Rays - Bulls - Rays - Bulls: Pitchers

A couple of days ago I started a series looking at just how much the Rays and Bulls helped each other this year. The first was a look at the rehabilitation assignment players who passed through. This one takes a look at the pitchers. Note that all stats are for regular season only.

David Price, Andy Sonnanstine, Wade Davis, Randy Choate, Dale Thayer, Jeff Bennett, Joe Nelson, and Winston Abreu each spent some time with the Bulls and the Rays this year. That’s eight of twenty-one pitchers who were on the mound for the Rays, and eight of thirty-four pitchers who wore a Durham Bulls uniform.

David Price

• Bulls: 8 games, 1-4, ERA 3.93, 34 ⅓ innings, WHIP 1.340
• Rays: 23 games, 10-7, ERA 4.42, 128 ⅓ innings, WHIP 1.348

David Price started the season with the Bulls and went to the Rays in late May. Looks like he did more for the Rays in terms of winning games than he did for us. Some of that is surely because early in the season the Rays had all starters on low pitch counts and, in the case of Price, had him working on specific tasks in each outing.

Andy Sonnanstine

• Bulls: 9 games, 5-3, ERA 4.40, 57 ⅓ innings, WHIP 1.343.
• Rays: 22 games (18 starts), 6-9, ERA 6.77, 99 ⅔ innings, WHIP 1.656

Andy Sonnanstine began the season with the Rays as a starter. He came to Durham in early July and went back to the Rays on September 1 (he spent some time on the DL while with the Bulls). On his return to the Rays he had three starts and all four of his relief appearances. Very helpful to the Bulls as we made our run for the Governors’ Cup.

Wade Davis

• Bulls: 28 games, 10-8, ERA 3.40, 158 ⅔ innings, WHIP 1.254
• Rays: 6 games, 2-2, ERA 3.72, 36 ⅓ innings, WHIP 1.266

Wade Davis started the year in Durham and stayed here until September 2. He did a superb job for the Bulls, and not too shabby for the Rays in his six starts.

Randy Choate

• Bulls: 21 games, 3-0, ERA 3.72, 19 ⅓ innings, WHIP 1.293
• Rays: 61 games, 1-0, 5 saves, ERA 3.47, 36 ⅓ innings, WHIP 1.073

Sidearming left-hander Randy Choate started the season with Durham and went to St Pete on May 25th. He stayed with the Rays the rest of the season. What’s interesting about Choate, and several other Rays relievers, is that he has considerably fewer innings than appearances, meaning that it was typical for him to face only a few batters and get only a few outs in an appearance.

Dale Thayer

• Bulls: 51 games, 2-5, 17 saves, ERA 2.27, 63 ⅓ innings, WHIP 1.168
• Rays: 11 games, 0-0, ERA 4.61, 13 ⅔ innings, WHIP 1.390

Reliever Dale Thayer made 3 trips to the Rays. He went up on May 22 and came back on May 31, appearing in three games. He went up again on July 23 and came back on July 28, after appearing in three more games. He made his third visit in September, going up September 8 and staying until the end of the season. He made five more appearances. Except for the oddity of sitting on the Tampa bullpen bench for some thirteen days in September (12th to 26th), Dale seems to have done a decent job for the Rays and been one of the few relievers that stayed in for more than a few batters at a time. Of course, for the Bulls Dale was a horse with a bunch of saves. The only problem I noted was that when he came back from the Rays it took him a couple of games to get back into it.

Jeff Bennett

• Bulls: 3 games, 1-0, ERA 4.76, 11 ⅓ innings, WHIP 1.676
• Rays: 11 games, 0-0, ERA 9.95, 12 ⅔ innings, WHIP 2.763

Bennett made his first appearance with the Rays on August 1 and came to the Bulls on August 18 after seven appearances with the Rays. He stayed with the Bulls until September 1 when he went back to the Rays. As a Bull, Jeff was a starter (mostly in those “committee” games). With Tampa Bay he was exclusively a reliever. Bennett had been with Atlanta this season before going on the DL and then being released after two rehab appearances with Gwinnett. Something of a wash on who he helped the most.

Joe Nelson

• Bulls: 13 games, 2-2, ERA 6.23, 17.1 innings, WHIP 1.904
• Rays: 42 games, 3-0, ERA 4.02, 40 ⅓ innings, WHIP 1.463

Nelson was optioned to Durham on August 4 after spending the season with Tampa (and doing what appears to be a decent job). With the Bulls in the regular season he never seemed to get on track. Have to note, however, that he had three appearances in the playoffs (two against Louisville and one against Scranton) and didn’t allow any runs.

Winston Abreu

• Bulls: 37 games, 3-1, 15 saves, ERA 1.94, 51 innings, WHIP 0.765
• Rays: 2 games, 0-0, ERA 2.45, 3 ⅔ innings, WHIP 1.365

I saved the best for last. Winston Abreu was arguably the most important pitcher on the team to not get a real chance with the Rays. He started the season with the Bulls and appeared in 23 games before going to Tampa Bay in mid-June. He made two appearances with the Rays and was traded to Cleveland where he made three appearances before managing to get back to the Bulls for a game on August 7. We could not have been happier. He was in 14 games and picked up four saves. Then he made 6 appearances in the Bulls 9 post-season games, picking up 4 saves. In his last appearance he only faced one batter before coming out because of an injury.

So, what can we say overall about how well the Bulls-Rays relationship worked in the pitching department this year? Looks like a win-win for the starting pitchers. We did OK and so did the Rays. As far as relievers are concerned, the Bulls did fine with the ones who began the season in Durham, but only so-so with the ones who were sent down. I think it’s fair to say that the Rays bullpen was their most significant weakness this year and that it was a matter of both talent and management, particularly late in the season. It sure looked like the Rays were trying to trade/buy relief talent rather than take a close look at what they had in Durham. That’s OK with me.

Next: Position players.

Eldridge Back; Brignac Gone; Nelson Clears Waivers

According to Stacy Long, Rashad Eldridge is coming to the Bulls from the Biscuits. Rashad was with us earlier in the year and did quite well: .301/.356/.370. An outfielder, it looks to me he might fill a hole if Joyce gets called up. Sorry for Montgomery’s loss, but a positive for us.

According to Marc Tompkin, Reid Brignac is on his way to Tampa Bay and Joe Nelson passed through waivers and accepted an assignment to Durham.

If new infielder Sean Rodriguez stays more than a couple of days, and if his hitting is still in the shape it was in when he left Salt Lake, we should be OK in the infield. Maybe better than OK.

Even though what we really need is starting pitching, and even though Nelson hasn’t shown us much yet, maybe Charlie and X. know something we don’t. We can hope.

Richard Drives Bulls Into Tie For First

Game 133: Bulls 3, Tides 1
Season: 75-58
Games Left in Season: 11; Home Games: 7
Wrap, Box

The game went on and on and on with a thirty-minute rain delay in the middle of it. Could have been worse. If the game had been called when the rains came, and it could have been, we would have lost 0-1.

One way to put it the rest of the game in perspective: They bet Joey Gathright, we saw that bet with Fernando Perez and raised them Justin Ruggiano and Chris Richard.

In the bottom of the 8th, Joe Nelson came on in relief of Jason Cromer. He promptly walked Joey Gathright. Not a good way to start the inning. A sacrifice bunt sent Gathright to second base. Intentional walk to Norfolk’s Jeff Fiorentino. Then a double steal, so men on second and third, one out. But Brandon Snyder hit the ball to Joe Dillon at third, and Dillon threw to Riggans at home who put the tag on Gathright (the second time Gathright had been put out heading for home in the game). The next batter popped out to Chris Richard.

In the ninth, with one out, Fernando Perez pinch ran for Jon Weber. Justin Ruggiano got a hit, but Perez didn’t get past second. With Chris Richard at the plate, Perez and Ruggiano pulled off a double steal. Richard had a masterful at-bat, working his way back from 0-2 to 2-2 fouling off 3 more pitches along the way. Then he cracked one over the right field wall, scoring Perez and Ruggiano. So the double steal didn’t really matter except that it may have rattled Norfolk pitcher Bob McCrory. At least he seemed rattled since he brushed back Shawn Riggans after the Richard homer.

Who you gonna call for the bottom of the 9th? Winston Abreu, of course. He started the 9th with three K’s. Unfortunately, the ball got away from Riggans on the third strike of the third K and the runner made it to first. No matter. The next batter flied out to right.

Four days ago we were 13 games above .500 and Gwinnett was 21 above .500. Since that time Gwinnett has lost 4 games (Thank You Charlotte!) and the Bulls have won 4 games. We’re 17 games above .500 for the first time this year and tied for first.

About Jon Weber and Jason Childers:

They will be with the Bulls until August 31st. That means we’ll get to see them Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Team USA trains over in Cary and they start training there the 2nd of September. Not much of a drive from the DBAP. As soon as I’m able to learn more about how that works, I’ll put something up here. Don’t know if practice is open to the public, but I think they've got a tune-up game early on. I’ve never seen the facility, but hope to take a look soon.

Starters? Who Needs Starters?

Game 122: Bulls 5, Yankees 2
Season: 68-54
Games Left in Season: 22; Home Games: 12
Wrap, Box, Indy Week

I want to start out with something absolutely unrelated to last night’s game. Regular readers will know that I have a fondness (that may be the wrong word) for a young pitcher named Chris Mason who pitched several innings for the Bulls last year and 4 innings this year before going back to the Montgomery Biscuits. It looks as if Stacy Long over at the Montgomery Advertiser and who covers the Montgomery Biscuits shares that fondness. Mason recently was released by the Rays organization, signed on with the Mets and is pitching for their AA team. I’ll just quote Stacy for the rest of the story (Long has some good quotes from Rhyne Hughes as well):

Mason doubles his fun with Binghamton

Departed Biscuits pitcher Chris Mason allowed three hits over five shutout innings to pick up his first win for the Binghamton Mets tonight . He also doubled, scored a run and has a .500 slugging percentage, which means the world will end in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

On a more serious note, how about them pitchers? Odd that without a “starter” we used just about as many as we do on a night when we have a starter start. ’Splain to me the difference between a starter and a reliever again? In the end, three out of four pitchers did just fine accumulating 12 strikeouts and giving up only two walks and one earned run. Nice work, mostly. I remain worried about Joe Nelson. About 40% of the batters he faces are getting on base. On the other hand last night we saw the Winston Abreu we know and love: seven batters, no hits, 3 K’s, not a baserunner. Well done.

On the offensive side, one story is Joe Dillon. He just doesn’t look like a third baseman to me and that rainbow-like near palm ball for the third out in the 4th just barely beat the runner to the bag. At the plate, however, bang, bang, bang, three singles his first three at bats.

I liked the balance in the offense last night. Almost everyone got a hit.

Desmond Jennings showed off for us leading off in the 6th. He drew a walk, was wild pitched to 2nd, stole 3rd base and came home when the catcher’s throw went wide of the base. The Yankee’s pitcher, Edwar Ramirez, looked sort of like one of those screech owls you see on the Nature Channel as he watched Jennings go around the bases. He did strike out the batter of the moment, Matt Joyce, and three others in his stint, but left with his team one more run down. .

About leaving the bases loaded two innings in a row …

Lastly, Ray Olmedo needs some time with Jon Weber to hone his bat tossing skills. The one he let go weakly flopped into the netting. His follow-through needs some work.

Durham Bulls, Come on Home!

Game 119: Bulls 9, Braves 5
Season: 66-53
Games Left in Season: 25; Home Games: 15
Wrap, Box, Indy Week, Gwinnett Daily Post

I’ve never met Elliot Johnson, so I don’t know if he’s really a nice guy or not. That’s a fan’s perspective. I’m guessing that if you’re an opposing team catcher you are firmly in the “not a nice guy” camp. Take Gwinnett’s Clint Sammons’ experience in the 9th last night. The Bulls were down 3-4 when Elliot led off the inning with a single to right. Rhyne Hughes struck out. Then Henry Mateo whacked a line drive to deep center. As Neil Solondz told the story, Elliot didn’t even slow down coming around third. Sammon’s did get the ball a moment or so before Elliot ran him down — he just couldn’t hold on. Jubilation in the dugout as the score was tied. Enough jubilation that 5 of the next 6 batters got hits, 4 singles and a double. Johnson, in his second at-bat of the inning, made the last out.

So, six runs in the top of the 9th and enough of a cushion to withstand most anything. No sweep in Gwinnett, a glimpse of the real Durham Bulls at last.

Other game notes:

When Joe Nelson came down from Tampa Bay, I thought it was probably a good deal for the Bulls. Now I’m not so sure. I know it’s a really small sample size, but things are not looking good. He’s appeared in only four games, pitching six innings. On the other hand, he’s had to face 32 batters in those six innings, giving up 6 earned runs on 9 hits and 4 walks with five strikeouts,. Weirdly enough, with last night’s potentially game-losing effort, his ERA actually improved (from 11.25 to 9.00). I appreciate that he’s searching for something, let’s hope he finds it real soon now.

Chris Richard got four RBIs last night, moving him up to a tie with Jon Weber (who got 2) at 59 and three behind Justin Ruggiano (1 more last night) at 62. Jon Weber cracked the .300 barrier and is now hitting .302. With a double and a homer he remains comfortably in the lead in the IL’s doubles and extra base hit categories.

Tomorrow the old Durham Athletic Park re-opens. I don’t think I’ll be able to make it to the ceremony, but it’s a good idea to bring it back into shape. Here’s hoping it prospers.

Really, really pleased to see a good, old-fashioned Durham Bulls rally last night. Keep it up!

Looking At the Changes

(click on chart for larger view)

First, here’s an updated chart on the pitching with additions (Abreu) and deletions (Julio and DeSalvo). Nelson really jumped up, but that is surely for the short term.

The Rays acquired a catcher (Gregg Zaun from the Orioles) and Michel Hernandez has been designated for assignment. That means that if no one claims him he could come to Durham. I sure hope so, because I really like Hernandez and I think our pitchers could use an experienced catcher. By the way, catcher Shawn Riggans is on the 15-day disabled list.

Marc Lancaster of the Tampa Tribune reports that the Rays have claimed a left hand relief pitcher from Milwaukee named R. J. Swindle. Terrific season in Nashville (AAA, Pacific Coast League), but not good (terrible) numbers when he went up to Milwaukee in July (appeared in 3 games, 4 innings, gave up 8 runs). Swindle could be coming to Durham, which would complicate our pitching situation a bit.

Never Say Die

Game 111: Bulls 7, Indians 6
Season: 63-48
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Indy Week

A phenomenal end to what was, up to the last moment, a not-very-interesting game. I’ll be honest and admit that we left when the Bulls were down by five runs in the 6th. We listened to the game on our drive home and while we stopped off at a Goodberry’s not far from the house (ice cream there is way better than at the DBAP). The game was in the bottom of the 9th by the time we’d gotten home and I had let the dogs out and gotten the computer fired up.

Not much later Neil Solondz was going nuts and we had a win!

Great effort on the part of the Bulls, just great. Check out the links for details on how it happened.

This Indianapolis team was good. I find it hard to understand why their record is so poor in what is the IL’s weakest division this year. Must be turmoil and roster changes. They certainly had our starters’ numbers. Davis, Sonnanstine, and Hellickson all took hits to their ERAs while the Indians were here. Speaking of hits, Jeremy Hellickson set a season high for our pitchers of three hit batters last night (seemed to be having a bit of a control problem with his curveball).

Reliever Joe Nelson made his first appearance last night and did a terrific job. He is the 27th different pitcher to wear a Bulls uniform this year. Two were position players, and three were coming by on a rehab assignment, but that is still a lot of pitchers. I’ll have to take a look at previous years to see if that’s normal or not.

Here’s hoping the Bulls enjoy their day off.