you can expect. I obviously know a lot more than I'm going to talk about. ... He won't be throwing for a little while. See how that is."
Bundy was 0-3 with a 3.68 ERA in eight starts (22 innings) for Double-A Bowie this season. Showalter said surgery or PRP (platelet rich plasma) injections are not options he's heard discussed for Bundy, who has had a rough few years.
The promising righty had Tommy John surgery in 2013, and was thought to at least be a September callup this year as the Orioles wanted to get a look at where he was. Because Bundy was signed to a Major League deal when he was drafted fourth overall in 2011, he will be out of Minor League options next spring.
Bundy had a quick ascent to the Majors in his first full season in professional baseball, pitching in two games for the Orioles out of the bullpen in 2012. He was expected to contribute the follow season, but dealt with arm soreness all spring before undergoing Tommy John surgery. This year was supposed to be when the organization took the restraints off him a little bit, building up Bundy at Double-A for a potential callup before the shoulder injury.
Monday's news comes along with fellow O's first-round pitcher Matt Hobgood, who will undergo season-ending right shoulder surgery sometime around July 6.
"I don't want to get into doctors evaluations, but I know Dylan throwing again is not imminent," Showalter said. "And I know Hobgood is having surgery on his shoulder."