Los Angeles Angels 2020 player review: Dylan Bundy

Angels starter Dylan Bundy took a huge step forward in 2020 and the team will look for him to maintain that level of production in 2021.

The Achilles heel in Anaheim for years has been the lack of quality pitching. That problem is nowhere close to being solved just yet, but some glimmer of hope showed in 2020 with the emergence of Dylan Bundy. The 2020 pitching staff was not impressive by any means, but the addition of Bundy was a great one.

Season Review

Acquired from the Orioles in the offseason, Bundy desperately needed a fresh start. In his first season with the Angels Bundy started 11 games for the Halos with a career best 3.29 ERA, 2.95 FIP, & 4.24 K/BB ratio. Striking out 72 in 65 ⅔ innings and giving up the fewest amount of home runs in his career. Bundy touted 4 pitches with his slider showing nasty bite and producing 34 strikeouts. Batters against the slider hit just .138 with a meager .200 SLG. Bundy also showed tremendous improvement in both his fastball and changeup. Bundy was able to provide the Angels with the best numbers of his career and a new found confidence that’s needed in a quality MLB starter. Making only $5 million Bundy showed tremendous value for the production he was putting up, finally giving the Angels a starter to rely on.

Role in 2021

Bundy is riding a wave of momentum into 2021 coming off career best numbers across the board. With the Angels still in the hunt for Bauer it makes it incredibly interesting to see where Bundy ends up slotting in the rotation. Will Bundy be asked to be the number 1 guy again? Or will he slide into the 2-3 spot in the rotation? Many questions that have yet to be answered but will get more clarity as we see if the Angels can pull in an elite arm. In a perfect world a Bauer, Bundy, Heaney, Canning, & 2018 Ohtani rotation (yes this one is a big if) is a damn solid starting five. Nonetheless, Halo fans should feel good about the spot Bundy is in, he’s a great arm on a very manageable contract.

Grade

In an otherwise disappointing season one of the brightest spots was the emergence of Lord Bundy, as he is referred to on twitter, for the quality numbers he produced. In his 11 starts he became a fan favorite and showed he can be a staple on the Angels for the next couple years. With that being said we at Halo Hangout give Bundy an A-, all hail the king.