Last Year's Durham Bulls: Knowns and Unknowns, Position Players

We know that 62 ballplayers are at the Tampa Bay Rays Spring Training. What we don't know is who else is there in Port Charlotte at the minor league training camp. So here's a brief list of the 2010 Bulls, the number of games they were in for the Bulls, and what we know about them for 2011, if anything.

• Justin Ruggiano, 117 games, Durham Bulls
• Chris Richard, 117 games, Retired
• Fernando Perez, 116 games, Chicago Cubs/Iowa Cubs
• Angel Chavez, 113 games, Bridgeport Bluefish
• Elliot Johnson, 109 games, Tampa Bay Rays
• Desmond Jennings, 109 games, Durham Bulls
• Dan Johnson, 98 games, Tampa Bay Rays
• Joe Dillon, 96 games, Retired
• J.J. Furmaniak, 77 games, Durham Bulls
• Jose Lobaton, 72 games, Durham Bulls
• Alvin Colina, 51 games, Lancaster Barnstormers
• Ryan Shealy, 30 games, Blue Jays
• Dioner Navarro, 43 games, LA Dodgers
• Omar Luna, 40 games, Durham Bulls
• Rashad Eldridge, 34 games, ????
• Leslie Anderson, 28 games, Durham Bulls
• Hank Blalock, 26 games, ????

Any help out there regarding Chris Richard, Joe Dillon, Alvin Colina, Omar Luna, or Rashad Eldridge? Any or all of them could be with Rays organization, just not non-roster invitees.

Update 1: Although I'm not absolutely certain, I think it will be safe to change Chris Richard and Joe Dillon to "retired".


Update 2: In the very large category of "things I don't know about baseball", it turns out that minor leaguers without invites to Spring Training are not yet in camp. Omar Luna is expected to be there.


Update 3: April 19, changes italicized.

Looking at 2010 — 3

This should just about wrap of this year's position players. We'll put off to another post any speculation regarding how many, if any, we think might be coming back.

Alvin Colina (28). 2010 was his fourth year as a AAA catcher. Last year he was with Gwinnett.

• Played in 51 (201 plate appearances) games with the Bulls before blowing out a knee on July 22nd. 7 HR, 28 RBI, .231/.279/.390, wOBA .274, bRAA -7.3. Postions played: C-37, DH-13.
• As with Jose Lobaton, we find it hard to evaluate a catcher from the stands. Nevertheless, we find a lot to like about Mr. Colina. He appears to handle pitchers well and he appears to handle younger catchers well. We haven’t had an update on his condition since July, but we would not mind seeing him back with the Bulls next year.
  
• Stats

Ryan Shealy (30) played 48 games at first base and as a DH for the Bulls before opting out in June. Decent numbers, wOBA .373, bRAA 6.5. He helped the Bulls get off to a good start. He went to the Pawtucket Red Sox, got in a few games with Boston, went back to Pawtucket, and was released in early August. Stats.

Dioner Navarro (26) showed up in Durham in late June and left the beginning of September. Apparently struggling as the Tampa Bay Rays starting catcher, he came to the Bulls for the opportunity to sort things out. And pretty much did.

• Played in 43 games (169 plate appearances) during his stay. 2 HR, 21 RBI, .284/.387/.390, wOBA .369, bRAA 4.6. Positions played: C-35, DH-7. We don’t expect to see Dioner back any time soon. Good catcher. Certainly an asset to the Bulls while he was with us. The best numbers of any of the Bulls’ catchers.
  
• He is likely to be remembered for his first game as a Bull when he took a 102 mph fastball from the then Louisville Bat (now Cincinnati Red) reliever Aroldis Chapman.
  
• Stats

Omar Luna (23) joined the Bulls (from Montgomery) in mid-June and stayed until the end of the year

• 40 games (149 plate appearances). 1 HR, 9 RBI, .291/.306/.369, wOBA .315, bRAA -2.7. Positions played: SS-26, 2B-12, P-1.
• Luna played at three levels this year, the Stone Crabs, Biscuits, and Bulls. As much as he was around this year, he didn’t make much of an impression until the end of the season. Then he was terrific. He’s young and looks pretty good on the field. Not much of a bat, however. Would imagine he’s got a good shot to start either in Montgomery or with the Bulls next year.
  
• Stats

Rashad Eldridge (28). As in 2009, outfielder Rashad Eldridge spent time with the Bulls and Biscuits.

• 34 games (124 plate appearances). 1 HR, 3 RBI, 20 runs scored. .215/.309/.308, wOBA .297, bRAA -4.2. Positions played: RF-17, CF-2, LF-17, DH-1.
• Montgomery’s center fielder has, I think, run out of time. He is a very good outfielder and has decent speed. He seems to be pretty much stuck at the AA level, with an occasional callup.
  
• Stats

Leslie Anderson (28) joined the Bulls in August after stints with the Stone Crabs and the Montgomery Biscuits.

• 30 games (129 plate appearances). 2 HR, 12 RBI, .328/.359/.418, w0BA .338, bRAA 0.2. Positions played: LF-16, 1B-9, RF-1, DH-4.
• Cuban defector Leslie Anderson was being touted as a candidate for the Rays Carlos Pena’s job when he was signed. We don’t think so. He does bat for average, and, so far, doing pretty well. The question would be, at his age, is he on his way up or down?
  
• Stats

Hank Blalock (29) played 26 games, went up to the Rays, and went on his way.

Matt Joyce (25) played 25 games with the Bulls and it now looks like he is finally sticking with the Rays. About time, we’d say.

Rocco Baldelli (28) was in 11 games, Rays catcher Kelly Shoppach (30) visited for 4 games while rehabbing, as did shortstop Jason Bartlett (30) for 1 game. Another outlier was pitcher Bobby Livingston who DH’d twice.

Catcher John Jaso (26) started the year with the Bulls, but went up to the Rays in April and stuck there. Good for him.

That brings us to four interesting guys from whom we are going to have to pick this year’s Moonlight Graham Award.

• Catcher Nevin Ashley (25) came up from Montgomery for 7 games in the regular season and 5 more in the postseason. There is a lot of potential in this guy even if his hitting was not stellar while with the Bulls. Stats.
• Catcher Craig Albernaz (27) only had one regular season game, but 4 in the postseason. We have always like Albernaz. Maybe he’ll spend a year with us next season. Stats.
• Catcher Kyle Holloway (22) in his first professional season had 4 games with the Bulls at the end of the year. Not much of a chance of seeing him again for a year or two. Stats.
• Outfielder Emeel Salem (25) had three games with the Bulls when they were playing Gwinnett. We speculated at the time that his visit might have had as much to do with proximity to Montgomery as the fitness of the Bulls outfield crew. Stats.

Durham Bulls Starting Pitcher — Tuesday, 11 May — And More

Richard De Los Santos has had a couple of good appearances recently. Will be interesting to see how he does tonight.

In the meantime, in a further confirmation of how little I really understand the business of baseball:

• Jeff Bennett released.
• Hank Blalock’s agent is stirring the pot. Extensive discussions at Rays Index and DRaysBays of interest mostly to Rays fans. Of interest to Bulls fans is that it doesn’t look like Hank will be with us much longer.
• Shawn Riggans has been released by the Mets leading to speculation that he might show up with Rays. If there’s a player who’s been on the DL more than Jennings it’s got to be Riggans.

Nice To Be Back Home

Game 28: Durham Bulls 13, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees 8
Season: 18-10
This home stand: 1-0
Streak: W3
Wrap, Box

The Bulls had another extraordinary run-producing game. Simply amazing what they are able to do with a bat this year.

But first let me rant about the pitching, because if that isn’t sorted out you have to think things are going to drop off the edge some day soon.

After two terrific starts, Aneury Rodriguez has had two crummy starts. Not possible to guess why, but it sure would help if he were backed up by the bullpen. But until we got to Mike Ekstrom, the fourth pitcher of the day, none of the relievers were helping at all. Particularly egregious was how the number 8 and 9 batters in the Yankee’s order were treated. In their first 8 plate appearances they got seven walks and a single. Four, count ‘em, four of the walks later scored. That is simply terrible pitching. Here’s hoping that they get it out of their systems.

On the other hand, a ton of those guys that our pitchers let on base, stayed on base (13).

On our side, you have to admire the way we kept coming back. Up a few runs, down a few runs, up a few runs. Colina’s homer in the 6th was particularly timely and pretty. Hank Blalock’s three-run shot into the seats in the 8th was just beautiful. And congrats to Jose Lobaton for his first home run as a Bull (also in the 8th, and the winning run).

On the Bench: Jennings (13) (Note: he had a ½ inning in center field); Ruggiano (3) (Note: Ruggiano now officially on DL for bicep injury, backdated to 3 May); D. Johnson (1); Chavez (4); Luna (3). Why is WDBB doing this? Because we are getting really worried about the health of this team.

JonWeberWatch: Double, single, 1 RBI, 1 run scored.

Bulls Radio: Very pleased to pass on to you that Bulls Radio is broadcasting inside the park on low power FM 87.7 in addition to AM 620. The Bulls front office was very responsive to a fan request that involved mumbling about not having “old” technology like portable AM radios and bragging about their new iPod with its built in FM tuner. However, it is called low-power FM for a reason. The signal barely reaches the front gate. But there it is for all you folks unwilling to go back to the 20th century, 87.7. Now if they could just get an iPhone/iPad app …

[Correction: Frequency is 87.7, not the frequency in the original posting]

Virgil Vasquez: Yesterday and this morning there was a bit of a kerfuffle regarding Virgil Vasquez’s status in the Rays system. A report in Baseball America was picked up at Rays Prospects and passed on in a comment in WDBB. We were well into our high dudgeon/rant mode going into today's game.

But Virgil is still with the Rays. According to Bulls radio, Virgil Vasquez is in Extended Spring Training at the Rays facility in Florida (Port Charlotte?). From what I can learn, Virgil was “released” and then resigned immediately thereafter. Why would they do that? Who knows. But if I were a betting man, I’d bet on it having something to do with the Rays insurance policies.

Come On Home

Game 27: Durham Bulls 10, Rochester Redwings 7
Season: 17-10
This trip away: 3-5
Wrap, Box

Heath Phillips steps to the mound in the bottom of the 1st inning. Mid 60’s, stiff wind blowing out to left. He’s got a three-run lead on a Hank Blalock two-run double, and a single from Chris Richard that scored Blalock. Walk, single, single, walk, home run, five runs scored. This does not look good. Bulls are 1, 2, 3 in the top of the 2nd. In their half the Redwings have another fly ball get carried over the wall. Now it’s 6-3 and the game is only two innings gone.

In the 3rd things get a bit more weird. Three out of the first four Durham batters hit home runs (Dillon, Blalock, and Dan Johnson). so now we’re tied at 6. It stays that way until the top of the 6th when small ball prevails and we score two more runs (although we did leave the bases loaded).

Chris Richard’s 2-run homer in the 8th is icing on the cake. Nice to see Chris hitting again.

Lots of life in this Rochester series. Not a great road trip, and we haven’t come close to solving our starting pitching problem. Maybe a day’s rest will help.

Bench: Jennings (12), Ruggiano (2), Colina (1), Chavez (3), Luna (2),

Fan alert: If you are a New York Yankees fan, their Triple A team, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, are in town for a four game series starting tomorrow. This is the only time they will visit this year. If you are a Yankee’s hater, this is the only time you will be able to boo.

Get a Hit!

Game 23: Durham Bulls 7, Buffalo Bisons 12
Wrap, Box
Game 24: Durham Bulls 0, Rochester Redwings 1
Wrap, Box
Season: 15-9

What’s going on here? The Bulls have been skunked twice in three days after none at all before now.

Oh, what the heck, let’s just talk about trivia.

Such as: The Louisville Bats were out of town yesterday (in Buffalo). Was that deliberate choice to avoid the Derby or just happenstance? Inquiring minds want to know.

What in the world happened to Richard De Los Santos? Too bad his first AAA start didn’t work out with a win, but he pitched a terrific game. And he had a terrific outing in relief a few days ago. We can hope.

We need to hope since we’ve been short two starters ever since Jeff Bennett disappeared and Virgil Vasquez crashed his scooter.

Benchriders last night: Jennings (10), Colina (1), Richard (1), Eldridge (1)

Over at Rays Index he’s surveyed some of his fellow Rays bloggers to evaluate who might be traded this year. Current Bulls Hank Blalock, Justin Ruggiano, Dan Johnson, Fernando Perez, Aneury Rodriguez, Carlos Hernandez, Winston Abreu, and Dale Thayer all made the list. Sort of like living in a meat market, seems to me. Must work on the heads of our players.

Today we’ve got a day game (1 pm). Again I’ve got to ask how come we don’t have those in Durham? Anybody know?

Inquiring minds mind would also like to know how come the Minnesota Twins’ Triple-A franchise is in Rochester, New York? They are almost 1000 miles apart. Could be that a Twins executive thought he was placing the team in Rochester, Minnesota, but that seems a bit implausible. We made an effort to understand this back in the Spring, but didn’t succeed. Maybe it has to do with learning how to play cold, especially with the Twins new park.

The Tobacco Road Cafe is open. Might be an interesting place for a before or after game meal. Not sure it will be a good place to watch the game from, though.

If you happen to be into contests/sweepstakes and stuff like that, minor league baseball has a couple going on: here and here.

Early One Morning

Game 19: Durham Bulls 3, Gwinnett Braves 4
Season: 14-5
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Indy Week

During the break before the home half of the 8th inning I scribbled out what I expected to be my lead sentence for this post — Teams that live by the home run, die by the (lack of) home run(s). At that point the Bulls were down by three runs. We had put eleven runners on base, but all through singles and walks. We’d hit into two double plays. And, obviously, left all but one man on base. Then Hank Blalock opened the 8th with a single and Dan Johnson hit a chip shot over the Blue Monster and we were back in the game down by only one run. But a third double play later that inning put an end to that. So maybe I was right after all.

There were some great-to-be-at-the-ballpark moments, though. Worth dealing with screaming kids and the oddity of an eleven in the morning start time.

• Richard De Los Santos must have had a Road to Montgomery moment. The young reliever was back (having not made an appearance with the Biscuits) and pitched an exceptional five innings of no hit baseball starting in the 5th. That was pretty to watch. He only let one guy on base, a hit batter to start the 6th, but that was it. So we’ve got two young pitchers who may be stepping out of the shadows, De Los Santos and Rodriguez. Will be fun to watch.
• Beautiful throw to home from Elliot Johnson in left to Jose Lobaton guarding the plate in the 4th. Run prevented.
• Angel Chavez really isn’t a flashy infielder — which might be why he’s been with four different AAA teams in four years — but, playing shortstop yesterday morning, he opened the 7th inning with two effortless and very clean plays that were a joy to watch. His .345 batting average isn’t anything to sneeze at either.

Dan Johnson seems to have made himself available for interviews yesterday. Check out the Herald-Sun and Indy Week links.

So far, our starting pitcher problem is not solved. Carlos Hernandez goes tonight and I’m guessing we’re OK until the rotation comes back around to Vasquez’ slot. And then?

The Bulls play the Buffalo Buffaloes tonight. This will be their only visit to that city this year. Buffalo, the Mets’ AAA team, is off to a decent start at 10-8. Like the Bulls, they’ve been playing entirely within their own division so far. The only former Bull I recognized on their roster is Jason Pridie who came up through the Rays system and played for us in 2007. He spent 2008 and 2009 in the Twins system, mostly at AAA level and now is with the Mets. Pretty dangerous batter. Not sure why he hasn’t made it to the big league team.

Safe! Safe! Safe!

Game 17: Durham Bulls 7, Gwinnett Braves 8
Season: 13-4
Wrap, Box, Durham Herald-Sun, Indy Week

When Jennings came in to run for Blalock in the 9th, I was watching the game from up on the Blue Monster. Pleased to see Jennings come in because that would mean that he was not out of the lineup for the last couple of days with a physical problem. But it also meant that I could not get a really good look at umpire Manny Gonzalez’s call on Jennings’ attempted steal. I will defer to broadcaster Neil Solondz, the reporters from the Herald-Sun and Indy Week (who saw the in-booth replay), and Charlie Montoyo — he was SAFE!!

I muttered to myself all the way home, but it was about something else. Scanned the papers/websites this morning for quotes/questions. No joy. Since baseball is a game of the moment, dwelling on the past does not have much merit. Nevertheless …

Why in the world were Dan Johnson, Chris Richard, and Desmond Jennings benched? Why was catcher Alvin Colina put in the lineup in the designated hitter spot? I like Alvin Colina a lot as a catcher, but he’s batting well below .200. Last night he struck out with men on 1st and 2nd, struck out with a man on first, hit an RBI single with men on 1st and 3rd, and grounded out with men on 2nd and 3rd. Gotta think that one of the other three might have done better. And then there was the problem of warming up pitchers. Was that Rashad Eldridge I saw in catcher’s tools warming up Winston Abreu?

Oh well, life is getting in the way of baseball this morning. So a few more bits of trivia from the game and let’s look forward.

• Two of the Bulls runs were scored on passed balls/wild pitches.
• A bruiser of a night for both teams — two Bulls and two Braves hit by pitches.
• The Braves’ Craig Kimbrel can really chunk the ball. Seemed like everything he was throwing was in the 94 to 95 mph range. He was, however, one of the guys who hit a Bull and who let a run score on a wild pitch.
• Joe Bateman’s luck ran out on him. Often Joe just scares us with his propensity to let guys get on base. Last night he went two innings, hit one batter per inning, walked one, gave up 4 singles, and two runs. And this was with the defense getting two double plays behind him.
• Winston Abreu looked terrific for his one inning.

Other notes:

• Virgil Vasquez is going on the disabled list. That’s two Durham Bulls starters who have gone on the DL in between their starts. What’s afoot? Since Montgomery appears to be short of pitchers as well, this is going to create some problems for us. Baker as a starter?
• Bull John Jaso got his first big league home run yesterday and is impressing folks with his defense (apparently he made some changes to his stance in spring training). (RaysIndex and St Pete Times)
  
• Interesting interview with Elliot Johnson

Eight!

Game 16: Durham Bulls 5, Gwinnett Braves 4
Season: 13-3
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Indy Week

That’s eight wins in a row. Can’t ask for more than that.

All the links lead with Jeremy Hellickson’s woes in his 3+ innings, so let’s skip that and jump right to Justin Ruggiano and the 7th inning. By that time the Bulls were behind 1 to 4. The Braves were on their third pitcher, Scott Proctor, and he’d gotten two quick outs before giving up a single to Elliot Johnson. By my count Ruggiano stood in for at least seven pitches, with Johnson stealing second base somewhere along the way. Then he whacked one off the pitch speed sign in left center. That two-run homer got us to 3-4 and cracked Procter. It was followed by a Blalock single, a Dan Johnson walk, a Joe Dillon single, and a RBI Chris Richard single. If Dan Johnson hadn’t tried to score, we might still be playing. But the game was tied. In the next inning Justin was back at bat with Alvin Colina and Elliot Johnson on base. A double scored Colina, and that was enough.

Did I mention Justin’s throw to the plate that cut off a run in the 3rd? Should have. Five Braves were put out after they got on base last night. In addition to Ruggiano’s peg, Colina threw out two who were trying to steal, one was called out on interference when he couldn’t dodge a ground ball, and a fifth over-ran second and was tagged out.

This is one tough team to beat. A truly awful start didn’t hurt the Bulls nearly as much as it could have because good defense kept us in the game. Then we got 4+ terrific innings from Brian Baker to keep the Braves in check. Finally we just hammered Scott Proctor in the 7th with some solid batting. Nevertheless, Gwinnett looks to be our competition in the Southern Division. I’m betting at the end of the season it will be the Braves and the Bulls who are in contention for the title.

Almost left out Joaquin Benoit and his save. His pitch speed was up to 94 and he looked really, really good. Possibly ready for prime time.

Lonely Are the Brave

Game 14: Durham Bulls 6, Charlotte Knights 5 (12 innings)
Season: 11-3
Wrap, Box

Not only a terrific movie, but a good description of the seriously die-hard (or maybe there’s another adjective?) Bulls fan. Those who know where I usually sit will notice that I am not in the picture. Note that Wool E. Bull stuck it out, though.

Did I miss anything by leaving in the middle of the 8th after the rain had been pouring for a while and the temperature had dropped at least 15°? As a matter of fact, I did. But I would have had to wait a couple of hours until the bottom of the 12th when, instead of the sheer power of the last five games, the Bulls won their sixth game in a row through guile, speed, stubbornness, and a bit of ineptitude on the part of the Knights.

The Bulls opened up with what has become a signature power display: a three-run homer by Hank Blalock in the first and a two-run homer by Dan Johnson in the 3rd. Then things got awful quiet to the bottom of the 8th, a 1 ½ hr rain delay, and another four innings before Fernando Perez singled his way on to first, then scrambled second and on to third, and then came home when the Charlotte shortstop let Hank Blalock get on base.

We used six pitchers. The starter, Virgil Vasquez, simply wore himself out. He threw 98 pitches in only 4 ⅔ innings and that’s just too many. Joe Bateman had a fine two innings. Joaquin Benoit got through 1 ⅓ without giving up a home run. Winston Abreu, Dale Thayer, and Brian Baker kept us in the game. Baker got the win. We really need Carlos Hernandez to go deep tomorrow, though.

A win.

Here’s hoping none of the Bulls got the chilblains.

As for the dedicated fans, I raise my cup of Irish coffee to you!

Opening Day

Game 8: Durham Bulls 4, Norfolk Tides 6
Season: 5-3
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Indy Week, N&O, N&O Photos

Fun start to the season at home until the first Tides batter came to the plate. Eight pitches and two walks later Jeff Bennett was out of there and we were digging deep into our bullpen.

When the trainer walks out with the pitching coach you know something’s wrong and the commentary after the game said that Bennett was “tight”, whatever that might mean. Just got to wonder what happened between warmups and the start of the game? Can we blame it on the hoopla? (groan)

Good things

• Boy it was great to be back at the DBAP on a perfect Spring evening.
• Brian Baker probably should have taken a few more warmup throws, but he did a very creditable job of protecting the bullpen for another night. Same for Richard De Los Santos.
• Hank Blalock, whom I was beginning to think of as a candidate for this year's Moonlight Graham Award, played third and did a decent job at the plate with two hits and 2 RBIs.
• Elliot Johnson, possibly showing off for his new baby boy, got a couple of hits. By the way, Elliot, child was not impressed — sound asleep.
• Justin Ruggiano, also possibly showing off for his new baby boy, picked up two hits, a walk, and a RBI. So maybe he’s getting back into his game as well.
• A very exciting ninth inning.

Not so good things

• You know, I wish we’d won, but hey I’m just happy to be going to the ballpark and seeing the guys play, aren’t you?

Meanwhile, over in Zebulon, the Biscuits beat the Mudcats 8-4. If you know what that is all about you’re spending way too much time following Rays and/or local baseball. (Wait a minute! Too much time following baseball? How is that possible?)

A Good Start

Game 1: Durham Bulls 5, Norfolk Tides 3
Season: 1-0
Wrap, Box

Update: I've gotten so used to none of the local media covering a Bulls road game that I didn't even bother to check the Herald-Sun. But here it is, and it's a good story. Lesson: check the Herald-Sun every day.

Take a look at that box score and reflect on that lineup. That’s as good a team as I’ve ever seen the Bulls put on the field. And we’ve got a ton of talent on the disabled list including outfielder Desmond Jennings, infielder J. J. Furmaniak and pitchers Cromer and Swindle. So this could be a really good season and we’re going to see some interesting baseball.

Good game last night and great to start the season with a win. Sounded like Hellickson did a fine job.

Really, really great to see Winston Abreu back on the mound for the Bulls.

I was surprised to see Blalock start at third base until I dug around and realized that he’d been a terrific third baseman for most of his major league career. So made sense.

As for the details of the game, kudos to Joe Dillon, who starts the year as strong as he finished last year.

Dale Thayer got a save the hard way, by loading up the bases, letting a run in, and only then closing it out.

I wasn’t able to listen to entire game and not too happy with 620 reception at my house. Over the internet the audio was OK, but erratic at first. Gameday was hard to find. For those interested, here’s one way:

Go to the International League Scoreboard page, find the Bulls game, click on the little icon that looks like a ball field.

If the Bulls homepage gets a scoreboard up (it didn’t last night), then you can click on gameday right there. Watching gameday and listening to audio feed is a pretty good way to experience a game.

The webcam at the DBAP has gone live and it is pretty cool. You can zoom in on your seat, clip images out, and other stuff. For me the main use will checking out the status of the field tarp on rainy days.

Rays Visit, Briefly

Rashad Eldridge reaches for Upton line drive in 2nd.

Durham Bulls 6, Tampa Bay Rays 9
Bulls Wrap, Rays Wrap, Box

That was fun. Hats off to the Durham Bulls marketing guys because the park was full of fans, and knowledgeable ones at that. The wraps have got the game story, which leave to me to point out some of the trivia and oddities. That is, the really important stuff.

The top of the 2nd was a mess and it wasn’t all Hellickson’s fault. First, Dan Johnson, playing third, dropped a line drive, then picked it up and made a bad throw, putting Longoria on first. Then with a shift on for Pena, you’ve got a shortstop and a third baseman trying to pull off a 6-5-3 double play around second base. Didn’t work. So Pena’s on first base on a fielder’s choice. Rashad Eldridge made a beautiful play (see photo) on Upton’s liner into left field, only it wasn’t pretty enough since the ball popped out when he hit the ground, so Pena’s on second, Upton’s on first. Now Hellickson does make a mistake and walks Pat Burrell to load the bases. Then Shoppach hits a popup over short that just kept drifting and drifting and drifting until it made it over the Blue Monster for a grand slam. I won’t go into the rest of the inning. It got way uglier and much of it (a walk, two singles, and a double) was Hellickson’s fault.

Great to see Fernando Perez here. Interesting to see him batting right against a right-hander. Have always wondered why the Rays have insisted all these years that Perez develop himself into a switch-hitter. We’ll have to see if it will work out. Batting leadoff yesterday he didn’t do all that great, 1 for 5 with 2 K’s.

Yesterday’s infield was what may kindly be called “veteran”. Angel Chavez, 28, started at shortstop; Dan Johnson, 30, at third; Joe Dillon, 34, at second; Chris Richard, 35, at first. Rumor has it that Elliot Johnson, 26, and Hank Blalock, 29, will be joining soon, but they are hardly going to lower the average age or lighten the footsteps of the infielders as they run out a bunt or chase after a grounder. Mild worry, but still …

After two innings all of the Rays stars, other than the pitchers, disappeared. We got to see Ryan Royster, Matt Hall, Emeel Salem, Shawn O’Malley, John Matulia, and Scott Cursi. For the most part, I'd bet even the guys over at Rays Prospects wouldn’t know who these players are. The exception was infielder Matt Hall who was greeted with great enthusiasm by all the “in the know” fans. Matt, of course, was the 2009 recipient of the Watching Durham Bulls Baseball Moonlight Graham Award. His appearance in a Rays uniform was duly noted by at least one fan.

The Herald Sun reports that Rashad Eldridge is OK after hitting the wall and leaving the game in the 5th.

I’m not sure what either the Rays or the Bulls will be up to over the next few days. The Rays open against Baltimore sometime next week. The Bulls go to Norfolk to open against the Tides on April 8th.

Last comment: Those Rays uniforms are some kind of ugly, aren't they? Too bad.

The Best

Today is an opportunity to witness an attempt at answering one of the most often asked and rarely answered questions in baseball —

Is a team that was 8th in the American League and had the 15th best record in baseball as good as the best team in Triple A baseball?

At a guess the 2009 Bulls would have a good shot at beating the 2009 Rays. As for the 2010 teams? We’ll see.

We appreciate that for most folks in Durham the interest is elsewhere (Indianapolis) and their fortunes are in the hands of that guy with an unspellable/unpronounceable name. (The 2009 Bulls had Mike Wlodardcsyk, but he seems to have disappeared this year.) Still, the tip off is at 6:00 pm and the Bulls/Rays game should be over by then.

Nice to see local media notice of today’s game, in the Herald-Sun.

Terrific story on Charlie Montoyo in today’s Tampa Tribune that points out that Alex, Charlie’s two-year old son, is expected to be in the stands today. Great news there.

In an update to yesterday's Who’s On First, Hank Blalock was cut from the Rays roster to keep Reid Brignac there. He doesn’t have to make the trip to Durham, but he could. If so, at 29 he would be the youngest of the candidates for the Bulls first base job.

Today’s starting pitcher, Jeremy Hellickson, is the subject of a Stacy Long profile. Sounds like a level-headed young man.

Gates open at 1 o’clock. Game starts at 3 o’clock. See you there.