Beautiful Moment

Game 109: Bulls 4, Indians 5
Season: 62-47
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Indy Week

My guess is that anyone who goes to 60 or so games a year has their own reasons for doing it and that they are different. One of the reasons I go happened last night. Top of the 7th inning. The Bulls had just squandered an opportunity to catch up with the Indians in the bottom of the 6th. Jorge Julio was on in relief and had struck out the first batter. Indian’s right fielder Brian Myrow hit a line drive towards the wall in left and Jon Weber made an absolutely beautiful play. He took off running to his right, timed a leap that put him out parallel to the ground with his glove stretched out, and caught the ball maybe a foot above the field. He kept the ball in his glove as he hit the ground, bounced up, and threw the ball in to the cheers of the crowd. Pretty, pretty play.

A moment like that doesn’t happen in every game. And when they do it isn’t always a Bull that makes the play. But those moments are right at the heart of why I go out there so often.

Winning is nice, too. Didn’t happen last night. Wade Davis has given up 12 homers in 22 games this year — 3 of them last night. I wonder if he has become so concerned about his very high walk rate (52 in 126 innings so far) that he risked a exceptionally hittable pitch to avoid another walk? For whatever the reason, Davis gave up 5 runs on only 7 hits. He kept his walks down to one, plus a hit batsman. Unfortunately, both of those runners were on base when he gave up another homer. So, if a home run can be counted as a mistake, all the runs were mistakes.

The Bulls missed a couple of opportunities to tie or go ahead in the game, most notably in the bottom of the 7th. (Note: the Indian’s reliever in the 7th was Mike Koplove, without a doubt the twitchiest pitcher I’ve seen all year. He was a bundle of fidgets, scratches, wiping his hand on the mound, fiddling with the rosin bag, etc.) With the score 3-5, John Jaso walked, Henry Mateo hit a triple to deep center field, scoring Jaso. So we were one run down with Mateo on third, no outs, top of the order coming up. But Jennings, Brignac and Weber grounded out. Mateo was the Bull’s last base runner of the game.

Usually when a pitcher, or any player, is hurt a certain ritual is followed. The player stands around (or lays on the ground) grimacing, shaking the hurt appendage, etc. Someone waves out the trainer. The manager strolls out to look over the shoulder of the trainer. The manager and trainer appear to confer, the manager speaks with the player and then to the umpire. The player heroically acts as if he wants to stay in the game, but gets sent to the bench to the clapping of the crowd. If a pitcher, the manager decides who he wants to take the spot and the fans settle back for a long wait, since in these situations the pitcher gets as much time as he needs to warm up.

Jorge Julio changed the script in the 8th. He was hit on a comebacker (not sure where), but made the play to first. Then he just walked off the field, vaguely waving his hand towards Montoyo as he went into the dugout.

Montoyo, quoted in the Herald-Sun, went out to the mound and met the umpire there:

“I told the umpire and laughed, ‘I don't know, I think he’s out.’ ”

Joe Bateman, who’d been warming up, came in and did a fine job. In fact, all of the Bulls relievers did a fine job last night. We just couldn’t get those last two runs we needed.

But that’s OK. It was a good night and if we didn’t win, we got to see some good baseball and one brilliant, beautiful moment. That’s enough to go back again … and again.

The Importance of Pitching

Game 105: Bulls 6, Yankees 2
Box
Game 106: Bulls 2, Yankees 8
Season: 60-46
Wrap, Box

First, let me apologize for getting it wrong in my post yesterday. For some reason I thought the double header would be like the one we had here last Saturday. It wasn’t. Instead they just started at one o’clock, played 7 innings, took a break, and played another 7 innings.

We all know how important pitching is, but if ever we needed it pushed into our faces it was today. In two 7-inning games that were over in a total of 4 hours, Bulls pitching was dominant (the first game) and got hammered (the second game).

Let’s start with Jeremy Hellickson. He got in trouble in the 1st inning giving up a hit and a walk early. But with men on second and third he closed it out with a strikeout. He gave up another walk in the 3rd, a single in the 4th, and a single in the 6th. That was it. In the meantime, Ray Olmedo (!) had an RBI single early and hit his sixth home run in the 7th for what was certainly the surprise of the game. Reid Brignac had a timely double in the 3rd that got the scoring going. Two more runs in the 4th. And Olmedo’s homer in the 7th. Dale Thayer closed it out for his first appearance since coming back. No surprise that he had some trouble, just like the last time he came back. He gave up a rare home run, but got things under control. Hellickson’s had two very solid games for us. He actually is performing better than when David Price first showed up here in mid-August last year.

On the other hand ... The last time we saw Matt DeSalvo was when he came on in relief of James Houser on July 26th. He pitched a very solid 5+ innings and only gave up one run. Today he started and gave up 5 runs in 3 innings, 4 runs in the 1st, 1 in the 2nd. James Houser and John Meloan blanked them in the 4th and 5th, but Jorge Julio gave up 3 runs in the 6th. Ugly, ugly, ugly. Pretty clear that DeSalvo is not a reliable starter. Jorge Julio’s numbers are even worse.

Our guys never got on track at bat in the second game, although I should note that Craig Albernaz went 2 for 3. If only he could get a few more at-bats he might get up above .200.

All-Star Break — Pitching

(click on chart for larger image)

For AAA the All-Star break comes at a point well past mid-season. We’re at 90 games, 18 past the 72 games that mark the first half of the season for us. And we only have 27 home games left before the playoffs begin.

Although we looked at these numbers recently, thought they might be worth another look before things start up again.

What jumps out at me in the pitching chart is the lack of depth. Of the five, only three have seen very many starts as Bulls (Davis 18, Hernandez 17, and Cromer 9). Of course, Sonnanstine had a bunch of starts with the Rays and if his mononucleosis is under control he will be a huge asset the rest of the season. I have no idea of Mitch Talbot’s status. He had 10 starts before he went on the disabled list and were he to come back, we could certainly expect a lot from him. So, that leaves only Matt DeSalvo as a weak starting pitcher.

Childers, DePaula, Bateman, and Thayer are obviously the core of our relievers and they are all doing credible jobs. It’s hard to tell how James Houser might work out as a reliever, but not bad so far. Similarly, Medlock’s status is uncertain. There’s something going on with him that appears to have nothing to do with Bulls as a team, but with roster juggling. Certainly his numbers are just fine and we’d be better off with him available in the bullpen all the time. We’ve only seen 3 innings from Meloan, so he’s impossible to judge. Julio is unimpressive.

So what do we have to worry about? Well, that’s pretty simple, the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Rays 40-man roster has five of our pitchers on it: Talbot, Davis, Sonnanstine, Houser, and Thayer. The Rays also have three pitchers on their disabled list, all relievers, but only one that appears to be coming off any time soon (Brian Shouse). For the Bulls that should mean that, except for Dale Thayer, our current crop of relievers should be safe from call up. Among our starters, my guess is that it would be a coin toss between Sonnanstine and Davis.

Are any of our pitchers trade bait? Hard to tell. The Rays’ problem at the moment appears to be the bullpen. Would they trade a promising starter for a proven reliever? Maybe, but this is the team that has already traded two proven pitchers off this year (Jackson and Hammel), so while it could surely happen, doesn’t seem likely. If they needed a position player, then maybe. But other than the catcher position, the Rays don’t seem to have any glaring weaknesses among their position players (and they’ve always got Joe Dillon). So, could they do something? Yes. Will they? What do you think?

I don’t have a good sense of who’s pitching in Montgomery this year, especially among the starters. So no idea who the Rays might want to have some AAA time. But that could add some interesting variables to the mix.

Davis, Relievers Shut Down Knights

Game 83: Bulls 5: Knights 1
Season: 48-35
Wrap, Box

Good to see Elliot Johnson back in the lineup. It’s been a very long time, May 5th, since he’s been in a Durham Bulls uniform. He went 1 for 4 last night and made a couple of good plays. Creates a puzzle for management given the quality year that Henry Mateo’s having, but we should all have such problems.

Those who were at last Friday’s game will, I’m sure, be happy to learn that Charlotte pitcher Jack Egbert (who was hit in the pitching arm by a Henry Mateo line drive) may miss a rotation, but will be back pitching soon. [Thanks, N]

About the game: Four runs in the top of the 4th, a solo homer by Ruggiano (his 11th) and a three run shot by Ray Sadler (also his 11th) was enough. In the 9th Jon Weber hit his league-leading 27th double to score Ray Olmedo for an insurance run. Weber also tossed two more bats into the stands.

It was a difficult outing for Wade Davis, but his 5th inning really stood out. It took a ton of pitches, but over the radio it sounded like he was showing a lot of character. The first batter, Miguel Negron, held on through 8 pitches to draw a walk on a 3-2 count. During Eider Torres’ 9-pitch at-bat Negron stole second, but Torres struck out, also on a 3-2 count. Carlos Quentin, the rehabbing White Sox star and batting .800 on his rehab stint was walked on 4 pitches. Have to think that with first base open, the walk was semi-intentional with a man on second and one out. When Josh Kroeger came to bat, Jason Childers started warming up. Davis was at 91 pitches at the time. Kroeger hit a fly ball to Jon Weber in left. Daryle Ward hit a fly ball to Ruggiano in center. So Davis, at 96 pitches, got out of it leaving a 4-run lead to the relievers.

Then came the relievers: Childers, Julio, and Bateman. Not a single Knight got on base, not one! Childers: six up, six down — ground out, strike out, pop up, strike out, line out, ground out. Julio (OK, I am going to have to break with my own tradition and say something nice about Jorge Julio): three up, three down — strike out, strike out, ground out. Bateman: three up, three down — strike out, ground out, pop up. Just terrific pitching.

An aside: If you are listening to the games over the web, you can choose to listen to the broadcaster for the Bulls’ opponents. On the last road trip and again last night I did that for a couple of innings, thinking it might be fun to get someone else’s take on the Bulls. What I learned was how fortunate we are to have a broadcaster of Neil Solondz’s caliber calling games for us. He provides an excellent sense of the park and of our opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. His pitch by pitch, play by play calling of the game is simply superb. You really have a sense of what’s going on — how each pitcher and player has been doing recently, what’s currently in front of him, and how well he does his job. And the incredible ability to keep on calling a game like that 11-2 mess a couple of nights ago. A game like that and he’s got to know that folks are switching off their radios and computers all over the Triangle. It’s an every day grind for Neil and his “crew” as well. He’s doing a terrific job. Check out some of the other broadcasters, you’ll see what I mean. He’s the best of the bunch that I’ve heard so far.

Hair!

Game 80: Bulls 8, Knights 6
Season: 46-34
Wrap, Box

Really, really nice to see the Bulls back in town, even if it’s only for a couple of days. Six in a row!

We got our first look at Andy Sonnanstine in a Durham Bulls uniform. The first time in a couple of years. He did a decent job over six innings — 2 runs on 7 hits, 3 walks, and 3 strike outs. Jorge Julio came on in the seventh …

Rant Alert!

The Rays/Bulls dumped Dewon Day today. Someone had to go once Sonnanstine came on the roster. I understand that. But why Day and not Julio? Day isn’t exactly a standout. In 22 appearances he pitched 18 ⅓ innings, had a 3-1 record and an ERA of 3.95 and Opponents On Base Percentage (OBA) of .386. But Julio, who came to us from Milwaukee in early June over 9 appearances (9 ⅔ innings) has an ERA of 9.31 and OBA of .404. Makes no sense to me. In fact, the only thing that makes any sense at all is that there’s something in the fine print of their contracts that made it easier to dump Day than Julio.

... and gave up three runs on a double, a walk, and a homer. Medlock (he’s looking pretty good since he joined us) and Thayer finished it up, although Dale did give up a rare home run to make it exciting.

But the hitting, that was really pretty. Home runs by Joyce, Weber, and Richard. Doubles by Joyce, Weber, and Richard. RBIs by those three plus Ruggiano. And extraordinary plate discipline by Henry Mateo resulting in 2 hits, a walk, and 2 runs scored.

Now to the really important stuff.

• Hirsuteness changes: Jon Weber has sprouted some hair around his head. Looks good, Jon. Dale Thayer shaved his ‘stach and sideburns. Since both had good nights, maybe a good thing.
• Jon Weber launched his fourth bat in my direction tonight. This is the Tar Heel State, Jon. Gotta be some pine tar around here somewhere — assuming that’s still legal. I’ve still got more hair than you, Jon, but you’re catching up.

The Bulls have updated their roster, but Joe Bateman’s still not on it.

Over at The Rays Party he’s got some interesting stuff on soon-to-arrive John Meloan, including pitch f/x charts. (What are pitch f/x charts, you ask? Got me.)

Rant Alert!

The Rays certainly did a number on Winston Abreu. It probably won’t cost them too much since the Rays can’t beat the Indians in the best of times. But it’s gonna be even more embarrassing if Abreu beats them sometime later this year. Especially with the experience they’ve had with Isringhausen and Percival.

By my count, two more pitchers are gonna have to go soon. One when Meloan shows up, another when Mitch Talbot comes off the DL. Maybe, Julio will go. If this year’s numbers mattered Houser would be next, but I’m guessing DePaula is not long for the Bulls. Notice Houser strolling down toward the bullpen tonight. Assume he’s out of the rotation. Are they going to try him as a reliever?

Now That’s a Lot of Ball

Game 77: Bulls 8, Clippers 7 (13 innings)
Season: 43-34
Wrap, Box, Indy Week Story

I’ve always thought that relievers had the easiest job in baseball, if a bit boring. How hard could it be to show up every day, maybe play a little catch, and hang out with the guys chewing sunflower seeds out in the bullpen? Probably not a good thing to be sitting in the bullpen with your iPod plugged in and your head bobbing, or working out your thumbs on Twitter, but otherwise, not a bad job. Every 3 or 4 days you warm up, take a look at the situation (or get told about it by your catcher), and stroll/trot out to the mound and do your thing.

On the road sometimes it’s even easier, since the home team doesn’t even come to bat in the 9th when they’re ahead.

Until you trek up to Ohio and in the first six games three of them go into extra innings (13, 15, and 13). Then you have to go to work.

In the last six games:

• Jason Childers: 3 appearances, 18 batters faced, 5 innings
• Julio DePaula: 3 appearances, 24 batters faced, 6 innings, 1 win, 1 save
• Dale Thayer: 3 appearances, 21 batters faced, 5 innings, 1 save, 2 blown saves
• Joe Bateman: 3 appearances, 28 batters faced, 7 innings, 1 win
• Calvin Medlock: 2 appearances, 14 batters faced, 4 innings
• Jorge Julio: 3 appearances, 21 batters faced, 5 ⅔ innings
• Chad Bradford: 2 appearances, 11 batters faced, 3 ⅓ innings, 1 win
• Dewon Day: 3 appearances, 18 batters faced, 3 innings, 1 loss
  

Some very complicated math reveals that the starters pitched 28 innings over the last six games and the relievers pitched 39. Which leads me to a picture of what might be going on in the locker room or out on the field prior to today’s game. Something like this.

Relievers to Starters: “Look guys, we’re getting tired and way, way behind on our tweets. Do you think you could last, oh say, 6+ innings or so?”

Starters to Relievers: “We’re doing our job. If you can’t hold them in check it ain’t our problem (OK, maybe Matt DeSalvo isn’t part of that conversation — in two games he’s only lasted a total of 6 ⅔ innings).”

Position players (especially the catchers) to all of them: “Just stop the bleeding guys. Justin can’t save the game every day. How about a full 9 innings of baseball and we go back to the hotel with another win?”

Odds and Ends

• The Bulls are in first place in the South!
• Dan Johnson is playing for the Yokahama BayStars
• Joel Guzman is playing for the Nationals’ AA team in Harrisburg, PA
• Andy Sonnanstine is set to open the Bulls home stand on Thursday.

If You Thought the Last Game Was Ugly …

Game 65: Bulls 8, Iron Pigs 16
Season: 38-27
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun Story, Indy Week Story

It’s the morning after and I’m trying to find something good to say about last night’s game. I was trying to do the same thing last night. Gave up. Went to bed.

I scribbled the headline above on the edge of my scorecard sometime in the 3rd inning. Along with a note, “Why is this guy (Houser) pitching for the Bulls?” But then in the bottom of the 6th I started trying to craft an alliterative headline with words like “comeback” and “cardiac”, especially when my man Jon Weber came to the plate with a couple of runners on base and four runs already scored. Didn’t happen. But we did get out of the inning with a bunch of runs and the game was within reach, only (only!) 7-9 at that point.

But the Pigs get 5 runs in the top of the 8th. Do you really want to know how that happened? Really? Darn, it’s only eight o’clock. Too early for a shot of Jack. OK. Here it is. Bateman’s on the mound. First batter (Furmaniak, what kind of name is that?) grounds out. Second batter (Spitale) infield single. He steals second base, but it doesn’t matter since Bateman walks the third batter, Ellison. Fourth batter pops up. Two outs, we’re OK. Bateman walks the fifth batter. Bases loaded. Note: not a ball hit out of the infield. Jorge Julio (see note about Houser above) comes in for Bateman and plunks his first batter. Run scores. 7-10. Newhan comes to bat and hits a grand slam. 7-14. Go back to my original headline.

Is there anything good to come out of this? Well, yes there is. First of all Justin Ruggiano showed some signs of life at the plate. Only one strikeout and a couple of hits. Maybe, just maybe. Henry Mateo is on a real tear at bat. Ray Sadler crushed one in the 2nd inning over the Bull. Rhyne Hughes had a single, double, and homer. So even if he doesn’t stay with us when Chris Richard comes back, he shows real promise. Pretty good glove at first base, too. So the hitting side of the equation, which has not been good lately, looks better.

On the other hand, things are grim on the pitching side and not just for us. The vaunted depth of the Rays system turns out to be not deep enough. From Tampa Bay to Durham to Montgomery the disabled lists have at least eight pitchers on them (my count could be off one or two).

Oh well, Reid Brignac is back. We might get to see another rehabbing right-handed Rays reliever, Chad Bradford, tonight. He’s at least fun to watch. Lord knows I sure wouldn’t want to be a batter facing what amounts to a fast-pitch soft baller throwing a hardball at me. Speaking of softball. Alex Jamieson got an inning in relief last night. Reminded me of my slow pitch days. Not quite enough arc on the ball, though.

Webworld

• Some interesting quotes in Indy Week story
• An Iron Pigs blogger thinks the umps got fooled and thought they were calling a football game last night.
• RaysIndex takes a look at the Pythagorean puzzle and coins the term, "clutchiness."

Ugly Night

Game 64: Bulls 5, Iron Pigs 8
Season: 38-26
Box, Indy Week Story, Herald-Sun Story

Just a hint of how the night was going to go when I saw Julio DePaula go out to the mound. I didn’t have my radio earpiece in yet. So I leaned over and asked John what was going on. He told me that Hernandez had some sort of back problem and that Montoyo was going with a “starter by committee” approach. Hence, reliever DePaula on the mound. A broken-bat ground rule double (into the the visitors bullpen bench area), passed ball, walk, but fortunately a K to get out of the inning. No score, but things really weren’t looking all that good. The next inning started with a double, another double (one run in), another double (another run scores), a throwing error by DePaula to 2nd base (runner to 3rd), grounder to short (another run). Two of the doubles land in almost exactly the same place in front of and two the left of Matt Joyce in right field.

It doesn’t get better. John Jaso had a horrible night. Two passed balls and three wild pitches. What’s the difference? Hard to tell, sometimes I think the scorer just flips a coin.

Fourth inning. New guy Jorge Julio on the mound. Walk, stolen base (Jaso couldn’t seem to get the ball out of his glove), wild pitch, wild pitch (runner scores), walk, single, double play.

Fellow sitting next to me reminisces about Chris Richard’s two grand slam game. But I give up and watch the top of the 7th from the top of the Blue Monster. Driving home I get a huge twinge when the Bulls score three in the bottom of the 7th. Think about turning around and going back to the ball park, but the rally dies.

Odds and Ends

• Noticed that we had the same umpiring crew for the entire eight-game road trip (different crew tonight). Is that the way it’s supposed to work? Do pitchers and catchers start adapting their game to the umpire?
• Mike Potter, former Herald Sun sportswriter, is now blogging for The Independent Weekly and covering the Mudcats. Most recent story here. Interesting to see what happens when a pro gets let off the word count leash. Among other things, colorful adjectives go way up.
• Remember, vote early, vote often for International League All-Star. Guess that since Reid Brignac is back (today, maybe), makes sense to push for him in the shortstop slot.
• Speaking of Reid Brignac, some comments about him at DRaysbay.
• For Durham folks who haven’t found it, I can recommend Bull City Rising, a great city blog, with a good list of blogs covering local concerns/activities (we’re on it, thanks).