Notes on Bundy, Bleier, Hays, Sisco and more (O's lead 5-1)

A day after Orioles starter Dylan Bundy raised some concerns over his decline in velocity and poor command, the sense within the organization remains that he isn't hurt.

"I feel fine physically and that's the most important thing," Bundy said this morning.

Manager Brandon Hyde checked again on Bundy this morning.

"His velo was down a little bit all game long," Hyde said. "What we saw, and I talked to him about it - he understood totally, too - in the fifth inning there his velo dropped a little bit more, walked a couple guys. Arm-side misses. Doesn't look right from the bench."

All of which led to Bundy's removal after only 80 pitches. He allowed three runs and the Orioles lost 7-2.

"I'm not looking to pull anybody out after 80 pitches," Hyde said. "I want guys to go as deep as possible. But when I see velo drop and arm-side up misses and two walks and command being shaky, it's a little bit of a red flag for me. I'm glad we got him out when we did."

Bundy's four-seamer averaged a career-low 89.8 mph per Statcast data. He's averaging 91.36 mph this season. The days of mid-to-upper 90s aren't likely to return, but he's able to get hitters out with better command of the fastball and secondary stuff.

"We saw a lack of command, too. That was the thing," Hyde said.

Left-hander Richard Bleier, who made back-to-back scoreless appearances at Double-A Bowie, will join Single-A Frederick on Tuesday to continue his injury rehab assignment.

Bleier will join Triple-A Norfolk in Indianapolis next weekend after pitching for Frederick, where his assignment started on Tuesday.

"He came out of the back-to-back feeling good," Hyde said, "and on track to join us here at some point."

The Orioles could use the boost in their bullpen. A reliable veteran to handle the later innings.

"I think Rich would help in that he's pitched in big spots before in the big leagues and he's got some experience," Hyde said. "Experience would obviously helped and he's had success the last couple years. Pitched really well out of the 'pen in a variety of roles here. So, yeah, look forward to having somebody else be able to kind of bridge the gap to Mike (Givens), be able to give Mike the ball in a big spot with the game on the line in a save situation.

"I think that experience and his past history of throwing the ball well in those spots will be helpful."

Outfielder Austin Hays is done with extended spring training games and is headed to Frederick.

"It's good to see him get out of Sarasota and on his way," Hyde said.

Hyde is receiving good reports on Norfolk catcher Chance Sisco, who's 17-for-37 (.459) with six home runs, 19 RBIs and a .565 on-base percentage in his last 10 games going into today's doubleheader against Buffalo.

Hyde spoke this morning with Tides manager Gary Kendall and got the latest on Sisco.

"All those guys are swinging the bat well and the team's playing pretty well, so that's great to hear," Hyde said.

"Chance is swinging the bat ... sounds like he's taking really good at-bats. The catching's coming along. They have him and (Jesús) Sucre there, which is a nice Triple-A duo. Chance is really swinging the bat well. Like the ABs he's taking, so I think after a slow start it's nice to see him rebound and have a real good last few weeks."

It's always going to be more about developing the defensive aspect of Sisco's game, a prime reason why the Orioles optioned him after he slashed .382/.533/.765 with four home runs and 11 RBIs in spring training. He's thrown out 2-of-21 runners attempting to steal this season.

"I know (Kendall) and Cuz (Tim Cossins) talk regularly about him, also," Hyde said. "He's coming along and it sounds like his throwing's getting better and he's doing a nice job commanding the leadership aspect that we talked about a lot in spring training. He's taking that into Norfolk, so everybody's pleased with the progress he's making.

"I think there's still development to happen and it sounds like it's going well. We have a lot of not-finished products here, also, but with Chance, we felt like the right thing to do was for him to go get more playing time behind the plate and with the bat at Triple-A. He's swinging the bat well, he's making progress defensively, so everything's good with that."

The Orioles are carrying Pedro Severino and Austin Wynns as their catchers after outrighting Sucre. The offensive output has been lacking as a whole, with Severino hitting .237/.308/.475 and Wynns having two hits in 17 at-bats. But Severino also has hit four home runs to match his total with the Nationals in 105 games and he's thrown out 7-of-10 runners attempting to steal.

Today's game officially will begin in a rain delay.

Here are the starters for the series against the Yankees in the Bronx:

Monday: David Hess vs. Jonathan Loaisiga
Tuesday: Andrew Cashner vs. J.A. Happ
Wednesday: Dan Straily vs. Domingo Germán.

For the Angels
David Fletcher LF
Mike Trout CF
Andrelton Simmons SS
Alberto Pujols DH
Kole Calhoun RF
Kevan Smith C
Justin Bour 1B
Zack Cozart 3B
Tommy La Stella 2B

Griffin Canning RHP

Update: Chris Davis and Stevie Wilkerson homered in the second inning to give the Orioles a 2-0 lead.

Update II: Mike Trout homered off John Means in the third to reduce the lead to 2-1.

Update III: Dwight Smith Jr.'s two-run shot in the third gave the Orioles a 4-1 lead.

Update IV: Severino homered in the sixth for a 5-1 lead. The Orioles have tied their season high with four home runs.