O’s hoping Bundy finds his command

Trumbo given injection in knee; Wilkerson starts rehab assignment

When the Orioles last faced the New York Mets in early June, Dylan Bundywas in the midst of one of the dominant stretches that have come to define his career. His seven shutout innings June 6 were part of a six-start stretch in which he had a 2.09 ERA with 47 strikeouts and a 0.88 WHIP in 43 innings.

But on either side of that stretch, Bundy was in a run during which his command eluded him — and the result was a lot of home runs. Bundy has largely scuffled through his past eight starts, with just two quality starts and a 6.75 ERA thanks to 13 home runs allowed in 42 innings.

After his previous start, when the Boston Red Sox homered off him twice, Bundy lamented the fine line between missing off the plate and walking batters and missing over the plate and watching the ball leave the field.

“I think the biggest thing that frustrates him is his command,” manager Buck Showalter said. “He can go through every one of those with the home runs and what have you, and can say, ‘Here’s where I was trying to throw it and here’s where it ended up.’ When he’s had some of those outings where it didn’t matter who was in the batter’s box, he was executing pitches — it’s there.”

Bundy has struggled some with home runs even when things were going well. After he allowed nine home runs over three starts from April 26 to May 8, effectively erasing his outstanding April in the process, he allowed six home runs, accounting for nine of the 10 runs he allowed, over a six-start span beginning May13.

As a result, his 29 home runs allowed lead the majors — and that’s without the three he allowed during the July 25 game against the Red Sox that was postponed because of inclement weather. Showalter believes Bundy is capable of limiting the homers. “Dylan’s as stable and mature and competitive a guy at a young age,” Showalter said. “I’m reminded, me and y’all, that this guy is barely older than Yefry Ramírez. Sometimes we act like he’s been here a while, comparatively speaking, but this is a young guy.” Trumbo receives injection: Outfielder/designated hitter Mark Trumbo returned to the Orioles starting lineup for Tuesday’s series opener against the New York Mets after receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection in his right knee Monday.

“He feels better today like we thought he would,” Showalter said of Trumbo, who batted cleanup as the team’s designated hitter Tuesday. “I don’t think it’s going to be something that’s completely going to go away until [he gets] a lot of time off. But I don’t think it’s anything he can’t manage. He and [head athletic trainer] Brian [ Ebel] have been dealing with it for a while.”

Trumbo was out of the starting lineup for the past two games before Monday’s day off. Before then, Trumbo was 12-for-24 over his previous six games, including a two-homer, five-RBI game against the Texas Rangers on Aug. 5 Wilkerson returns to games: After more than seven weeks sidelined from game action with a left oblique strain, utility infielder Steve Wilkerson began his minor league rehab assignment Tuesday with a 3-for-3 day that included a double, two RBIs and a stolen base playing for the Orioles’ Gulf Coast League team.

Wilkerson’s progress from injury was slower than expected, and the last step before getting into games was swinging without discomfort from the left side. Around the horn: Outfielder Adam Jones is expected to go on bereavement leave later this week to attend a family funeral, Showalter said. Aplayer put on the bereavement list must miss a minimum of three games and a maximum of seven. … Outfielder Craig Gentry (broken rib) continued his minor league rehab assignment Tuesday with High-A Frederick. He entered the night 8-for-18 in five rehab games.