Dylan Bundy's Cutter

[BaltimoreFan]

Does anyone know why we are not letting him throw his cutter and when we will let him throw it again? I recently saw the sports illustrated TV show featuring Bundy and he said he is mad that they took it away. Does this mean it's permanently gone?

[TuckerBlair89]

They want him to work on his other pitches. That was largely viewed as one of his better bitches if not best pitch.

I don't personally agree with it, but I can see why they did it. They should be letting him loose once he gets to bowie I assume (and hope)

[Shad.Knows]

I don't have a link, but Steve Melewski said a few months ago that he was still able to use the pitch in his bullpen sessions so that he didn't lose feel for it completely. Anybody with a better pitching knowledge than me know if this works? I'd hate to see him forget how to use and control the pitch.

[Shad.Knows]

I feel that just like when he was dominating low-A with his fastball and had to be moved up and work on his other pitches, he should have kept his cutter and forced a promotion to a level where the cutter no longer dominated hitters there. With this idea, he could have started at Frederick, dominated like he did in Delmarva, then forced a movie to Bowie where he would be forced to use his other pitches.

But once again, this is just me spitballing ideas. I'd love to hear from someone with a good pitching background give their thoughts.

[Jordan Tuwiner]

Still, the Orioles took more precautions with Bundy. They took away his cutter out of fear that overuse of the pitch causes pitchers to lose fastball velocity. Bundy, who relied heavily on the cutter, wasn't overjoyed. "You don't want to get me started on that," Bundy says. "It was my best pitch."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/m ... ndy/1.html

[Shad.Knows]

That actually makes sense. Probably a good idea to limit the pitch if it was something he relied heavily on too.

Thanks for sharing the article, I didn't realize it was available for free online!

[osforlife]

So they are giving it back to him?

[birdwatcher55]

Not that I've read. Seems like a smart move

[Matt P]

I think it would have made more sense if they just limited his use of it to 5-10 times per game. I'm sure he is still throwing it in side sessions so why not let him use it a few times per game?

I like how they have moved him along and limited his innings. I'm not a real big fan on these inning limits but if they are going to enforce it I don't see a better way to do it compared to the way the O's have done it. Let him get the last of his 120 innings in AA where the competition is much better. Next season, he starts in AA and finishes in AAA with 150ish innings and when he is in Baltimore in 2014 he should be able to throw at least 180.