In Another Universe Floro Gets Those First 11 Pitches Back

Hak-Ju Lee grabs grounder, touches bag, throws to first base for DP that ends a painful 1st inning. Tim Beckham watches. Bulls v Tides, 7/5/15. DBAP. Photo thanks to Sue Roth

Season: 43-40; Home Stand: 0-2
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

I found Cracker Jack on the way into the park (next-to-last concession on the third base side), got a cold drink, found my seat, and settled in. The Bulls were not doing well at home this year. At 19-18 at home on the season, they were doing a good bit better on the road (24-21). Another oddity for my blog, I thought.

Looking back now we hope that in another one of those universes the cosmologists pontificate about, the first six Norfolk at-bats were different. But not in this universe.

After Dylan Floro’s first two pitches a run had scored and a runner was on second base. Two pitches later the runner on second was driven in and a runner was on first base. Two more singles and a grand slam home run and the score, after six batters and 11 pitches, was 6-0. I hadn’t even opened up my Cracker Jack bag (Note: I preferred the old silver-wrapped boxes, to be honest).

Floro was quoted in the Herald-Sun this morning:

“I changed the game plan a little bit coming into the second inning.” 

I should hope so. He did have a decent additional six innings, giving up just 4 more hits over 6 innings as the Bulls chipped away at the lead. Not enough, obviously.

John Jaso, last seen in the DBAP as a regular in 2009, and on rehab visits in 2010 and 2011, has been off to Seattle and the Oakland A’s. He was back last night on a rehab visit sporting a lot more hair. At DH, 1 for 5.

Kirby Yates is back from Tampa Bay and struck out the side in the 8th.

The Bulls are now 19-19 at home and 1 for 8 in the last 9 home games.

Sigh.

Two Games in Moosic

Game 122, Tuesday, Aug 16, PNC Field, Moosic, PA
Durham Bulls 2, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees 0
Wrap, Box, Scranton Times-Tribune

Game 123, Wednesday, Aug 17, PNC Field
Durham Bulls 3, SWB Yankees 2
Wrap, Box, Scranton Times-Tribune, IL Wild Card
Season: 71-52; Trip: 4-2; Streak: 4-0

It sounded like a good fraction of eastern Pennsylvania came to Moosic to boo Alex Rodriguez the last two nights. I guess I don't understand the hostility he generates within Yankee fandom. But they drove out to the park to watch him play and give him a hard time. He responded by giving balls away to youngsters near the third base line.

In the meantime, the Bulls won two games, making it four in a row and putting them nineteen games above .500. That's the best they've been all year. Gwinnett has split the last two games and is four games back in the South (2.5 in the Wild Card). Toledo has joined Rochester and Norfolk in falling completely out of contention.

The first game saw four batters hit by pitches (two by Yankees pitching, two by Bulls pitching), but none of them scored. No HBPs in the second game.

Matt Torra looks better each game he pitches. The Bulls are inching toward having a starting rotation! Four out of five slots (Torra, Moore, Sonnanstine, and Torres) are doing pretty well. What about the fifth slot? Not much hope there unless Hayhurst comes off the DL or the Rays decide to promote someone from Montgomery.

In the first game, Matt Carson, the new guy we haven't seen on the field in Durham yet, hit a home run and Dan Johnson knocked in John Jaso. Torra, Beunte, and Delaney combined for the Bulls first shutout in a couple of weeks.

Matt Moore had his least effective start as a Bull in the second game, but at least the pitchers quit throwing at each other's batters. And Moore got another 8 K's (in just four innings) while only allowing one run (a homer). His pitch count was way up by the end of the 4th though (84).

How about the Bulls rehabber, John Jaso? While all the attention was on Rodriguez, Jaso seems to be coming along. He DH'd on Tuesday and caught his first complete game on Wednesday. 1-8 at bat with 1 walk and 4 K's, so needs some work. Hope that it doesn't come at the Bull's expense. Don't like seeing Vogt out of the lineup when he's been so hot.

Speaking of being hot, Russ Canzler got one of the RBIs last night. This is, sort of, a hometown crowd for him. And then there's Tim Beckham with another triple and two of the runs scored last night.

I missed the last couple of lead-ins to the game broadcasts. If someone has heard the update on Leslie Anderson, please jump in. He was hit by a pitch in the second game on Monday and limped off the field. Has not played since.

Baseball in the Steam Room

Game 113, August 7, DBAP, Durham, North Carolina
Durham Bulls 6, Lehigh Valley IronPigs 4
Season: 64-49; Home Games Remaining: 13
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Examiner, Wild Card

Matt Moore showed himself to be human last night, allowing two runs in the 7th inning of what turned out to be a 6-4 game. But he also had a bit of bad luck up at the scoring table. Yes, he did start the inning by giving up a double and a single, putting runners on first and third. But Reid Brignac really did botch the grounder hit to him by Lehigh Valley's Josh Barfield — probably getting ahead of himself going for a double play. Instead of what should have been an E6, the grounder was scored as a hit. That meant that the run scoring from third was scored an earned run and on the books against Moore. If an error then the run goes on the books as unearned. The next run that scored (on a wild pitch from Jay Buente) might also have been unearned. And Moore's fabulous numbers would have been even better. Oh well, Moore will just have to live with the awful 1.09 ERA. Nice to see Moore's work so well recognized by Bulls fans as he left in the 7th. Gonna have to work on his hat tip, though.

This series with the IronPigs tested the mettle of the roster that we are likely to see through August and the end of the season. Although the changes are far from over, as you'll see below, we can hope that the pace of change will dampen down some. Russ Canzler rediscovered both his power and plate discipline last night with a single, double, home run, and a walk. Stephen Vogt's home run turned out to be very important. John Matulia's bat is hidden somewhere on the other side of Magnum St. Reid Brignac laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt, but still isn't hitting all that well. Dan Johnson had the day off. My point is that this is the team we'll be watching for the rest of the month and they are playing pretty well, with each having his ups and downs. Given the brutal heat, that has to be expected.

Speaking of the heat, yesterday was just awful. Again, all praise to the conditioning of these young men.

The Bulls gained a game on Gwinnett and are now 2 1/2 games ahead of Gwinnett.

Roster changes. Brian Baker is back from his stay on the Hudson Valley roster. As noted in an earlier post, Cesar Ramos went back to St. Petersburg. The Bulls have no left-handers in the bullpen at all. John Jaso is coming back to the Bulls for what may be an extended rehab assignment. Should be in the lineup by tomorrow. That will help out a lot.

Question of the day: Who is the catcher who's been warming up pitchers while Ashley's been behind the plate and Vogt's been in left field? Not Craig Albernaz, too tall, too much hair. No name on his jersey. Anybody know? Anonymous answers welcome.

Last roster change: Broadcaster Neil Solondz has been called up to St. Petersburg for a few days. He's expected to rejoin the Bulls in Buffalo where he can spend the evening telling Fernando Perez stories.

Update: Oops! Forgot to put up the link to the fabulous Brignac-Johnson play on the 6th. 

Looking at 2010 — 3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

End of the Streak; Navarro?

Game 57: Durham Bulls 2, Syracuse Chiefs 6
Season: 33-24
Wrap, Box

The streak ended last night. Surely I am not the only person to notice that in the last Bulls loss the pitching lineup was Rodriguez, Cromer, and Baker; and last night’s pitching lineup was Rodriguez, Cromer, and Baker. And surely I am not the only one to notice that since Aneury joined the Bulls, and gave us two terrific starts on 20 and 25 April, he has had a tough time. Most troubling is his tendency to give up bases on balls, nearly one per inning the last two games. Unfortunately, Jason Cromer is not yet back in form, so we are going to have to live with this for a while.

Wonder if it is something about the park or the weather, but in the last three games Bulls pitching has given up 20 walks and Syracuse pitching has given up 20 walks.

About to get a new catcher?

Reporters and bloggers paying attention to that team down on the left coast of Florida are very impressed with John Jaso’s performance since his call up. So much so that since Kelley Shoppach got off the disabled list they’ve been speculating about what the Rays might do. One of the possibilities is to send their long time first string catcher, Dioner Navarro, to the Bulls. The last time Navarro saw the minors (not counting rehab) was a few games in 2006 with the Dodgers AAA Pacific Coast League team in Las Vegas. Rays Index’s take is here, and a longer piece is here. Would create problems with our lineup, but might be interesting to see him at work.

Clipping Clippers

Game 36: Durham Bulls 8, Columbus Clippers 1
Wrap, Box, Columbus Dispatch

Game 37: Durham Bulls 7, Columbus Clippers 3
Season: 23-14
Streak: W4
Wrap, Box, Columbus Dispatch

Jeremy Hellickson was back in form Friday: six innings, eleven strikeouts, no walks. Very pretty. And well backed up (well, sort of) by Joe Bateman and Mike Ekstrom. Joe gave up his first home run in 14 appearances (20+ innings). Ekstrom hasn’t walked a batter yet (3 appearances, 4+ innings).

Lots of doubles (Richard, Jennings, Chavez, Shealy) and a couple of home runs (Shealy, Richard) drove the offense. Hellickson’s pitching and a couple of double plays kept Columbus off the board.

Then Heath Phillips stepped to the mound yesterday (Saturday). Heath had his best game of the year, marred only slightly by a 7th inning when he arguably should not have even been in the game. Probably Charlie was saving his bullpen for another day and assuming that the game was in hand (score 7-0 at the time), but a single, wild pitch, single, home run put three runs on the board very quickly. Still a fine day for Heath.

Other interesting features of the game: Ryan Shealy hit a grand slam, the first grand slam for the Bulls this year. Last year it seemed like we hit one every time we got the bases loaded. Chris Richard most memorably hit two in one game. So it was fun to see our first one of the year. Also good to see Shealy have two good days in a row. Shealy really hasn’t had a very productive year so far, but it’s been somewhat hidden by the stellar performances of Dan Johnson, Hank Blalock, Chris Richard, Angel Chavez, and company. Maybe now that he’s out of the shadow of Blalock he can blossom.

Justin Ruggiano was back in the lineup and had a ground out RBI and a walk. We’re going to need his bat pretty soon now.

So we are 2-0 in Columbus, have a 1:05 game today with (probably) Aneury Rodriguez getting a start. As seems to be usual, we can expect at least of couple of transactions while on the road.

Transaction Speculation

Let’s start with what we know: Blalock is gone. An infielder we’ve never seen, but who has been on our roster since opening day, J. J. Furmaniak has been activated and put on the Montgomery Biscuits roster. Seen as a Bull, that is. Furmaniak was with Lehigh Valley last year.

We usually carry 12 position players. So we’ve got room for two. Down in St. Petersburg things are fairly complex and those considerations will, of course, have an impact on us. [St Petersburg Times] So I’ll just put a few names in play here — catcher John Jaso could come back, infielder Sean Rodriguez might get sent down to give him some more playing time, outfielder Matt Joyce will surely at least visit on a rehab tour if not an assignment. Furmaniak’s physical condition could be really good and so maybe just a short visit to Montgomery before coming to the Bulls. Pat Burrell, in an extraordinary act of penance to Rays fans, donates $6,000,000 to earthquake relief and comes to the Bulls to learn how to play team mascot. (“I’ve been a fan of Wool E. Bull all my life. It’s going to be an honor to study with him this season. I’ve heard that he’s on the DL, so maybe I’ll get an even earlier shot at a performance that I expected.”)

Update: A modest correction or two to today's post. It was noted that at the bottom of today's "wrap", Neil provided us with the name of today's starter and it is, indeed, Aneury Rodriguez. Secondly, a slight difficulty with my enumerative skills was noted in that the Bulls usually carry twelve position players (I got that right) and they have 12 position players. Other than that, I guess I got things right...

Safe! Safe! Safe!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Other notes:

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

Running With the Bulls

Game 10: Durham Bulls 7, Norfolk Tides 2
Season: 7-3
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Indy Week

Another terrific game on a wonderful afternoon. I know we’re going to get tired of seeing the Tides, but we did see some good baseball yesterday.

Carlos Hernandez did not look dominating; however, at the end of six innings he had five strikeouts, had only given up one walk and one run — pretty darn good. Elliot Johnson and Justin Ruggiano continued their improvement at the plate, Johnson with a double and a homer, Ruggiano with two singles and a homer.

I know Durham ain’t Pamplona, but we’ve sure got some Bulls running this year. In just ten games the Bulls have stolen 15 bases — Eight of them in the last two games. Hard to tell if Charlie is just being aggressive, if Tampa Bay (who is also running a lot) wants this to happen, or if we are just taking advantage of the talent we have this year. One interesting feature is that the guy you’d expect to be leading the pack, Fernando Perez, has only 4 of them. Of course, you’ve got to get on base first, and Fernando hasn’t been doing too good a job of that, yet. Elliot Johnson has 6, Perez 4, Angel Chavez has 2, and Matt Joyce, Justin Ruggiano, and Rashad Eldridge have 1 each.

Gotta say something about the human bobbleheads at bat. I know that a good batting helmet protects the players and their future, but don’t these new ones look really awful? For what it’s worth, the new helmet isn’t required in the major leagues, just the minors. Guess if your making millions you gotta look really studly. And you sure won’t in one of those hats. Wonder what would happen if a couple of players wanted to wear them? I mean, if you're making millions, wouldn't you want to protect them? To see just how awful they look, check out the photo of Elliot Johnson over at Indy Week.

Who says I don't occasionally come up with a blinding glimpse of the obvious? Another interesting feature of the 2010 Bulls jumped out at me last night. You know the scene where the manager steps up out of the dugout and taps either his left or right forearm to indicate whether he wants a righty or a lefty to come in? Montoyo doesn’t have to bother with that this year. He doesn’t have any choices. He doesn’t have any lefties in the bullpen.

Not only that, there’s only one on the Tampa Bay active roster, and only one on the Biscuits roster. Two lefties are on the disabled list, one for the Rays and one for the Bulls (Howell and Swindle), but you have to think that the Rays front office is in the hunt for left-handed relievers.

Jose Lobaton’s debut was pretty good. I will display my ignorance of the business of baseball and speculate on how he got here. Lobaton was on San Diego’s 40-man last year. When they put him on waivers to move him back to Portland (their AAA team) the Rays grabbed him. But I think when you claim off waivers you have to keep the player on your 40-man. The Rays did that, but sent him to Montgomery, where’s he’s been until last night. How good is he? I guess we’ll find out. The Rays’ system isn’t quite as short of catchers as it is left-handed relievers, but they aren’t in really good shape either.

As I speculated earlier, Tampa Bay newspapers are now reporting that the Rays catcher Kelly Shoppach may be out for a while and Jaso might stay up there longer than expected. He sure had a good start last night with two doubles, a walk, and a RBI.

Note: Video board is back.

Jaso To Rays

Marc Topkin is reporting that John Jaso has been called up to the Rays to fill in for injured Rays catcher Kelly Shopach. [St Petersburg Times] [Thanks, DRR]

Jaso is the only Bulls catcher on the Rays 40-man, so they can't take any more. We are left with just one catcher.

On the other hand, one of our favorite Bulls has not been heard from since spring training, Craig Albernaz. As close watchers of the Bulls will know, Craig is often in the dugout at Bulls games and has been known to appear (and disappear) from the Bulls rosters on a moment’s notice. Of course, since we have not been to any of Bulls games yet, and the Bulls website is notoriously slow in updating the roster, so we have no way to know if Craig is even in the Rays system any more. Hope that he is and that he gets in a few games before Jaso gets back.

And good luck to John while he’s in Baltimore (and Boston, and Chicago).

How They’re Doing — 4

This will probably be the last of these. The Rays have got to be close to roster decisions and they won’t be easy.

Of note is how well Justin Ruggiano is doing and, to my disappointment, how poorly Dan Johnson and Joe Dillon are doing. Matt Joyce is only playing as a DH, working with an injury.


Player / Games / PA / wOBA

Rodriguez, S / 17 / 47 / .569
Ruggiano, J / 17 / 41 / .542
Jaso, J / 6 / 12 / .520
Joyce, M / 8 / 25 / .450
Brignac, R / 19 / 45 / .342
Johnson, D / 15 / 30 / .321
Johnson, E / 19 / 43 / .282
Furmaniak, J / 18 / 26 / .207
Dillon, J / 16 / 21 / .170

Rays - Bulls - Rays - Bulls: Position Players

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. The second looked at the pitchers. This one will look at position players. Note that all stats are for regular season only.

Only seven position players spent time on both the Rays and the Bulls rosters this year: Matt Joyce, Michel Hernandez, Reid Brignac, Joe Dillon, Shawn Riggans, and Chris Richard got into games. John Jaso was up for 4 days, but did not come to bat.

Matt Joyce

• Bulls: 111 games, 417 AB, .273/.373/.482, OF
• Rays: 11 games, 32 AB, .188/.270/.500, OF

Matt started the year with the Rays, but only stuck with them for three appearances in which he got one hit (a home run). He went back up at the end of May and played in 8 games before coming back to the Bulls and finishing out the year. As mentioned elsewhere on this blog (more than once) the Rays are going to have to decide about right field and how they want to play it. Matt seemed to get caught up in their confusion this year.

Michel Hernandez

• Bulls: 13 games, 46 AB, .196/.273/.196, catcher
• Rays: 35 games, 99 AB, .242/.292/.323, catcher

Michel started the season with the Bulls, but he didn’t stay long. He went to the Rays on April 14 and stayed there until early August when the Rays obtained Greg Zaun from Baltimore. What the stats don’t show is his effect on the pitching staff, which appeared to be very positive for the Bulls.

Reid Brignac

• Bulls: 96 games, 415 AB, .282/.327/.417, SS (88), 2B (8)
• Rays: 31 games, 90 AB, .278/.301/.746, SS/2B

Reid spent a good bit of time with the Rays this season, mostly in response to injuries on the Rays squad. He went up in mid-May for almost a month (21 games), made a one day visit in August, and was called up on September 7 to finish out the season. This looks like a win-win for the Bulls and Rays this year. Reid is certainly an improved shortstop from last year, and he did a decent job at the plate. Looks like he did the same with the Rays.

Joe Dillon

• Bulls: 35 games, 123 AB, .244/.340/.333, 1B(17), 2B (4), 3B (13), SS (1)
• Rays: 15 games, 30 AB, .300/.400/.400, 2B/3B [note: only started 1 game]

Joe is a real puzzle when it comes to how the Rays manage their players. He came to the Bulls in early May from the Oakland system, appeared in a couple of games, and went to the Rays on May 26. From then to mid-August he mostly sat on the bench and waited to pinch hit. For the Bulls he was a critical guy in the final days of the season and in the post-season. A very solid, professional ballplayer that certainly made a difference to the Bulls. Hard to tell if he helped the Rays out or not.

Shawn Riggans

• Bulls: 11 games, 40 AB, .200/.238/.325, catcher
• Rays: 7 games, 14 AB, .143/.143/.357, catcher

Shawn came to the Bulls from Montgomery in August, having essentially been in rehab all season and he did a short stint on the DL while with the Bulls. He went up to the Rays with the September call-ups. Really hard to make any judgments on Riggans since he really hasn’t been healthy for a couple of years now.

Chris Richard

• Bulls: 100 games, 365 AB, .263/.364/.521, 1B-DH
• Rays: 13 games, 19 AB, .105/.261/.105, 1B

Chris got called up on September 7 after the Rays’ Carlos Peña was injured. He started 5 games at first, but mostly the Rays used utility man Willy Aybar at first and Chris sat on the bench. He obviously did not hit well when he got the opportunity. Hard to tell what would have happened if he’d had a chance to see a bit more pitching.

How much help were the Bulls to the Rays this year? Not much. From the look of it, only Reid Brignac and Michel Hernandez were of any real value. But there were some dynamics down there on the Bay that had an effect. The emergence of Ben Zobrist made a huge difference. Suddenly they had a guy who could not only play just about any position, but bang out hits on call. Why call up, say, Elliot Johnson, when Zobrist can handle second base for a while? And Willy Aybar, with Zobrist, covered the absence of Iwamura very well.

The sheer stubbornness of Rays management can’t be discounted. Long after several approaches were clearly not effective (Upton as leadoff, platooning RF, Burrell as DH) they stuck with them. However, looking at the Bulls for help in any of those areas (other than RF) didn’t find much help. Justin Ruggiano had, for him, a very difficult year. The Rays clearly don’t think that Jon Weber is a major leaguer, so they won’t use him. There are systemic problems at catcher, third base and first base all down through the Rays system, so there should be no surprise that there’s no “star” in Durham at those positions.

On the other hand, the Bulls did great! Guys that the Rays wouldn’t call up on a bet (and some that they did, such as Chris Richard) sure showed that they know how to play the game. Henry Mateo, Ray Olmedo, Joe Dillon, Jon Weber, Craig Albernaz, Brandon Chaves, and Rashad Eldridge. Then there were a couple on the 40-man that never got a shot this year, Justin Ruggiano and Elliot Johnson who did just fine or us.

I must, reluctantly, admit that we did just fine by the Rays this year.

Score Tied, Bottom of the 9th, Two Outs, Guess What?

Game 143: Durham Bulls 3, Norfolk Tides 2
Season: 83-60
Games Left in Season: 1
Wrap, Box

This game started out pretty much as expected. Just up from Montgomery Paul Phillips got the start and everyone (Bulls included) was swinging at just about everything. The game didn’t really matter to either team and, at first, it was mostly three-up/three-down for both teams.

Phillips was touched up for a couple of hits in the 5th, but left at the end of the inning no runs on the board. Similarly, the Bulls did very little through four innings, then new guy Sean Rodriguez hit a home run to start the 5th. A little flurry in the 7th from Norfolk, two runs; a Ruggiano double drove in Rodriguez in the Bulls side of the 7th. Score now 2-2 and both teams were clearly back into it, caring about who was going to win this one.

Which brings us to a 2009 Durham Bulls ending (We’ve won 19 games in the final at bat this year). Two outs, bottom of the 9th. John Jaso hits a double off Norfolk closer Bob McCrory. Desmond Jennings sent in to run for Jaso.

Ray Olmedo comes to bat and I’m remembering the Ray Olmedo and Ray Sadler games of April and May. I’m guessing so does Ray Olmedo. A single to right brings Jennings around. Ray steps on first base and waits for the team to come out and gang up on him.

I think I heard Neil Solondz say that 83 wins ties the best record in AAA Bulls history.

Last game of the season tomorrow, but then the playoffs start Wednesday. This team just gets better.


World Cup

Team USA 11, Canada 2 (Exhibition)
Wrap, Box, Indy Week Story

As special thanks to Mike Potter for covering these games this week and posting on the Independent Weekly's Sports Blog.

Now That’s Better

(click on chart for larger image)

Game 126: Bulls 10, Knights 2
Season: 70-56
Games Left in Season: 18; Home Games: 8
Wrap, Box, Indy Week

After all my complaining yesterday, seems only fair to try to make a picture out of last night. The purpose of the chart is to show the sharp ups and downs during this series. Remembering that the shorter the blue line the better, pitching was great last night, even better than Tuesday, and so was the hitting (although the OPS includes all the walks given up by Charlotte, and there were a bunch of them, 9 to be precise).

I wasn’t able to get to the game, so watched it on cable. That perhaps made the exceptional length of the game more endurable, but I certainly don’t want to sound like I’m complaining about such a decisive win. Everybody got on base except for Fernando Perez, and he got a RBI and made a brilliant running catch in the 6th. Aki Iwamura got a startling three walks and a single as dh. John Jaso got four RBIs, one on a bases-loaded walk, and three when he hit a bases-loaded double. Like Adam Sobsey over at Indy Week and Neil Solandz on the radio/tv, when I watched Weber’s home run go over the monster, I was thinking another double would be nice. On the other hand, 2 RBIs is a good thing at any time. And a trot around the bases in front of your family is a really good thing. About that bat that went in the direction of the dugout though …

Between them Hellickson, Bateman, and Abreu only faced 33 batters, struck out 17 (!), and gave up only 3 hits and 3 walks. Now that’s some pitching.

Tonight the new guy from Tampa Bay, Jeff Bennett is starting. Not sure what role he’s going to assume with the Bulls, since this is Carlos Henandez’s spot in the rotation and the last two times Montoyo has gone with his “committee” approach. Guess that we’ll see.

Webworld:

• The Rays Party takes a look at the Bulls employing a bunch of those sabermetrics that I don’t quite have a handle on. And, as is usual with Rays blogs, focuses on “prospects” when it comes to individuals.
• The Bulls site has an interesting article on Jeremy Hellickson.

Hot, Hot, Hot

Game 115: Bulls 11, Chiefs 5
Season: 65-50
Wrap, Box

How do you figure a night like this? After one of the worst nights of the season yesterday with only 4 hits, the Bulls have their best hitting night of the year with 18 hits. (Note: On the scoreboard when I left the park, and on my scoresheet, the Bulls had 17 hits. However, the box score shows Weber with 4 hits and the Bulls with 18. So someone must have prevailed upon the official scorer — yet another errant bat, Jon? — to change that 8th inning E-1 to an infield hit, as it should have been scored in the first place.) One home run (Chris Richard), 3 doubles (Mateo, Weber, and Johnson), and 14 singles. Every Bull got on base, except for Albernaz who came on in the 8th for Jaso and only had one at-bat. And no blowout inning, just a steady drumbeat of 1, 2, and 3-run innings. Pretty, pretty, pretty.

Hot it was. I made the mistake of checking the weather about an hour into the game and got one of those “feels like” numbers — over 100.

I can’t honestly say that Andy Sonnanstine looked all that good, although he did get the win. Sure seemed like he was working really hard and he did run up to 96 pitches in six innings. Abreu was Abreu. It sure is great to see him and his nasty slider back. Maybe the big guys can hit it, but these guys sure can’t. Keep it up Winston. Dale Thayer had a bit of trouble when he came on in the 8th giving up a double, two singles, and a run before he settled down. By the way, it looks like he’s growing his famous ’stache back.

Something like 50 years ago the psychologist B. F. Skinner pretty much nailed down where superstitious behavior comes from and put it off to what became known as operant conditioning. That may be. On the other hand, players (and fans) know that if they wear their hats a certain way, do just the right things in the on-deck circle, scratch this and wiggle that, then good things happen. The trick is to make sure that you keep doing the right things. So, whatever it was, just keep it up.

One Up and One Down

Game 100: Bulls 5, Tides 3
Wrap, Box
Game 101: Bulls 4, Tides 8
Season: 56-45
Wrap, Box

This may take a tad longer than usual, so I thought I’d lead off with some interesting stuff not necessarily related to yesterday’s games.

The strengths and weaknesses of the webworld showed up during the afternoon when Reid Brignac didn’t come out for the 3rd inning of the first game. For an example, see Rays Index. Adam Sobsey does a great job of capturing how it played out in the press box over at Triangle Offense. To recapitulate the kerfuffle (always wanted to use that word), since Brignac is the object of a lot of trade rumors his coming out of a game might have meant he’d been traded. Whomever was speaking for the dugout didn’t help matters by putting out two different stories. By then the tweeterdom was alight. But then Brignac did play in second game, the webworld quieted down and all was well, even if Adam still thinks (and he could easily be right) something may be afoot.

And then there’s that awful grass. Adam chased that one down, too. Scott Strickland, the head groundskeeper with whom I occasionally have a chat, and who has been noticeably avoiding our section of the stands these last few days, reportedly had a mix of rye and Bermuda out there. The idea being that when summer comes the rye dies out and the Bermuda takes over. Guess what? This year the Bermuda didn’t take over. That’s what you get for taking a week to lollygag around in Puerto Rico for the World Baseball Classic this spring, Scott. I guess the larger question is, is it fixable? Certainly not until after the Geezer Gala on the 28th. (Is taking a youngster to see Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan the equivalent of my mom and dad dragging me to a Tommy Dorsey concert?)

But the really cool link is the News & Observer’s feature on Jon Weber and the Blue Monster. Who’d a thought that the N&O would even cover a Bulls game, much less write anything interesting? Well, Luke Decock did. Of course, since it’s about Weber I’ve got to highlight it. Too bad that they are so stingy about their photos or I’d have put one of those up too. Lot’s of neat trivia about how to play the wall and its various quirks.

Lastly, thanks to Rays Prospects we’ve got some news on Mitch Talbot. He pitched a couple of innings for the Gulf Coast Rays yesterday and had a good outing: 1 hit, 5 strikeouts, no walks.

Oh yeah. Two baseball games yesterday. I will admit up front that a prior commitment kept me from the first game, although I did catch much of it on the radio. There is life outside baseball, not very interesting, but life.

Have to say that what really got my attention in the first game was Weber’s hits (homer and a double) and Jason Childer’s save. For Childers that made it two games and two saves in a row, and talk about efficient — 4 pitches on Saturday night, 9 pitches on Sunday afternoon. That’s efficient. What I missed, until Neil Solondz pointed it out during the next game, was Rhyne Hughes going 4 for 4 with two doubles.

In the second game we witnessed an interesting (maybe the wrong word, how about ‘painful’) role reversal. Through June I’d been less than impressed with James Houser and somewhat tolerant of Matt DeSalvo. Then Houser went to the bullpen and pitched two long sessions (3⅓ and 5⅓ innings) where he did just fine. His last start on July 18th was superb. He went 7 innings and only allowed one run. Seven days later he was awful, lasting only 3 ⅓ and giving up 7 runs. Matt DeSalvo, who I’d been hoping had missed the bus in Indianapolis after his six crummy starts in a row, came out of the bullpen to pitch 5⅔ innings in relief and his best performance of the year. I’m too lazy to dig out the rule book, but seems to me the scorer is letting Jaso off the hook too much. DeSalvo got charged with four wild pitches.

I of course cannot fail to mention that Jon Weber got two more doubles (that’s 35 on the year), raised his batting average to .293, and another RBI. This time I did notice Rhyne Hughes and he continued his streak going 2 for 4 with a double.

Durham Bulls Come Home

Game 99: Bulls 3, Indians 4
Season: 54-44
Wrap, Box

Well, the Bulls are home. For the first time since July 9th they (and we) will be in the DBAP. It was a long haul, finished off by a 10 inning affair last night when Medlock and Jaso combined to let a runner home after the Bulls outhit the Indians 13-9.

Let’s call it an eleven-game road trip, even though a few of the Bulls came home during the All-Star break. We won 4 and lost 7. Ten of the eleven games were decided by one or two runs (the other we won in Norfolk 9-2). Three went extra innings (16, 13 and 10). Of those we won one and lost two.

The persistent problem on the trip was bringing home runners in scoring position. Adam Sobsey took a look at that yesterday.

Unlike previous trips, not too much turmoil among the players. John Jaso got called up to sit on the bench for a couple of days and come back. Andy Sonnanstine went on the disabled list when we were in Norfolk and came off yesterday for a pretty good outing. Dale Thayer got called up yesterday and pitched a solid inning in the Rays’ loss to the White Sox. Jeremy Hellickson came to the Bulls from Montgomery and will be starting tonight.

Meanwhile, Norfolk has been waiting on us. They’ve lost four in a row and are only a half game ahead of us. Gwinnett isn’t. They’ve won six in a row and are only a half game behind us in the division.

We’ve got five games with Norfolk over the next four days, then it’s off to Scranton, who we haven’t played this year. These are going to be important series. The Bulls need to be on their game.

How Saturday is going to work:

• They are going to be 9 inning games, unlike the usual International League double headers that go 7 innings.
• First game at 1:05. Kids under 12 get a voucher for hot dog, chips & drink.
• Park will be cleared after first game.
• Second game at 7:05.
• So, for season ticket holders we’ll have to find a way to kill a couple of hours between games or (heaven forbid) skip one of the games.
• Guess I’ll have to listen to Neil tonight and see if he puts out any more details. Won’t even try to guess at who’s pitching on Saturday, but it won’t be Sonnanstine or Davis. Assuming Hellickson starts today, it will have been more than five days or more for Houser, Hernandez, and DeSalvo.

Webworld:

Over at Rays Index an outspoken look at yesterday’s perfect game in Chicago.

Update:

Probable rotation

• Today: Hellickson
• Saturday afternoon: Houser
• Saturday night: Hernandez
• Sunday: Cromer
• Monday: Davis

Be Still My Heart

Game 91: Bulls 4, Bats 3
Season: 52-39
Wrap, Box

I missed my workout at the gym yesterday, so my heart hadn’t had its usual workout. Joe Bateman fixed that in the bottom of the 9th last night.

The Durham Bulls had just tacked on an insurance run in the top of the inning and were ahead 4-1. Bateman had come on for Childers in the 8th and set Louisville down 1-2-3 with a strikeout, groundout, and a strikeout. But Thayer wasn’t available since he’d had a long outing in the All-Star game (Adam Sobsey detects something nefarious in Thayer’s non-availability). Bateman’s gone a couple of innings before, so I wasn’t too worried. But that was before a double, a single, another double, and another single brought two runs in and men on first and second. A ground out moved the runners to second and third. An intentional walk filled the bases with one out. (OK, check the old heart. Yep, it’s right up there.) Bateman strikes out the next two batters. Game over. Bulls alone in first place.

Now I can get around to admitting that my guy, Jason Cromer, did not have his stuff last night. He pitched what was probably his worst game of the year and got a win with good defense behind him and good offense scoring runs for him. Guess that’s how baseball goes.

Brignac, Ruggiano, and Jaso were not in the lineup. Brignac apparently got in late from Portland. Ruggiano is still recovering from his bruised hand. Jaso lollygagging where? Kansas City? Tampa? The Rays had a day off.

It was the veterans Chris Richard and Jon Weber who made the offensive difference. Richard got a homer, a single and 2 RBIs (he’s getting his eye back). Weber got three hits (two doubles and a single) and scored a run. Ray Olmedo and (get this) Craig Albernaz got the other two RBIs.

The break gave Montoyo the opportunity to mess with the pitching rotation. Wade Davis is supposed to start tonight (would have been DeSalvo if pre-break rotation kept up). Suspect it will be a couple of days before the rotation settles out.

Odds and Ends:

Over at The Rays Party they have ranked the prospects currently in the Rays system. Current Durham Bulls are: Wade Davis (1), Reid Brignac (4), John Jaso (9), Mitch Talbot (11), Rhyne Hughes (16), Justin Ruggiano (19), Elliot Johnson (23), and James Houser (28).

Also at Rays Party is the beginning of a series explaining pitch f/x. If that is as opaque to you as me, then might be worth taking a look at and maybe we can educate ourselves.

Two Home Runs; Bulls Win

Game 90: Bulls 9, Tides 2
Season: 51-39
Wrap, Box

This post is taking a bit longer to type than usual. I’m having to use just my left hand. It seems I threw something out in my right shoulder patting myself on the back for the perspicacity of my analysis this morning.

It is certainly a minor quibble that today’s two home runs by Elliot Johnson in the 3rd inning and Ray Sadler in the 5th inning did not win the game; that in fact the winning run was scored on a Ray Sadler single in the 6th. And it is also most certainly a quibble that Tides reliever Jake Arrieta had a complete melt-down later in the 6th, coming in with two outs and the bases loaded and walking in two runs and then giving up a two-run single. As for the four double plays, just business as usual for the Durham infield.

The Bulls go into the break tied for first place in the South, not bad considering the last couple of days.

My guess is that John Jaso will be back with us by next Thursday. Assume he was warming up pitchers down in St. Pete. Sure hope he doesn’t take the blame for the Rays bullpen giving up 4 runs and the game down there today.

Justin Ruggiano was sent for X-rays after getting hit by a pitch on his left hand today. Hope it was only a bruise and he will be back by Thursday as well.

Shoulder’s really giving me trouble. Think I’ll just post this and have a celebratory glass of wine.

Jaso to Rays

According to brief notes at Rays Index and the St. Petersburg Times, John Jaso has been called up to Rays. Yesterday Rays catcher Dioner Navarro was injured by a foul ball last night, but it was initially reported that he would not be going on DL. However, the Rays have some room on their roster at the moment, so possibly just for a game or two.

Looks like Craig Albernaz will get a start.

Ruggiano Takes Bulls to 50 Wins

Game 85: Bulls 8, Braves 3
Season: 50-35
Wrap, Box

From time to time we watch the last couple of innings from the top of the Blue Monster. From there you get a great view of the game, but it’s also easy to sort of lose track of things. For example, last night …

Grass is beginning to look a bit parched out here in center field, and not too many fans today. Nice kids out here though. Sure hope I’ll be able to toss them a ball sometime tonight. The Bulls are ahead of us by 5-3, but we can get that back. Particularly if I keep banging the ball off that wall to my left. I’ve got two doubles so far, and I’ve scored two of our three runs. Joyce really nailed me with that throw last inning and even though I hammered him, Jaso didn’t drop the ball. Maybe I can get another hit the next time I’m up and we’ll be back in the game, even with that old man pitching for us since Reyes left. That kid, Rhine Hughes in on first. No problem there. Mateo’s up. Here it comes. Let me just drift off to the left and get under it. Yeah, I’ve got it. Just toss it up to the kids and trot in. Wonder why nobody else is heading for the dugout? How come that kid Hughes is being signaled to take third? Damn! How many outs are there? Just two?

Interesting night at the DBAP, and it’s gonna be fun to razz Reid Gorecki the rest of the time Gwinnett is here.

Sonnanstine pitched a decent game, even if he had a bit of trouble the first two innings, he seemed to have things well in hand through the 7th. Nice long start. Ruggiano, even with his K in the 2nd, seems to have sorted himself out. And he hit his twelfth homer, a 3-run shot in the 5th to push his RBIs up to a team-leading 48.

A very, very pretty throw from Joyce to Jaso in the 5th. Jaso blocked the plate perfectly and Gorecki could only try crashing into him to try to shake the ball loose. Didn’t work.

Blunder by Gorecki in 6th gave us a run. Poor performance by Braves reliever Gunderson in the 8th gave us 2 more. Good night.

Nice to see Charlie Montoyo back and to know that his son came out of surgery OK.

Odds and Ends:

• Winston Abreu had an inauspicious beginning with the Indians last night. Came on in the bottom of the 7th against the White Sox. Walk, homer, strike out, single, homer, pulled from the game; that’s 1/3 inning, 3 hits, four earned runs, 1 walk. His ERA ballooned up to 11.25. On the other hand, he hadn’t pitched since June 23rd.