2018 season recap: For Dylan Bundy, it turned south around midseason

As June came to an end, Orioles right-hander Dylan Bundy had a 6-7 record and an ERA of 3.75. In June, Bundy went 3-0 with a 1.98 ERA in four starts.

He was well on his way to a solid 2018 season, but it didn't end up that way. Not even close. Completing his third straight year as a key member of the pitching staff and second straight in the rotation, Bundy went 8-16 with a 5.45 ERA in 31 starts.

While he set career highs for starts, innings, strikeouts and strikeout rate, he also had the highest ERA and WHIP and the most homers allowed of his career.

But Bundy is still considered a big part of this team's present and maybe its future as well. He is just 25, still has plenty of potential and has three years of a team control remaining.

But in 2018, his 16 losses tied with James Shields of the White Sox for the major league lead. His 41 homers allowed were seven more than Shields, who allowed the second-most in the majors. Bundy's 41 home runs given up surpassed his previous career high of 26 set in 2017 and set a new team record, breaking the previous mark of 35. It was the most homers allowed in the majors since Cincinnati's Bronson Arroyo surrendered 46 in 2011. It was the most allowed by a pitcher in the American League since Jamie Moyer gave up 44 home runs in 2004 with the Seattle Mariners.

Earlier, we mentioned Bundy's stats at the end of June. But he ended that month on the disabled list with an ankle injury after he got hurt running the bases June 23 at Atlanta. He returned July 6 and was not the same pitcher for the most part after that injury. He said many times that was he fine physically and the ankle was no factor.

But from July through September, Bundy went 2-9 with a 7.61 ERA in his last 15 starts. He recorded just five quality starts and allowed 23 homers in 75 2/3 innings for a rate of 2.7 per every nine innings in that span.

Bundy had his moments when he pitched well after the DL stint, but not enough of them. But if you look at some of his 2018 numbers, other aspects stand out as well: his struggles facing lefty batters and his struggles with his changeup and curveball.

Here is Bundy's slash line when facing lefty batters:

2016: .256/.317/.439
2017: .261/.321/.452
2018: .319/.385/.553

So the OPS versus lefties went from .756 to .773 to .938 last season. A hitter that hit both lefties and righties with a .938 OPS would have finished sixth in the majors in OPS this year. So facing lefties was a real issue for the right-hander. He did an OK job versus lefty batters before 2018, but not in 2018.

We all know the slider is a real out pitch for Bundy and it was again in 2018. Opposing batters hit .174 versus that pitch in 2017 and .178 last year. And while batters hit better off Bundy's fastball last year, they really hit better against his other secondaries.

The batting average against off his changeup went from .229 in 2017 to .361, and off his curveball from .167 to .419. Batters slugged .645 off his curve (up from .381) and .733 against the changeup (up from .419).

Bundy was still a pitcher with a four-pitch mix in 2018, but several of those pitches were just not as effective. Was that due to poor location? Did his pitches lack bite and finish as some speculated in the second half? Was the ankle still an issue?

Bundy's talent is still there. His fastball velocity as a starter was 92.5 mph in 2017 and 92.1 last season. Not much difference. He doesn't throw 96 or 98 mph anymore, so he needs the four-pitch mix and definitely needs solid command.

But for about half of last season, he was solid, although that gets lost in his poor second half. I still see the potential for a top-of-the-rotation pitcher here. And maybe an offseason to ponder adjustments and get completely healthy will be big for the right-hander.

As the 2019 season begins, he'll need to cut down on those longballs and get the effectiveness back with his secondary pitches to produce some of the solid numbers we've seen him put up in the past.

Where is McKenna?: That was a fair question to ask yesterday. When the Arizona Fall League announced the rosters for Saturday's Fall Stars Game, no Orioles prospects made the squad. But at least one was very deserving. Outfielder Ryan McKenna is batting .366/.490/.610 in 11 games for Glendale with four doubles, three triples and 12 runs.

McKenna should play in that game, but somehow he was overlooked. But he can still get in the game through a fan vote. Three players are listed for the final vote for both the East and West squads and two will make it through a final fan vote that ends today at 3 p.m. Eastern time.

You can click here to vote.