Last year Dylan Bundy was in effect named the Baltimore Orioles’ staff ace when he drew the Opening Day assignment. So even with this being a new day in Baltimore and so forth, does that translate into a start next Saturday afternoon against Minnesota in the Florida Grapefruit League? Here’s a follow-up; does it really matter?
My prediction is that new manager Brandon Hyde named Bundy the starter for Opening Day in New York. But again, would that mean he’d get the start in game one of spring training? Furthermore once again, does it matter?
Even the best teams don’t really use a rotation in spring training. Pitchers’ innings are actually scheduled ahead of time. Not only that, but the guys who start games may well be relievers. It could be more about seeing how a prospective reliever stacks up against the top of someone’s lineup than anything else. But again, let’s not forget that these spring games are in essence scripted.
I suppose that if Bundy gets the start in the Grapefruit League opener that does actually mean something. However again, there’s no real rotation at this stage. As teams go into the final week or so of spring training managers might start to line pitchers up in a rotation of sorts. If you’re Bundy, you’d love to get the ball in game one. But you’re probably not losing sleep if you don’t get it.
Birdland Crush 