masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgYou have to figure that Orioles right-hander Dylan Bundy will be very excited to make his first opening day start today. But at the same time, this is a player that rarely shows emotion on the mound.
How will he handle pitching on the big stage today against the Minnesota Twins? With no issues at all, predicted his catcher, Caleb Joseph.
“He’s fine,” Joseph said. “A good old country boy from Oklahoma. I don’t think he’ll be too riled up. It is hard to get his blood pressure up anyway,…

You have to figure that Orioles right-hander Dylan Bundy will be very excited to make his first opening day start today. But at the same time, this is a player that rarely shows emotion on the mound.

How will he handle pitching on the big stage today against the Minnesota Twins? With no issues at all, predicted his catcher, Caleb Joseph.

“He’s fine,” Joseph said. “A good old country boy from Oklahoma. I don’t think he’ll be too riled up. It is hard to get his blood pressure up anyway, unless you start talking about deer hunting or something.

“He’ll be jacked up. But he has a calm demeanor. But when he gets between the lines, I wouldn’t want to meet him in a dark alley, for sure. And that is the kind of guy you want out there. Ice in the veins, but ready to go for the kill at any moment. I look forward to catching him and him having a big game for us.”

dylan-bundy-white-side.jpgIn 28 starts last year, Bundy went 13-9 with a 4.24 ERA over 169 2/3 innings. He got off to a fast start in 2017, going 3-1 with an ERA of 1.65 and WHIP of 0.980 in five April starts.

Bundy made 16 starts at home last season and went 7-5 with a 4.20 ERA with 24 walks and 80 strikeouts in 96 1/3 innings. In his career, he owns a 12-8 record with a 3.76 ERA in 36 appearances at Oriole Park. In 24 career starts at home, he has gone 12-8 with a 3.92 ERA.

Joseph said Bundy is fun to catch for many reasons. Chief among them is his ability to pitch well with three secondary pitches off his fastball. Last season, opponents hit just .174 off his slider, .229 against his changeup and .167 off his curveball.

“Yeah, it’s options and the more options you have, the more maneuverability you have,” Joseph said. “And you have to have that maneuverability, especially in the American League East and the American League in general. He was able to go to the curveball, the changeup, the slider. We saw a lot of the slider early on last year and he’s been working on the curveball this spring. Excited about what he will bring on opening day.”

Catching a pitcher with four quality pitches means that Joseph can work exactly to the game plan. But it also means he can adapt and change that if he has to in the heat of battle.

“Scouting reports are great and it’s a great way to plan the attack,” Joseph. “But sometimes, once you get on the field, you have to completely readjust. And you have to get outs right away. Sometimes you can hold stuff back.

“It is really a unique situation. You can go in with a game plan and finish the game doing something completely opposite than what you planned on. That is the job of a catcher, to try and monitor the situation and get outs as fast as you can. We always have a game plan for every game. But adjustments are the biggest thing in this game. It’s a thinking man’s game.”