Hemstitching: DBAP Progress, New Jerseys, Rays 40-Man, and More

DBAP, Dec 3, 2013

Looks like they've got the drains in place and more of the subsurface. Bulldozers appear to be putting new dirt on top. Next is grass?

This appears to be a photoshopped image of what the Blue Monster is going to look like next year. Story here.

This is what it looks like today. Note the corner where there used to be those shaky stairs going down from the top of the monster to the seating bowl. Wonder how that's going to work next year.

The Bulls recently announced that the team will be in new jerseys next year. 

I am not a fan of squiggly fonts. I find them hard to read and simply not very pretty. But that's just me. At least they left the "D" in the logo alone. Will have to wait and see regarding legibility of numbers at at a distance. 

• Meanwhile, some of last year's Bulls are very likely to be coming back! And have a shot to make it up to the Rays. Vince Belnome, C.J. Riefenhauser, and Kirby Yates were added to the Rays 40-man. See commentary here, here, and here.
• Former Bull, and a guy WDBB really liked to watch back in 2007 and 2008, Jeff Niemann, has elected free agency. Niemann has spend a bunch of time on the DL the last couple of years. At 6’9’’ it was fun seeing all those moving parts when they arranged themselves to put a fastball across the plate. Comments here and here.
• I can't find the link just now, but I'm sure I read somewhere that Jason Bourgeois has done a deal with the Reds.

Look Back; Look Forward

Durham Bulls Athletic Park, October 19, 2013

Most seasons we do a review of what we liked and what we thought were areas to work on for the DBAP and the Bulls in the season. We put out an invite for further comment and we usually get a few interesting observations.

This year is different because of the renovations going on. To be honest, until the announcement was made I had not noticed that things were getting a bit shabby around the edges. After the announcement, however, we started looking more closely and realized that renovation would be a very good thing. On the other hand, until we see what happens (including cup holders for the front row of the terrace reserved seats!) we'll hold off on comments about facilities. The plans look good, though.

So let’s just talk about what worked well:

• National Anthem singers. When you listen to 60 or 70 performances a year you quickly come to appreciate effort that the Bulls invested in finding performers. We particularly like the choral groups. Also notable were a brass group whose name I missed and an a cappella group called Cognitive Resonance.
• Bull Durham racers. Fun to watch and creative in finding ways for Nuke to lose each race. Hope they come back next year.
• Food Truck events. The only down side of the food trucks was that it gave you a hint of what was possible down in the regular concession area. We hate to miss a moment of baseball, so we had to come very early. Being in right field, if the sun was out, it could be brutal for the vendors, I’d think. We appreciate the difficult balance that has to be made with contractors, etc., but it was a good idea worthy of a couple of repeats next year.
• I’m not big beer drinker, so I appreciated beer in small quantities being available (if not the price). Nice to taste all the varieties available. More always better, of course.
• Bull City Summer was an interesting adjunct to the season. We are looking forward to the book when it becomes available.

What else? Chime in.

News

On the Bulls website

• You can download a stencil to carve a Wool E. Bull pumkin.
• Buy a Governors’ Cup Champions T-shirt (got mine already).
• Take a look at the 2014 schedule (April 3! 166 days … a long, long time).

Players:

• Several 2013 Bulls have declared free agency: Ryan Roberts, Shelley Duncan, Jason Bourgeois and J.D. Martin. The last three made a difference this year. I'll miss them. Nothing precludes the Rays from re-signing, but usually doesn’t happen.
• Out in the Arizona Fall League Mike Montgomery and Merrill Kelly are at work for the Salt River Rafters along with several other Rays prospects we’ve never seen.  

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.

Matchup: Durham Bulls v. Omaha Storm Chasers

Who are these guys that the Durham Bulls will play for the national title tomorrow night? Well, probably the best guy to ask would be Jason Bourgeois. Or you could ask Jake Odorizzi. Or you could ask Mike Montgomery. If he were still here, you could ask Wil Myers. They all played for the Kansas City AAA team the Omaha Storm Chasers last year.

A year ago, August 29th, in fact, Jake Odorizzi was on the mound pitching for the Omaha Storm Chasers. He got the win, going 5 innings with 5 BB and 6Ks. You can look it up. His third baseman in the game was Wil Myers, who went 1 for 5 (and got picked off after his single). His left fielder was Jason Bourgeois who had a great night. Bourgeois went 2 for 4 and scored two runs.

As with any minor league team, not many players who were with Omaha in 2012 are still there. A glance at the rosters indicates that a catcher, Max Ramirez, a veteran outfielder, Anthony Seratelli, and infielders Christian Colon and Irving Falu were with the team then and with them now. But the Royals are in the same wild card chase as the Rays, so roster turmoil may have happened or may be near. On the other hand, their manager, Mike Jirshcele, has been running the team since 2003. He certainly knows he way around AAA ball.

If we match up the regular season Storm Chasers against the Durham Bulls, there’d be no contest. Omaha managed to win their division of the Pacific Coast League without even breaking .500. But, as you can see, somehow they simply weren’t scoring runs, certainly nothing close to the pace of the Bulls. They squeaked into the playoffs on the last days of the regular season.

And then they got hot, blowing past their first opponent and having the same 3-1 result as the Bulls for their championship round. Their hitters have been hot, their pitching only so-so, but more than enough to win. Pretty good story about that run in the Omaha World Herald here. The Storm Chasers are on a streak and that has to be respected.

Jake Odorizzi is scheduled to start for the Bulls, but you can bet that J.D. Martin and company are ready to lend a hand. Everyone except Merrill Kelly should be rested. Have not heard who will be starting for the Storm Chasers. The fact that Odorizzi could be pitching against the Storm Chasers has been noticed in Omaha.

Outside the game —

• Solid, if not confirmed, chatter that Tim Beckham, Jake Odorizzi, and Jeff Beliveau will be going down to St. Petersburg after Tuesday’s game. One source thinks Beckham could move before the championship game.
• We are going to have to start paying attention to the AL wild card race (after tomorrow's game, of course). Rays Index seems to think it’s down to the Rays, Rangers, and Cleveland competing for two spots.

Great Pitching; Aggressive Offense; Bulls Tie Series 1-1

Series: 1-1; Best of Five
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, N&O, Pawtucket

This is how the Bulls have won games all year — exceptional pitching and exploitative offense. Make a mistake and these guys will kill you. And they did last night, the last game at the DBAP for 2013.

But first the pitching. J.D. Martin might have been missing his regular catcher, Chris Gimenez, but he and Craig Albernaz made one heck of a team through the first six innings. The IL’s best pitcher only allowed four hits and one run, although he had to leave the game with a no-decision. Martin is a seriously crafty guy that the PawSox found themselves unable to hit well all night. And then there were the two foul pops that Albernaz grabbed in the 6th to end Martin’s 104 pitch outing. And Albie's hard running to first that might have encouraged the PawSox's throwing error in the 7th.

Martin was followed by C.J. Riefenhauser who was absolutely in charge. He struck out the side in the 7th and had a 1-2-3 8th. Kirby Yates came on with a 2-1 lead and picked up his 3rd save of the playoffs (they’ve only played five games).

Meanwhile only two Bulls ever really touched the knuckleball of Pawtucket’s Steven Wright. Albernaz got a double in the 5th, but ended up stranded on third. Kevin Kiermaier got the other solid hit, a double in the 7th that scored Albernaz from second base. Video below of that key moment.

Of course, the Bulls weren’t the only ones who had trouble with the knuckleball. PawSox catcher Dan Butler had a few tough moments, including a passed ball that let Jason Bourgeois score the first run.

Both Bulls runs were unearned. But that’s what the Bulls do this year.

Nevertheless, these are two very well-matched and very good baseball teams. Pawtucket has a powerful middle of the order and for several weeks the core of the Bulls hitters (Belnome, Anderson, Duncan) have been cold, cold, cold. Have to guess that the next games will be more of the same.

Outside the game —

• For reasons mysterious to me, today is a “travel day” for both teams. That’s the first time I’ve seen that in several years watching the International League. Just what kind of strings did the PawSox management have to pull to set up Friday, Saturday and maybe Sunday games in Pawtucket?
• 3,700 fans last night. Pretty good for a Wednesday and a playoff game. And they were, mostly, hard core Bulls fans. With a smattering of the Red Sox nation and I saw one Pawtucket Red Sox hat.
• Curious about how catchers and pitchers work together? Take a look at Adam Sobsey’s interview with J.D. Martin and Chris Gimenez over at Bull City Summer.
• Finally, was Nuke ever going to win a race? You’d think so. But when Annie body-blocked both Crash and Nuke and skipped to the finish, it was Crash who recovered first. Next year? Will there be a next year? We’ll have to see.

Bulls Sweep Governors' Cup Playoff Round

Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, MiLB, Indianapolis

The Bulls rode the buses all Thursday night (10 hours), played a baseball game, won, and got back on the buses to come home as the winners of the first round of the International League Governors' Cup Championship. According to Charlie Montoyo, they have one bus for the guys who want to be loud and one for the guys who want to be quiet. Which one would you ride on?

How was this game won? I give a lot of credit to Jason Bourgeois' 12 pitch at bat in the 3rd inning. With Tim Beckham on 3B, Cole Figueroa on 1B and one run already across (Kevin Kiermaier, who else?), Bourgeois just wore down the entire Indianapolis team (especially rehabbing Wandy Rodriguez) until his ground ball to 2B resulted in a fielder's choice out and the winning run crossing the plate.

But how much credit do we give to young Merrill Kelly who had at least one runner on base in every inning he pitched and yet not one scored? That is terrific composure. The Indians left 8 runners on base during Kelly's 5 ⅔ innings, 4 of them in scoring position.

My worries about a too-rested bullpen were unfounded, obviously. Adam Liberatore had a solid  ⅓ innings and Juan Sandoval got past a few very anxious moments at the end of  his 2 inning save — runner on 3B, 2 outs, 3-2 count, bottom of the 9th — huzzahs to Cole Figueroa for the final out.

The box score shows an amazing 11,327 fans for the game, and they were very much into the game from the noise I heard. I have to say that if I were blogging for the Indians, I'd be heaping a ton of blame on Pittsburgh for this loss. Why in the world would they force the Indians to pitch a guy who hasn't thrown a ball since June 5th in a must win championship game? Manager Dean Treanor (he's the guy who got tossed by the umps in Durham before the game even started several weeks ago) has kept his team playing hard during a lot of turmoil. He has got to be disappointed in his bosses' disruption of his lineup.

For quotes and game details, take a look at Josh Jackson at the MiLB link above. He captured some terrific quotes from Montoyo and Figueroa.

Outside the game —

• Pawtucket has taken a 2-1 lead over the Rochester Red Wings. 
• The Bulls are going to take the day off today, then work out on Sunday and Monday to get ready for Tuesday's game. Pitching rotations haven't been announced nor have we heard anything about any moves from the flailing Rays. Worst case (for the Bulls) Jake Odorizzi gets a callup. But there's no rumors we've noticed about that. Everyone's going to be well-rested (except for Kelly) so only the Rays will be keeping Montoyo and Allen from having a completely free hand.
• I'd thought that MiLB.com was going to give out a freebie viewing for the playoff games. If so, I couldn't find it on either the app or the website. Too bad, I'd sure like to watch game three (and more) of the final round. 
• Payback for getting snarky about lack of news coverage of the Indians. Not one word about the Bulls winning the playoffs in the News & Observer today. the Herald-Sun, to its credit, had a stringer at the game and gathering up quotes after the game. Good for the Herald-Sun.

Video highlights. Indianapolis perspective, so Bulls' second run missed. 

Update: Here's another clip of 3rd inning single by Figueroa. Note the exuberant whack on Charlie's back by Tim Beckham. This is a loose, and winning, team.

First Playoff Game to the Bulls

Tim Beckham hits key single. Photo Bernard Thomas, Durham Herald-Sun

Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, News & Observer, MiLB, WRAL

This was a baseball lover’s game. Good food from the food trucks. Perfect weather. Two teams pumped up and ready to play. A small, but informed crowd. Two very good young pitchers on the mound. How good? Well, Tim Beckham got a hit on the first pitch he saw from the Indians’ Brandon Cumpton. That was the last hit by a Bull until the 6th inning (a double, also by Beckham). Meanwhile, the Bulls’ Jake Odorizzi was piling up the Ks as he only allowed one hit through his seven innings.

Boring? Not for fans, especially the bottom of the 7th when things got very antsy for Mr. Odorizzi. First his shortstop (the aforementioned Beckham) let a runner on. That was not the end of the earth, since the next batter hit into a fielders choice and it was one out, runner at 1B. But then his catcher blew a pickoff throw that let the runner get to 2B. Things got really ugly when he gave up two walks to load the bases. Here’s what made it fun for the fans. Everyone understood what was going on and everyone stood for the final pitch of two very difficul Ks. Odorizzi was out of the inning and the score was still tied.

The 8th inning was the Bulls turn to create some offense. Kevin Kiermaier got a one-out double. With his speed, things were looking good. But Jesus Flores drew a walk in a sequence that included a pitch that seemed to completely miss the catcher’s mitt and really nailed home plate umpire David Soucy in the chest/gut. The game was halted for a while. Then Beckham got his third hit of the night, a single, and Kiermaier just flew around the bases to score. However, umpire Soucy was hurting and had to leave the game. We had what seemed like a long delay while another ump got the gear on (we started the night with four umps). Cole Figueroa singled to load the bases. Jason Bourgeois hit a grounder to 2B, who threw out Flores at the plate. Bases were still loaded, two out, fans going nuts. A Belnome single was enough to bring Beckham home, but Figueroa coming around from 2B was tagged out.

But those two runs seemed to be enough. Jeff Beliveau shut the Indians down in the 8th and Kirby Yates came on to close it out. I packed up my stuff. Yates struck out the first batter. The second batter lined out to Belnome at 1B. Things were looking really good.

But then the ghosts of Joe Bateman and Winston Abreu came to visit at the DBAP. All of us old farts needed a cardio check anyhow — BB, single, BB (to pinch hitting former Bull Russ Canzler). Bases are loaded. But fly ball to Evan Frey in right field (a bit of defensive re-arrangement by Charlie Montoyo just for the 9th inning).

All was right with the world.

Outside the game —

• Am I the only one who was flashing back to Joel Guzman while watching the Indians’ young Gregory Polanco run the bases? 
• The Rochester Red Wings took the first game of their series with Pawtucket 7-1. Wrap.
• WRAL’s Aaron Schoonmaker has a nice bit of reportage on the Bulls’ Leslie Anderson. Bulls fans, and not a few Rays fans, would like to see him get his chance. With free agency in the offing here’s a bet that he will join Dane De La Rosa, Stephen Vogt, Reid Brignac, Justin Ruggiano and other Bulls who have gone off to find out if they can break in with another club. Too bad. We’d like see him get his first shot with the Rays. Meanwhile, Leslie, stay focused on the Bulls for the next couple of days.
• Brandon Guyer was a late scratch from the lineup. Back problems.
• You'd think, playoff game and all, that Nuke LaLoosh wouldn't get distracted by the TV cameras. But noooooo! Nuke chalked up his 37th loss.

Terrific Last Game

Season: 87-57
Wrap, Box

This afternoon saw a welcome change for the Bulls. They were hitting the ball in their final regular season game over in Norfolk. Still, they weren’t scoring. That is, not until the 10th when Kevin Kiermaier singled, went to 3B on a Leslie Anderson single, and scored on a Jason Bourgeois single.

Meanwhile Enny Romero, pitching his first game as a Durham Bull,  went eight very solid innings. C.J. Riefenhauser pitched a clean 9th and then Kirby Yates finished out a spectacular season by first giving up a single and then striking out the side for his 20th save.

The win drove a stake through the heart of Norfolk’s playoff bid since Rochester was blowing out Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to take the wild card berth. To be honest, that suits WDBB just fine since the Bulls have had trouble with Norfolk all year and the idea of playing them in a Governors’ Cup final in Norfolk doesn’t really sit to well with us. Here’s hoping I don’t have to eat those words.

Outside the game —

• Stacy Long over in Montgomery is reporting that three Biscuits are on their way to Durham: Catcher Mayo Acosta, Pitcher Michael Costa, and infielder Shawn O’Malley. Probably won't be on the active roster, but still good news.
• Looks like Biscuits pitcher Austin Hubbard is a lock for this year’s WDBB Moonlight Graham Award for pitchers. His ⅔ of a inning back on May 17 is the least amount of time for a pitcher in a Bulls uniform. Still checking on the hitters. Likely to be the unfortunate Hak-Ju Lee, who only got to play in 15 games. It does highlight the fact that this year’s position player roster has been fairly stable.

Eight Transactions in Four Days; More Coming?

The last few days has seen exceptional movement to/from the Bulls’ roster — and no doubt it will keep on keeping on. I thought it would be nice to try to summarize what’s happened since the arbitrary date of August 25th, just four days ago. Players marked with an asterisk are on the Tampa Bay 40-man roster. For the most part I’m not going to bother with links, unless I think there’s a particularly juicy bit of gossip connected to the move. Sorted by date of transaction.

• Outfielder *Brandon Guyer has recovered from his broken finger very nicely. He is officially on a rehab assignment. We don’t know how long that clock can tick, but until the alarm goes off he doesn’t count against any rosters. He played in his first game August 25. Has been in three games, 15 for 34 with 2 doubles, 1 triple, 3 BBs.
• Outfielder Jason Bourgeois accepted his assignment back to the Bulls. He is not on the Rays 40-man, and is on the Bulls’ active roster. His first game was August 27. 2 games, 3 for 9, 1 double, 2 BBs.
• RHP Cory Wade was released on Aug 27. Possibly had an opt-out contract and didn’t see opportunities with the Rays.
• Outfielder/DH *Luke Scott was assigned to the Bulls on a rehab assignment. He doesn’t count against the Bulls roster either. No idea how long he will be with the Bulls. He played in a game last night (Aug 28). 1 for 4. Odd choice of photo. Done know what team hat that could be. Trivia: Same home town as recently-honored Chipper Jones (DeLand, Florida).
• *RHP Jake Odorizzi called up to Rays. Pitched for them today (Aug 29). Got zero run support in a loss. Up in place of Rays’ Jeremy Hellickson about whom little is being said.
• *LHP Jeff Beliveau was called up and is reportedly on his way back having, again, not appeared in a game.That will be the third time he’s been called up this year. He has yet to throw a ball for the Rays.
• *LHP Matt Moore is on a rehab assignment and expected to pitch tonight for the Bulls.

That’s what we know for sure. All things added up, and counting Beliveau and Moore, the Bulls have 13 pitchers on hand and 14 position players. Three of those are in some form of rehab assignment, so by the books, the Bulls are one player short of full strength (and Jeff Beliveau isn’t really with the Bulls, yet).

Now, how about the rumors?

• One blogger thinks Tim Beckham is due to be called up within a few days.
• Adam Sobsey is tweeting that Montgomery Biscuits LH starting pitcher *Enny Romero could be coming to pitch for the Bulls soon (Norfolk? Friday?). 
• Montgomery Advertiser reporter Stacy Long thinks that another starter, Jake Thompson, could be joining Romero.
• Will Jake Odorizzi come back to the Bulls for the playoffs? Will Jeremy Hellickson visit for a game? 
• For even more weirdness, Jeff Beliveau is showing up on the Montgomery Biscuits roster (????).

Nice Finish in Last Home Game of the Year

Season: 84-53; Games Remaining: 7
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

For the last home game of the season, the 2013 Bulls showed back up at the park, at least the offensive side of their game. I’m not talking about the hitting, that wasn’t normal, that was way above normal. The last time they’ve put 27 total bases in the box score was back in June. The typical part of the hitting was that they did it with no home runs.

What they did that we’ve seen so much of this year was to  pounce on their opponents’ lapses. The Bulls drew 8 walks and stole 6 bases. You’d think 6 stolen bases ought to be a record, but it isn’t. They stole 8 back on June 6 up in Indianapolis.

All sorts of other great things happened in the game — Brandon Guyer got back over .300; Jason Bourgeois was back on the squad and got 2 hits, drew 2 BB, 2 RBI, and scored a run; Kevin Kiermaier had a double and a triple and stole 2 bases; Tim Beckham went 3 for 5 with a walk, a double, two stolen bases, 2 RBI. Just a big, big day.

A tiny cloud was Frank De Los Santos’ weak appearance in the 6th inning. Worrisome. He really has not been himself all year. But Buschmann’s start and Gomes’, Lueke’s, and Yates’ finish were very, very nice.

Bourgeois Back; Wade Gone

If ever regular readers needed confirmation that fans never really know what’s going on inside a ball club, here’s an example. Not that it doesn’t make sense, just that we didn’t see it coming.

As reported earlier, Jason Bourgeois is back. That means that for the first time in a couple of months the Bulls have some depth in the outfield.

Jason Bourgeois

The surprise for WDBB is that Cory Wade has been released.

Cory Wade

Wade has done a good job for the Bulls this year, particularly some tough spot starts: 30 appearances, 49+ innings, 4-1, 2.17 ERA. Much better that most that we’ve seen released by the Rays in my experience. The wording of the announcement was that Wade was  “… granted his release." So maybe he’s got another job lined up. Things had gotten crowded in the bullpen ever since Brandon Gomes came off the DL and maybe the music stopped while Wade was still standing. Good luck!

Wade, of course, will remain the topic of my favorite Bulls trivia question:

What two ex-Durham Bulls faced off in the bottom of the 9th inning in the most celebrated game in recent baseball history?.

Answer.

Bats Still Slumbering

Season: 83-53; Home Games Remaining: 1; Regular Season Games Left: 8
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Not a great night for the Bulls bats, with the exception of Ryan Roberts’ timely double with the bases-loaded. Roberts had been 0 for All since his return on the 19th (note: he had drawn 5 BBs), so this was a welcome return of his timing. The others will come around, we just need that coming around to happen within a week or so.

Most of the starters have been going deep lately. With the rain down in Norfolk the other day that meant that several relievers have been spending a lot of time spitting sunflower seeds and chatting up fans down there along the right field line. But two got in last night after several days’ rest — C.J. Riefenhauser and Steve Geltz both got two innings in and didn’t allow a run.

The 9th was exciting. Almost … almost … almost …

Outside the game —

• No official word on Jason Bourgeois clearing waivers or how the Bulls will make room for him. Probably some news today.
• Broadcaster Kinas speculated on a playoff starting rotation of Martin, Odorizzi, Kelly, Buschmann and Montgomery. But that was before Rays’ starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson got hammered yesterday in Kansas City. Hellickson has not been looking very good lately which might mean Odorizzi moving up sooner rather than later. The Rays cannot afford to lose many more games.
• Rays Index doesn’t think much of the Bulls oddly-colored semi-camo uniforms. He seems to prefer the blue jerseys with the unreadable numbers on them.
• Nuke failed to win again last night, getting distracted by “The Mayor”. Is he to be skunked this year? Will he have a chance during a playoff game? What about tonight in the last regular season home game? Will he/they be back next year? 

Odorizzi Rules

Season: 83-51; Home Games Remaining: 3

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Jake Odorizzi looked really, really good last night. 11 Ks, only three hits in 101 pitches. Just brilliant. If he’s in the playoff rotation, the Bulls should be in very good shape. And there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be. There’s the oddity of the double-header coming up in Norfolk this Saturday, but my guess is Montoyo and Allen will find a way to start the playoffs with Odorizzi and Martin.

Meanwhile, even though the Bulls never came close to solving the knuckleball of Norfolk’s Eddie Gamboa, they did what they have been doing all year — take advantage of the situation. All three runs were scored by Bulls who first worked a lead-off walk. In the 2nd inning Vince Belnome walked, got to 2B on a scratch single by Leslie Anderson, to 3B on a throwing error, and scored on a Mike Fontenot single. In the 5th inning it was Fontenot who got the leadoff walk. He stole second, move to 3B on a passed ball, and then scored on a Kevin Kiermaier single. Then in the 6th Ryan Roberts got the leadoff walk, moved to 2B on a wild pitch, and scored on a Shelley Duncan single. Aggressive, heads up baseball. Not one extra base hit. Great fun to watch in the huge crowd.

Outside the game —

• Some tough decisions coming up for the Rays and Bulls. Brandon Guyer is coming off the DL soon (yahoo!) and Jason Bourgeois has been Designated for Assignment and may be coming back (yahoo, again). So what happens? I’ve mentioned the Rays’ “creativity” before. We’ll have to see what happens.
• The Indianapolis Indians clinched the IL West last night and are confirmed to be the team that the Bulls will face a week from this Wednesday. Got your ticket yet?
• OK, this has been bugging me ever since it happened, so let me get it off my chest. The other night when the Bulls won the South Division they dove into the clubhouse to celebrate. They didn’t even wave to the fans, they just ran off the field to celebrate in private. Did they dis us? Sure seemed that way. Did they think they were the only ones who knew they'd won? Or cared? At least Charlie stayed for an interview.

Shhh! Bulls Bats Sleeping!

Season: 73-44; Remaining Home Games: 12
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As regular readers will know, there’s a lot I don’t understand/know about baseball. So I’m hoping someone will explain to me why Matt Buschmann took the loss in last night’s game. He only gave up one run, the Bulls lost 4-2, so how come Cory Wade didn’t take the loss since the third Red Wings’ run came on his watch?

Something that has worried me a bit these last weeks almost came true last night. As obsessive watchers of the Durham Bulls roster will know, they’ve been playing with only 11 position players for quite a while now. That means that there’s only two players on the bench. In the 9th inning Leslie Anderson singled in the second run and things were looking up, hopes were up, and Evan Frey came in to run for him. Then Shelley Duncan reached first on a error, but was limping when he pulled up (more worries there). The bases were loaded and the last man on the bench, Mike Fontenot, came in. Bases loaded. Just what might have happened next?

As it turned out, Jesus Flores smacked one right to 3B, and the third baseman stepped on the bag for the last out. But what if … ?

And now they are down to ten position players with the Jason Bourgeois call up. If Duncan is hurt they are down to 9. There is surely going to be a roster move or two today ... or maybe just Craig Albernaz will come off the DL. Or I wonder if any of those pitchers have outfield gloves?

Another mystery: How does a guy with a 6-11 record and an ERA of 4.68 in AA ball darn near no-hit the best hitting team in the International League in his AAA debut? That’s what Rochester’s Pat Dean did last night. More credit to him. This is a surprisingly good team that’s going to be fun to watch over the next couple of days. Here’s hoping the Bulls figure the pitchers out.

The Bulls got a couple of freebies from Rochester’s bad base running last night. Two Red Wings were picked off and two were thrown out at the plate (Bourgeois and Kiermaier showing their arms and accuracy, Flores showing his toughness, Buschmann showing a nice pickoff move).

Outside the game —

• Playoff tickets are on sale. A playoff game at the DBAP is a wonderful experience for fans. Typically the crowds are fairly small and the games are essentially matchups between which system has the best players coming up from AA, the best managing/coaching crew, and have hung on to key players from September callups. The opening series will match the South Division against the West Division, with the South hosting. That implies games at the DBAP Sep 4 and 5 and possibly a final round Sep 10-11.
• A brief chat with Scott Strickland last night reminded me of this item in George Habel’s blog from several days ago and Scott’s photo below. As Habel noted, some folks show off their ultrasounds, Scott is showing off the two acres (!) of turf that’s growing and to be installed at the DBAP this winter. Cute kids, ain’t they? Funny name, though … Tifway 419 Bermuda?

Bourgeois to the Rays

Desmond Jennings has a broken finger and Jason Bourgeois is on his way to join the Rays in Arizona. The Rays are doing some razzle-dazzle with rosters to pull this off. But Bourgeois in now on the 40-man.

Good Luck!!!

Split

Season: 69-41; Trip: 2-2
Wrap, Box, Columbus Dispatch

Mike Montgomery did not pitch a very good game last night, a couple of the 5 walks he gave up scored. And yet he did leave the game with a tie score, two outs, and a runner on first. He did have a shot at a no-decision. Not to be. Frank de los Santos tossed a pickoff throw into right field and the runner at first went all around the bases to score. Montgomery got the loss. Gotta give some credit to smart, aggressive base running by Columbus' Carrera.

We haven’t been very impressed with Mr. Montgomery this year. He has the worst numbers of any pitcher on the roster (ERA: 4.26, FIP: 4.53, WHIP: 1.41). Nevertheless, a little luck last night would have been nice.

This was the first two-home run game for the Bulls since July 20th (they lost that one to the Pawtucket Red Sox 9-6). Base running was off by a good bit, and that could have made a big difference. Tim Beckham and Jason Bourgeois both got caught stealing, and Bourgeois got picked off. Not a good night.

Matchup Durham Bulls vs. Toledo Mud Hens

The second most famous team in minor league baseball, the Toledo Mud Hens, is not having a good year. They are also something of a poster child for the limits of what the stats can tell you, because most of their stats say they should be doing better than they are. They are 15 games below .500 and yet are in the middle of the pack on hitting and pitching within the IL. Without diving into the numbers we’d have to guess they must have some problems with their relievers and perhaps roster turmoil.

Bulls Away, Fix the Field

Scott Strickland plowing up (actually aerating) the DBAP, morning July 26)

Season: 67-39; Home Games Left in Season: 15
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I don’t know about you, but I am really, really tired of watching/listening to the Durham Bulls play the Gwinnett Braves. Nine out of the last 17 games, more than half, have been against Gwinnett. From a winning and losing point of view, that’s OK. The Bulls have won 7 of those 9 games, and I really don’t mind watching Ernesto Mejia strike out against Josh Lueke, but some variety would be nice. At least for the next eight days we’ll be listening to different teams. And then the Bulls will be back home to play … Gwinnett (aaarrgh!!).

New guy Kevin Kiermaier was fun to watch last night: Good arm, stolen base, ran down a couple of fly balls.

Also nice to see Jason Bourgeois seem to get back into his game: timely hits made all the difference, and he threw out a guy at the plate as well.

Merrill Kelly continues to be very impressive. Interesting to see that he, and others are now routinely nearing 100 pitches per game. Tells me the season is moving along.

The worrisome news is that, according to the Herald-Sun, Brandon Guyer’s finger got broken in that hit by pitch in the first inning last night. No further word (and none likely given how close hold the Bulls/Rays are about such things). The Herald-Sun also reports that Tim Beckham should be back in the game soon.

Matchup

The last couple years the Columbus Clippers dominated the West Division of the IL. Not so this year. At 7 games below .500, they are far behind the division leaders, the Indianapolis Indians.

Figueroa and Guyer Team Up to Win

Season: 66-39; Home Games Remaining: 16
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Cole Figueroa played shortstop and batted leadoff.  Brandon Guyer played right field was in the #2 spot last night. They made a terrific 1-2 punch.

Figueroa led off the 1st with a single. Guyer reached on an error that allowed him to go to second base with Figueroa on third. Figueroa came home for the first Bulls run on a Leslie Anderson grounder.

In the 3rd inning Figueroa laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt that moved Jason Bourgeois from first to second. Bourgeois scored when Guyer singled. Guyer then stole second base and third base, but was left stranded.

In the 5th Figueroa grounded out, but Guyer walked and got his third stolen base of the night (he's up to 22 stolen bases), but was stranded at second.

In the 7th Figueroa came to bat with two outs and ran out a grounder to short. Guyer singled him to second base. Leslie Anderson walked to load the bases. New guy (more later on him) Kevin Kiermaier came in to run for Anderson. Braves pitcher Wirfin Obispo balked in Figueroa.

So, between the two of them, they accounted for all of the hits, two of the runs, and one of the RBI. Pretty good night. And they ended up with Figueroa hitting .303 and Guyer at .300.

Meanwhile, the story from the broadcast booth was Gwinnett Brave pitcher Brandon Beachy, who is on his long trek back from Tommy John surgery and who may be scheduled to start for the Atlanta Braves on Monday. It points out a feature of AAA baseball that is rarely so obvious — yes, Beachy cared about winning, but he probably cared much more about specific pitches and his ability to put them where he wanted them to go. Hence he gave up 4 stolen bases, but only 2 hits, both singles. He's probably pleased with himself. The Braves are probably pleased with his performance as well.

From a fan's perspective, the other highlight of the night was the Braves' Ernesto Mejia's at bat against the Bulls' Josh Lueke in the 8th inning with two outs and a runner on second base. Lueke had come on with no outs and runners on first and second base. A run scored (the Braves' only run) on a grounder to short. Lueke struck on the next batter. Over the course of the 10-pitch Meijia at bat Lueke really … worked … hard: 97-98 mph fastballs mixed with breaking stuff. Mejia fouled off five pitches for finally missing one to end the inning. The 9th was anti-climatic: Lueke struck out two and the third out was a long fly to right field.

Outside the game —

• As mentioned above, Kevin Kiermaier came in to run for Leslie Anderson in the 7th inning last night. He then took his place in center field for the 8th inning, but did not come to bat. We saw him in the Bulls' last 2012 home game when he was jumped all the way up from A-ball to fill out some end of season roster holes. He was a leading candidate for the WDBB's Moonlight Graham Award until Robby Price (also with Montgomery this year) came up for the last two games of the season. Kiermaier has been with Montgomery all season where he leads the team in batting average and is #2 on OPS. Stats. He sounds excited to be here. Relatively new outfielder, Evan Frey, was sent to Montgomery.
• Tim Beckham didn't play in the last three games. The Herald-Sun reports that he was on the "temporary inactive list". I have no idea what that means. Hope he returns to action soon.