Bundy joins Mets: 'I'm happy I have a home'

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- For six weeks, Dylan Bundy sat at home in Oklahoma, unsigned and unsure of his professional baseball future. Once one of the game’s brightest prospects, Bundy had seen his stock fall far enough that when other players began reporting to spring camps in Florida and Arizona, he stayed home, throwing alone to keep his arm in shape.

Finally, on Thursday, the phone rang. The Mets, having lost José Quintana to injury, were looking for additional starting pitching. Bundy fit the bill as what manager Buck Showalter called a “professional depth piece that we can use.”

“It was a long offseason,” Bundy said upon reporting to Mets camp Saturday. “I’m happy I have a home.”

Over the next few weeks, Bundy will throw bullpen sessions and live batting practice in extended Spring Training until he’s ready to report to a Minor League affiliate. In New York, he joins a group of depth starters including Tylor Megill, Elieser Hernández and Joey Lucchesi.

There’s plenty of familiarity at Mets camp for Bundy, who played under Showalter in the Orioles' organization from 2012-18 and was subsequently traded to the Angels, where Billy Eppler was the general manager. Bundy is also acquainted with Orioles-turned-Mets bullpen coach Dom Chiti, as well as Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, who lives about 20 minutes from him in Oklahoma.

That group will attempt to unlock any remaining potential in Bundy, the fourth overall pick in the 2011 Draft who was MLB Pipeline’s second-ranked prospect heading into the '13 season. In those days, Bundy threw in the upper 90s with a four-pitch mix.

“A lot of people tell you he was the best high school prospect they ever saw,” Showalter said.

Injuries have changed that dramatically for Bundy, who averaged 89 mph on his four-seam fastball last season with the Twins. Despite the reduced velocity, he has mustered some success over the past few years, most notably producing a 3.29 ERA over 11 starts for the Angels during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season -- a performance that earned him American League Cy Young consideration. But Bundy was unable to replicate those results in '21, during which he went 2-9 with a 6.06 ERA.

If nothing else, Bundy remains capable of eating innings, having soaked up 140 of them last season for Minnesota. He figures to be an option should the Mets need a spot starter or rotation fill-in later this summer. To that end, Bundy’s new club intends to stretch him out to a starter’s workload once he begins facing hitters.

“I’ve just got to get myself ready,” Bundy said. “I’m way behind as far as these guys who have been here for five, six weeks now. I’ve got to get going and face hitters, I think, to be able to go pitch somewhere.”