Bulls Below the Border

For some guys baseball is a year-round profession. After a few weeks off at the end of the season they are off to the Winter Leagues. I’ve scrolled through the rosters and found some current and former Bulls who are playing ball as we speak, including a couple we haven’t seen in a long, long time. If I've missed someone important to you, let me know.

Robbie Knopf over at Rays Colored Glasses is tracking and writing about the Winter Leagues in more detail. Worth keeping an eye on that blog.

• Pitcher Winston Abreu, a WDBB favorite from several years ago (2009 and 2010), has had a couple of innings with the Toros de Este of the Dominican Winter League. 
• Catcher Mayo Acosta is also playing for the Toros del Este in the Dominican Winter League. Not doing all that well in 10 games so far. 2014 Bulls season profiled here.
• Infielder Wilson Betemit is playing for the Giganantes de Cibao, also in the Dominican Winter League. Doing OK over 16 games. 2014 Bulls profile here. Think, but don't know for sure, that he's now a free agent.
• Pitcher Merrill Kelly has been in a starting role for the Leones del Escogidos in the Dominican Winter League. Not doing all that well, yet. A key player in the 2014 Bulls crew.
• Pitcher Josh Lueke is pitching in relief for the Toros de Este of the Dominican Winter League. 2014 Bulls stats here. Lueke also a free agent now.
• Infielder Ray Olmedo is playing for the Aguilas del Zulia in the Venezuela Winter League.
• Reliever Jim Patterson, who had just 10 innings with the Bulls in 2014, is pitching for the Gigantes de Carolina in Puerto Rico’s Roberto Clemente League.
• Pitcher Enny Romero, not a favorite of WDBB last year, is pitching in relief for the Leones de Escogido of the Dominican Winter League.
• Catcher Roman Ali Solis is with the Tomoteros de Culiacan in Mexico’s Pacific League and playing a lot of baseball. 
• Pitcher Jake Thompson has started three games for the Tiburones de la Guaira in the Venezuelan Winter League. A help last year.
• Outfielder Jon Weber, another WDBB favorite from history (2007-2009), has 6 doubles, a triple, and 6 home runs for the Mayos de Naojoa of the Mexican Pacific League. Nice to see Jon still in baseball. 

The Durham Bulls in 2014 — The Pitchers — Part 1

Twenty-six different players pitched for the Bulls this year, but when it comes to looking back I left off four of them: Erik Bedard pitched in just one game; Mayo Acosta, a catcher, pitched in 2 lost causes; infielder Robby Price in one lost cause; and reliever Bryce Stowell came up from Montgomery for two innings in the last game of the season.

This table is sorted by innings pitched, and that’s the sequence in which we’ll discuss this year’s pitchers. However, in Part 2 we’ll have tables sorted by ERA and WHIP. Players on the Rays 40-man roster are marked with an asterisk (*). Data are from BaseballReference.com, FanGraphs, and WDBB spreadsheets.

Durham Bulls Pitchers in 2014 Sorted by Innings Pitched

Name	Age	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	WHIP
Matt Andriese	24	11	8	3.77	28	25	0	162.1	1.24
Nathan Karns*	26	9	9	5.08	27	27	0	145.1	1.40
Mike Montgomery*	24	10	5	4.29	25	25	0	126.0	1.31
Enny Romero*	23	5	11	4.50	25	25	0	126.0	1.43
Merrill Kelly	25	9	4	2.76	28	15	0	114.0	1.26
Alex Colome*	25	7	6	3.77	15	15	0	86.0	1.33
Doug Mathis	31	2	3	3.63	26	3	0	67.0	1.64
Adam Liberatore	27	6	1	1.66	54	0	4	65.0	0.89
C.J. Riefenhauser*	24	3	3	1.40	39	0	1	57.2	1.14
Steve Geltz*	26	3	3	2.38	29	0	1	41.2	1.06
Josh Lueke	29	0	1	3.38	32	0	12	37.1	1.10
Brandon Gomes*	29	0	2	3.62	27	0	0	37.1	1.29
Jeff Beliveau*	27	0	0	1.50	30	0	11	36.0	0.92
Jake Thompson	24	4	1	3.15	24	1	0	34.1	1.54
Juan Sandoval	33	0	1	3.12	14	1	1	26.0	1.35
Kirby Yates*	27	1	0	0.36	21	0	16	25.0	0.76
Jeremy Hellickson*	27	1	4	7.23	5	5	0	18.2	2.30
Cory Burns*	26	2	2	2.77	7	0	1	13.0	1.54
Braulio Lara	25	0	3	9.00	9	0	0	11.0	1.73
Jimmy Patterson	25	1	1	2.70	5	1	0	10.0	1.30
Brad Boxberger*	26	1	0	1.93	6	0	2	9.1	0.86
Juan Carlos Oviedo*	32	0	0	3.86	7	0	0	7.0	0.86

Matt Adriese (Right Handed Starting Pitcher) (162.1 innings, 28 games) was the best of a not particularly distinguished starting crew this year. Before the season started I was tipped that he might be the best arm of the bunch, and that’s the way it turned out for 2014. He had the most wins and the best ERA of the regular starters of 3.77; however, that ERA ranked 15th among all the pitchers. His WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched) of 1.24 was a respectable 9th. He also led the team in home runs (18) and hit batsmen (8). The only regular starter not on the Rays 40-man, there’s a good chance he’ll be back. He induces a lot of ground balls which makes his games fun to watch. He also got two of the four postseason wins. Stats.

Nathan Karns* (RHSP)(145.1 innings, 27 games) did not have a good year as a Bull. He was one of those players for whom what the fans see is not what the big club sees. We fans saw an awful ERA of 5.08, a WHIP of 1.40, and a string of losses at the end of the season. But we have to note that he had 153 Ks, an amazing number, and he tied for the most Ks in the entire International League. (I have to point out that he also led team in walks at 62.) The Rays called him up in September where he got two starts, one very good and one not-so-good. Likely to be back next year for more development. Stats.

Mike Montgomery* (LHSP) (126 innings, 25 games) was to be this year's ace and he came out of the gate with 8 wins and no losses in his first 15 games, including 8.1 no-hit innings on 26 April. But there was a long stretch between his 8th win on 25 May and his 9th win on 10 July and his next 7 starts were either losses or no-decisions. He did finish out on an up note with an end-of-season win on 28 August, but he was the back of the rotation for the post-season, getting in 6 pretty good innings in the 4th game, 13 inning loss. If it can be figured out what happened to him in the second half of the season then maybe next year will be his breakout. Stats.

Enny Romero* (RHSP) (126 innings, 25 games) is another statistical mess that leaves you puzzled, but for him there’s an answer — not an answer that Bulls fans would appreciate, but an answer nevertheless. He’s a left-handed reliever in training. The 23 year-old only managed 5 wins in 25 starts, carried a poor ERA and a WHIP of 1.43. So why is he around? Because he routinely hits 95+ with his fastball and he’s left-handed. My guess is that the Rays will keep on stretching him out until they think he’s ready to come up as a reliever. And we have to admit that he’s fun to watch. Sure would not want to be his catcher, though. Stats.

Merrill Kelly (RHSP/RP) (114 innings, 28 appearances) was Charlie Montoyo’s go-to guy for long relief and a starter when needed. He had 15 starts, 13 relief appearances, and uncounted calls to warm up. He has the only decent ERA among the starting crew of 2.76, has a good WHIP of 1.26, and is an all-around solid performer. No reason for him not to be back next year and keeping on working towards his shot at the majors. Stats.

Alex Colome* (RHSP) (86 innings, 15 games) joined after the beginning of the season because of a 50-game drug suspension. He won three out of his first four games before putting himself into a statistical hole he had trouble getting out of before the end of the season. That was from a game in late June where he gave up 9 runs before getting the first 4 outs. Here’s the real oddity: after that game he got called up for a spot appearance with the Rays (5.2 innings and he got the win). He was erratic throughout the rest of the season, which leads us to think that he was being coached to work on specific aspects of his game. Decent overall numbers. September call-up. Stats.

Doug Mathis (RHRP) (67 innings, 26 appearances) arrived in mid-April and ended up being one of the players who got shuffled on and off the roster all year, much like Robby Price and Mayo Acosta among the position players. I count ten separate transactions, so about 5 times back and forth. One of those pairs was to/from the disabled list, but that’s hard to judge the veracity of that move. I was surprised to see how many innings he put in. He was needed for those 26 appearances. Yes, he had a poor WHIP of 1.64, but an OK ERA of 3.63. He was called on for three spot starts. He was the kind of guy that the Bulls have to have to survive the season, but I’m guessing he won’t be back. Stats.

Adam Liberatore (LHRP) (65 innings, 54 appearances) had a brilliant season. Unquestionably the star of the relief crew as he picked up 6 wins in relief, had a stunning ERA of 1.66, a vanishingly small WHIP of 0.89, and earned a bunch of kudos at the end of the season. He’s never had a shot at the majors and at 27 he’s running out of time. But he’s also banging on the door. Stats.

Game 2 to the Durham Bulls; Greatest Game of the Year?

Wrap, Box, Providence Journal, International League (video)

This should go down as one of the great games in Bulls history, certainly one of the greatest this season.

It started off, however, even worse than Tuesday’s loss when Alex Colome began the 1st inning by giving up a single and two walks to load the bases. Only one run scored, though. But then the leadoff batter in the 2nd inning hit a triple and that was followed by a home run. Colome did get a K, but then walked the next batter. That would be 3 hits (single, triple, and homer), 3 walks, 3 runs, on 54 pitches in 1⅓ innings. Jake Thompson came on and got the Bulls out of the inning stranding two runners.

That was the Bulls pitching story for the rest of the night. Durham relievers Thompson, Merrill Kelly, C.J. Riefenhauser, Josh Lueke, and Adam Liberatore dominated the Red Sox. They did let a few on base, but some heads up baseball kept any more runs from scoring.

Nevertheless, into the 9th inning the game was creepily similar to Tuesday. The Pawsox were still up by a run and Bulls were rarely even getting on base after Justin Christian singled in the 3rd and was brought home by Mikie Mahtook’s home run. In fact, until the 9th, Mahtook had the only RBIs of the Governors’ Cup series.

The fun (for Bulls fans) began in the 9th with Vince Belnome’s home run to tie the game. What a thrill to see him come through after all his struggles this year.

Both managers went into playoff mode. Wilson Betemit came in as a pinch-hitter, Pawtucket switched out pitchers, etc. But in the bottom of the 9th Josh Lueke, who’d come on in the 8th, managed to keep things under control. Lueke stayed on until after the first out of the 10th when Adam Liberatore came on.

So there we were in the 11th. Essentially out of pitchers (more about that later) and only six hits in the entire previous 10 innings. Vince Belnome drew a walk. Ali Solis gets on base on a catcher interference call (good call, you could see the dust come off the catcher’s mitt on TV). And Mike Fontenot singled Belnome home.

Adam Liberatore, who’s most difficult game this year only went 33 pitches, dug in and threw 44 in this outing to close things out and earn, really earn, the win.

But that’s the 2014 Bulls. Solid relief pitching, solid defense, and occasional clutch hits.

Outside the game —

• About that 11th inning. The last man standing in the bullpen was Cory Burns, who’d pitched 2 innings on Tuesday. What about some of the other pitchers (e.g., Bryce Stowell or Andrew Bellatti) whom we saw around last week? Well, in their wisdom the Rays are bringing up Nathan Karns, but have not put him on their roster yet, so the Bulls could only use 24 of the 25 players allowed on their roster. Why would the Rays do that when they’ve got 40 spots available? No excuse, it seems to me. It’s cold comfort that the Boston Red Sox are treating their AAA team even worse. Take a look at the comments buried in the Providence Journal link above. 
• Numbers: Believe it or not, the attendance numbers up in Providence at 3,600 for Tuesday and 4,100 for Wednesday (the last home game of the season for the Pawsox) are pretty good. Unlike the majors, minor league playoff baseball just doesn’t give the marketers enough time to sell the games. 
• I’m worried about the weather. Tonight looks marginal. Tomorrow and the rest of the week looks very tricky. I have no idea what the rules are regarding this. If anyone does know, please chime in.

Game 4 to the Bulls; On to the Cup!

Governors’ Cup Playoffs (Best of 5): 3-1; Bulls Win!
Wrap, Box

If you were one of those who were second-guessing yourself about your advance purchase of playoff tickets, guess what, you made the right decision to buy. Congratulations. You’re going to get to use at least one more of them.

Not that finding a good seat for next Thursday’s game is likely to be a problem, but that’s OK. You kept the faith.

This was a the kind of game you love to watch. Excellent pitching on both sides. The season on the line. Even a key baseball maxim not observed,  “Don’t walk the leadoff batter.” The Clippers did just that three times and two of them scored.

But to go back to the beginning: Nathan Karns showed his stuff today. Just 1 earned run in 7 innings with 12 strikeouts. And the run that scored was on — you guessed it — a leadoff batter who drew Karns’ only walk of the day.

Meanwhile the Bulls were adventurous (they stole 4 bases during the game), but scoreless until the 5th, when Tim Beckham walked, stole second, and scored on a Nick Franklin single. In the 6th it was Cole Figueroa who drew the walk, got to 2B on a Mahtook ground out, scored on a Jeremy Moore single.

But the Clippers were not about to give up and came back with single runs in the 7th off Karns and the 8th of Merrill Kelly, who was in in short relief for the first time this year, I think.

That meant the Bulls needed some heroes in the 8th and they got them in Cole Figueroa (single, stolen base), Jeremy Moore (double, scoring Figueroa), and Vince Belnome (double, scoring Moore, but it sure looked like a home run from the stands). Merrill Kelly closed out the 9th to a noisy, but sadly small crowd of just 1,800 or so.

This is a big deal. Playing for the Governors’ Cup again is a stunning achievement.

The Bulls now go up against the Pawtucket Red Sox, in Pawtucket, Tuesday night. Should be a big game. We’ll post the rotation as it becomes available.

Game 2 to the Bulls

Columbus Clippers catcher Dusty Brown (27) can’t hold onto the ball as he tries to tag Durham Bulls third baseman [sic] Ray Olmedo (13) at home plate in the 9th inning. 
Kyle Robertson, Columbus Dispatch

Playoffs (Best of 5): 1-1
Wrap, Box, Columbus Dispatch

We are going to get to see at least two more home games this year. Good news for Bulls fans. Wonder if we are going to do any better in attendance than Pawtucket (2,560) or Columbus (5,158) did last night? At least there will be fireworks after the game, and maybe in the game.

Note that Saturday is a 1:00 pm day game — that’s 1300 for my former colleagues.

About last night ...

A thriller all around. I watched the game on MiLB TV, but listened to the stream of Patrick Kinas, which was 5-20 seconds behind. Created the illusion that I was going to know something before Patrick did. I knew Ray Olmedo (pinch-running for Vince Belnome) missed his grab for the plate, but the Clippers Dusty Brown could not handle the ball and Olmedo was able to dance back to the plate and score the tying run in the 9th.

That comeback was atypical of the 2014 Bulls, but could not have been more welcome. What was typical was the absolute shutdown of the Clippers by the Bulls relief corps. Merrill Kelly, Josh Lueke, and Adam Liberatore combined for 5 solid innings allowing just one hit as the Bulls chipped away with a run in the 7th, 9th, and the winning run in the 10th.

Cole Figueroa led off the 10th with a triple and it looked like at least one run was in the bag. But the Bulls needed a gift from the Clippers’ second baseman who let Mikie Mahtook on base. With just one out, Tim Beckham launched a fly ball to center field that let Figueroa score the winning. Adam Liberatore shut down the Clippers to finish the game.

Both teams took overnight busses to Durham. They should be in town by now. The field looks magnificent even after last night’s deluge.

Over in Pawtucket, the Red Sox defeated the Chiefs 8-2 (who were stripped of talent in the September call-ups). Could we be looking for another Red Sox/Bulls playoff?

Outside the game —

• Terrific bit of analysis out of The Atlantic that attributes the falloff in major league hitting to better umpiring! The article contends that the little boxes we see on the screen showing the strike zone has had the effect of significantly increasing called strikes, especially in the bottom of the zone (thus more swinging strikes, ground balls, etc.) Makes a lot of sense to us. The data are pretty persuasive. And another reason that the transition from the minors to the majors is more difficult for hitters than for pitchers.

Game 1 to the Clippers

Playoffs (Best 3 of 5): 0-1
Wrap, Box, Columbus Dispatch

When we looked at the matchup yesterday, the only significant advantage the Bulls had over the Clippers was pitching. That could have been further refined to specify relief pitching since the Bulls relief corps had an ERA on the season of just 2.70. That advantage was not evident last night. Reliever C. J. Riefenhauser came into the game just after Jeremy Moore’s home run had brought the Bulls within a single run of the Clippers.

Things got ugly, quickly.

Three runs on 4 hits and a walk later Riefenhauser was out of the game after pitching only ⅔ of an inning. Jake Thompson got the Bulls out of the 6th, but gave up two runs of his own in the next inning. Cory Burns came on for a clean 9th, but by then it was far too late.

Outside the game —

• If you’ve already got MiLB-TV, check out the quality contrast between what’s coming out of Columbus vs. what comes out of Durham (or Pawtucket for that matter). Very poor quality.  If you don't have MiLB-TV, don't waste your money on tonight. We’ve got a great crew in Durham and their feed into MiLB-TV is the best I’ve seen from IL parks.
• The Bulls did a bit of rosterification yesterday. Of interest mostly to obsessives such as WDBB. Pitcher Merrill Kelly came on to the roster from Limbo. Catcher Luke Maile came onto the roster from Montgomery. Pitcher Bryce Stowell was sent back to Montgomery. Catcher Mayo Acosta was assigned to Montgomery. I’d bet that all of these are paper transactions and all the players mentioned are in the Bulls dugout up in Columbus.
• Pawtucket won the first round of the other IL playoff round, beating Syracuse in a bottom-of-the-10th inning thriller. The Providence Journal has the story.
• Small crowds in Columbus (4,437) and Pawtucket (2,326). 

Two Down; One to Go

Season: 74-69; Home Stand: 0-2; Games Remaining in Season: 1
Wrap, Box Game 142, Box Game 143

Interesting day at the ballpark yesterday afternoon and evening. At first we seemed to have the place to ourselves and then the DBAP filled up. They had a record ticket sales for a game—11,104—but they didn’t all use their tickets. Lots of empty seats. Too bad. They missed seeing a triple play. That just doesn’t happen very often. The Bulls set an all-time season attendance record, the most fans in the team's 100+ history — 525,199.

The first game was a resumption of Saturday’s shortened game over in Norfolk. The Bulls picked up two runs, but they needed three. The big deal, for Bulls’ fanatics, was seeing right-hand reliever Bryce Stowell on the mound. The Rays are going after the Bulls’ bullpen, so the Bulls are going to need Mr. Stowell this week. At 27, he’s been working hard for this opportunity and he’s had a fine 50 innings in Montgomery this year. He only gave up two hits yesterday. Stats.

The second game was notable for the triple play in the 3rd inning. With runners on 1st and 2nd, a sharp grounder to Mike Fontenot, who stepped on 3rd, threw to Nick Franklin at 2nd, who relayed to Vince Belnome at 1st. Very pretty.

On the other hand, even a double play in the 1st inning and a triple play in the 3rd inning wasn’t enough to keep Nathan Karns from being charged with 7 earned runs, his 9th loss of the season, and the worst ERA of any Durham Bulls starter (we’re not counting Jeremy Hellickson’s painful rehab assignment). On the other hand, it looks like he’s going to end the season tied for most strikeouts of any pitcher in the International League (153). So he’s a mixed bag of talent and readability by his opponents (sometimes).

Update (10:20): You can watch the triple play here.

It really did look like the Bulls had this one in the bag after Jeremy Moore’s three-run homer topped off a 4-run 1st inning. Then Hak-Ju Lee hit just his 4th home run off his countryman Suk-min Yoon in the 2nd. With one more run in the 3rd it was looking good. But the 5th was a mess for Karns. Even with bases-loaded opportunities later in the game, the Bulls could not come back (not a strength this year).

But a lot is going on in the bigger picture outside the game...

Rosterification —

• Brandon Gomes and Steve Geltz have been called up to Tampa Bay. Gomes has been back and forth a good bit this year, but this is the first time that Geltz has been to the majors since a couple of appearances for the Angels back in 2012. Here’s hoping that he gets his shot and he does well. Geltz wasn’t on the 40-man, so some sort of move is going to have to be made there as well.
• Jake Thompson and Doug Mathis are back from Limbo, or wherever it was the Rays stashed them for the last few days. In fact, Mathis is scheduled to start today.
• We’ve mentioned Bryce Stowell up from Montgomery. With his two innings he looks to be a lock to be this year’s winner of the Moonlight Graham Award for pitchers.
• Seen wearing catcher’s gear in the bullpen was Luke Maille, a young catcher who spent this year with the Montgomery Biscuits. If he gets to bat today (or during the playoffs) it will be his first game in Triple-A. But no roster transaction has been announced. Stats.
• Merril Kelly was sent off to Limbo to await recall. Soon, we hope.

Playoff Prep —

• The Pawtucket Red Sox are to be the International League Wild Card team. They will be playing the Syracuse Chiefs for the first round of the playoffs.
• The Bulls rotation, per broadcaster Kinas, will be 

           Alex Colome
           Enny Romero
           Matt Andriese
           Nate Karns
           Mike Montgomery

• Here’s hoping the Bulls can sweep the Clippers in three ... 

Last Stand in the North Successful

Season: 65-61; Trip: 2-3
Wrap, Box, Democrat & Chronicle

For their last game in the North in the regular season, the Bulls had some fine pitching and a hit fest — 16, including two doubles and two home runs. Merrill Kelly, who wakes up each morning wondering whether he’s going to be a starter or a reliever, started and led the shutout allowing just two hits.

Hak-Ju Lee, who is having a generally awful season (including two E’s last night) hit a home run in his first at bat to lead things off for the Bulls. That helped as the Bulls had trouble pushing runs across until the 8th. Still, they were seeing the ball well and putting a lot of guys on base.

Mike Fontenot’s last several days have been terrific. Last night he went 4 for 6, as did Mikie Mahtook. Ray Olmedo only went 3 for 4, but drew two walks and scored three runs. Tim Beckham’s return remains strong. He was 1 for 5 last night.

Outside the game —

• Justin Christian’s punishment of a three-game suspension for threatening the pitcher that hit him seems a bit harsh . (He made a few steps toward the pitcher with the bat still in his hand. I saw it. He was carrying the bat in the middle, at the balance point. Not in a striking pose. What was he supposed to do? Throw the bat away and then come after the guy who’d just hit him? No doubt, however, that he was really upset. As was Charlie Montoyo.) The punishment extends to the entire team. The Bulls are not allowed to replace him, so they will be a position player short for the next two games. Expect to see infielders in the outfield. At least the Bulls will be at home with the short left field wall. Christian’s right hand bat will be missed, though.
• I missed any update there might have been regarding Wil Myers. If he’s still with the team, that will help fill the gap.
• Meanwhile, that was the last out-of-division game of the year for the Bulls. And they will not be back in the North unless they 1) win the South Division and 2) win the first round of the playoffs against the West champion.
• If I’ve counted right, the Bulls have 12 home games and 5 road games left, all against South Division teams.
• Ice Bucket Challenge. I don’t know if this is a local or national challenge, but all sorts of local leaders and celebrities are participating in an “ice bucket challenge”, which amounts to standing in front of a camera and dumping a bucket of ice water over your head — all in a good cause — ALS treatment and research. All the local mayors seem to have joined in. Not to be outdone, Wool E. Bull, General Manager Mike Birling, and a cast of ... a lot ... have joined in.
• Note for twitteristas: See the hashtag #keepthecup that is out there. Good idea.
• Over at Rays Colored Glasses Robbie Knopf speculates on where Tim Beckham might fit in the Rays situation next year.

Standings

The Bulls come home well ahead of anyone else in the South Division, but stuck just a few games above .500.

Click on chart for larger view

A Loss; A Win

Season: 62-55; Home Stand: 1-1; Home Games Remaining: 15
Wrap, Box 1, Box 2, Bisons

We are struggling almost as much as Bulls pitching to find something good to say about the first game last night. How about quirky instead?

In the 2nd inning Ali Solis was up there with one strike on him and the Bisons’ pitcher bounced one in the dirt in front of home plate. The ball hit Solis’ bat, went foul, and Solis had a second strike called on him. He swung at the next pitch, missed, and was out.

Also, good to see Jake Thompson back from the DL. Would have been nice for the Bulls or Rays to let fans know why he was on the DL in the first place, but that’s not what they do. And media apparently never asked either. He pitched just two thirds of an inning and left two runners on base for Doug Mathis, but Mathis kept them from scoring.

But nothing good to say about either Merrill Kelly’s or Brandon Gomes’ evening.

And then it drug on for almost 3 hours. Knowing another game was in the offing, we left and watched the second game on TV.

There we saw a terrific performance by Enny Romero. No secret that Mr. Romero has not been our favorite Bulls pitcher this year, but last night was superb. Six innings of one hit, shutout ball was very impressive.

Also impressive was new guy Nick Franklin. There was his game-winning home run and some very nice play at second base (game 1) and shortstop (game 2). That included his slick beginning of the double play that ended the game. He’s off to a slow start at bat, but the homer helps. And he seems to be a class act. After he was called out for his “star of the game” interview at the end of the game, he went out of his way to acknowledge the fans who had stuck in there (it was about 11:30 by then)

Quirky in Game 2? Well, I don’t recall seeing a pitcher call out an ump as forcefully as Josh Lueke did home ump Seth Buckminster in the last inning. I’d bet he wasn’t ever going to get a called third strike after that, so probably good he got a double play behind him to clear the bases and end the inning and game.

Outside the game —

• Saw Tampa Bay’s Wil Myers in the dugout. The Herald-Sun is reporting that Myers worked out with the team Thursday and will do so again today. Then start playing on a rehab assignment. Possibly for as long as two weeks. 

Trade Deadline Bothers Bulls

Ray Olmedo slides into third, safe, 29 July 2014.
Photo by Robert Lahser, Charlotte Observer

Season: 58-51; Trip: 0-1

Wrap, Box, Charlotte Observer

We missed the broadcast intro last night. But it sure looks like the Tampa Bay Rays’ indecision/secretiveness as they approach the trading deadline cost the Bulls a game last night. How was that? Well, Merrill Kelly started the game and, while we think the world of Mr. Kelly, it hardly seems fair to put him up against the best hitting team in the IL in a hitter-friendly park when he has not started game since 28 June. Since then he’s has only thrown 90 pitches over 4⅓ innings in five relief appearances. 

Nevertheless, Kelly did just fine if it weren’t for the two home runs. He was followed by his colleague Doug Mathis who did not let another run in, although he did provide some thrills with his 3 Ks.

The larger question is why the Bulls, who are already short a reliever in the bullpen (Jeff Beliveau was never replaced) had to use one of them to start a game? A plausible answer is that the Rays may be about to do some trading and want maximum flexibility. So who’s up tonight? 

Yes, the Bulls did have their chances, but the Rays made it tough on them.

Outside the game —

• WDBB got 15 seconds of fame the other day when one of our charts got posted on the Rays Index. Big deal in the blogging world.
• The Process Report, another Rays blog, has taken a look at WDBB favorites Kirby Yates and Jeff Beliveau, who are now with the Rays. 
• Isn’t that a nice shot of Ray Olmedo?

All-Starification

Durham Bulls in the All-Star Game
Mahtook, Betemit, Kelly, Montgomery

I’ve figured all along that folks who read this blog are well-aware of all the goings-on surrounding the International League All-Star Game this week. If not, here are some links to bring things up-to-date.

The overall schedule is here.

Today, Monday, is the Home Run Derby. In addition to the derby itself, a good bit of side entertainment is planned. The N&O had stories about the Derby here and here, but the big news of the moment is that Toledo's Mike Hessman will not be participating and that Mikie Mahtook is taking his place. [just announced 8:30 am Monday, via twitter, don't have a link]

Then there’s the game on Wednesday. How to listen/watch here. Bulls announcers will be sharing the broadcast booth with a Pacific Coast League broadcaster for a national radio show. Television will be through the MLB Network. Here’s hoping that the TV guys do a better job than last year when they seemed to ignore events on the field, especially near the end of the game.

The teams:

This is not as simple as National League against the American League. All the Triple-A teams are, obviously, linked to a major league team, but the Pacific Coast League and the International League are essentially built on major league teams east and west of the Mississippi River. There are a couple of notable exceptions to that way of thinking about the leagues, but that’s mostly true. Also, in general, the PCL is considered something of a hitters league because of several high-altitude parks. Lastly, and there are probably a couple of exceptions to this, the PCL towns have not shown the enthusiasm for new/renovated stadiums that the IL has.

The Bulls have four players on the list for the IL team, two hitters — Mikie Mahtook and Wilson Betemit — and two pitchers — Merrill Kelly and Mike Montgomery.

A really big deal is the manager of the IL team, the Bulls’ own Charlie Montoyo. He got a nice profile in the N&O the other day.

The rest of the IL team is here and the PCL team is here.

Note: judging from the headlines, the Durham Herald-Sun has some good coverage. Worth a look if you have a subscription.

Bats Bash Bulls - Twice - Come on Home

Wrap, Box, Louisville Courier-Journal

If ever you wanted confirmation that Bulls fans and Rays management live in different universes, check out Hellickson’s and Maddon’s remarks here. After the Bulls put up a 3-spot for him, Hellickson gave up 7 runs and dug a hole the Bulls could not get out of.

Season: 43-32; Road Trip: 5-5
Wrap, Box, Louisville Courier-Journal

And then Nate Karns, who had not pitched in 10 days, for reasons I either missed or were not reported, did not seem to appreciate the rest, 8 runs in 3 innings did a bit of damage to his ERA. And then Merrill Kelly had a very rare bad outing.

All of which must have been frustrating for the hitters. They had one of their best days of the year: 14 hits, 4 doubles, 2 triples, 22 total bases, 8 runs, and still lost the game?

It was a long trip and Louisville is looking better than they have been all year. The Bulls get a day off and we get baseball back in Durham. Better new all around.

Outside the game —

• Nice long story about reliever C. J. Riefenhauser in DNA of Sports.

Indy Win in 10

Wrap, Box

Wrap, Box

Must note that with rehabbing major leaguers sometimes you are helped and sometimes you are hurt. In this case, the Bulls weren’t hitting and Hellickson gave up three quick runs. Matt Andriese had a fine 5+ innings, though.

Season: 41-29; Road Trip: 3-2
Wrap, Box

That long string of zeroes up there, going back to the 3rd inning on Wednesday, is not a pretty sight. All praise to Mike Fontenot for the RBI that broke the drought.

Merrill Kelly came out of the bullpen for a start and did a great job fine, with no earned runs during his six innings. On the other hand, the Bulls had trouble stringing hits together until the 9th and, notably the 10th. I’m guessing that Kelly started simply because he had not pitched in a long while. If someone heard differently, please let us know.

I did catch the last few moments on MiLB-TV (audio stream not working for my computer last night). Pretty, pretty 10th inning double by Cole Figueroa won the game.

Outside the game —

• One of our favorite guys, Brandon Guyer, is reported to be joining the Bulls as part of his rehab assignment. I’d guess that when he finishes his rehab he will be swapped out for Jerry Sands. Although I am sure Mr. Sands would rather be with the Rays, would be nice to have his bat back with the Bulls.

Pitiful; Let's Worry About Norfolk

Season: 37-26; Home Stand: 5-3
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Last night was the worst offensive performance by the Bulls this year. Just three hits (two singles and a double) and no walks added up to a team OPS of a sorrowful .233.

Meanwhile the erratic Enny Romero gave up 6 runs in 3 innings, which could not be overcome. Nevertheless, it was an improvement over his start on May 27 when he gave up 8 runs in 1⅔ innings. Merrill Kelly had six innings in relief (!), and did just fine.

Matchup

The Tides are back. The Bulls last played them on April 21, in Norfolk. The Baltimore Orioles Triple-A franchise recently ran off six wins in a row, but they lost last night to the RailRaiders to break the string.

What’s worth noticing in the table is that they lead the Bulls in hitting both average and OPS. To win the Bulls are going to have to go after their weakness, their pitching, which shows up in their ERA and the distorted Pythagorean Expectation.

Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang

Season: 34-23; Home Stand: 2-0
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

I could not go to the game last night. I didn’t even get to my radio until the bottom of the 7th inning where I learned that, contrary to my expectation, Alex Colome had done just fine before handing the game off to Merrill Kelly. The Bulls were ahead 3-0 and I figured that since Kelly was in things were OK.

More than OK. By the end of the inning the Bulls picked up 6 more runs on four singles, a double, a Jerry Sands home run, and an IronPig fielding error. Justin Christian homered for the 10th run of the game in the 8th inning.

Bulls pitchers got their 6th shutout of the season. Bulls hitters created the biggest win margin of the year. Gwinnett lost, opening up a 3½ game spread. The Bulls are now 11 games over .500, their best mark of the year. Things are right with the world.

Meanwhile, I have a question for those who listened/watched the game: Why was Vince Belnome playing left field? I’m guessing that it was Mikie Mahtook’s day off and that Charlie Montoyo wanted to keep Belnome's bat in the lineup instead of Price or Nix. But that didn’t work since he was the only Bull not to get on base last night.

About Alex Colome. I assume that readers of this blog know all about the drug suspension. If not, the Herald-Sun story summarizes it. I’m not a very tolerant guy and I find it hard to forgive. Nevertheless, he obviously spent his time away from the game working on his craft, and that’s good for him and for the Bulls. He certainly performed far above my expectations last night.

Cole Figueroa started at 3B. Welcome back.

Outside the game —

• The Rays lost to the Red Sox, again, last night. Their only run was a distinctly weird inside-the-park home run by Kevin Kiermaier. Kiermaier started in right field in the place of injured former Bull Wil Myer.
• In that same game Ali Solis got his first major league start. While in his first AB in the 3rd a pitch went into the dirt, bounced off the catcher’s shin guard, and hit him in the nose. He was taken out of the game. Reports are that his nose is not broken.

Yates! Yates! Yates!

Season: 33-23; Home Stand: 1-0
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

For thrilling baseball, last night’s 8th and 9th innings were hard to beat. So let’s look at the game back-to-front.

Adam Liberatore came on in the 8th with a 5-3 lead. He’s been terrific this year and we expected a quiet inning. Kirby Yates was starting to warm up for the 9th. The Bulls had the game in hand. In fact, I was thinking about getting out of the parking deck ahead of the DPAC crowd. Two singles and a walk later, the bases were loaded on just 14 pitches and nobody was out as the heart of the IronPigs batting order was coming up. Cue the hook and Kirby Yates came in seeking a two-inning, 6-out save. I don’t think he has faced quite so perilous a situation this year.

Mr. Yates K’d the first batter, but the second reached on a error by Hak-Ju Lee that scored a run. Bases still loaded. Still one out. Score now 5-4. Next batter: K. Next batter: fly ball to Mahtook in center field. Out of the inning. Breath.

The 9th was almost anti-climatic, although Yates did return having already thrown 18 pitches. That gave me something to worry about. But the first batter hit a fly ball to Mahtook; the next watched the third strike go by; the next also flew out to Mahtook. Save #14 for Yates, best in the IL. Game trivia: 3 out of six Yates’ outs were fly balls to Mikie Mahtook.

Otherwise, Mike Montgomery had a brilliant no-hit five innings, then unravelled in the 6th. His pitch count wasn’t all that high, still, looking back, would not have hurt to come out after the single and the BB that started the inning. The three runs that scored tied the game and he left with a no-decision. For his one out that ended the 6th Jake Thompson got another win, because Curt Casali showed why the Rays like him with a booming home run over the bull that brought in the two runs that made all the difference.

Outside the game —

• Alex Colome is back from his 50 game suspension and will start tonight. Apparently Merrill Kelly will go back into a long relief role. The Bulls will need him there since Enny Romero and/or Colome are likely to be in need of a long reliever.
• I missed the fact that Mikie Mahtook leads the International League in doubles with 19 (he got another one last night). He’s also tied for the league lead in triples with 5. Impressive.
• Cole Figueroa was in the dugout. I’d guess we will see him tonight. 
• Terrific story over at DNA of Sports on Ali Solis, the Bulls catcher recently called up to warm up Rays pitchers. (That’s not quite fair, but he has still not had an AB and he’s been there 3 or 4 days). He did get in last night’s game as a pinch runner (!) and stayed to catch the bottom of the 10th.

Rosterification

I'm sure that all will be made clear, perhaps by Patrick Kinas, but here's a list of the transactions since the Bulls left town a couple of days ago:

• RHP Brandon Gomes: Assigned to Durham Bulls from Tampa Bay
• RHP Jim Patterson: Assigned from Durham Bulls to Montgomery Biscuits
• RHP Doug Mathis: Assigned to extended spring training
• RHP Juan Sandoval: Released (Note: I liked Sandoval. I hope he finds work. From the stands, he looked to be a better pitcher than Mathis and he had slightly better stats.)
• RHP Alex Colome: Finished suspension, assigned to Durham Bulls, scheduled to start 5/26
• RHP Alex Colome: Called up to Tampa Bay (hope he has passport with him, the Rays are in Toronto)
• RHP Doug Mathis: Called back from extended spring training.

What's really, really weird about this is that if you follow the Rays/Bulls closely this sort of makes sense, but only if Colome was showing some impressive stuff while in his "rehab". On the other hand, it's got to work on the heads of these guys, at least a little bit.

Oh, tonight's starting pitcher is now listed as Merrill Kelly. It was his turn in the rotation when Colome was first listed.

Update: Turns out that Rays outfielder Brandon Guyer broke his thumb yesterday and is going on the 15-day DL. That made room for Colome, but have to think that the Rays will eventually reach out for a position player. But Kiermaier is the only outfielder on the Rays 40-man. Gonna be interesting.

Tough Loss

Season: 26-20; Home Stand: 4-3

Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Well that was a disappointing loss. The links have most of the info. Note that Merrill Kelly left the game with a cramp in his hand. Hope that is not serious.

Most of the time we don’t second guess Montoyo and Allen. That’s because they are almost always right. But from the stands it sure seems that with 14 pitchers on the roster that it didn’t make sense for Adam Liberatore to go back out in the 10th. Of course, it perhaps didn’t make all that much sense for him to go out at all.

Jim Patterson hasn’t pitched since his committee start back on May 12th in Scranton. Others who might have been available were Lara, Mathis, and Sandoval. But we’ll never know and maybe that’s a good thing.

Overall, lots of ifs in this one, including the four runners left in scoring position and the two caught stealing.

Because of the oversupply of pitchers, the Bulls only had two position players in the dugout near the end of the game.

Outside the game — 

• For reasons known only to the Bulls (and probably the Rays) Doug Mathis is starting today instead of Enny Romero. We’ll probably hear something about that eventually.
• We have read that Rays reliever Brandon Gomes is on his way to Durham. That will mean 15 pitchers in the bullpen (usual number is 13). Gomes spent much of 2011 and 2012 with the Bulls and was back with the team last year for a while. Not entirely clear why he’s back again.
• Robby Price has already been moved to Hudson Valley in a paper transaction.
• Rays catcher Ryan Hanigan still isn’t playing. Rays may go out and buy someone, or Ali Solis may end up packing his gear. Mayo Acosta is, I think, still around the Bulls dugout.
• Kevin Kiermaier is still with the Rays, implying that Desmond Jennings not yet back from his bereavement leave.

Update: The reason Romero isn't pitching is that it's only been three days since his last time out, when he pitched the first game of a double-header. That messed up my spreadsheet. Apologies to anyone who noticed and was wondering.

Pretty Sunday

Season: 17-8; Home Stand:2-0
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, SWB RailRiders

An interesting game, but let’s lead off with the quirky stuff (with thanks to broadcaster Kinas for mentioning it).

Last Sunday, April 20th, reliever C.J. Riefenhauser was wearing a Tampa Bay Rays uniform. In the 12th inning of a game against the New York Yankees he was called in for just his second appearance as a major leaguer with a runner on first and no outs. A little bit later there are runners on first and third with two outs and he was instructed to walk the batter (Jacoby Ellsbury) in order to get to left-handed, weak hitting shortstop Dean Anna. Riefenhauser walked Anna on a disputed call at 3-2 and the run that came in turned to be the winning run. Rays manager Joe Maddon had lots to say about the call(s).

Fast forward to last night, top of the 8th inning, the Bulls have just gone ahead 5-4. Mr. Riefenhauser, now wearing a Durham Bulls uniform, is on the mound and the leadoff batter is … shortstop Dean Anna, now wearing a RailRiders uniform. Anna pops up to 3B Cole Figueroa, the next two batters line out to left field, the Bulls score an insurance run in the bottom of the inning, Kirby Yates does his thing, and C.J. Riefenhauser has his first win of the year. Gotta love Triple A baseball.

Now, what about the rest of the game?

Merrill Kelly gave up two home runs and Bulls pitchers hit a season high number of opposing batters (3), and yet Jerry Sands and company kept the runs coming across until Sands’ last hit, a single in the 8th created an insurmountable lead.

If that’s a clue regarding how much we are coming to admire Mr. Sands, it should be. He is having a career year with the Bulls. The fact that he is a local lad (Clayton) and out of Catawba College in Salisbury just adds to his stature. His swing has been a beauty to watch, but last night what was most impressive was his bat handling. Of course there was the home run in the 2nd inning. But what about the two opposite field RBIs: A sacrifice fly in the 5th and a single in the 8th? Now that was professional hitting.

Last night was the first time I’ve been able to watch Hak-Ju Lee on the field since his return. He made several nice plays, including participating in a twisting 1-6-3 double play. At bat he has a long way to go, but he did draw a couple of walks.

Yet another oddity of last night was seeing Ray Olmedo out in left field. It’s not that he doesn’t have any experience there. But it’s been a while, 2 games in 2012 and another few games in 2010 (this is a guy who has 1425 professional minor league games under his belt). Kevin Kiermaier is reportedly day-to-day with a hamstring concern and I’m guessing it was Mikie Mahtook’s time to have a day off.

Outside the game —

• Check out the new item at the Bulls history link.
• Mike Montgomery was named International League Pitcher of the Week

Tales of Two Pitchers

Wrap, Box, Charlotte Observer

Merrill Kelly did a fine job getting to his league-leading 4th win and stunning ERA of 1.50 over 24 innings. Nice to have a guy who can be depended on for 6 inning, 90 pitch appearances.

Season: 15-6; This Trip: 4-2
Wrap, Box, Charlotte Observer

On the other hand, Nate Karns is the least dependable guy, so far, in this year’s lineup. Last time out he went 7 innings and held Norfolk to just two hits and no runs. This time he was on life support before the 1st inning was finished and over his two-inning 60 pitch outing he gave up 8 runs for the 8 men he let on base. Not all that different from his first time out.

Still, Charlotte had to break its losing streak some day.

Guess who scored the Bulls only run? Hak-Ju Lee, who got on base on a walk, got to 2B on a Kevin Kiermaier single, then home as Charlotte had trouble figuring out what to do with a Ray Olmedo grounder to short.

Outside the game —

• The Bulls blog, Hit Bull Win Blog, just started running a series of profiles.
• Kevin Kiermaier gets his own poster and reveals that his favorite Twitter account is ... his own.
• Hak-Ju Lee’s return has a nice profile, plus video.
• Cole Figueroa gets a nicely illustrated love fest.