Moves: Gomes, Beckham, Keppinger, Thompson, Sutton

Brandon Gomes has been called back up to the Rays, I assume because of Peralta suspension. Jeff Keppinger has finished his rehab and back to Rays. Tim Beckham has been reinstated from suspension. Rich Thompson is heading back. Rays infielder Drew Sutton has been designated for assignment.

Other than that, a quiet afternoon.

I don’t know if Beckham’s been staying in shape or if he’s even in Durham. Guess we’ll have to wait for the rain to stop and find out.

Bulls Bash 'Em; Coming Home

Season: 33-42; Trip: 5-3; Bulls v. Red Wings: 3-1

Box, Wrap

These last four games were by far the most productive of the year. 65 hits, 92 total bases, and 34 runs. Today’s game just topped it off with the most hits and most runs of the year. Every Bull got at least one hit, most got a bunch, Stephen Vogt got four. Amazing, amazing few days. 

Montoyo keeps moving guys around. So much so that it will be hard to put a position label on these guys. Today Chris Gimenez, normally a catcher, played outfield. Brandon Allen, very much a first baseman in his career, played outfield until today, when he started at 1B. Rehabbing Jeff Keppinger DH’d today, but he played 3B for a couple of days and 1B in the first game of the series. 

This was the first really hot day of the season and, according to broadcaster Patrick Kinas, the players were feeling it. Certainly the heat seemed to take a toll on the pitchers. Between Rochester and Durham, they used up 10 of them. 

Can we look forward to a better home series than last time? I sure hope so. I hope even more that I’ll be able to get out to the games.

Outside the game

• Left-handed relief pitcher Frank de los Santos is coming to Durham from the Montgomery Biscuits. Stats and more stats. He’s not on any top prospect lists that I’ve seen, but it looks like he’s having a good year. It will be his first time at AAA. The Bulls have a vacancy in their roster and will probably have another now that Rays reliever Joel Peralta has been given an 8-game suspension.
• The Rays claimed an infielder, Brooks Conrad, from Milwaukee. Coming to Durham? Can’t tell.

Chart/Table of the Day

Yesterday I mentioned that regular reader Chris D has been looking at Bulls hitters’ OPS numbers and comparing them to their historical averages. Several weeks ago most were well below their average performance. Chris has updated their numbers, with additions and subtractions. Just about everyone is still below average. Note: this table does not include today’s performances. Except for Vogt, who was not with the Bulls back then, I’d guess there was some, but not too much, movement. Thanks, Chris!

Big Season Mid-Point Win

Season: 31-41; Trip: 3-2; Bulls v. Red Wings: 1-0; Standings

Box, Wrap, Rochester Democrat

The Bulls rode the bus(es), the rehabbing major leaguers Jeff Keppinger and Evan Longoria rode the plane, but everyone made it to Rochester to play the Red Wings for the midpoint game of the Bulls season (more about that in another post). For everyone except Evan Longoria, it was a great game. He left after his first at bat and Tampa Bay sources are saying that he’s headed back to the team to continue his rehab under Rays’ trainers. Couple of interesting photos at the Rochester Democrat link.

In the meantime the Bulls hitters had one of their finest nights of the season. The Bulls' 16 hits included four doubles and a home run. Every Bull who started the game except for Longoria got at least one hit and Stephen Vogt, Jeff Keppinger, Leslie Anderson, Brandon Allen, and Reid Brignac (!) got multiple hits. In fact, Brignac’s 3 hit, 3 RBI night has got to be his best of the year (not counting his grand slam a while back). Brandon Allen’s contribution of 3 hits is particularly welcome. Nice to have another hitter on the team.

I can’t avoid mentioning Leslie Anderson’s continued hammering at Tampa Bay’s door: his batting average and number of hits are the best in the entire International League!

To make the evening even better, Jim Paduch’s performance was his best in a month and came after a very long dry spell and a disastrous last outing. 

Outside the game

• I guessed right! Rich Thompson is headed for Washington, DC to fill a roster spot for the Rays/Nationals series. Here’s hoping he gets a chance to play. Maybe he caught a ride on the same plane as Longoria.
• As mentioned yesterday, Brandon Gomes is headed back to the Bulls. However, in one of those asymmetries between minor league and major league baseball, a guy coming “down” gets a couple of days to get there while a guy going “up” moves right away. The practical effect for the Bulls is that they would be two players short in the dugout without the presence of rehabbing Keppinger and lurking Hudson Valley player Craig Albernaz.
• Speaking of Keppinger, he played first base last night. Wonder why?
• Also reported last night was a move to put Alexander Torres back into the starting rotation. He will swap with Shane Dyer who has not been particularly impressive. But neither has Torres as either a starter or reliever. Is this the last hurrah for Mr. Torres?
• Noted on the field was former Bull Matt Carson now playing for the Red Wings.
• Speaking of former Bulls, Russ Canzler was named IL Player of the Week for his 3 home run, 13 RBI performance with the Columbus Clippers last week ... sigh ...
• Fascinating look at the prospects in the Rays system at Rays Prospects. Not many Bulls on the list.

Chart of the Day

Pitching efficiency. A simple metric that displays how many pitches it takes to get an out. I'm not picking on Torres, really I'm not. They are his numbers after all.