When Kansas City Manager Ned Yost sent 29 year old bust of a prospect Bryan Bullington to the mound to make his first start for the Royals against the Angels in Anaheim, Royals' fans gave Bullington little more than a "just give us five innings and don't get shelled all over the LA Metro area" sort of chance. When Bullington exited that early August game in the 6th inning after allowing only three runs against a potent Angels' lineup though, Kansas City fans reserved feelings on the newcomer suddenly turned to a more cautiously optimistic view.
In Bullington's next trip to the slab against the infamous Bronx Bombers, Kansas City's cautious optimism turned rapidly into a more "where the heck has this guy been for the past 30 years" outlook. Bullington managed to outwit the New York elite for eight strong innings, allowing only two hits against the all-star driven lineup while striking out five. All of a sudden, Royals' fans had something to be excited about in what had been a dismal second half to the season.
Bullington, since his first two successful starts, has been beaten around by Chicago, Cleveland, the Kansas City Media, Kansas City fans, uncle Bob's ol' hickory tree switch (don't act like you don't remember those days) and everything else in between. After 'Bull' allowed only three runs in his first 14 innings as a starter, he has since given up 13 earned runs in his last nine innings of work, turning Kansas City's glimmering faces into that of a kid attempting the old tablespoon full of cinnamon trick. With Bullington getting his first real look at the major league level this season however, lumps are going to come his way more often than not.
Bullington has had experience against big league opposition in four prior seasons, his first being with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2005. That season, Bullington amassed a grand total of 1.1 innings. The 'Bull' did not get another shot at the bigs until the 2007 season, also with Pittsburgh. That time around, he managed to get a whopping 17 innings of work, which included three starts. Bullington managed to walk out of Pittsburgh that season with a dismal 5.29 ERA, and was picked up via free agency by Cleveland the following off-season.
In his time with Cleveland, Bullington caught time as a spot starter during the 2008 season by making a grand total of two starts, giving up eight runs in 14.2 innings (4.91 ERA). After Cleveland decided that Bullington wasn't a part of their ever so promising future (by the way, they're currently 21.5 games out of first place), they cut him loose, leaving him searching for employment once again. Toronto took an interest in Bullington after the 2008 season, seeing him as a valid fit in their drained bullpen, and signed him to a minor league contract with an invite to major league camp prior to the start of the 2009 spring training period.
In his short time with the Jays, 'Bull' managed to collect another impressively high six innings of work, giving up only two runs during his time in Toronto. Once again however, Bullington's hard work failed to pay dividends, and he was let loose by his third club in as many seasons. After weighing his diminishing options, the aging former prospect signed on with the Royals prior to the start of the 2010 season.
After failing to make the big league club out of spring training, Bullington was shipped down to Omaha to get his work in. During his time with the AAA club, he amassed an impressive line, going 8-2 in 20 starts with a major league worthy 2.82 ERA. This caught the front office's attention in Kansas City, and shortly after Royals' starter Luke Hochevar went on the disabled list, Bullington got the call from Omaha for one more shot at major league competition. Since his promotion from the minor leagues, 'Bull' has collected a career high 30 innings of work, earning a 6.00 ERA enroute to the closest thing he has had to a full major league season. While his ERA is not spectacular by any means, even at the age of nearly 30, Bullington is entering the learning curve of his career.
Since nobody else gave the former Ball State standout a shot before the Royals, Bullington never had the opportunity to grow into his game so to speak at the major league level. 17 Innings of work at the major league level is not nearly enough time for a newcomer to the league to work out all of the kinks, so naturally what people need to understand is that he is still learning, even if he is approaching the 30 year mark in age. As I've said before and will keep saying, patience is key here if you really want to get a good estimation of how solid Bullington is going to be at this level of competition.
'Bull' has all of the potential in the world, but will need time to figure out how to find that potential. Bullington was originally drafted by the Royals in the 37th round of the 1999 first-year player draft, but quickly decided not to sign with the struggling organization. Be it a little bit of irony or just good luck, Bullington's second chance with the Royals could turn out to be beneficial to both parties involved if Kansas City gives him a legitimate shot. Truth be told, which all fans should already know, this pitching staff is hurting right now... bad. If Bullington can somehow figure out how to succeed at the major league level, his arm could solidify a starting rotation that could soon include Greinke (if he doesn't decide to leave us at his first opportunity, which is what it is sounding like he is going to do), Hochevar, Crow and Hernandez, a list of prospects that have shown potential to succeed in the big leagues but also are still in need of additional seasoning with the exception of Zack.
While Bullington may be taking his share of shellings and bends over uncle Bob's knee with switch in hand, the plain and simple fact is that this sort of thing is normal. Give the 29 year old kid a chance to develop, and see where it goes from there. If things work out, they work out, and Kansas City will be blessed with a talented pitcher for years to come. If they do not, well, I'm not going to be blaming him personally for the Royals 30 plus year post-season drought.
No comments:
Post a Comment