Looking at 2010 — 5 — Pitchers (cont)

Let's see if we can wrap this up.

Mike Ekstrom (26). RHP. Reliever. 58 Innings (3 2/3 postseason). 39 Games (1 start). 6-1. 6 holds, 1 save. ERA 2.79. On Rays 40-man.

• Ekstrom started the year in Tampa Bay and came to the Bulls in a swap for Joaquin Benoit in late April. He went back up to the Rays for a couple of weeks in early August, again in early September, came back for one round of playoffs, and went back to the Rays. Not quite sure why he was around all year given the somewhat erratic quality of the Rays bullpen, but nice to have him with the Bulls and he did a good job. Seemed to handle the back and forth better than most we’ve seen around here. He’s young. He’s only got two years of AAA under his belt. If he doesn’t stick with the Rays he might be back next year.
  
• Stats.

Winston Abreu (33). RHP. Reliever. 55 1/3 innings (3 1/3 postseason). 40 games. 0-4. 2 holds, 23 saves. ERA 2.28.

• A great deal of the Bulls’ success over the last two years can be attributed to Winston Abreu. If his number of saves seems a bit low (tied for 3rd in the IL), remember that in the early months of the season there were few save opportunities with the Bulls on a record-setting run scoring pace. Very, very important to the Bulls to know that if they had a lead going into the last inning, Abreu was there. At a guess, it’s up to Abreu whether or not he wants to put in another year with the Bulls. Certainly the team (and this fan) would love to have him back.
  
• Stats.

R.J. Swindle (26). LHP. Reliever. 55 innings (5 innings postseason). 40 games. 2-4. 12 holds. 2 saves. ERA 2.79.

• There was not a pitcher on the crew that was more fun to watch this year than R.J. Swindle. He got a late start on the season, not showing up with the Bulls until May 10. Impressive control right out of the gate. He didn’t walk a single batter until his eighth appearance. R.J. is famous for his slow curve that loops across the plate at much less than 60 mph, while his “fastball” barely approaches 80 mph. No pitcher on the Bulls staff could mix it up as well as he could. One or two inning guy, real asset to the team. Still young. He could be a real help to the Bulls in years to come if Rays want to keep him around.
  
• Stats.

Darin Downs (25). LHP. 40 1/3 innings (5 1/3 postseason). 23 games (1 start). 6-2. ERA 4.46.

• Downs joined the Bulls from the Montgomery Biscuits in late June. His numbers with the Bulls were much less impressive than his 1.67 ERA at AA level. On the other hand, this was his first visit to AAA baseball and he seems fully recovered from his injuries. Pretty sure that he’s going to be on the Rays “Let’s wait and see” list. Maybe Biscuits, probably Bulls next year.
  
• Stats.

The next several pitchers were in the 20 inning range, so let’s try to wrap this up with some one-liners.

Bobby Livingston (27). LHP. 27 2/3 innings (5 postseason). 5 games, no decisions. Livingston filled in some gaping holes in the Bulls starting lineup on August, and did a pretty good job for us. He’s been banging around AAA for the last couple of years — Indianapolis, Columbus, Norfolk, Buffalo, and Albuquerque — so have to think there’s a story there we don’t know about. Still, liked what we saw in August and September. Stats.
Heath Rollins (25). RHP. Started the season with the Bulls and appeared in 13 games (23 innings), but did not do well. Was sent down to Montgomery where he also did not do well. Stats.
Jake McGee (23). LHP. Started the season with Montgomery as a starter. Came to the Bulls in August to work as a reliever (17 innings) and did very, very well. Went to Tampa in mid-September. On 40-man. Likely to start 2011 with the Bulls. Stats.
Ramon Ortiz (37). RHP. 17 innings. 4 games. Much like Bobby Livingston, brought in at the end of the season to fill some holes in starting lineup. Less successful than Livingston. First time we’ve ever seen a pitcher tossed from a game for something he apparently said, not something he did (August 30). Did not appear in the postseason. Stats.
Brian Shouse (42). LHP. Reliever. Signed in mid-August to fill some holes and possibly back up the Rays bullpen. 10 games, 12 innings. Was of little help to Bulls. Stats.
Jeff Bennett (30). RHP. Starter. Started the year with Durham. Pitched one game, faced two batters in his second start and went on DL. Had one more start on May 11 and was released. Total of 10 2/3 innings. Stats.
Paul Phillips (26). RHP. Came up from Montgomery and got in 3 appearances (10 2/3 innings) before the end of the season and two in post season (6 1/3 innings). We like Phillips, but he’s running out of time. He could easily come out of spring training on the Bulls roster. Or just as easily disappear. Stats.
Joaquin Benoit (33). RHP. Likely to become a trivia question if he keeps up his terrific performance as a Rays setup man. He did spend a couple of weeks with the Bulls at the beginning of the year, making 8 appearances for 9 2/3 innings, 2 saves and a loss. Swapped out for Mike Ekstrom. Stats.
Jason Cromer (29). LHP. 8 innings. 4 games. A favorite of WDBB, Jason could not get his arm/elbow working right this year. He did show up for four games in late May/early June. He on the books as pitching a couple of games/innings in mid-August down in the Gulf Coast League, so we can hope. But have to say that it doesn’t look well. Jason’s running out of time. Stats.
Justin Garcia (24). RHP. Reliever. 4 2/3 innings. If you been reading this far, this is the punch line. Justin Garcia, as far as we can tell, has never been to Durham, NC. He came up from Montgomery and pitched two games in relief against Indianapolis, then went from there to the Charlotte Stone Crabs. Obvious candidate for the Moonlight Graham Award. Stats.
Alex Cobb (22). RHP. Starter. Alex did not play for the Bulls in the regular season. He did come up for the postseason and took a loss in his first appearance. Nevertheless, he is a very, very promising young pitcher, one of two on this year’s Biscuits squad on the Rays 40-man (Jake McGee being the other one). If we’re lucky, we’ll see a lot of him next year. Stats.

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.

Season Ends Well

Game 143: Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay Rays) 6; Norfolk Tides (Baltimore Orioles) 5 (12 Innings)
Season: 88-55
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Triangle Offense

Another great day for baseball at the DBAP and appropriately a nail-biter to end the season. The Bulls attendance pushed over 500,000 on the year which surely makes the front office happy (locally, both teams had good years, and a good Labor Day turnout).

In the stands we were expecting a swift-moving, swing-away sort of game. That’s pretty much what it was — only two walks were awarded on the day. It just went on much longer than we expected.

We were treated to a couple of very nice plays, especially in the rough 4th inning. Bases were loaded on Bulls pitcher Bobby Livingston when he awkwardly flipped a comebacker to catcher Kyle Holloway at home plate. Holloway made the play, saving a run. The bases were still loaded when the next batter singled home a run, but a perfect throw from Leslie Anderson in left to home caught the next runner and ended the inning.

As on the day prior, Omar Luna was a vacuum cleaner, this time at second base. Best of all, Mr. Luna got his first home run of the year (he only has four in his three-year professional career). A fitting exclamation point to a very fine year by this young ball player.

And then there was Paul Phillips. Most of the crowd would not have known that he was just arriving from Jacksonville, Florida where the Biscuits finished their season. And surely Phillips himself would not have expected to go out and spend six innings on the mound. But that’s what happened. His first inning, the 7th, was a bit (well, to be honest, a lot) shaky. And at the top of the 8th Tide (and former Bull) Ryan Hughes tied the game with a home run. After that Phillips did not let another man on base until the top of the 12th, and that guy got stranded. Very impressive performance.

Out in the West Division, Louisville won their last game and Columbus lost theirs, putting the Bats into the championship slot. That means that the Bulls will be playing the Bats in the first round of the playoffs in what has become a routine matchup of the best managers in Triple A baseball.

This should be an interesting series. The Bulls are actually in pretty good shape. We don’t know all that much about the reinforcements from Montgomery, but neither will the Bats. We’ve got some solid veterans — Chris Richard, Elliot Johnson, Justin Ruggiano, Joe Dillon, Angel Chavez, Fernando Perez. Just looking at that list gives me great confidence.

Perfect Night For Baseball; Too Bad We ...

Game 141: Durham Bulls 6; Norfolk Tides 7 (10 innings)
Season: 86-55; Home Games Remaining: 2
Wrap, Box

You know things are going to be a bit odd when you come through the gate, take a look at the lineup cards, and see Bobby Livingston batting DH. Livingston? A pitcher? How come?

Probably a couple of reasons. The Bulls are short of position players (usually have 12, now have 11 on the list). Then Angel Chavez and Justin Ruggiano got banged up on Friday night. That meant the Bulls were down to a choice between catcher Kyle Holloway or a pitcher. Which leaves me with this image in my head (probably not fair, but it’s there) of Bobby Livingston jumping up and down on the bench, waving his hand and saying, “Send me in coach! Send me in!” I’m guessing he likes to hit and he’s spent some time with National League teams so he isn’t a complete stranger to the craft.

But that was before the game started. The oddness continued into the first inning when with just one out the Bulls were down 4-0, Ramon Ortiz had left the game, and Dale Thayer was taking warmup pitches. (Note: no word on Ortiz’ problem/condition).

After that it was a glass half-full/half-empty kind of game. I’ll take a mostly half-full look.

The Bulls went through five relief pitchers and they mostly did just fine. Notable was R. J. Swindle’s two innings. He looked a lot like the guy we were seeing until recently. Here’s hoping he keeps it up. Dale Thayer didn’t look all that good, but not bad either. Winston Abreu can’t go two innings. Charlie knows it. Winston knows it. But what else was he going to do for the 10th, put Angel Chavez in?

Well, that apparently was what he was going to do before the Bulls got within a run in the bottom of the 8th. Chavez was warming up to come in for the 9th, but then sat down and Winston Abreu started warming up.

New guy Kyle Holloway had his moment when he came in for Bobby Livingston (0 for 3, by the way), hit a double, then score the tying run in the 9th.

On the half-empty side of things, Leslie Anderson doesn’t seem comfortable at the plate or in the field. Did he really think he’d be playing for the Rays in September? Is that what’s going on? Hard to tell.

Nevin Ashley gets to be the goat since he was the catcher of record for the wild pitch that allowed the winning run, and got the last out with a runner in scoring position in the 10th.

Nevertheless, the Bulls did well to just get back into the game after that awful first inning.

Now, what are the Rays going to do about our lineup? Even if Ortiz and Shouse are moved off the current roster, there’s still only room for one pitcher, and that will need to be a starter.
The Biscuits’ loss last night put them out of the Southern League playoffs, but not sure who down there will be a help. But if there’s a choice, my vote is for defensive skills (let’s not give away a playoff game) among the position players and craftiness among the pitchers.

If you haven’t noticed, broadcasts of the games seem to have been switched to 99.9 FM for the last couple of days. And today’s game is at 5:00.

A final note about last night’s game:

Wasn’t that a wonderful night for baseball? Great crowd. Perfect weather.

Playoff Pitching — 1

If any reader of this blog ever had any doubt that baseball is a demanding sport, consider this:

Of the five starting pitchers who began the 2010 for the Bulls, four are on the disabled list — Heath Phillips, Virgil Vasquez, Carlos Hernandez, and Jeff Bennett (who ended up in Nashville in the PCL league where he is on the DL). The exception, of course, is Jeremy Hellickson. And we will mention in passing our favorite guy, Jason Cromer, who never really showed up this year.

Meanwhile, according to Adam Sobsey over at Triangle Offense, this is the rotation that Charlie Montoyo is looking at for the playoffs:

Richard De Los Santos, Ramon Ortiz, Brian Baker, Aneury Rodriguez, Bobby Livingston.

We’ve got decent numbers on three of those guys, so here are their charts. Once they get a few more innings in, I’ll put up what we’ve got on Ortiz and Livingston.

A bit of apples and oranges here in terms of how each player got to where he is statistically. De Los Santos has, by far, the most innings and the most starts. But they all have been relievers and starters this year. The curves show what a steady performer De Los Santos has been all year, while Baker has been much more erratic (sometimes in a good way). At the moment, Baker certainly appears to be on a slight improvement trend while Rodriguez is on a very slight downward trend.

Thanks, Joe

Game 138: Durham Bulls 4; Charlotte Knights 3
Season: 86-52; Home Games Remaining: 5
Wrap, Box, Triangle Offense

Here’s the short version of last night’s game:

Bulls starting pitcher new guy Bobby Livingston and Knights starting pitcher Jeff Marquez did fine. Bulls reliever Dale Thayer and Knights reliever Ryan Braun stunk up the yard, but Bulls were ahead by one run when Joe Bateman came on in the 9th.

A slightly longer version:

Livingston left the game in the 8th with the Bulls down 1-0, one out, and a man on third. Thayer came in. Single, single, hit by pitch, single and two runs were in and it would have been worse if not for a clever play by Angel Chavez.

In the bottom of the 8th Elliot Johnson (who else?) doubled with two out, got to third on a wild pitch, and Justin Ruggiano walked. In came Braun for the Knights. Chris Richard singled, Johnson scored, Ruggiano to second base. Joe Dillon singled, Ruggiano scored, Richard to third base. J. J. Furmaniak came in to run for Joe Dillon. He stole second base. Leslie Anderson singled. Richard scored (game tied). Furmaniak to third base. Angel Chavez doubled. Furmaniak scored the go ahead run.

Joe Bateman came in and it was three up-three down for his fourth save.

How cool is that?

I did make it to the game last night — yahoo. But left at the top of the 7th. Nevertheless, listened on the way home and the 7th and 8th innings went on so long I was able to see the end of the 8th on TV. That means I was able to note the key oddity of the game — Angel Chavez playing first base. That means that Chavez has now played every position in the infield except catcher, but including pitcher and designated hitter. Why was he playing first? Well, J. J. Furmaniak had come in to run for Joe Dillon and he stayed in to play third base and Chavez was moved to first. So, maybe if you see Angel putting on catcher’s gear he’s going for his last unplayed position.

Speaking of catchers, you may have seen the name Hollaway on the back of a Bull's jersey last night. He’s a catcher coming up from Single A ball in the Rays system. This appears to be his first year in professional baseball. A bit more info from Adam Sobsey at the Triangle Offense link.

Now, just for a moment, let us explain the headline.

Joe Bateman made his 52nd appearance last night. That means that in more than a third of the Bulls games this year Mr. Bateman has gone to the mound. How has he done? How about an ERA of 1.71? On more innings, 73, than any other Bulls reliever. A FIP of 3.12? Six wins and no losses. Four saves (all in recent weeks when he seems to have gotten more opportunities). The last time he gave up a run was nine appearances ago (August 10th). Plus he’s fun to watch. There’s no doubt that both Joe Bateman and Winston Abreu could help the Rays, but neither has been given a shot this year (so far). Here’s hoping that they do — but wait until after the playoffs, please.

Speaking of the Rays: Desmond Jennings started in right field down in St. Pete last night, batting second in the lineup. He was 0 for 3 and got pulled in the 8th for Zobrist who pinch-hit (drew a walk, scored the winning run, and stayed in the game in right). He was interviewed prior to the game by Bulls broadcaster Neal Solondz, who has been in Tampa doing pre and post game stuff for the Rays. Neal due back tonight — another yahoo!

Picture of the day: Just a look at the extraordinary run production of the Durham Bulls this year — 729 runs in 138 games! That is an average of more than five runs per game. And 70 more runs than the Rays have scored, but who's counting? And the season isn't over yet.

Lost Days

Game 132: Durham Bulls 4; Gwinnett Braves 11
Wrap, Box

Game 133: Durham Bulls 3; Gwinnett Braves 4
Wrap, Box

Game 134: Durham Bulls 1; Charlotte Knights 3
Wrap, Box
Season: 83-51

Don’t want to get to upset over this trip. Counting today (Sunday) the Bulls have played 18 games in 17 days, all but two of them on the road. We’ve already done some ranting about this weird schedule, but it really is tough on the team. Fortunately, the Bulls come home for eight days at home and a day off before they go play either Louisville or Columbus.

The game stories, sad as they are, are at the links. But a few oddities are worth pointing out.

• Angel Chavez got his first chance to shine as a pitcher in the first game against the Braves. Pitched a scoreless inning.
• In this entire year, the Bulls have lost on a walk-off only five times, but twice in the last two days.
• Because of some exceedingly weird lineup juggling yesterday Justin Ruggiano got in some time at third base! Just an inning, but he handled his one opportunity cleanly.
• As part of that same weirdness, new guy pitcher Bobby Livingston got an at bat, and drew a walk.
• All that weirdness was driven by Joe Dillon coming out of the game.

Enough. What about other stuff?

• Jeremy Hellickson’s first try as a reliever did not go very well.
• Dan Johnson was a hero in yesterday’s game against the Red Sox.
• Blogger at DRaysBay likes Elliot as much as we do.

Bulls Win South

Image courtesy Durham Bulls

Game 126: Durham Bulls 3, Norfolk Tides 1
Season: 79-47; Road Trip: 6-3; Streak: 5-0
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

The Bulls clinched their fourth-in-a-row championship of the International League South Division last night when they beat Norfolk 3-1 and the Gwinnett Braves lost 3-4 to the Charlotte Knights. T-shirts were on sale within ten minutes after the game was over. That was a hint that the championship was not a surprise, and it wasn’t. Other than the hiccup just after the all-star break (which the Bulls followed up with an eleven-game winning streak), the Bulls have had and continue to have a great year. Video highlights at link on Bulls home page include a very nifty game-ending, championship-winning double play initiated by Justin Ruggiano.

Last night was a good example of the kind of team we have this year. It was the Bulls fifth win in a row and they have made that run with only two starters being our “regular” starters. I put regular in quotes since neither of those two (Aneury Rodriguez and Richard De Los Santos) came to the Bulls with the intent of them being starting pitchers. The other three starters in this run were Darin Downs (recently up from Montgomery to work in relief), Bobby Livingston (new guy), and Ramon Ortiz (even newer guy).

Still, what better guy to get the save than Joe Bateman? More appearances than any other Bulls pitcher this year.

I was not listening when Ortiz was on the mound last night, so didn’t get any impressions of his performance. Comments from readers welcome. Did notice that Jake McGee got the win and kept his 0.00 ERA intact.

Offensively two mature (old) guys showed the way. Chris Richard and Rocco Baldelli got Durham’s only hits, but they were enough. Pleased to see Baldelli’s first home run. Have to wonder how long he will stay with the Bulls. Would love to see him stick with the team long enough to play in Durham.

Noted that Fernando Perez started the game, first start in quite a while (0 for 3).

Joe Dillon is on the DL, apparently due to worries about hamstring, but not a re-injury.

Now the trick is going to be keeping the focus for the next couple of weeks. Charlie Montoyo and his crew appear to be really good at that, so not really very concerned.

Except that Dale Thayer is off to the Rays, so turmoil in bullpen is not going to let up.

Webworld

• Interesting podcast/interview with Charlie Montoyo from Thursday evening. Speaks to roster changes, young pitchers, Elliot Johnson and Rocco Baldelli.
• Ramon Ortiz gets a profile over at The Process Report.
• At the same site there’s is a review of the Rule 5 draft. Don’t understand that? Join the club. Nevertheless, one current Bull and a couple that we’ve seen are apparently affected: Anuery Rodriguez, Heath Rollins, and Emeel Salem.
• Yesterday John Romano at the St. Petersburg Times made the argument for sending Jeremy Hellickson back to Durham for a couple of weeks. Well, after another very impressive start out in Oakland, the Rays did send him to the minors, just not to the Bulls. Stories here and here. Surely more to come on the usual Rays blogs.
• For those interested in minor league life here’s a good, if overlong, article (cries out for an editor to whack about 2,000 words out of it).
• Over at Flip Flop Fly Ball he takes a look at the Red Sox.

[Update: Thanks to careful reader Samantha, here's a terrific article on last night's game with some good quotes from Charlie Montoyo.]

Rockin’ Time

Game 125: Durham Bulls (Rays) 8; Norfolk Tides (Orioles) 6
Season: 78-47
Wrap, Box

Pictured above are the new furnishings being installed in the Durham Bulls bullpen.

I’ve mentioned a couple of times this year the “maturity” of the Bulls position players. With the Rays’ signing of “veterans” Ramon Ortiz and Brian Shouse we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the maturity of the pitching staff as well. Of the three new guys (Paul Phillips doesn’t count. He’s already gone back to Montgomery), Bobby Livingston at 27 is the youngster. At 37 and 41, Ortiz and Shouse are definitely at the other end of the scale.

What’s going on? Not really sure, but here’s my speculation. I think that the Rays system is simply caught up in a broader cultural/demographic phenomenon, the “half-back”. To explain that, let’s go back to my youth in Florida. In that time, St Petersburg was known to folks living elsewhere in the state as the “City of the Living Dead,” a reference to the average age of the city’s residents. Nowadays here in North Carolina we are witnessing the “half-back” phenomenon, which refers to folks who retire to Florida and then move, “half way back.” Have the Rays simply shortened the process and just retired a couple of guys directly to North Carolina early?

On the other hand, and a perspective encouraged by those of my age and appearance , what’s wrong with a “mature” approach to the game? What’s wrong with being comfortable out there on a summer evening? What’s wrong with liver spots instead of tattoos? We all know that old guys can be really sneaky. What’s wrong with tripping up a guy coming home with your cane?

Given the length of this road trip, I’m wondering how many of the new guys will still be with the Bulls by the time they get back to Durham.

Bulls Pitching Roster Sorted By Age

Couple of interesting points in last night’s game.

• Leslie Anderson got his first home run and, in another at bat, got his first hit off a left-handed pitcher (a point of some concern to Rays Index a while back).
• Rocco Baldelli was 0 for 5.
• Nobody’s pitching (except for Winston Abreu, of course) was impressive. Norfolk and Durham had 14 hits apiece.
• Bulls did not hit into a double play.

Bulls Win; PPA Winner Announced

Game 122: Durham Bulls (Rays) 8; Charlotte Knights (White Sox) 7
Season: 75-47; Games Left: 21
Wrap, Box

Interesting game last night and yet more roster changes, but first let’s get to something much more important —

This year’s first winner of WDBB’s prestigious Prescient Prognosticator Award.

The PPA is given in recognition of a particularly insightful prediction (guess might be the better word). In this case it goes to Chris D for the comment yesterday, in the context of what the Rays might do now that Carlos Pena is back from the DL.

More likely there will be some sort of “hurt roster spot” injury for 15 days to get Tampa until 9/1. I’m not sure if Kapler has played recently, so that’s a possibility.

And that’s exactly what happened. Gabe Kapler is on the DL for a “sprained ankle”. See also Rays Index for other comments. Congrats to Chris D.

Coming off a volunteer shift last night I turned on the radio at 7:20 to catch up to the game. Discovered that the game had not yet started because there was only one umpire at the park. Big traffic jam out on the nearby interstate and the other two umpires were caught up in it. That gave Neil Solondz time to go over some of the changes to the Bulls lineup. We’ll do the same.

Starting pitcher was a brand new Bull, Bobby Livingston. Left-handed pitcher coming to the Bulls as a free agent. Most recently with the Albuquerque Isotopes (AAA, LA Dodgers). Gotta hand it to the Rays organization to even know that Livingston was available. I’m guessing that they have never seen a lefty they didn’t like or were at least willing to give a shot. And we really can’t gripe. They could have left us twisting in the breeze at this point in the season. Note that the Bulls have put three new pitchers on the mound in the last four days. Here's hoping that X. Hernandez, our pitching coach, can at least remember their names.

Designated Hitter, Rocco Baldelli. Last seen in a Bulls uniform in 2002. So that explains why Mr. Salem went back to Montgomery. Should have guessed about that.

Bulls’ roster now shows the sad row of guys on the DL: Phillips, Hernandez, Cromer, Colina, Perez. Vasquez not yet on the list, but he’ll show up soon. Tough, tough year for those young men.

The Game

Bulls win! The Knights got pushed into third place in the South Division and Gwinnett rose into second, 14½ games behind the Bulls.

Mr. Livingston had a bit of trouble shaking the rust out, giving up five runs in 3 ⅓ innings, including 2 home runs (always a problem in that ball park). But he also had 5 strikeouts. Joe Bateman got the win on his longest outing of the year, 2 ⅓ innings. Was also his 46th (!) game this year, the most of any Bull. The cautious approach to Jake McGee continued and he had a fine 21 pitch outing. (Note: I wholehearted agree with the Rays/Bulls caution. Mr. McGee has already had that arm operated on and he’s one hell of a pitcher. Caution is good.). R.J. Swindle got touched for a homer, but held on. Winston Abreu got his 18th save.

The Bulls loaded the bases with one out in the first inning. Does that sound familiar? This time they did push a run across on a sac fly by Rocco Baldelli. They were quiet until the 4th when they scored four runs, the highlight being J. J. Furmaniak’s first home run as a Bull. Nevertheless, the Bulls needed a two run homer by Chris Richard in the 5th to stay ahead of Charlotte.