Rainout; Rosterizing

As the Durham Bulls go into today’s double header at 5:30 (or so) up in Columbus, the team will be looking quite a bit different from the team that left town yesterday.

• Alan Dykstra and Eugenio Vélez have been released. When we looked at this year’s hitters the other day, neither of them were standouts. What would apparently be more of a problem, however, is that room needed to be made for a talented youngster on his way up and another reportedly talented guy on his way down. Dykstra is 28 and Vélez is 33. Here’s hoping that both of them catch on elsewhere.
• Nick Franklin is on his way down from the Tampa Bay Rays. He’s been with the Bulls before. He’s got a huge reputation and the Rays traded some valuable stock for him last year. Expect to see him spend time in the middle infield. He has not been doing particularly well with the Rays this year and really hasn’t had much playing time. The Rays just traded for a first baseman and needed room on their roster.
• Boog Powell is a young (22) player on his way up. He’s been assigned from Montgomery. See this profile from “Dr. Miraculous” over in Montgomery. Stats.
• In the bullpen will be Enny Romero, back from Tampa Bay. No telling how he will be used. He spent some time with the Bulls in mid-May when he made 3 starts. He was up to TB and then came back to make 2 relief appearances at the end of May. He made four appearances in relief for the Rays this month.
• Kyle Winkler is the young pitcher who came up from the Biscuits and made three appearances before going back to them a couple of days ago. He’s been traded to the LA Angels.

More

• Robbie Knopf over at Rays Colored Glasses has done a profile on young Richie Shaffer.
• WDBB favorite from 2011 and 2012, Dane De La Rosa, has decided to retire. He was with the Norfolk Tides, but did not make an appearance in any game that we saw this year.
• Oh, yeah, Matt Moore may get the start in the first game this afternoon.

Good Pitching & Hitting, Umpire Thins Out Opposition

Season: 39-27; Trip: 4-1
Wrap, Box

With last night’s win the Durham Bulls went 12 games above .500, the best so far this year. Mid-season is only 6 games away (AAA only plays 144 games) and we have to say that the team’s record is terrific.

One reason is that they are getting good pitching from odd places. Last night reliever Jordan Norberto got his second start in a row and lasted even longer than last time. He essentially set the stage for Jim Miller, who got a win even though his stint was not impressive. Then the new guys, Robert Zarate and Kyle Winkler, pitched one inning each of shut out ball and semi-new guy Preston Guilmet (he seems to spend a lot of time on the Rays-Bulls shuttle) got his second save.

Another reason is youngster Richie Shaffer is just pounding the ball. I saw his shot last night and he just crushed a ball in that oddly shaped stadium. At the DBAP it might have gone over the Bull.

Maybe, just maybe, Alan Dykstra is coming out of his season-long slump. He was 3 for 4 last night and made his way above the Mendoza Line to .210. And there’s Cory Brown, who was named the International League Hitter of the Week yesterday. He had a very timely triple in the 6th that won the game for the Bulls.

For oddity, how about this? The home plate umpire threw out three Indians last night, all for grousing about balls and strikes. First it was hitting coach Butch Wynegar in the 3rd. Then in the 9th it was catcher Tony Sanchez, followed by manager Dean Treanor. The Bulls have seen a lot of this particular umpiring crew, 16 games this season. Last night it was a four-man version. It strikes me as particularly stupid for a catcher to argue balls and strikes on the first game of a three-game series.

Rostering —

• Two Bulls pitchers had Jun 15th opt-out clauses in their contracts: Matt Buschmann and Ronald Belisario. Just what circumstances were involved in the clauses aren’t clear (typically assignment to the 25-man active squad). Nevertheless, according to Broadcaster Patrick Kinas, both have exercised their options. That means the Rays have 48 hours to do some kind of deal or both players are gone. No matter what happens, it would seem that neither player will be back in a Bulls uniform. Also according to Kinas, both players were still with the team last night as they wait for decisions down in St. Petersburg.
• Too bad for the Bulls. Buschmann was the front end and Belisario was the back end of quite a few Bulls wins this year. Belisario is probably the best closer in the International League and Buschmann, while he’s never made it to the major leagues, is certainly an above average pitcher.  
• Meanwhile, catcher Bobby Wilson, the Rays backup catcher all this year, has accepted an assignment to the Bulls and should show up in a couple of days. That could add a lot of experience and depth to the team. Stats.
• And then there’s Grady Sizemore, who was signed yesterday by the Rays. He’ll probably show up with the Bulls after spending some time with the Stone Crabs. Not sure about that one. Stats.
• Additional commentary here and here, 

Deeefense

Season: 29-23; Home Stand: 5-1
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Yes, the pitching was pretty good, but five pitchers don’t get a shutout without some awfully good defense. Case in point: in the Chief’s 4th they had a man on second base who came around towards home plate on a single to right. Mikie Mahtook threw a very accurate bullet for a very pretty play at home. In the 6th, runner on second, a ground ball to shortstop Leonardo Reginatto’s left, runner goes to towards third, but Reginatto throws to 3B instead of 1B for the out. Then on the next play a sharp grounder to 1B leads to a double play.

In all, the Chiefs left 11 runners on base. Meanwhile, Mikie Mahtook drew a walk and had a very well-hit double. We can hope. Meanwhile, J.P. Arencibia had 3 Ks and his average has dropped to .194. Alan Dykstra continues to tease us. He got another RBI double, but remains well-below .200 at .156.

Apparently Matt Andriese is to be the Bulls 5th starter. See the Herald-Sun link for a review of pitcher management by Jared Sandberg. In the meantime, a bunch of them got their chance last night and several worked their way out of problems.

One difference in this matchup with the Chiefs is that they must have decided to crowd the plate a bit. Bulls pitchers have only accumulated 13 hit batsman calls this year, but 5 of them came during this series with the Syracuse Chiefs. Of course, it’s only fair to point out that Bulls hitters are second in the IL in getting hit, with 21 on the season.

Outside the game —

• There I was, singing away at the stretch, when I realized that I hadn’t had any Cracker Jack this year. I took a quick look at the concession stands and realized that Cracker Jack was not to be found. Awwww! Say it ain't so!
• Tampa Bay Rays infielder Tim Beckham has gone on the disabled list. At the moment the only Bulls position players on the 40-man are catcher Curt Casali, outfielder Mikie Mahtook, and infielder Ryan Brett.
• I heard last night that reliever Ronald Belisario has an “opt-out” contract and the date is coming due soon. Last night was his 13th save (and his third in three days). He leads the IL in saves. So will the Rays do some razzle-dazzle to get him on the 40-man and call him up, or let him go, or will he decide to stay?

In the wings (players who’ve been with the Bulls this year) —

• Infielder Juniel Querecuto played 3B for the Charlotte Stone Crabs, went 1 for 4 with a walk, and scored a run in a 2-0 win. Box

Bulls Win; Nice to See Joe Dillon Back

Dan Johnson, Joe Dillon, Jose Lobaton
Walking back to dugout after a Lobaton home run
July 5, 2010

Season: 28-23; Home Stand: 4-1
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Rays Colored Glasses

What a terrific home stand this is becoming for us fans. Big crowds. Interesting baseball. And a bunch of wins. Plus we have 4 more games to go. Life is good!

Very pleased to see our favorite 2015 Bull, Alexi Casilla, back in the game after some time on the disabled list. Slightly annoyed that WDBB is the only place that recognizes that he’s the best hitter on the team. But maybe they’ll come around.

Ryan Brett DH’d and led off with a home run his first at bat. Things were quiet until the 5th when Richie Shaffer, whose bat had been quiet since his fabulous first game with the Bulls, poked one over the Blue Monster. Unfortunately, a Shaffer error and a single took starter Scott Diamond out of the game. An unimpressive José Dominguez gave up a single and then walked in a run, bringing up some bad memories of all the runs the Chiefs had given the Bulls on Friday night. He got out of the inning, however, with a strikeout and a popup, leaving the bases loaded.

The Rays/Bulls are certainly being cautious with Mr. Dominguez. Since coming off the DL he’s only had 5 appearances, none of them particularly successful.

Jordan Norberto came on for the 7th and it got a bit ugly after two outs. Two singles and Jared Sandberg was quick with the hook, giving the ball to the spectacular young Jhan Mariñez. But Mariñez’ last outing was a one-out save on May 24th. It took him two batters to shake the rust off. First he hit a batter to load the bases, then he walked in the Chief’s second run. He got a ground out and then struck out the side in the 8th. But the game was tied.

It got very interesting in the 8th. Alexi Casilla grounded out. Ryan Brett singled off the pitcher’s glove and Taylor Motter singled to right. Mikie Mahtook struck out and Alan Dykstra came to bat.

When Mahtook came to bat, broadcaster Patrick Kinas began a lengthy exposition on the positioning of Chief’s center fielder Darin Mastroianni, pointing out how shallow he was and that, especially after Mahtook’s K, it didn’t make any sense to play that shallow. Essentially, and I’m sure he has made all his colleagues in the booth aware of it, he called the shot for Dykstra. Dykstra put the 5th pitch he saw over Mastroianni’s head, both runners scored, and the Bulls were up 4-2.

Ronald Belisario, in the grand tradition of Bulls’ closers, gave us some thrills in the 9th. He gave up two singles before Alexi Casilla started one double play, then made a very pretty grab and throw for the third out. It was his 12th save, which ranks him #2 in the International League.

Outside the game —

• About that photo up top. Joe Dillon was one of my favorite Durham Bulls back in 2009 and 2010. What I admired about him in those years was how hard he worked and how much he seemed to love the game. What I like about that photo is how looks to me so much like three guys on their way home from work. The photo says to me, “We’re baseball players, this is what we do.” You can see him tonight, probably out at third base when the Chiefs are at bat. He’s their hitting coach. Nice to see him back at the DBAP.
• When Alexi Casilla came off the DL somebody had to go. After 4 games with the Bulls, Juniel Querecuto went back to the Charlotte Stone Crabs. 
• Tampa Bay Rays infielder Tim Beckham tweaked a hamstring in last night's game in Baltimore. If serious, we can expect ripple effects down here.

Newest Durham Bull Runs the Bases

Season: 24-22; Trip: 4-4
Wrap, Box, Times-Tribune

Young Richie Shaffer was called up from the Rays AA team, the Montgomery Biscuits (stats), and very likely blasted his way into Durham Bulls history. Playing third base, Shaffer hit two home runs, a double, and a single in 5 at-bats in his very first AAA game. That’s an amazing “slash line” of .800/.800/2.200 (Batting Average/On-Base Percentage/Slugging), an OPS of 3.000, to go with 3 RBI. Those are going to be really cool numbers to see on the scoreboard when he first comes to bat at the DBAP, possibly late this afternoon.

Meanwhile, his recent Biscuits colleague, Leonardo Reginatto, playing 2B, was also having a great night going 2 for 3 with 2 RBI. Not to mention the rest of the team. Only two Bulls did not get an RBI in a game where the Bulls scored the most runs in a single game this year. Allan Dykstra and J.P. Arencibia contributed a home run each.

Nevertheless, the RailRiders batted around in the 9th inning and scored 4 runs off of Andy Oliver, causing Jhan Marinez to be called in to save the game.

Outside the game —

• The Bulls have won three in a row and got a 4-4 split on this road trip. Extraordinarily good work, especially given the roster turmoil and injuries. 
• The Rochester Red Wings (Twins) are in town today. The Bulls just had a 1-3 series against them in Rochester, so they know each other well.
• Doesn’t look like fans out there love their teams as much as we love our Durham Bulls. Average attendance at the Bulls’ 29 away games this year has been 5,459; for the 17 home games 7,573. That’s a pretty large 2,114 fan per game difference.
• When I checked in to the game I found that the radio stream was running the Indy 500, as was both AM and FM radio. Fortunately, Patrick Kinas responded to a Tweet and pointed out where I could find the game being streamed by WRAL. Seems to me that the Bulls could have done some Tweeting themselves and put something on their website. All the normal links via MiLB went to the Indy 500. Very poor job on the part of the Bulls, unless I missed something else. Not everyone is on Twitter and I don't think I'm the only one trying to listen to Bulls away games.

Standings

The Bulls come home tied with the Norfolk Tides for second place in the South Division. Not bad given that ugly losing streak they went through recently.

Big Bats Emerge

Wrap, Box, Syracuse.com

Five home runs aren’t enough, and an intentional walk plus an unintentional walk lost the game.

Season: 19-12; Trip: 2-1

Wrap, Box, Syracuse.com

Bulls hitters hit three more home runs (Mahtook, Dykstra, and Arencibia), but this time the pitchers matched them with solid performances.

Enny Romero made his 2015 debut with the Bulls after a long getting-ready stretch that goes back to spring training. We were not particular fans of Mr. Romero last year, but he certainly had a solid performance yesterday. How long he sticks with the Bulls is likely to be the subject of intense speculation down St. Petersburg way.

Alan Dykstra has built an odd record since joining the Bulls. The 6’5“ switch-hitter has only had 3 hits in his 10 games for a batting average of .088. However, those three hits are a double and 2 home runs plus he’s managed 10 walks (including at least one intentional walk). That leads him to an extraordinary batting average/OPS gap. His OPS is .590.  He carried an OPS of .930 with Las Vegas of the PCL last year, with 74 RBI. Yesterday he followed up Saturday’s 2 run shot with a solo one in the 5th inning. We’ve been skeptical of Mr. Dykstra. Could we have been wrong?

Overlooked in the offensive stats was how often the defense made a difference yesterday. It was a double play that closed the deal in the Bulls favor on Friday. Yesterday it was three of them that made big differences.

Outside the game —

• The Tampa Bay Times is reporting that Grant Balfour has an end-of-May opt-out to his minor league contract. That certainly means that he won’t be around Durham after this month. 
• The Process Report has a nice profile of Andrew Bellatti written by Adam Sobsey, one of the co-authors of Bull City Summer*.

Matchup

The Bulls rode over to Buffalo yesterday for a rematch with the Bisons tonight. And, yes, it was just a couple of days since the Bulls were playing them at the DBAP. Interesting to see what’s happened to their numbers since we last looked prior to that series. The Bulls have gone from 9th to 6th place in batting average ranking, from 5th to 3rd in OPS rankings, and from 4th to 3rd in ERA. Meanwhile, the Bisons went from 5th to 10th in batting average, 7th to 13th on OPS, and from 1st to 2nd on ERA. But we still need to remember that this is early in the season and rosters are in  turmoil. Very hard to detect meaningful trends. But the Bisons have been on a tough run, losing their last six games.

*Possibly the best book available on minor league baseball. On the shelf at Quail Ridge Books and on half-price sale down in the ballpark store.

Bulls Sweep the Bisons

Season: 17-11; Home Stand: 3-0
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Another noisy Education Day and some good baseball to be watched.

At first it seemed that the Bulls were going to run away with the game, especially after scoring two runs in the 1st inning and loading the bases with none out in the 2nd. However, the Bison’s Todd Redmond, who we have seen a lot over the years in various uniforms, struck out the side. Then the Bisons tied it up in the 3rd. Eventually, however, Redmond faltered and Belnome’s RBI of Lee in the 4th followed by Motter’s sac fly that brought Casilla home in the 6th were the difference.

All praise to the Bulls bullpen. They have not allowed a run in the last seven games.

We have to mention the deep confidence that Sandberg must have in Allan Dykstra. Dystra started at DH! Here’s a guy batting .000 since joining the Bulls. And he started out with a pop-up to 3B, a fly out to centerfield, and a ground out to 1B. In the end, however, he got his first hit of the year, a double  to left field in the 8th inning.

Hak-Ju Lee had a good day, three singles in 4 AB. Maybe ...

We should probably be a bit worried about both Mikie Mahtook and Taylor Motter, who collided in the outfield in the 3rd inning (Mahtook hung on to the ball, though). Both seemed banged up. Rob McLamb of the Herald-Sun has a bit more information, but not much more.

Outside the game —

• OK, let me rant about parking for day games. If you buy a season parking package, it turns out it doesn’t count for day games. One option is the parking garage over by the new county admin building. It has one of those automated deals where you put your ticket in and then your credit card. The machine spits back your ticket and your credit card gets charged for the parking. In this case $5. So far, so good. Here’s the fun part.
• It took me 30 minutes to get out of the garage and when I put my ticket in to get out of the gate, the machine wanted another $2.00 before it would let me go! Now there I was with a host of not happy folks behind me that were certainly not going to be understanding. So I put my credit card in and I was free. But I don’t think I’ll ever use that parking deck again, and I certainly can’t recommend it as a day game solution.
• Elsewhere, an interesting article in The Economist magazine on the statcast system being used to generate data for major league baseball.
• The Bulls are up in Syracuse for three games against the Chiefs.

Chart —

This chart tracks the game by game runs scored minus the runs allowed by the Durham Bulls. What does it mean? Other than the profound observation that it takes scoring more runs than your opponent to win a game? Not too much. However, it turns out that if you crank the data through a formula called the “Pythagorean Expectation” you can come up with numbers that very often matches the team’s won-loss record, which I find both very interesting and a bit creepy. If you crank the Bulls current runs scored and runs allowed through the equation you come up with a “PE” of 17-11, an exact match of their current won-loss record. How cool is that?

click on chart for larger image

Nice Start to the Home Stand

Season: 15-11; Home Stand: 1-0
Wrap, Box

The Durham Bulls started off one of their rare May home stands with a shutout of the Buffalo Bisons. And they moved into a tie for first place in the South Division of the International League.

J.P. Arencibia and Cory Brown were the big bats for the Bulls. Arencibia had two home runs. Brown had a home run, a triple, and a double, just missing a single at the end of the game. Between them they accounted for 5 of the 7 RBI.

Rays fans (do we have any around here?) can be pleased to see rehabbing Jake McGee on the mound for an impressive inning and the 5 innings that rehabbing infielder Nick Franklin played in (1 for 3, single).

We’re wondering when we should start worrying about 1B/DH Alan Dykstra. Since coming back from the Rays he’s come to the plate 25 times and has yet to get a hit and only one BB. We can hope he comes around, but there’s obviously something not right.

Outside the Game —

• The Bulls are not in town very much in early May. This three game visit and a four game visit from 14-17 is it until May 25th when they start a 6-game stretch. Given the erratic weather we can expect in May, we suggest you jump at any opportunity to see the Bulls.
• Today is first “Bark in the Park” day. Usually fun.
• The local TV broadcasts begin on May 15. Based on my observation of other teams in the IL, the Bulls have by far the best crew in the league. And they are Explorer Scouts.
• The Bulls blog has a very nice summary of how the Bulls are doing at this point in the season.

It Was a Dark and Windy Night, But ...

Season: 10-9; Trip: 1-0
Wrap, Box, Allentown Morning Call, Noise Nation

It was a miserable night in Allentown, 55° and windy, and from the first it looked as if the IronPigs would have the edge. Do you get used to that windy, cold place? Maybe not. Especially in the 4th when the wind helped former Bull Russ Canzler to a double and he eventually came around to score.

Speaking of Russ Canzler, since he broke into AAA with a great year with the Bulls in 2012 he has become possibly the leading expert on International League ballparks and locker rooms. He’s had playing time with the Columbus Clippers (Cleveland), the Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh), the Norfolk Tides (Baltimore), the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (New York), and he is now in his second season with Philadelphia’s Lehigh Valley IronPigs. He had a pretty good spring. We liked him as a Bull. Always a threat since those days.

It was the 6th inning that did in the IronPigs. Wind starting helping rather than hindering when Mikie Mahtook tripled and then came home on a Joey Brown Butler [Sorry, Joey] double. Then an error (the ‘Pigs had 4 on the night, one by each infielder) put runners on first and third. A Luke Maile sacrifice fly brought in another run. A Eugenio Velez single put runners on first and second. But a spectacular catch by ‘Pigs center fielder Bugusevic kept things on track. However, a double brought home both runners and the Bulls had four runs in. Then the wheels really came off. The ‘Pigs changed pitchers and reliever Adam Loewen walked the next four batters, pushing in two more runs. Pitching change and a popup ended the inning.

That was enough. An ugly win, but still a win.

Rosterfication —

• I’m losing track of all the roster moves, but for the record, Alan Dykstra is now with the team.
• Reliever José Dominguez is back from Tampa Bay.
• Reliever Jhan Marinez has been called up from from Montgomery to pitch for the Bulls (he got in an inning Sunday night).
• Pitcher Jim Patterson has been sent to “extended Spring Training”, which is sort of like being assigned to Hudson Valley. Wink, wink, he’s probably still around, just can’t come into a game.
• Have I mentioned that Everett Teaford got called up the other day? He pitched in the Rays loss at Yankee Stadium last night. 

Durham Bulls Back to .500 on Walk Off

Season: 8-8; Home Stand: 4-1; Standings
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun [paywall]

Joey Butler was last night’s hero accounting for half of the Bulls’ RBIs, most spectacularly with the walk-off home run that won the game. At 29 he’s one of the senior members of the team and he’s got plenty of AAA time under his belt, parts of 5 seasons, not counting a stretch in Japan last year. He has some major league time with both the Rangers and the Cardinals. [stats] Happy to have him here to hit the first Bulls homer over the Blue Monster that I’ve seen this year, plus the double to right field in the first inning.

Nice ending to what was something of a struggle for starting pitcher Dylan Floro and reliever Jim Miller. Floro gave up two home runs (in the 2nd and the 4th), but it was the lengthy 5th inning where he seemed to lose his touch. Jim Miller, at 33 the elder statesman of the bullpen crew, came in to end the 6th and had a clean 7th. However, he gave up the tying run in the 8th, setting the stage for Joey Butler’s heroics.

Mikie Mahtook was back in town after a very short, one game, no plate appearance visit with the Rays. He has not lost his touch. He got on base 4 out of five times with a walk, a hit-by-pitch and two singles. He scored three runs, to include the winning run when driven in by Butler’s homer.

Coming to the Bulls with Mahtook was first baseman Allan Dykstra. Mr. Dykstra was on the Bulls roster at the beginning of the year, but got called up to the Rays before the Bulls’ first game. That was the first visit of the 28 year old to the big leagues. He spent 2014 with the Mets AAA team out in Las Vegas with some pretty good power hitter numbers (OPS: .930 in 117 games with 16 home runs and 74 RBI. Stats.) Not a strong debut, 0-4 as the DH.

Rosterizing —

• As mentioned, Mikie Mahtook is back. Alan Dykstra is now with the team. Catcher Mayo Acosta is off to “Hudson Valley”.

Durham Bulls Open With a Win

Season: 1-0; Trip: 1-0
Wrap, Box, Gwinnett Daily Post

Nice start for the Bulls, especially the pitching. Young (24) Dylan Floro threw six innings of 1-hit, shutout ball in his first game in Triple A. Can’t ask for anything better than that. Brandon Gomes followed with two innings (and 3 Ks) and then José Dominguez closed it out. No walks at all. Plus the game wrapped up at 2 hours, 10 minutes. Looks like the speed-up rules might be making a difference.

Meanwhile Joey Butler got the only run of the game with his home run in the 2nd inning. Butler comes to the Bulls after a career mostly in the Texas system. [stats] Look to see him in the outfield and as a DH this year. With a lifetime AAA OPS of .872, he’s got some pop. Could be a fun guy to watch this year.

Catcher Luke Maile, who spent last year in Montgomery, showed off his arm by throwing out Gwinnett’s Eury Perez.

Overall, however, Gwinnett’s pitching kept the Bulls quiet. Only Butler and Vince Belnome had multi-hit games.

Outside the game —

• As mentioned yesterday, Allan Dykstra was called up to the Rays.
• The Rays signed Alexi Casilla and assigned him to the Bulls. The 30-year old Casilla spent most of last year with the Norfolk Tides as a middle infielder. He may join the team today.
• Missing will be outfielder Mikie Mahtook, who, as reported earlier this morning, will be in a Rays uniform tonight.

Dykstra to Rays

If you looked closely at yesterday’s Orioles-Rays box score (I did not) you might have noticed that a guy we expected to see playing for the Bulls tonight was down there in St. Petersburg playing first base, Allan Dykstra. He was called up to fill in for the Rays first baseman.

His two times to the plate were his first ever major league at-bats in his pro career (a RBI-earning BB and a K).  

Shades of last year when Vince Belnome was called up before the season started. At a guess Mr. Dykstra will be back once the Rays’ regular first baseman comes off the DL. Dykstra was the guy who hammered a bunch of home runs for the Triple-A All-Star home run derby last year. Big guy that I was hoping to see bring some power to the Bulls this year. However, here’s his chance. Good luck.

The Process Report, a Rays blog, had a couple of comments on the promotion, here and here.