The Durham Bulls in 2013 — Hitters — Part 1

Only 19 different ballplayers came to bat in a Durham Bulls uniform this year. Some quite a few times (Vince Belnome and Cole Figueroa at 533 plate appearances each), one (Luke Scott at 14) very few times. This year’s very low number of hitters hints at a real strength of the team — stability. Compare this year’s 19 to last year’s 32. In 2011 there were 25 different batters, 28 in 2010, 27 in 2009. This year was well below normal and, given their talent, that was a good thing.

Players are listed in the table are sorted by the number of 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. See Part 2 for a version of this table sorted by wOBA.

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

2013 Durham Bulls Hitters
 sorted by number of games played

Cole Figueroa had his first full season with the Bulls (he played in 88 games in 2012) and had a very good year, mostly at third base. He undoubtedly was a key part of this year’s team. He showed excellent plate discipline. His walk to strikeout ratio was 1.8, one of the best on the team. In a perfect world it would be nice if he were just a step quicker. On the other hand, his 62 RBI, the third best on the team, were crucial to the Bulls. Is he just a young Mike Fontenot? Maybe. But we aren’t going to know until he gets some major league time. As Bulls fans we’d be happy to see him back on the team next year. Stats.

Vince Belnome was the all-around star of the 2013 Bulls. If his performance fell off a bit in the last few weeks of the season, he still had a career year and deserved the accolades he accumulated (All-Star, MVP). He led the team regulars in virtually every category and his importance shows through in his superb wOBA and wRAA stats. At the beginning of the year he played some 3B and even some 2B, but by the end he was essentially the Bulls regular first baseman, although he shared some time with Shelley Duncan. Belnome is only 25 years old, so going forward will certainly depend on his fit with the Rays, not the Bulls. He made a difference to the Bulls. Sure wouldn’t hurt to have him back. Stats.

Tim Beckham started the year at second base, clearly making way for the upcoming star, Hak-Ju Lee, at the shortstop position. It didn’t work out that way. Lee’s early and season-ending injury put Beckham in the shortstop position for the rest of the year where he was OK, but not spectacular. But that could be said for most of the Bulls this year. Beckham’s numbers are fine. His 51 RBI and 17 stolen bases were part of a winning package. He was one of the few Bulls position players on the Rays 40-man and he got his September call-up. At this writing he has appeared in 4 games, pinch-running, second base and shortstop. He’s 2 for 6. At a guess he will be back next year playing second base. In a perfect world, I’d guess the Rays want him to be showing a bit more plate discipline (BB/K of 0.41 isn’t very good if you’re not booming home runs). Stats.

Mike Fontenot was one of those guys who, from this fan’s perspective, came to work and did his job for the Bulls. From the stands there was always a hint that he was an infielder-in-waiting if someone got hurt down in St. Petersburg. At 33, he and Shelley Duncan were the senior members of the crew. 2013 was the first full year since 2007 that he has not had at least some time in the major leagues (He’s appeared in 583 major league games). His substantial amount of playing time is another reminder of how the injury to Lee changed the Bulls’ approach this year. Returning next year? At a guess, no. Stats.

Leslie Anderson has been a favorite of WDBB for the last couple of years and his performance has meant a lot to the team. This year he led the team in RBI. But this was also the year where a fundamental weakness against left-handed pitching came into view. At 31 and at the end of his original contract with the Rays, things are not looking good for his return. An interesting profile of his career as a Durham Bull is part of the Bull City Summer  here. Unless something comes up, expect the Bulls to be looking elsewhere for power at the plate next year. Stats.

Brandon Guyer seems to have a cloud hovering over him. He’s sort of the Joe Btfsplk of the Rays system (although to be completely accurate, Joe Btfsplk actually brought bad luck to other people, not himself). Seems like we’ve been watching him a long time, ever since he came over from the Cubs system in 2011. And every time he’s about to break through something bad happens. This year he started slow and just when things seemed to be coming into focus his finger was broken. This year Guyer showed off his speed. And it was impressive. He had 22 stolen bases in his 98 games. Hard to say what he would have had if he’d had 10 or 20 more games. He was also a rare Bulls position player on the 40-man this year and he was subject to some bizarre end-of-season roster manipulations by the Rays that left a bad taste in our mouth. But if Guyer was able to spin it into a paycheck, then OK. It didn’t hurt the Bulls. I like him a lot. I really like having a right-handed bat that was a threat and a right-fielder who could play the position well. The 15.9 wRAA tells us he was a real asset to the team. He has also been profiled by Bull City Summer here. Stats.

Chris Gimenez has to be disappointed with his work at the plate this year and yet from the stands he sure looked to be a threat every time he came to bat. For a month and more the Bulls were starved for outfielders and Leslie Anderson and Gimenez spent a lot of time out on the grass. A catcher by trade, he only had 56 of his games in that position. He got a September callup and has been in 4 games so far at 1B, 3B, and catcher. He participated in an interesting discussion on pitching, also from Bull City Summer, here and here. Stats.

It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over

• Tim Beckham’s got a hit in his first big league at bat.
• Jeff Beliveau got called up. Will this one be the charm? It’s the fourth time this season and he has yet to throw a pitch.
• Enny Romero is to put on a Rays uniform for the very first time today. He has just been called up. He came up to the Bulls from the Biscuits to start the Bulls last game of the season over in Norfolk. Eight very solid innings. Then he got a win in relief the first game in Pawtucket for the Governors’ Cup. 
• Frank De Los Santos, on the other hand, is off to the Chicago White Sox organization. He appeared in 26 games for the Bulls this year, but the lefty never really looked quite right. For what it’s worth, the deal probably opens up a 40-man slot for the Rays.
• With the departure of De Los Santos, every Bulls player who was on the Rays’ 40-man roster is now up with the Rays, except for Brandon Guyer—who was a key player in some spectacularly devious rule-bending a few days back—and LHP Mike Montgomery, who was essentially shut down near the end of the season. 

The Last Hurrah

A last hurrah for the Bulls and, probably for Bulls stalwart Leslie Anderson. So let’s take a look at his home run — the highlight of last night’s game. And possibly the last time we'll see Leslie in a Bulls uniform.




What a great season. I’ll be running the numbers over the next week or so, but we Bulls fans have had the opportunity to watch an exceptional baseball team in 2013. So, thank you, all of you guys for the fun you’ve given us this year.

For those Rays fans who follow this blog: Too bad that you will probably never see Anderson in the Trop. From our perspective he could have been called up at the end of last year and helped the Rays out. As it is, it sure looks like this might have been his last at bat. So, from WDBB to Leslie Anderson, Good Luck!

Plenty of links to take a look at describing last night’s 2-1 loss:

Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, N&O, Omaha World-Herald, IL/MiLB, Allentown Morning Call (good photo gallery), Noise Nation (photos)

Outside the game —

• Reports out there that Tim Beckham and Jake Odorizzi have been called up. And that Brandon Guyer has been put on 60-day DL to make room for a player we’ve never heard of.
• See the Allentown Morning Call link for info on Rich Thompson. Sounds like he's out of baseball for good.

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.

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 (????).

A Save is a Save is a Save

Season: 85-53; Games Remaining: 6
Wrap, Box, Gwinnett Daily Post

As readers know I am far from expert on scoring rules, but I don’t think it was a save situation when Josh Lueke came on in the 8th inning. [Well, no surprise, I was wrong. If a tying run is: on base, at bat, or on deck then it's a save situation. Thanks to Chris D. for the explication.] The score was 5-1, runners on second and third, one out. Even so, Lueke made that situation look easy by getting an infield pop up and a strike out. Next inning, however, perhaps he created his own save situation. He started with a K, then hit a batter and gave up two singles to load the bases. The potential tying run came to the plate and that is, I’m sure, a save situation. Lueke then got a swinging K and a flyout. Shades of Joe Bateman. (Am I the only Bulls fan left who misses Joe Bateman and Winston Abreu in these situations? That is, create your own mess and then get out of it?). Lueke got his 17th save. His ERA remains a stunning 0.63.

Prior to that we listened to IL MV Pitcher J.D. Martin pretty much run the game on the defense and a parade of Bulls batters banged out hits. Martin was the pitcher on the mound in the interrupted game down in Norfolk a few days ago, so his last full appearance was 6 innings back on August 18. Sounded like the break did no harm. Broadcaster Kinas thinks Martin will not pitch again until the first game of the playoffs next Wednesday.

Tim Beckham is hot — a home run and a double to go with 3 for 5 game on Tuesday. As is Brandon Guyer, who’s making a forceful bid for Rays’ time this season when he finishes his “rehab assignment” — double, triple, BB, RBI. Speaking of rehab assignments, Luke Scott is visiting from the Rays and dh’d last night (1 for 4, run scored, 1 BB).

Outside the game —

• Matt Moore will be pitching for the Bulls on a rehab assignment from the Rays tonight. Nice substitute for Jake Odorizzi, who will be starting for the Rays tomorrow, I think. WDBB is on record with the opinion that Matt Moore is the best pitcher to appear in a Durham Bulls uniform in the DBAP — ever. Too bad we won’t have a chance to watch him work his way back from whatever’s been bothering him. But maybe he could hang out until the playoffs? Why not?
• The Bulls' roster is a mess. We'll try to put together a post laying out all the changes sometime this afternoon. 

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.

Boy in Blue Blew Two

Season: 83-51; Home Games Remaining: 2; Games Left in Season: 9
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Mike Montgomery had one of his best nights of the year, but the Bulls weren’t hitting. In fact, they’ve gone two full games without an extra base hit.

Nevertheless, things could have been different without two egregiously bad calls by first base umpire Ben May. In the 6th he called Brandon Guyer out on a pickoff throw that Guyer clearly beat to the bag. In the 8th with the bases loaded he blew a call where the first baseman was obviously pulled off the bag at the end of a 3-2-3 double play. (I was up on top of the Blue Monster and could see the 1B off the bag.)

At this stage of the season I suppose we can be a bit philosophical about these sorts of thing. More than that, these were only two bad calls in what’s been a pretty good season for the IL’s umpires (in my view). But, the same guy? Twice in one game?

Nice to see Brandon Guyer back in the game. He  was 0-3 with a BB, but looked just fine in the field. In fact, when Evan Frey took left field in the 9th, it was the first time in what seems like a couple of months that the Bulls have had three ballplayers in the outfield who came up through the system as outfielders. Could mean good things for the playoffs.

This was only the sixth time the Bulls have been shut out this season. Bulls pitchers/defense have had eight shutouts of their opponents. So far.

Outside the game —

• Kevin Kiermaier was named the Montgomery Biscuits Most Valuable Player for 2013. Congratulations Kevin! [Tnx, Biscuit Crumbs]
• I know a lot of folks don’t like the Rays’ Tropicana Field, but where else in baseball would you get a shot like this? [Tnx, Rays Index]

Guyer Back With the Bulls

As we’ve noted earlier, the Rays are nothing if not creative when it comes to roster manipulation. Brandon Guyer is now available to play for the Bulls and it isn’t even going to cost a roster spot … yet. He’s coming back under the rules for Major League rehab.

Great to have him back on the field under any circumstances.

Update (3:10): Guyer in lineup, batting third, playing right field. Welcome back!

Odorizzi Rules

Season: 83-51; Home Games Remaining: 3

Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

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.

Two Out of Three; Martin Gets (More) Famous

Wrap, Box

Wrap, Box, Columbus Dispatch

Season: 69-40
Wrap, Box, Columbus Dispatch (1), Columbus Dispatch (2)

Those three ugly games after the All-Star break are quickly disappearing in the rear-view mirror. The Bulls’ two remaining 40-man guys (starters, that is), didn’t do very well back then. Now it’s all better. Mike Montgomery picked up a win on the 24th and last night, after two poor starts, Jake Odorizzi was very, very good. Only two hits over 7 innings and 101 pitches, and the first of those hits didn’t come until the 7th inning.

Odorizzi’s opponent, the Clippers’ Danny Salazar, was essentially matching him through five innings. But Salazar is on his way back from Tommy John surgery and left after five innings. In the 6th, however, poor defense by the Clippers let two runs in. Two more errors in the 8th set up two more runs.

But that is what the Bulls do this year. They just keep banging out singles and doubles, run the bases, and chip away. Yes, Belnome, Anderson, Duncan, and the much-missed Brandon Guyer are strong guys, but they aren’t going to beat an opponent’s brains in. What happens is that when the opposition looks up at the scoreboard around the 7th or 8th inning, they discover that they’re losing by a couple of runs and one of the Bulls two closers, Kirby Yates (ERA: 1.29, 14 saves) or Josh Lueke (ERA: 0.57, 13 saves) is warming up. Could not be a good feeling for them.

Last night also saw Charlie Montoyo do something that is fairly common this year, but something of a change from previous years. Cory Wade came in to pitch in the 8th and after a K got into trouble with a double and run-scoring single. Montoyo went for the left-on-left matchup and brought in Adam Liberatore to pitch to Clippers' Ezequiel Carrera. Yes, that’s a common enough move, and it worked. Carrera struck out. It just isn’t particularly common for the pre-2013 Charley Montoyo. More than that, after Liberatore walked the next batter to put runners on 1B and 2B, Montoyo brought in closer Kirby Yates for the second night in a row. Yates got a K with finish the 8th, and three quick outs to finish out the game.

Now, this sort of pitcher usage is common in the majors, but for most of the years we’ve been watching the Bulls it seemed that the manager and pitching coach would just as often go for a “development” opportunity. That is, more likely to leave a guy in for another batter or two (or three). This year, it seems as if Montoyo (and Allen, of course) are much quicker to pull a pitcher, much more willing to seek one or two outs from a reliever instead of one or two innings. That’s partly because after the early season turmoil the Bulls have more depth (and much more quality) in their relievers. As it is, Bulls relievers might be getting a bit bored. In the last three games they’ve only put in 7 innings, and only 6 pitchers have been used (Yates twice).

Outside the game —

• Brandon Guyer’s broken finger is reported to be a season ending injury. I don’t think we’ve witnessed a season with more severe injuries to position players. He joins Hak-Ju Lee and Rich Thompson on the “7-day DL”, but not likely to return. And just when he got his batting average up to .300.
• J.D. Martin has been named IL pitcher of the week. This is the second time this year for him. Quite likely if he were on any other roster than the Rays he would be banging on the door for a callup. As it is, even Chris Archer who just pitched a complete game, 2-hit shutout of the Yankees in Yankee Stadium, could be odd man out when Alex Cobb comes off the DL. Don’t get me wrong. Could not be happier than to have J.D. among us. Hope he's having as much fun pitching as we are watching.

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
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

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
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

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.

Back From the Break, a Bit Rusty

Season: 63-36; Home Stand: 5-1
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Jake Odorizzi showed the effects of a seven day break in his routine, but perhaps more worrisome is the similarity of last night’s game to his outing back on July 5, when he had a nasty 4-run inning. The major difference is that last night was worse from an overall stats point of view (fewer innings, more BB). But it could have been more lopsided if Bulls defenders had not caught two runners at the plate as they were trying to score.

Nevertheless, the Bulls had a shot at catching up in the 7th and 8th and could not quite get there.

Cole Figueroa had a good night drawing three walks and scoring two runs. He is a terrific leadoff guy.

This was, I think, Evan Frey’s first experience in front of the Blue Monster in left field. He had something of a baptism of fire when Pawtucket started bouncing balls off of it. He was in left because Jason Bourgeois was back in center field. With Brandon Guyer in right, for the first time in recent memory the Bulls had three outfielders in the outfield.

New guy Ramon Ramirez had a very nice inning plus. Sure wish someone in the real media would chase down how come he's here. Glad to have him, mind you, just curious.

Outside the game —

• Hope that Ryan Roberts has his passport with him. Roberts was leaning on the dugout rail last night, a last minute scratch from the game. The speculation was that he wasn’t fully recovered from a hamstring problem. Turns out that Rays’ first baseman James Loney is off on a paternity leave and Roberts was just hanging out at the DBAP before leaving to join the Rays in Toronto.

Another Shut Out

Season: 61-35; Streak: 6-0
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Cole Figueroa hit his third home run. Merrill Kelly hit two batters. Brandon Guyer threw out a runner trying for home. The Bulls won their sixth game in a row to reach a stunning 61-35 record. It didn’t rain (well, not too much). Does it get any better? Rumor has it the sun may come out today.

I like watching Cole Figueroa play baseball. The 26 year old does everything well. A home run was just icing on the cake as he pushed his batting average over .300 yesterday (and he carries a very nice wOBA of .343). He’s .415 in his last 10 games, with 5 doubles and the home run to go with his 11 singles and only 2 strikeouts. To top it off, playing 3B last night he made a tricky bouncing ground ball to his left look routine as he handled it and got the second out in the 9th. Fun to have him with the Bulls this year.

Mr. Kelly did more than just hit batters, of course. He’s been with the Bulls a little less than a month, made 6 starts, won 4 of them, and has a nifty 1.70 ERA. Very nice.

Outside the game —

• Alex Colome has been placed on the DL and sent to Florida. Could be serious trouble.
• To replace him, recently signed Ramon Ramirez is coming up from Port Charlotte where he made one 3-inning appearance with the Stone Crabs.
• Speaking of transactions, this is a clever way to show the Triple-A All-Star game.
• Interesting profile of Frank De Los Santos over at DNA of Sports
• At Bull City Summer, Adam Sobsey speculates on how the Bulls season might run out.

Pitching

Another way to look at pitching performance, this chart shows the game-by-game ERA of Bulls pitching over the last 20 games, then plots a simple trend line for starters, relievers, and the team as a whole. What jumps out is that there were five games with no earned runs at all (with the additional oddity that in one of those games the Bulls lost, June 23). The pretty part of the trend is that, for the most part, neither starters nor relievers are allowing many runs. Of course, the Bulls won 14 out of those 20 games, an amazing number in its own right.

Bulls Back in Town

Season: 59-35; Last 10: 8-2
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Tim Beckham hit his second home run of the season, a solo shot in the 1st inning. Jesus Flores hit his second home run of the season, a three-run shot in the 7th to pretty much close it out. That gave the Bulls their fourth in a row and their eighth win out of the last ten games. They are 9½ games ahead of Norfolk in the IL South Division and tied with the Indianapolis Indians for the best won-loss record in the International League. Pretty darned good.

His last time out, Jake Odorizzi had five good innings out of six, but took a loss. Last night when he fielded a grounder and then threw the ball into center field we were thinking that history might repeat itself. It didn’t. He kept the game in control.

An oddity in the lineup was Chris Gimenez batting in the #4 position. Possibly a gimmick to help him regain his focus. It might have helped just a bit. Gimenez and Anderson were in the outfield again as Ryan Roberts, Brandon Guyer, and Jason Bourgeois were all on the bench with various ailments and ouchies.

Outside the game —

• Catcher Juan Apodaca was taken off the disabled list and released. He had a couple of good moments with the Bulls, but we were always wondering what he had to offer over Craig Albernaz (also on the DL, but likely to come off now).
• Tim Beckham has a nice feature article on him in today’s News & Observer. It appears that the N&O has basically decided to try to do profiles this year rather than regular game coverage, deferring to the Herald-Sun for that. Sort of makes sense. 
• The Herald-Sun is reporting the interim manager of the Bulls during Charlie Montoyo and Neil Allen’s time with the Futures Game will be Bill Evers, very successful manager of the Bulls in their early Triple-A years.

Bulls Beat Bulls

Season: 55-34
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Former Bulls Russ Canzler (2011) and Jason Pridie (2007) accounted for a couple of last night’s runs, including one in that ugly, ugly 3rd inning. Jake Odorizzi had very, very good 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 6th innings. But somehow when he gave up the single at the top of the 3rd for his first runner on base, things went awry. By the time he was back on track four runs were across.

Meanwhile the Tides’ Tsuyoshi Wada was essentially untouchable for most of the first six innings. And when he was touched early his fielders pulled off double plays.

The result? A big crowd saw a decent ball game and a couple of exciting plays (see catcher/left fielder Chris Gimenez’ play below).

Bulls fans got to see Frank De Los Santos back. Except for the Pridie home run, looked OK for his two innings. Ryan Roberts’ gear must’ve shown up. He was at 2B and got the games’ sole RBI for the Bulls.

Outside the game —

• Leslie Anderson reported to be working his way back.
• Two years ago the Bulls were down in Georgia. Alex Torres started and got the win in a rain-shortened 3-1 game. Other familiar names in the box score: Leslie Anderson, Desmond Jennings, and Brandon Guyer.
• Nuke the puppet continues to find interesting ways to lose races.

Rainout; Hitters Reviewed

First, a look at the last two games ...

Wrap, Box, Allentown Morning Call

Wrap, Box, Allentown Morning Call

Season: 50-30; Trip: 3-3

Merrill Kelly apparently looked awfully good in Tuesday's game and Matt Buschmann was a bit shaky in Wednesday's outing. The bullpen stepped up and the hitters kept scrambling. Two very nice wins.

A double-header is set up to try to makeup last night's rainout. Storms are predicted for tonight, so it will be a matter of timing. We can hope they get to play, otherwise the Bulls season will be shortened by two games. That's the way in works in the IL.

By the way, Reid Brignac has been re-signed by the Colorado Rockies. This time it's to a minor league deal. He'll be playing AAA ball in Colorado Springs. [Thanks to Rays Index for the heads up].

It's been almost a month since we last looked at Bulls hitters. The two huge changes are the departures of Wil Myers and Rich Thompson. Thompson had been coming back from a bad start. Myers, of course, was coming into his own. The change column goes back to May 28. Vince Belnome has obviously fallen off a bit, but his wRAA and wOBA are still very, very solid numbers. Nice to see Brandon Guyer moving up. I'd thought that Tim Beckham was improving, but doesn't look like it. And I thought the same about Jason Bourgeois. By the way, Bourgeois has not been moved to the DL, so maybe he will be back. He was reported to have a hamstring problem that took him out of Wednesday's game.

Player	Age	PA	AVG	OPS	wRAA	wOBA	Change
Vince Belnome	25	298	.340	.954	21.9	.425	-.020
Leslie Anderson	31	286	.316	.907	16.3	.404	.025
Brandon Guyer	27	289	.289	.808	7.2	.364	.016
Cole Figueroa	26	275	.291	.742	1.5	.340	.023
Mike Fontenot	33	254	.263	.736	0.5	.336	.001
Shelley Duncan	33	169	.223	.753	0.3	.335	-.004
Chris Gimenez	30	173	.246	.688	0	.333	-.016
Tim Beckham	23	280	.272	.720	-1.8	.325	-.003
Jason Bourgeois	31	292	.288	.717	-2.4	.323	-.038
Juan Apodaca	26	97	.238	.690	-0.9	.321	.030
Ryan Roberts	32	31	.296	.688	-0.4	.319	NA
Craig Albernaz	30	81	.246	.616	-3	.288	-.001
Jesus Flores	28	51	.188	.506	-4.1	.234	NA

One Out of Four, Move On

Wrap, Box, Bisons

Wrap, Box, Buffalo News

Wrap, Box, Buffalo News

Season: 48-30; Trip: 1-3
Wrap, Box, Bisons

The Bulls outhit the Bisons in every game, 37-26 overall, and actually outscored them over the series 12 runs to 11, but lost 3 out of 4 games. How did that happen? Mostly, they just couldn’t get their runners across. Nevertheless, none of these games were blowouts and mostly we what we saw was some weakness in the bullpen. No real surprise there.

How is Charlie handling his outfield puzzle (remember, he’s only got two outfielders on the roster)? Of the regulars (that would be Jason Bourgeois and Brandon Guyer), Bourgeois played in 3 of 4 games and pinch ran late in the fourth game; Guyer also started in 3 of 4 games and pinch ran in a fourth. Playing the third outfielder? That was Leslie Anderson (2 starts) and Cole Figueroa (2 starts).

In a larger sense, it’s hard to complain about the pitching except for the bullpen’s blowup in the second game of the series. Might as well make my token complaint about having to go with yet another "bullpen day" (using a crew of relievers when no starter available) in this series. The Bulls had two of those in June and lost both.

Mike Montgomery went seven innings and did well. That will certainly help folks recover from the previous night’s marathon.

Have to note that the Bison’s Ricky Romero can’t seem to get the ball across the plate against the Bulls. He had 5 BBs in 3 ⅓ innings last night. And back on May 27 in Durham he gave up 3 BBs in the ⅔ inning that he pitched.

Jason Bourgeois had a terrific night with two hits, two RBI and a stolen base, his 19th. Brandon Guyer led off and did his job by getting on base 3 out of 5 times, scoring every time, and picking up an RBI. His batting average is up to .283 now and, even better, his advanced stats are up there just behind Vince Belnome’s and Leslie Anderson’s. The Bulls need that.

Outside the game —

• Pitcher Steve Geltz is from the Buffalo area and got a nice story about him while the Bulls were there.
• Former Bull Reid Brignac was designated for assignment by the Yankees. He has cleared waivers, but no word if he has been picked up by another team. May end up as a free agent.
• Couple of interesting photos from the most recent Bark in the Park event.