BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~185
CURRENT ADP: ~216 overall
ANALYSIS: Dylan Bundy has been a favorite of baseball twitter this offseason. At first, it seemed to start as a joke, taking a renewed interest in him solely because of his move out of Baltimore, but then the stats started coming and the humor turned to genuine intrigue.
Despite his K-BB% decreasing by 2.5% and his ERA still at a bloated 4.79, there were some interesting developments for the 27-year-old. Bundy limited hard contact, gave up fewer barrels, and pitched to career lows in all the x-Stats (xBA, xSLG, XOBA, etc.). Then, Alex Chamberlain sent the Bundy debate into a new stratosphere but showing his remarkable similarity to rising star and Twitter-favorite Shane Bieber.
Despite having an average fastball, Bundy throws two excellent off-speed offerings in his changeup and slider. The change registered a 32.5 Whiff% while the slider had a 47.9 Whiff%, 24.2 PutAway% and limited hitters to a .158 xBA. Now that he's started throwing his fastball less over the past two seasons and relying on his off-speed more, there is potential growth for Bundy that he started displaying during the spring. In his seven innings pitched, he hadn't given up a run while striking out 10, walking one, and allowing one hit.
Now that Bundy has moved to a better pitcher's park, with a better defense, and a team more likely to give him an increase in wins, it's fair to wonder if the former top prospect could become a useful fantasy option. At his current price, it's certainly worth taking a chance, as he should be drafting closer to Jake Odorizzi (184) and German Marquez (190).
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