Bullington ready for new role, new town, new team

By Ryan Greene

Friday, April 10, 2009 | 2:10 a.m.

A strapping 6-foot-5 righty whose talent commanded a $4 million signing bonus, Bryan Bullington this week took in Las Vegas for the first time.

Back in June 2002, Cashman Field was about the last place the former No. 1 overall pick could have probably imagined his 2009 season beginning.

A look down the list of players chosen in the first round of the '02 MLB amateur draft -- those taken after the Pittsburgh Pirates swiped Bullington out of Ball State -- leads many critics to label him a 'bust' at this point in his career.

B.J. Upton, taken by Tampa Bay with the No. 2 pick, is an up-and-coming star, clubbing 33 homers, driving in 149 runs and stealing 66 bases over his first 2 full major league seasons.

Prince Fielder, selected seventh by Milwaukee, is one of the game's most powerful young sluggers, with 114 home runs in just over 3 complete seasons.

Cole Hamels, who Philadelphia nabbed in the 17th slot, is arguably the most dangerous left arms in the majors. He was the MVP of last fall's World Series.

The list goes on: Zack Greinke, Joe Saunders, Khalil Greene, Scott Kazmir, Nick Swisher, James Loney, Jeff Francoeur, Matt Cain, etc.

Bullington's story -- a top prospect whose career hits a snag with some injuries and poor timing -- is not uncommon in baseball. It's only magnified when you're the top overall selection.

Still, he soldiers on, working to keep that 'bust' label from becoming permanently affixed.

This summer, he'll be doing so for the 51s.

"I don't know if it's a patience thing -- you've just got to play the hand that you're dealt," he said. "I'm here, so I'm gonna try to make the most of it, and I'm not gonna be the bitter guy about playing in Triple-A at all.

"It's just a choice. You can take any situation and choose to be pissed about it, or you can make the most of it. So I'll try to do that in all avenues of life."

Bullington's career started the way it was expected to.

He posted stellar numbers in A-ball in 2003 between stops at Hickory and Lynchburg. In 2004, he went 12-7 and ate up 145 innings at Double-A Altoona.

In 2005, he appeared on his way, going 9-5 with a 3.38 ERA over 18 starts with Triple-A Indianapolis. Late in the season came his first big-league call-up. Throwing just an inning and a third for the Pirates, he surrendered, he gave up a hit, a walk and two earned runs.

His next MLB action wouldn't come for nearly two years.

"I had a good year in Triple-A, and I finally got called up and felt like I was in a pretty good position with Pittsburgh," he said. "I got hurt in spring training '05 and pitched through the season with it. Then it got really bad towards the end of the year, got another MRI which showed a labrum tear."

In October 2005, Bullington had surgery to repair his right shoulder, and would have to sit the entire 2006 season. Coincidentally, that was when the rest of the young arms he'd come up with through the system in Pittsburgh took off.

Zach Duke, a 20th-round selection in 2001, started 34 games for the Pirates that year, going 10-15, but looked liked he belonged while surrendering only 68 walks in 215.1 innings and maintaining a 4.47 ERA.

Ian Snell, a 26th-round pick in 2000, came up to start 32 games, striking out 169 batters in 186 innings while going 14-11.

Flashes were also shown from 2003 first-round pick Paul Maholm -- now the Pirates' ace -- and 2003 second-rounder Tom Gorzelanny.

"Missing the year in '06, that's when a lot of those guys had good years, they were kind of younger than me and I got behind the 8-ball in the organization," Bullington said. "They had three or four young guys come in and have good years. Those were all the guys I came up with, and they pitched well with the opportunities they had, and with the injuries, I was the seventh, eighth guy. That was basically it."

Bullington came back in 2007 with the Pirates organization and had a steady season in Triple-A. Three starts during another late-season call-up netted an 0-3 record and a 5.29 ERA.

Things started to pick back up for him, though, after Cleveland claimed him off waivers following a rocky first half of the season in Indianapolis.

His first stop was to Triple-A Buffalo, where he met pitching coach Scott Radinsky.

Radinsky knew what it was like to be an organization's prized pitching prospect. He was a third-round pick of the White Sox in 1986, and while he never became the dominant force out of the bullpen many thought he would be, he still pitched in the majors for 11 seasons and earned more than $11 million over the course of his career -- more than enough to be considered a success.

"He had me drop my arm slot, and I got back to where I was in college, feeling more comfortable and getting some more action on the ball," Bullington said. "I carried that into the spring this year, and I like the way the ball's coming out of my hand."

But just as he's found his stride again, Bullington is taking on a different kind of role.

No longer pegged as a future front-end rotation guy, he'll primarily work out of the bullpen for manager Mike Basso to start the season, but at the same time provide plenty of versatility.

"He's a reliever -- it's our call, but he's a reliever, he can be a swing guy, he can spot-start, very valuable," Basso said. "You just give him every opportunity he can, see where he fits into our bullpen, where he fits into the team, and it's up to him when he gets out on the mound. And he understands that. He's a pro."

Bullington talks like a pro, too. Even-keeled, he's quick to point out that there's no room for a pity party on his part if he still wants to reach his potential. Now 28 years old -- no longer a 23-year-old future of a franchise -- this is the real world.

It's neither friendly nor fair all the time.

"It's a job," he said with a straight face. "I'm liking the bullpen role. I like the idea of just getting up and getting in there, and I feel like I can definitely eat up some innings if they need to stretch me out at sometime, but I'll do whatever they need.

"I'll take any job they give me, man. I enjoy playing. As long as I get a chance to play, I'll do so."

This spring gave the Blue Jays organization no reason not to let him keep playing.

In 5.2 innings of work over three relief appearances, he allowed only two runs and struck out six.

Finding a seat in the bullpen on which to kick back and chew on some sunflower seeds in Toronto, however, will be no easy task.

The Jays return almost their entire bullpen from 2008, a unit that carried the best ERA of any relief staff in baseball at 2.92.

Bullington says he feels he has three pitches strong enough to be able to turn over a lineup a couple of times.

A break going his way wouldn't hurt, either.

But getting there isn't something Bullington will stress over too much, given the obstacles he's already had to clear in a still-young career.

"It's tough," he said. "In (Toronto's) bullpen, there's a ton of depth at the big league level. It's gonna be tough to get an opportunity, but you've just got to be ready, pitch as well as you can here and hope things work out."