The Durham Bulls in 2013 — Hitters — Part 2

Players in this version of the 2013 hitters’ table are sorted by wOBA. See previous post for the table sorted by games played. The less familiar stats such as weighted on-base average (wOBA) and weighted runs above average (wRAA) are explained at the links. Players with an asterisk are left-handed batters. Data sources are Baseball Reference.com and Fangraphs. Players discussed in order of games played.

Name	Age	G	PA	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	wOBA	wRAA
Hak-Ju Lee*	22	15	57	.422	.536	.600	1.136	.508	8.0
Wil Myers	22	64	289	.286	.356	.520	.876	.387	13.5
Vince Belnome*	25	127	533	.300	.408	.446	.854	.389	25.6
Leslie Anderson*	31	119	494	.292	.372	.459	.832	.375	18.7
Brandon Guyer	27	98	405	.301	.374	.458	.832	.377	15.9
Luke Scott	35	3	14	.333	.429	.333	.762	.338	0.1
Kevin Kiermaier*	23	39	154	.263	.338	.423	.761	.344	2.1
Tim Beckham	23	122	522	.276	.342	.387	.729	.334	3.2
Cole Figueroa*	26	129	533	.286	.361	.367	.727	.337	4.3
Mike Fontenot*	33	120	470	.264	.335	.379	.714	.328	0.6
Jason Bourgeois	31	90	391	.290	.343	.368	.711	.325	-0.3
Juan Apodaca	26	29	97	.238	.333	.357	.690	.323	-0.3
Shelley Duncan	33	90	376	.215	.287	.382	.669	.303	-6.6
Chris Gimenez	30	95	375	.224	.350	.305	.656	.316	-3.0
Rich Thompson*	34	50	217	.249	.325	.312	.638	.300	-4.3
Ryan Roberts	32	37	148	.210	.320	.274	.594	.286	-4.5
Evan Frey*	27	47	148	.230	.329	.262	.591	.286	-4.5
Craig Albernaz	30	33	115	.225	.279	.304	.583	.271	-4.9
Jesus Flores	28	52	189	.178	.212	.244	.456	.211	-16.7

2013 Durham Bulls Hitters

Sorted by wOBA

Jason Bourgeois, besides having the most difficult name to spell correctly, added quite a bit to the team this year and not all of it shows in the stats. First of all, at the beginning of the year he was a speedy outfielder who, along with Rich Thompson, could cover left and center and steal bases (22 on the year). This base running speed made up for Durham’s lack of power throughout the year. He and Thompson helped limit the damage from Wil Myers’ surprising lack of skill in right field in the early part of the season. He got to play in 9 games with the Rays late in the season, but there was no public bid for his services as he passed through waivers on his way back. At 31, he needed perhaps a bit more to earn a call back for 2014. We’ll have to wait and see. Stats.

Shelley Duncan may have had his last hurrah as a baseball player with the Bulls this year. To be honest, we like just about everything about what we have seen from him over the years. But he seems to have lost a step and certainly was not the power hitter this year that he has been in the past. With over 300 major league games under his belt, he surely brought a depth of experience to the clubhouse and his enthusiasm with each win was visible. To get some insights into his approach to the game, take a look at two very fine articles (here and here) from this year’s Bull City Summer. 54 RBI is nothing to sneeze at. The Bulls needed every one they could get this year. At 33 is there a chance that he could be back? Maybe. Stats.

Wil Myers spent the early part of the season with the Bulls, playing in 64 games before moving on. (Note: that was more than Longoria's 38 games in late 2007/early 2008.) We won’t see him in the DBAP in a Bulls uniform again (unless it’s for a rehab assignment and we’d rather not see that happen). We admit that his first month or so was unimpressive when compared to the hype, but then we noticed his RBI numbers, which were substantial even early in the season, much less what he accumulated over his 64 games (57). Early awkwardness in right field smoothed out a bit, but needed work. At the plate he eventually showed all that was promised, hitting one of the longest home runs we’ve ever witnessed and 13 more to go with it. Note that even though he left the team in June, at the end of the season his 14 homers were tied for the team lead (with Anderson). We wish him well. We’ll be able to say we saw him way back when someday. Stats.

Jesus Flores ended up being the Bulls go-to catcher for much of the season. I think it’s fair to say that he would not have gotten quite as much playing time if the Bulls had not needed Gimenez in the outfield. Not much of a bat, but clearly an above average defensive catcher. And that’s what the Bulls needed after Myers departed and Thompson got hurt. Flores has 311 major league games, more than Duncan. So he was yet another veteran in the clubhouse, in his case working with several young pitchers. Honestly, I never paid much attention to him over the year. Maybe I should have. He might be at the bottom of the power heap, but he might be back even with that awful wRAA. Stats.

Rich Thompson had some seriously bad luck this year. First of all he started the season in a slump and then, just as he was coming out of it, he broke his foot and was out for the rest of the year. He was noticed in the stands of the Triple-A championship game and it sure sounded like he is on the verge of retiring. Too bad. One of the keys to the 2013 Bulls was speed. The Bulls stole 137 bases this year, up from just 74 in 2012. Of those 74 in 2012, Rich Thompson accounted for 29 of them. By the time of his injury on June 6, Thompson had picked up 22, and that with a not-very-good OBP of just .325 (not very good for Thompson, that is). At 34, we’ve got to guess that he won’t be back. Too bad. Stats.

Evan Frey was part of the scramble to find an outfielder in June and July. To that end he was helpful. At the plate, not so much. But he did his job. He also spent some time in Montgomery and came back to lend a hand at the end of the season. He’ll need to offer more promise at the plate if he’s to return. Stats.

Kevin Kiermaier was a welcome addition to the Bulls' roster near the end of the season. Needing a center fielder ever since Rich Thompson’s injury, 23 year-old Kiermaier joined the Bulls in late July and clearly had a good time. He’s a fun-to-watch fielder and quick on the base paths (7 stolen bases, 6 triples). He had a terrific combined season at AA and AAA. The best part for Bulls fans is that he is a solid candidate for a full year with the Bulls in 2014. That should be fun. Stats.

Ryan Roberts simply wasn’t much help to the Bulls even though he got a good bit of playing time in his many stays with the team. It’s fair to say, I think, that he came into 2013 assuming he had a shot at being a Rays’ regular, and he did play in 60 games with the Rays this year. But when the Rays needed to move Wil Myers up, it was Roberts who got optioned down. He bounced back up a few days later, hit two home runs, and was optioned back (all this in late June, early July). He then went back up to the Rays for late July/early August, but came back, this time in DFA circumstances, meaning he was off the Rays’ 40-man roster. Roberts had the most major league playing time of any Bull, 510 games over 8 years, but he simply didn’t add much to the team that we could see. Quite likely the highest paid Durham Bull this year ($2.95 million). Did not play, as far as I could tell, in the Bulls’ post-season. Stats.

Craig Albernaz remains one of our favorite ballplayers and he was responsible for our biggest single thrill of the season, his grand slam into the bull back on August 6 against the Rochester Red Wings. Hard to imagine, but catcher Albernaz has spent parts of 5 seasons with the Bulls, although this year was the only time he’s spent all of the season in a Bulls uniform. He is obviously a huge asset to the Rays system. Will he be back? Hard to say. My guess is that they will place him in the location in their system that they are most interested in developing pitchers. Note that he holds an ERA of 0.00 in his 3 games, 3 innings pitched in 2013, a significant improvement over his 2012 pitching performance. He’s reported to have been working on a cutter. Stats.

Juan Apodaca did a decent enough job for the Bulls this year, so we were a bit surprised that he was released in mid-July. At a guess, he was a casualty of the Rays’ apparent confusion over just what to do at the catching position throughout their system. We have to note that not one of the four catchers with the Bulls this year made it into the black on the wRAA stat this year. The one with the highest rating was Apodaca and he got released. Certainly there are a lot of ways of looking at catchers that we fans aren’t going to be able to evaluate. Apodaca came to the Bulls out of independent ball, but we have not been able to find out if he caught on anywhere for the rest of 2013. Stats.

Hak-Ju Lee was injured on April 20 ending what was a spectacular start to the season. The young Mr. Lee was simply doing it all: hitting, stealing bases, and playing a superb short stop. His advanced metrics were pretty (BB/K of 1.22). It would surely have been fun to watch him develop over the year. Because the Rays are being their usual selves and not informing anyone about his status, we can only guess that his surgery went well and that he is rehabbing right now. We can hope so, and we can hope that his recovery is successful enough for him to be with the Bulls next year. Stats.

Luke Scott visited the Bulls on a rehab assignment at the end of the year. Stats.

Figueroa Debuts in Left, and More ...

Season: 47-27; Home Stand: 6-2
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

The last home stand the Durham Bulls went 7-1, this home stand they went 6-2. This is one terrific baseball team. I you haven’t seen them play you’ve missed something.

Last night’s game was, however, a bit different from many in that it was a very low-scoring affair. Overall, the Bulls scored 46 runs over the last 8 games (compared to their opponents’ 28). Even with the one-game anomaly of the 16-3 win last Monday, the Bulls are a hot team. They dominate the South Division, leading Norfolk by 9 games and are playing very good baseball.

Last night was also an interesting look at Matt Buschmann. It was his fifth appearance as a Bull and he did a good job. I worry about him mostly because he sure works hard. It took him 96 pitches for him to get through five innings last night. Compare that to J.D. Martin’s seven inning, 93 pitch performance the other day. On the other hand, he didn’t let a single run score. His ERA over these 22+ innings is a beautiful 1.59 and he’s got a nice low WHIP of 1.19. So it looks like Buschmann and his fellow newcomer Merrill Kelly will help the Bulls get through the second half of the season.

Another positive sign on the pitching front was a solid 3 innings by Juan Sandoval. A couple of short, ugly appearances early in June are messing up his stats, but if he keeps this up, he’s in for a good season.

The Bulls missed a lot of scoring opportunities last night. If they’d lost the game I’m sure we’d be wringing our hands over that. But they didn’t, so we won’t. Vince Belnome's first (of two) double set the stage to be batted in on Shelley Duncan’s single. New guy Ryan Roberts' first hit as a Durham Bull let Brandon Guyer show off his speed as he scored the winning run from first base. By the way, Belnome’s 21 doubles leads the Durham Bulls and he’s #2 in the International League.

Meanwhile, out in left field we saw Cole Figueroa catch a fly ball in the 6th inning in his new role as an outfielder. In his 532 games as a professional ballplayer he has played in the outfield exactly one time (last night, stats). That would be 0.19% of his pro career. Over in right field we had catcher Chris Gimenez. Gimenez has quite a bit of experience moving around without all his catching gear on. He’s played about half of his pro games as a catcher and the rest at 3B, 1B, and the outfield. Nevertheless, without some rosterification this road trip will be a challenge. There are only two regular outfielders on the current roster (Bourgeois and Guyer) and they need rest from time to time. And no other park has a short, Blue Monster-like outfield wall.

Outside the game —

• Catcher Juan Apodaca was moved off the Bulls roster to the Princeton Rays. It was likely to make room for Ryan Roberts. I couldn’t see into the dugout to see if it a real move or if it was just on paper. The Princeton, West Virginia team is Rookie level and has just begun their season. My guess is that Apodaca is still around.

Matchup

The Blue Jays' Triple-A team, the Buffalo Bisons, were in Durham at the end of May. The Bulls swept them 4-0. The team is a poster child for the importance of pitching. As the table shows they aren't all that much worse than the Bulls in hitting, but there’s a big spread in pitching (and much of that apparently in starting pitching). Recently they lost 3 out of 4 to Gwinnett.

Sunday Smashing

Game 57, June 2	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Rail Riders (Yankees)	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	1	4	8	1
Durham Bulls (Rays)	2	1	0	4	0	0	0	0	x	7	9	0

Season: 36-21; Home Stand: 6-1
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

The 2013 Durham Bulls are not a home run hitting team. In fact, they are the bottom team in the International League, hitting only 35 this year. The league leader, the Buffalo Bisons, has hit 66. All the more surprise that they hit four in one game yesterday. Better yet, two of the four were the first of the year for Cole Figueroa and Juan Apodaca. That leaves only Chris Gimenez, Craig Albernaz, and Rich Thompson among this year’s players who have not hit a homer. Shelley Duncan’s and Wil Myers’ were particularly hard hit shots over the Monster. Duncan hit the bull. I think that’s the first time the bull’s been hit this year.

Mike Montgomery had a decent outing, his third since coming off the DL. The Bulls are far from having anything like a stable rotation, but with Montgomery there is some hope.

Nice glove work by Tim Beckham in the 4th and 5th innings, especially the double play he started in the 5th. Another hopeful sign.

Outside the game —

• Jim Paduch retired rather than take his assignment to Montgomery. Paduch has been sort of a utility long man for the Bulls for what seems like a long time, but has really just been most of 2012 and all of 2013. His numbers have never been all that good, but he ate up a lot of innings (106 in 2012, 37 so far this year). This year he had only one decent outing. He’s had 10 years of professional baseball, but it didn’t look like things were ever going to get much better for the 30-year old. Good luck, Jim.
• Norfolk lost. Bull are up two games in the South.
• Crash has edged out Annie in competition so far this year. Nuke has yet to find his way to the finish line. Cute routine for the Kiss Cam for the three of them.

	1st	2nd	3rd
Crash	7	6	0
Annie	6	7	0
Nuke	0	0	13

Two Solid Wins

Game 47, May 23	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Durham Bulls (Rays)	4	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	8	12	0
SWB RailRiders (Yankees)	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	2	5	10	0

Wrap, Box, Times-Tribune

See the Times-Tribune link for an interesting effort to explain a very obscure rule regarding rain delays and a home field disadvantage.

Game 48, May 24	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Durham Bulls (Rays)	0	0	2	4	0	0	2	1	0	9	11	2
SWB RailRiders (Yankees)	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	4	9	1

Season: 29-19; Trip 3-1
Wrap, Box, Times-Tribune

Two very nice wins over the SWB RailRiders. Last night saw Alex Colome as less a strikeout pitcher and bit more crafty. But it was a brutal, 45° night and certainly not a lot of fun except for the win, Charlie Montoyo’s 500th as the Bulls manager.

Bulls hitting has been superb in these Pennsylvania games. The team OPS was .934 and .839 for the two games, with notable home runs from Shelley Duncan and Wil Myers on Thursday and a bunch of doubles from almost everyone else. Especially to be noticed is Juan Apodaca’s shattering of the Mendoza line over the last two games. The relatively new catcher was 2 for 4 Thursday and 2 for 3 (with a hbp and 2 RBI) last night, pushing his average up to .216. See the chart for recent interesting trends.

No, the Johnson/Wade matchup has not occurred yet, but watch this space.

Outside the game —

• Check out the write up at the wrap link. Nice, concise description of Charlie’s work.
• When Mike Montgomery came off the DL, relief pitcher Austin Hubbard was sent to the Montgomery Biscuits. Never heard of Hubbard? He joined the Bulls from the Single-A Charlotte Stone Crabs while the Bulls were in Rochester, pitched ⅔ of an inning on May 17, and went on to Montgomery a few days later without getting in another game. Unless he comes back, he's a lock for this year's Moonlight Graham Award for pitchers.

The Bulls have won 11 of their last 12 games and have a very nice upward trend in their hitting.

click on chart to enlarge

Blame It on the Rain or Maybe Just Maya

Game 31; Monday, May 6; Durham Bulls Athletic Park

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Syracuse Chiefs (Nationals)	0	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	6	2
Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	2

Season: 20-11; Home Stand: 0-1

Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

The last time the Bulls faced Syracuse’s Yunesky Maya (just last Tuesday) they really roughed him up — 5 hits for 5 runs. This time the Bulls never came close to figuring him out. The end result was the first Bulls shutout of the season. 

As regular readers know, many (most?) of WDBB’s opinions miss the point. However, last Friday’s post led off with a paragraph expressing our concerns about Jim Paduch. Things didn’t get any better last night. When Chris Archer couldn’t start, Paduch got thrown into the breach. Apparently, Montoyo had little choice in the matter. Let’s blame it on the weather. 

Let’s blame just about everything thing on the weather. I’m guessing that because of the rain the Bulls couldn’t take batting practice. Consequently new guy Shelley Duncan didn’t get any swings in. It showed. 2 K’s, 2 fly balls. The rain might have kept Archer from warming up properly or led to worries about, oh, everything. Maybe Myers wouldn’t have made an error or run into Bourgeois.

I confess that after 5 innings I climbed up to Tobacco Road to get a late supper. I watched most of the rest of the game from there. That meant that I got a slightly different view of the collision between Wil Myers and Jason Bourgeois in center field. That perspective leads me to what has to be labeled as pure opinion. For that play and for what we’ve seen so far this season, I’m unimpressed with young Mr. Myers. According to the Herald-Sun, Bourgeois and Myers were making nice to each other in the clubhouse, but from my view from up on the wall that ball was the center fielder’s without any doubt, not the right fielder’s. Myers had already botched the play in the 3rd inning that let a run score. And 2 Ks on the night. His .275 BA is unimpressive (6th on the team). Give him credit for 17 RBI and durability, he’s leads the team in game appearances. But he also leads the team in K’s, 37 of them. So, I’m not saying he won’t be a great ballplayer, he probably will. But seems like he’s pressing awfully hard and he isn’t, yet, a great Durham Bull.

After Bourgeois had to come out of the game, catcher Juan Apodaca went to first base, Leslie Anderson moved from first base to left field, and Rich Thompson moved to center field. In nine seasons as a pro, this was the first time Apodaca had ever played first base. In fact, the record shows exclusively catching experience. Wonder where he got the glove?

Outside the game —

• Catcher Craig Albernaz has been sent to “Hudson Valley”. For those new to WDBB and the Bulls, that means he’s off the Bulls roster and on the roster of a Rays short season team up in New York. But it doesn’t mean he’s gone anywhere. It was a paper move to make room for Shelley Duncan. As to why they moved Albernaz and not another ballplayer, ask the Rays.
• Only for the very strong of stomach. A video at Rays Index shows in graphic detail what one pitcher’s arm/elbow goes through throwing a ball. Baseball is not supposed to be a blood sport, but that video is really, really hard to watch and make me wonder a bit about what these guys go through just to entertain us.

And Starting at Shortstop Is ...

Season: 14-7; Home Stand: 6-2
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Tampa Bay’s inability/unwillingness to replace injured shortstop Hak-Ju Lee came back to bite the Bulls last night. When Thursday’s shortstop Mike Fontenot came out of the game after three innings with hamstring tightness the bench consisted of just catchers Craig Albernaz and Juan Apodaca, plus outfielder Rich Thompson. The Bulls only spare infielder was already in the game as DH, hot-hitting Vince Belnome. Just-returned manager Charlie Montoyo put Craig Albernaz in as catcher, moved Chris Gimenez to third base, and moved Cole Figueroa over to short.

Did it matter? Maybe. The headline story of the game was all the noisy home runs — 5 by Toledo and 2 by the Bulls. But there’s the side story of Toledo not scouting Albernaz properly and trying to steal on him. Albernaz has one of the best arms in baseball and he easily threw Toledo’s Kevin Russo out. On the other hand, Chris Gimenez’s error at third cost the Bulls a run. Plus, neither he nor Albernaz had a good day at bat. Gimenez was 0-5 and Albernaz was 0-3. Fontenot had doubled in two runs before coming out of the game

Hard to figure why the wait to fill Lee’s spot. Maybe something will happen before the Bulls head to Syracuse tomorrow.

Nice to see Jim Paduch back in shape. Yes, he gave up some runs. But he also lasted four innings. Much, much better than his four-pitch outing a couple of days ago.

Lastly, a small puzzle. When did Brandon Guyer turn into a runner instead of a hitter? He again had a bunt single last night and he stole a base (his third). Back before his year on the DL his image in Durham (2011) was as a power hitter. Have I missed something? Maybe he's just going back to his 2009-2010 form where he stole 30 bases each year in AA and AAA.

A Great Afternoon

Season: 14-6; Home Stand: 6-1
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

If you missed yesterday’s game (and there’s a good chance that you did since only 3,600 folks were there) then, too bad. It was the most interesting games I’ve seen this year. I like day games and this one could not have been more perfect.

Let’s start with the pitching. Jake Odorizzi is one of the several Royals Refugees in the Rays system. He gave up a home run in the first inning and two more plus a single in the second inning. That’s four runs against him when he came out for the 3rd inning. He then threw 10 balls in a row, and ending up walking the first three batters to load the bases. Of course, by this time catchers and coaches had worn paths to the mound. From a fan’s perspective the next at bat, Toledo’s DH John Lindsay, was the turning point of the game. And within that at bat the fourth pitch. On a 2-1 count, Odorizzi got a called strike and from that moment it seemed he never looked back. The next pitch was also called a strike for the first out of the inning. With the bases still loaded he struck out the next two batters. Three up, three down for the 4th. And a clean 5th inning. By this time, however, he was up to 99 pitches and was out.

Now, for reasons that escape me, Dave Myers decided to use up his bullpen. Four more pitchers came into the game and all except one did just fine. The exception was Will Inman, whom the gods of baseball really punished for his leadoff walk to start the 8th. A double, two singles, and yet another double later, the Mud Hens had scored 4 runs and the tying run was on second base. Frank De Los Santos, I pitcher I’m having a hard time trusting this year, got the Bulls out of the inning and then got a double play in the 9th to get his first save of the year.

But more than the pitching was fun to watch. As the line score shows, the Bulls hitters had a great day, scoring runs in 4 of 8 innings. Vince Belnome had a spectacular day at the plate with two doubles and two singles. He now leads the Bulls in all batting categories. He wasn’t alone, however, the Bulls had 16 hits, a season high, with 5 players having multi-hit games. Included was catcher Juan Apodaca who got his very first hits as a Durham Bull, a broken bat single at the top of the 2nd inning, and a double in the 5th.

Just to add a bit more fun to the game, wind played a factor as well. In general, wind doesn’t seem to have much of an effect at the DBAP, but yesterday it pushed balls around quite a bit and added a bit of excitement to every fly ball.

If you missed it, too bad. If you were there, wasn’t it fun?

Outside the game —

• I’ve been negligent in not mentioning the magnificent condition of the field at the DBAP. I haven’t walked on it, but from the stands it looks simply terrific. The best in my memory. A big hand to Scott Strickland and his crew.
• The stats sheets (available before the game at the fan assistance booth) are much better. Very useful summaries of the IL and the Bulls opponents. Thank you, Scott.
• Charlie Montoyo is due back today. The Herald-Sun reports that Dave Myers had fun managing the team in Charlie’s absence.

Soaking Up the Sun

Season: 10-5; Home Stand: 2-0
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

These 11:00 am games are oddities in the Bulls’ schedule. I guess the idea is to introduce a ballpark experience to youngsters from all over the Triangle. I think that’s a pretty good idea even if very few of them are really interested in the game (just try getting a hot dog). To be honest, it’s fun just watching them watch each other.

Out on the field it looked like Jake Odorizzi wasn’t going to get through the 1st inning. Walk, single, single, walk, single put two runs across. The only good moment was the nice throw by new guy Juan Apodaca to catch Charlotte’s Luis Durango trying to steal. Nevertheless, there were two runs before something came into focus for Odorizzi and he struck out two. Those three hits were half of what Charlotte would get in the game and they got just one more off Odorizzi. As a side note, we should note that Charlotte started 8 left-handed batters. That took a bit of adjustment as well.

Meanwhile, Jason Bourgeois showed his stuff as a leadoff man by getting on base three times with two singles and a double, plus two stolen bases. He scored twice.

Speaking of stolen bases, this is a running team. The Bulls lead the International League with 20 so far. Lee has 6 of those, Bourgeois and Thomas have 5 each.

Hak-Ju Lee had another good day as he continued his stellar performance with  beautiful sacrifice bunt in the 1st (the runner eventually scoring), a bunt single in the 5th, and a RBI single in the 3-run 7th. Great day.

Happy to see Rich Thompson have a good day at the plate. Maybe moving him to the 8 spot helped. At any rate, a walk, single, and double with a RBI for a very good day.

Should we be worried about Wil Myers being pulled for a pinch runner after his RBI single 7th? The Herald-Sun reports he fouled a ball his foot in the 5th inning and was limping a bit after that. Acting Manager Dave Myers was quoted as saying, “He was limping, then he wasn’t limping, then he was limping. So I’m going with the limping.”

I’m beginning to worry about our new catcher Juan Apodaca. He’s 0 for 9 with a walk in three games so far. That’s hardly a good sample size. But he has what strikes my eye as an unusual history of simply not being in very many games in his 8 years playing professional ball (70 games in AAA).

Overall, a great start to the longest home stand of the year.

Outside the game —

• Today’s weather prediction isn’t good for Bulls fans. Keep an eye on the webcam.

The Tides’ numbers are poster children for a statistician’s concern with small sample size. There’s a nifty stat called Pythagorean Expectation (PE) that estimates won-loss records based on runs scored vs. runs allowed. By that measure, the Tides’ record should be 5-10, not 9-6. Why is the PE so far off? Apparently when they lose they lose big; when they win, they win by just a little. That implies problems with their bullpen. But, remember, the reason I mentioned this was to point out that with small samples you can get weird results. The PE for the Bulls, by the way, is 11-4, pretty close to actual.

Breaking a Bad String

Wrap, Box

Hak-Ju Lee hit a home run. Pitchers got 12 Ks and no BB. Not quite good enough.

Wrap, Box

Third loss in a row, and the Bulls outhit their opponents in every game. 

Season: 8-4

Wrap, Box

A Win!!

The last time the Bulls won a game in Knights Stadium was back in August of 2011. It, too, was a game won by late-inning heroics. Some interesting names in the story. It looks like the Bulls have just one pitcher from that team still on the roster (Alex Torres) and just one position player from this year (Leslie Anderson) came to bat in that game.

The heroics last night came in the top of the 9th with Wil Myers coming up with a 2-out bases-loaded single that drove in two runs. His hit was followed by a Leslie Anderson single that drove in another run. That would be enough.

Outside the game

• Pitcher Mike Montgomery is off to Florida where he will be under the eye of the Tampa Bay trainer/rehabber crew. He remains on the 7-day DL.
• Catcher Juan Apodaca came off the DL and started the first game in Charlotte.
• This is the last year that the Knights will be playing in Knight Stadium. This is the website for their new place which will be in downtown Charlotte. This will bring in an era where the Charlotte Knights will be playing baseball in … Charlotte!

New stadium for the Knights in downtown Charlotte

Purple, No Wait, Make That Golden, Haze

Season: 7-1; Home Stand: 4-0
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Rays Colored Glasses

Ah, April in central North Carolina. Sunny days are blessed with a thin golden haze drifting in lovely clouds creating an aureate glow in the waning sunlight. On the way to the ballpark an amber dustcloud curls through the air and gathers on the streets making miniature gilded drifts that swirl up and billow behind slow moving cars.

Ah, a North Carolina spring when you eye seeks out the pine trees and notes the efflorescence of their stamens, bright yellow against the deep green. You know as long as they are visible, that pollen ain't goin' nowhere. It’s just gonna keep on blowing through and covering every g-d surface, with a sticky, ugly mess. There's a downside to April in North Carolina.

Ah, a North Carolina April where if you can be allergic to it, it's blooming at just about the same time as the pine pollen starts drifting down from pines.

But, we have baseball in the golden glow! Oh, yeah. Great baseball in the haze. Really, you could see the haze and occasional billows of pollen being blown off the roof.

For 7½ innings we were treated some some terrific pitching by both the Tides’ Jair Jurrjens and the Bulls’ Alex Colome. Colome was particularly sharp, not allowing even a hit until 5th inning and only one more in the 6th. I am very impressed with this guy. For his part Jurrjens did let in two runs, but he was assisted by a couple of nice plays by center fielder, and former Bull, Jason Pridie.

Although the Bulls threatened in the 6th, scoring a run and leaving the bases loaded, the game went into the bottom of the 7th with the Bulls ahead by only two runs. The first two batters, Fontenot and Belnome, went quietly. Then the bottom fell out for the Tides' Scott Proctor who was followed by former Bull Adam Russell. Nine more batters came to the plate before the inning was over. They included Fontenot, who got a double his second time around, and Belnome who unfortunately can claim credit for two outs in one inning. The rest of the team collected 2 walks, 3 singles, and 3 doubles to score 7 runs.

Just before that blowout inning, Josh Leuke came in to close out the 8th with a K. After his long wait, he faced four more batters. One reached on an error. He struck out the other three earning him the oddity of the night, a "save" in an 9-0 game.

Outside the game —

• We've been curious about this year's pitching rotation. J.D. Martin is scheduled to start tonight and while Martin has plenty of experience as a starting pitcher we thought he was brought in to be a long reliever. Turns out (according to Kinas on the radio and the Herald-Sun) that new guy Mike Montgomery has forearm tightness and may miss a couple of starts.
• The other new guy, catcher Juan Apodaca, is here and in uniform (#13). He's being carried on the disabled list, but that was him warming up pitchers last night.
• We saw Tim Beckham trip as he crossed first base Wednesday afternoon. The Herald-Sun is reporting that he is day-to-day.
• A big storm blew in last night. Maybe it will wash some of the pollen out of the air and off the pine trees. We can hope. Otherwise, sniffle, sniffle, sniffle, cough, cough, cough.