Roster Moves, a Couple of Losses, DJ Still in the Game

Game 36, May 13, BB&T Ballpark, Charlotte, North Carolina
Durham Bulls (Rays): 3
Charlotte Knights (White Sox): 8
Wrap, Box

Game 37, May 14, Charlotte
Bulls: 7
Knights: 4
Wrap, Box

Game 38, May 15, Charlotte
Bulls:4
Knights: 5
12 innings
Season: 16-22; Trip: 1-2
Wrap, Box

After a brief Bulls 1-run lead in the 1st, Blake Snell gave up 3 runs in the bottom of the inning. He seemed OK for the rest of his 5 innings. Then the Bulls uncharacteristically had a comeback moment in the top of the 9th and went ahead 4-3. However, Mark Sappington walked two batters (he did have a K in there) for his part of the 9th. Manager Jared Sandberg wisely(?) replaced him with Tyler Sturdevant who got the second out before walking the next two batters force in the tying run (which was charged to Sappington).

We had to wait until the bottom of 12th inning for the game to be over, although there was a high /low point in the top of the 11th when pinch-runner Patrick Leonard got picked off first base. Nevertheless, in the 12th a single, sac bunt, stolen 3rd base, and wild pitch by Parker Markel ended it all.

Bulls are now in Lawrenceville, Georgia, where they will play the Gwinnett Braves tonight.

Outside the game (playing a little catchup) —

• Jhan Mariñez won’t be coming back. After being DFA’d by the Rays, the Brewers picked him up. Bad news for the Bulls. He had a stellar 2015 for the team with an astonishing ERA of 1.92 in 61 innings, over 45 games. Good luck with Milwaukee!
• Mikie Mahtook is off the disabled list (3 for 11 in last 3 games) and Jake Goebbert went on the disabled list.
• Danny Farquar got called up, but was then Designated for Assignment (don’t ask me how that works).
• RHP Neil Wagner, who started the season on the DL, got called up to Bulls after a few innings at Port Charlotte. 32 years old. Has not pitched regularly since 2013 (injured in 2014). Stats. He pitched 1⅓ innings on Saturday.
• Taylor Motter was called up to the Rays on Saturday. Good luck!
• Remember Dan Johnson? Well, he’s still playing baseball—a little bit of 1st base and he’s still working on his knuckleball — in an indy league. Good story about the impact of a torn fingernail on prowess of a knuckleballer. [Tnks to DRaysBay for pointing out the link.]
• Blake Snell is the only healthy pitcher with the Bulls who is on the Rays 40-man.

Even More Baseball

Game 31, May 8, DBAP

Norfolk Tides: 1
Durham Bulls: 3

13 Innings
Season: 14-17; Home Stand: 2-1
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

The two hitters with the worst batting averages in the Bulls lineup, Jake Goebbert (.160) and Carlos Corporan (.180), each hit crucial home runs. And the Bulls seem to have fallen in love with the DBAP (at least they’re spending a lot of time there).

They played 10 innings on Friday, 11 innings on Saturday, and 13 last night. They have used 13 pitchers, including reserve catcher Mayo Acosta who got the win last night.

Until the Bulls got the win, the story line from last night was going to be how all the Norfolk runs were unearned. The error plague that has created problems for the Bulls all year was continuing. However, after the Tides got their 4th unearned run in the 11th, Goebbert contributed his first home run of the year to re-tie the game at 4-4. Having run out of pitchers, Mayo Acosta came on in the 13th and even got a K in his first appearance as a pitcher since 2014 when he put in 3 innings in similar circumstances. Then Carlos Corporan hit his first homer of the year to bring in Patrick Leonard for the walk-off win.

Parker Markel arrived from Montgomery just in time to put in three innings. Stats. That’s two new pitchers for the Bulls in the last two games.

After not calling for an intentional walk all year, Jared Sandberg has called for 3 over the last 5 games.

Outside the game —

• Matt Andriese had a terrific winning start with the Rays. Wonder if he’s going to stick up there?
• Which is a problem for the Bulls because backup starter Eddie Gamboa just went on the disabled list (did not hear why) and the reason Austin Pruitt only pitched three innings on Saturday was that he developed a blister on his finger.
• Jhan Marinez has been Designated For Assignment by the Rays. Even if he isn’t claimed by somebody else, that takes a couple of days to sort itself out.
• The Bulls TV schedule has been published. Based on my look at the streaming from other parks, the Post 50 crew is the best in the International League.

What a Difference a Day Makes

Game 19, April 25, Durham Bulls Athletic Park
Indianapolis Indians: 12
Durham Bulls: 1
Season: 10-9; Home Stand: 1-1
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

On Sunday we saw the best Bulls run differential of the year, +6. On Monday we saw the worst, -11.

Austin Pruitt, who, until last night, had a stellar start to his season, in just 3.2 innings saw his ERA go from 1.89 to 3.57. His FIP grew from 2.40 to 3.60; his WHIP from a superb 0.68 to a still pretty good 1.10. What hurt the most was what happened after a brilliant catch and throw home by Dayron Varona in the 2nd inning, that made up for the two singles that opened the inning. Pruitt then walked the next three batters, pushing in a run. A Taylor Motter home run kept the Bulls in the game, but 3 Indian runs in the 3rd and 4 more in the 4th could not be overcome.

The Bulls' new pitcher came in for the 9th, right-handed (of course) Danny Farqhar. Not an auspicious beginning as he gave up 2 more runs. Farquar is a 29 year old who opened the season with the Rays after several years with the Mariners. This year he’s only had 5.1 innings in 6 appearances. He’s does have 185 innings of major league time so it's a puzzle that he has not made more appearances with the Rays.  However, the Rays sent him down essentially in exchange for Jhan Marinez. With his time in service it’s surprising that he had options left. Stats.

Cole Figueroa was one of my all-time favorite Bulls and it was mostly good to see him again. I’d rather he’d been able to stick with the Yankees or the Pirates, and I’d rather he did not get his first hits this year against the Bulls — a single, a double, and a triple with 3 RBIs. Maybe he’ll go back up to the Pirates before we play against him again.

Cupholders!

Now for something much more important than my usual geek stuff. You may never have noticed that the front row of the Terrace View seats don’t have cupholders — they don’t. That's a circumstance that has led to more than one spilled cup of beer over the years. Mike Birling, the justly famous general manager of the Durham Bulls, promised that cupholders for those seats would be part of the multi-million dollar renovation a couple of years back, but they weren’t. In our annual conversations on the topic since then he has assured me (and others) that he’d take care of it. Several years on, after a visit to a local auto parts store, we’ve fixed the issue ourselves. Voila! Cupholders!

Win, Roster Moves, and More

The Durham Bulls go into a double-header today after a rainout and a flurry of roster transactions following Thursday’s win:

Game 15, April 21, Harbor Park, Norfolk, Virginia
Durham Bulls: 4; Norfolk Tides: 2; 10 innings
Season: 9-6; Trip: 5-3
Wrap, Box, Virginian-Pilot

On a very windy day, the game went into the 10th tied at 2-2. A Richie Shaffer double made all the difference and Jhan Marinez got his second win in relief.

But then things got busy.

• Blake Snell got called up to pitch against the Yankees. This attracted a lot of attention in the webworld, including these notes from the Tampa Tribune, Rays Index, MLB Trade Rumors. Apparently he will be sent back to the Bulls after his start today.
• Young Chih-Wei Hu has been called up from Montgomery to fill Snell’s spot. He’s carrying an ERA of 0.00 in his first two starts with the Biscuits. He could be fun to watch if he gets a start in Durham. Stats.
• MLB Trade Rumors reported that Rays reliever Danny Farquhar was being sent down. Have not seen that anywhere else and not quite sure how that works out.
• Mikie Mahtook went on the disabled list for a pulled muscle, joining Luke Maile, who may, or may not, come off soon.
• To fill Mahtook’s spot Cameron Seitzer has returned from “extended spring training”. Seitzer played in game 1 this year, and several games last year. He was taken off the roster to make room for veteran Jake Goebbert. Goebbert is batting .050 in his 11 games (2 for 40 with 5BB) since being claimed from the  Pirates. Seems like the Bulls would have been better off if Seitzer hadn’t been gathering rust these last 14 games.

Outside the game —

• The DBAP got new infield grass (So now I get to worry about brown patches in right field). All because those Trinity College guys are messing things up. And then the ACC tournament is coming. But does look good from the stadium cam. 
• N&O columnist Jake Shaffer reported that Peanut Guy, Da’Quan Samuel, got “fired” because season ticket holders were getting annoyed. Well, yeah, Samuel was a bit over-the-top, but so is Shaffer. “The peanuts will never taste as good.” Really? On the other hand, the column got a comments supporting Samuel. For myself, after two years, yeah, I got annoyed sometimes. Particularly on days when the stands were almost empty. On the other hand, on an Education Day it was fun.

Sandberg Gives Away a Durham Bulls Game

Game 6, April 12, Durham Bulls Athletic Park

Gwinnett Braves: 6

Durham Bulls: 5

10 innings

Season: 4-2
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Gwinnett Wrap

What in the world was outfielder Dayron Varona doing on the mound in the 10th inning? Especially after reliever Jhan Marinez had only thrown 14 pitches in the 9th? And at least two other relievers were available? Varona in nine years as a professional baseball player (7 in Cuba) had, according to Baseball-Reference.Com (stats), never pitched in a game. Result: Gwinnett scored a run and the Bulls did not recover in the bottom of the inning.

I’m sure there’s an explanation. Something to do with orders from Tampa Bay, or the problems with today's 11:00 am game, or something like that. Wondering why either the Herald-Sun failed to ask or Manager Jared Sandberg failed to answer the question.

The Braves got a gift from the Bulls. I’m guessing they didn’t even say thank you.

Cruisin' Into the Seventh ...

Wrap, Box

Season: 71-69; This Trip: 1-1
Games left in season: 4
Wrap, Box, Charlotte Observer

The game started at noon because two Carolina football teams were playing on a Thursday (!) night in downtown Charlotte (one of the teams lost).

Pretty much the Bulls were cruisin’. Boog Powell was back in leadoff and had a great, great game with 4 hits (two doubles and a home run). New guys Cameron Seitzer, Alec Sole, and Wilmer Dominguez were in the lineup and did just fine, although Sole didn’t get a hit. The whole team had five doubles and a home run. They were ahead 7-3 going into the 7th. You’d think it would be enough.

With the noonday sun, came a little rain, in the shape of absolutely the worst performance of the relief crew this year. Too bad, because Andrew Bellatti had seemed to be sorting himself out and new guy Parker Markel was doing just fine. But Bellatti gave up 3 homers and five runs in his time on the mound and Markel gave up another one in the hitter-friendly park.

Outside the game —

• With the loss the the Bulls were officially eliminated from the South Division race. To be realistic, they'd not been in the running for along time. That was not what I’d been hoping for. What I’d like to see by the end to this season is a stable .500 record and maybe, just maybe, getting up into third place. That’s a maybe for the Bulls, but they’ve got to win, and Charlotte has to lose in a race that’s getting very tight. 
• Standings
• The South Division race is down to just a one game difference with Gwinnett having a very good shot at pushing Norfolk off the bus. To get there the Bulls will have to be the spoilers for them. Gwinnett is one game back. Gwinnett and Norfolk play tonight in Norfolk, but the key games will be the last three Bulls/Tides games in Durham and the Braves/Knights games down in Georgia.
• The South isn’t the only race undecided. The West Division is a dead heat. The difference there is that the second place team, whichever one it is, has a lock on a playoff spot.
• About playoffs from the players’ perspective: David Hall of the Virginian-Pilot has a terrific set of interviews with Tides players from a couple of days ago. Worth a read. Players, until they get on the field, aren’t big fans of minor league playoffs.

Goodmon Awards Announced

I like these Durham Bulls awards and I almost always agree with them. Here’s this year’s:

• MVP: Taylor Motter. You bet. He was fun to watch and did everything very, very well.
• Pitcher of the Year: Scott Diamond. Again, agree that he was the best of the bunch
• Team Spirit: Jhan Mariñez. I like the choice. Terrific reliever. Expect him to be on next year's 40-man. Maybe this year's.
• Community Service: J.P. Arencibia. Makes sense to me.

Congratulations!

Here’s how the IL South looks today

click on chart for larger image

And here’s the “path” to what WDBB considers a reasonable goal for this year’s team, but they can still make it into 3rd place with some luck (and a win today). Four games left! Hang on!

Looong Game and a Sweep

Season: 62-66; Home Stand: 3-0
Wrap, Box

Infielder Taylor Motter took the mound in the top of the 14th after the Bulls had run out of pitchers. He set down the Mud Hens in six pitches and the sense was that things had changed. The Bulls had been putting plenty of runners on base (they stranded 11 on the night), but couldn’t push anyone across. Until the 14th. Mikie Mahtook doubled, Richie Shaffer got an intentional walk, and Nick Franklin doubled Mahtook home.

That ended the longest game of the year for the Durham Bulls. For the first time since early June the Bulls won three games in a row. And throughout these three days the team seemed loose and ready to play.

Other good things that happened along the way were Joey Butler's home run (his 4th as a Bull), Richie Shaffer’s 19th home run (in 60 games), the smart base running by Shaffer in the 8th on a Nick Franklin sacrifice fly that tied the game, and solid relief work by Jim Miller, C.J. Riefenhauser, and Jhan Marinez (two days in a row). Worrisome? That would be Scott Diamond's 6th inning.

Outside the game —

Who’s going to St. Petersburg on September call-ups? Your guess is as good as mine, maybe better. But we have to start with players on the 40-man, so here’s that list. If anyone else is to be called up then room will have to be made for him one way or other (and the Rays are pretty good and finding that “other” gimmick). Note that this list is constantly in motion.

Pitchers

• Andrew Bellatti
• Matt Moore
• C.J. Riefenhauser
• Kirby Yates

Hitters

• Ryan Brett
• Jake Elmore
• Nick Franklin
• Hak-Ju Lee
• Richie Shaffer
• Joey Butler
• Mikie Mahtook

The Durham Bulls at the All-Star Break - Part 2 - Individuals

Pitchers

Unlike Part 1's look at team performance, looking at individual pitching performance for a minor league team is much more of a problem. As mentioned, the Bulls have had 30 players throw the ball this year, but 6 of those don’t really count. Several others have only made very brief appearances before going up to the Rays or back to Montgomery (Brandon Gomes, Jim Patterson, Kyle Winkler). A few others are simply gone from the Rays system (Andy Oliver, Grant Balfour, Preston Guilmet, Matt Buschmann, Ronald Belisario). And at least one will probably make his way back up (Bryce Stowell). That doesn’t count the back-and-forths. So, take all of these charts with a grain of salt and if there’s a number that seems odd, check out the innings pitched number, we could be dealing with a very small sample size. We’ve essentially pared this down to the folks who might at start out the post-All-Star Break with the Bulls. Very likely that at least one, probably two, will not be on the active roster next Thursday.

click on chart for larger image

I’m fairly agnostic on the ERA vs FIP (Fielding Independent Percentage), so here are both in one chart, sorted by ERA. Since some folks seem to think that FIP says more about the future, then a high FIP/low ERA seems weaker than the opposite. Overall, this is not a particularly impressive set of numbers. Only Scott Diamond among those left standing in the starting pitcher crew has particularly good numbers. Andrew Bellatti has been with Tampa Bay or on the DL most of the season. Jhan Mariñez looks awfully good, and Jim Miller has been something of an iron man keeping things alive. The best Bulls starter, Matt Buschmann, and the best reliever, Ronald Belisario, didn’t make it through the season in the Rays system. (Voice from back of head — “Get over it, Chris, they’re gone” Yeah, but… )

The Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched (WHIP) stat shows some of the weak spots on the crew.

Lastly, our home-brewed measure of pitching efficiency, or pitches per out, also sorts out in an interesting way.

Hitters

This table is sorted by wOBA, a newish hitting stat that has a great reputation. Mostly it tracks OPS, on-base percentage plus slugging, but the stats geeks think it works better. Also included is Weighted Runs Above Average (wRAA), a number that speaks to me as a way to judge how much a player is contributing to the team. What jumps out for 2015 is how much Taylor Motter has contributed to the Bulls this year. He has a terrific wOBA and a team-leading wRAA. Well-deserved All-Star, even if he didn’t play.

Tim Beckham was just called up, but I left him on the list just to show where he fit among the rest in his short time with the Bulls this year. We will have to see if Richie Shaffer's star continues to shine. No reason for it not to. Boog Powell’s numbers will likely drop just a bit (but that means he may stick with the Bulls the rest of the year rather than get called up). What’s a considerable worry for the Bulls, Tampa Bay (likely), and the individual players, are the young men on the 40-man roster who are not doing so well — Ryan Brett, Mikie Mahtook, and Hak-Ju Lee. No doubt they can turn things around. But time is running out for this year.

Name	Age	PA	AVG	OPS	wOBA	wRAA
Richard Shaffer	24	154	.284	1.020	.449	14.4
Boog Powell	22	62	.313	.892	.410	4.0
Taylor Motter	25	361	.306	.848	.384	16.6
*Nick Franklin	24	74	.284	.829	.380	3.2
*Tim Beckham	25	43	.297	.805	.368	1.5
Corey Brown	29	282	.227	.748	.340	3.9
J.P. Arencibia	29	278	.228	.708	.321	0.0
*Hak-ju Lee	24	233	.231	.617	.289	-5.5
*Mikie Mahtook	25	262	.224	.606	.284	-7.0
Luke Maile	24	209	.188	.574	.278	-6.6
*Ryan Brett	23	167	.205	.575	.269	-6.4
Vince Belnome	27	187	.173	.530	.262	-8.1
Bobby Wilson	32	42	.167	.480	.233	-2.7

* = Players on 40-man roster of Tampa Bay Rays

Source: FanGraphs

Hitless Wonderfulness

Season: 47-42; Home Stand: 1-1
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

The box score really doesn’t tell the tale of the wonderful quirkiness of the first 5 innings of last night’s game. We were almost, but not quite, sad for Gwinnett pitcher Alex White. We got over it.

Here’s the oddity: Not one of the first three Bulls runs of the game were “driven” in, that is, not one of the runs came home on a Durham Bulls hit. Here’s how it happened.

The first batter, Boog Powell, got on base when the catcher could not handle the strikeout pitch. Powell went to second base when Nick Franklin walked. When Taylor Motter grounded out, pitcher to first base, Powell and Franklin were in the midst of either a double steal or a hit-and-run. At any rate, Powell went full bore around third and came home with a very pretty plate-brushed slide. One run, no hits.

In the 4th inning Hak-Ju Lee drew a walk, stole second base, went to third base after a deep fly out to center field by catcher Bobby Wilson, and came home on a Vince Belnome sacrifice fly to left field.

In the 5th inning Taylor Motter walked, stole second, moved to third on a fly out to right by J.P. Arencibia, and came home on a sacrifice fly to right by Tim Beckham.

How cool is that? Three runs on no hits and the Bulls were ahead 3-2 going into the bottom of the 6th.

Then the Bulls did start hitting and the wheels really came off for the Braves. Hak-Ju Lee batted twice in the inning, doubling and scoring the first run on a Vince Belnome ground rule double, and striking out to end the inning. In the meantime the Bulls romped. The most exciting moment came from Tim Beckham’s bases-loaded single that cleared the bases and left him on third base when the throw from right field sailed into the Braves dugout.

Meanwhile, the Braves batters were taking shots at Bulls starting pitcher Scott Diamond. The first line drive hit him in the legs and he shook that off. A line drive in the last of the 3rd inning, however, went off his pitching arm and he left the game. More news today.

The recently maligned (by WDBB) bullpen came in for 6⅓ strong innings. Jeff Riefenhauser, led off and got the win. He was by WDBB favorite Jhan Mariñez for a 50 pitch, 2⅔ stretch. The game was closed out by Everett Teaford. Everett Teaford? What’s he doing in relief? That’s what he was doing for the Rays when he was up there and even though they’ve taken him off the 40-man, it looks like he’ll will be, at least for one night, a member of the relief crew.

Outside the game —

• Matt Andriese, top rider of the Durham Bulls/Tampa Bay Rays carousel is starting tonight. I’m guess he’s become a personal friend of whomever schedules Tampa-RDU flights. I’m not entirely sure, but I think there are seven transactions involved Andriese this year, none of them injury related. 
• Richie Shaffer was off to the futures game. Good luck today.
• Game time today 1:05. Need to get your praying done early.

Bounce Back?

Season: 45-41; Trip: 1-1
Wrap, Box, Charlotte Observer

Incredible as it may sound, there were no roster moves yesterday.

New guy Robert Zarate had his third start and went 5+ innings, 102 pitches, for a no-decision. But what the Bulls needed was lots of innings with a low score and that's what they got. C.J. Riefenhauser put in his second appearance in two days and got the win. Jhan Mariñez, surely sharing with Jim Miller the honor of being the strong guy in this year’s bullpen, went for a 2-inning save.

Mariñez is having a terrific year and is one of the shining lights among those who are not on the St. Petersburg carousel (he isn't on the 40-man … yet). His numbers are superb, 4-1, FIP-2.89, ERA-2.09, WHIP-0.98, in 24 appearances. His only blemishes are two blown saves. At 26 he’s still young and someone who seems very dependable. Given the turmoil that Rays have gone through, it sure is nice to have someone to depend on.

Boog Powell is doing his job as leadoff man. His On Base Percentage of .405 leads the team (although he only has 38 plate appearances under his belt). He got on base by essentially out-running and out-dodging Charlotte’s first baseman last night, then came home on Corey Brown’s home run.

Is Nick Franklin coming into his own? It’s only 17 games so far, but his numbers are fine, .288/.339/.500. His triple last night in the 2nd led to the first Bulls run of the game and his single in the 6th brought in the tying run.

After Tuesday’s disaster, this was a fine, fine performance by all.

Outside the game —

• Interesting summary of the recent home stand of the Montgomery Biscuits. Seems that managers are not happy with each other.

Mystery Pitchers; Bad Luck Ending

Season: 39-31; Home Stand: 0-3
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Starting pitcher last night was Robert Zarate. He did 4 innings. He was followed by Bradin Hagens for 3 innings. Who? Followed by whom?

Welcome to the 2015 Durham Bulls! Even with the diligent efforts of the front office, even with a program, it’s hard to keep track of the players on this year’s team. For that matter, even if you wear your radio at the park, sometimes they don’t know much about the players. So you just have to kind of figure it out on your own.

Zarate showed up a few days ago and pitched in relief in a couple of road games. Not much history available. Stats. But he looked pretty darned good last night. He only let one run in on his 61 pitches, several of which were in the high 90’s. I think he’s going to be fun to watch. He left with the game tied at 1-1.

Bradin Hagens just came up from Montgomery, where he was doing OK. Stats. He also did just fine. When he left the game was 2-2.

So it looks like the Rays have not done the Bulls too much harm in this round of moves.

Can’t say as much about this umpiring crew. So far they’ve called 10 Bulls games this year and they are not the best of the bunch. But it was a hot night and maybe, just maybe, the home plate ump could justify what was a bit of exuberant bat-tossing by both teams that led to two ejections. On the other hand, they really did miss the call on Cory Brown at second base and that really did make a difference.

Meanwhile, a bit of tactical trivia that also made a difference. Bulls managers have historically been very reluctant to call for intentional bases on balls. So far in 2015 manager Jared Sandberg has only asked for 6 in four games. The Bulls lost every one of those games.

Take last night. Top of the 10th. Game tied. Runner on second base. No outs. Jhan Marinez K’d a batter. Got a ground out (runner went  to 3B). Then told to intentionally walk Columbus’ Jesus Aguilar, who had 2 hits and 2 K’s on the night. Next batter hit a home run and Clippers were ahead 5-2.

The Bulls could not catch up. However, Third Baseman J.P. Arencibia hit his 11th home run and the Bulls did get within reach. Note: Vince Belnome started at 3B, but got thrown out of the game for throwing his bat after a called third strike in the 5th.

Outside the game —

• Former Bull, and Tampa Bay ace, Matt Moore is scheduled to start this afternoon. High hopes that he does well down in the bay area. Here too. Possibly the best pitcher we’ve had the opportunity to see here.

In the Wings —

• Over with the Montgomery Biscuits, Leonardo Reginatto started at 3B, then shifted over to pitch in the 15th(!) inning. He gave up a home run in a 1-0 loss. Juniel Querecuto was 0 for 5 at shortstop. Bryce Stowell pitched the 13th and 14th innings. Box. 

Standings

With the loss, the Charlotte Knights moved ahead of the Bulls in the International League South Division. This is a very competitive bunch of teams this year.

Arencibia/Casali Rule!

Season: 31-24; Home Stand: 7-2
Wrap, Box

Bulls fans could not have hoped for a better home stand than what we just went through. Nine games in eleven days; seven wins; good crowds, over 65,000 fans; decent, but not great, weather. Not only that, the Bulls end the stand back in a three-way tie with Charlotte and Norfolk for first place in the International League South Division.

They are off to Lawrenceville, Georgia to play the Braves for three games, then back to the DBAP. This is the first real break for the DBAP’s turf in a very, very  long time.

The fun part of last night’s game was watching J.P. Arencibia and Curt Casali shine. Neither of them is having a particularly good year at bat, but times could be changing. Arencibia played first base and batted 4th. Casali was the DH and batted fifth. Between them they accounted for 6 of the Bulls' 9 hits, 2 of the RBI, and all of the runs scored.

Arencibia started in off in the 2nd inning with a single and Casali hit a home run to bring him in (Casali’s second home run in a row since he’d homered Wednesday night in his last at bat).

With one out in the 4th inning Arencibia singled again, Casali singled him to third base, and Richie Shaffer drove him in with a double.

Arencibia led off the 6th with a double, went to third base (again) on a Casali single, and came home on a Corey Brown sacrifice fly.

Scott Diamond kept things quiet until the 5th and Sandberg was quick with the hook. Probably because the relief crew needed the work and they have been exceptional during this home stand. In the last four games they have not allowed a single earned run over those 15+ innings.

In the wings —

• Bulls reliever Kirby Yates made his first rehab appearance with the Charlotte Stone Crabs. One not-very-successful inning. Box.
• Juniel Querecuto has moved to Montgomery. He was 1 for 4 playing shortstop in a Biscuits loss to the Jacksonville Suns. Box. Wrap.

Bulls Relievers

I mentioned the relievers' recent performance above. Here’s a chart that shows how they’ve been doing this year. As with most of the charts so far it’s early days in the season and the sample size is small. This shows the ERA and the Fielding Independent Percentage (FIP) for the relief crew. FIP is one of those newish sabermetric stats that tries to focus on just those things the pitcher controls. As the season goes along FIP and ERA will probably get closer in synch. This chart is sorted by FIP.

A few more caveats: Obviously, José Dominguez’s sample is too small for any kind of conclusion, just 5 innings so far this year. Ronald Belisario’s 14 saves are the best in the International League and he’s coming up on his opt-out date. All who are on the 40-man have seen time with Tampa Bay this year. A couple of players currently with the Rays have seen significant time with the Bulls this year, but aren't on this chart.  Jim Miller and Jhan Mariñez have been really impressive and important to the Bulls this year. Even with all the caveats, for these are mostly very good numbers. The overall ERA for Bulls relievers on the year is 3.10.

click on chart for larger image

Bulls Win; Nice to See Joe Dillon Back

Dan Johnson, Joe Dillon, Jose Lobaton
Walking back to dugout after a Lobaton home run
July 5, 2010

Season: 28-23; Home Stand: 4-1
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Rays Colored Glasses

What a terrific home stand this is becoming for us fans. Big crowds. Interesting baseball. And a bunch of wins. Plus we have 4 more games to go. Life is good!

Very pleased to see our favorite 2015 Bull, Alexi Casilla, back in the game after some time on the disabled list. Slightly annoyed that WDBB is the only place that recognizes that he’s the best hitter on the team. But maybe they’ll come around.

Ryan Brett DH’d and led off with a home run his first at bat. Things were quiet until the 5th when Richie Shaffer, whose bat had been quiet since his fabulous first game with the Bulls, poked one over the Blue Monster. Unfortunately, a Shaffer error and a single took starter Scott Diamond out of the game. An unimpressive José Dominguez gave up a single and then walked in a run, bringing up some bad memories of all the runs the Chiefs had given the Bulls on Friday night. He got out of the inning, however, with a strikeout and a popup, leaving the bases loaded.

The Rays/Bulls are certainly being cautious with Mr. Dominguez. Since coming off the DL he’s only had 5 appearances, none of them particularly successful.

Jordan Norberto came on for the 7th and it got a bit ugly after two outs. Two singles and Jared Sandberg was quick with the hook, giving the ball to the spectacular young Jhan Mariñez. But Mariñez’ last outing was a one-out save on May 24th. It took him two batters to shake the rust off. First he hit a batter to load the bases, then he walked in the Chief’s second run. He got a ground out and then struck out the side in the 8th. But the game was tied.

It got very interesting in the 8th. Alexi Casilla grounded out. Ryan Brett singled off the pitcher’s glove and Taylor Motter singled to right. Mikie Mahtook struck out and Alan Dykstra came to bat.

When Mahtook came to bat, broadcaster Patrick Kinas began a lengthy exposition on the positioning of Chief’s center fielder Darin Mastroianni, pointing out how shallow he was and that, especially after Mahtook’s K, it didn’t make any sense to play that shallow. Essentially, and I’m sure he has made all his colleagues in the booth aware of it, he called the shot for Dykstra. Dykstra put the 5th pitch he saw over Mastroianni’s head, both runners scored, and the Bulls were up 4-2.

Ronald Belisario, in the grand tradition of Bulls’ closers, gave us some thrills in the 9th. He gave up two singles before Alexi Casilla started one double play, then made a very pretty grab and throw for the third out. It was his 12th save, which ranks him #2 in the International League.

Outside the game —

• About that photo up top. Joe Dillon was one of my favorite Durham Bulls back in 2009 and 2010. What I admired about him in those years was how hard he worked and how much he seemed to love the game. What I like about that photo is how looks to me so much like three guys on their way home from work. The photo says to me, “We’re baseball players, this is what we do.” You can see him tonight, probably out at third base when the Chiefs are at bat. He’s their hitting coach. Nice to see him back at the DBAP.
• When Alexi Casilla came off the DL somebody had to go. After 4 games with the Bulls, Juniel Querecuto went back to the Charlotte Stone Crabs. 
• Tampa Bay Rays infielder Tim Beckham tweaked a hamstring in last night's game in Baltimore. If serious, we can expect ripple effects down here.

Newest Durham Bull Runs the Bases

Season: 24-22; Trip: 4-4
Wrap, Box, Times-Tribune

Young Richie Shaffer was called up from the Rays AA team, the Montgomery Biscuits (stats), and very likely blasted his way into Durham Bulls history. Playing third base, Shaffer hit two home runs, a double, and a single in 5 at-bats in his very first AAA game. That’s an amazing “slash line” of .800/.800/2.200 (Batting Average/On-Base Percentage/Slugging), an OPS of 3.000, to go with 3 RBI. Those are going to be really cool numbers to see on the scoreboard when he first comes to bat at the DBAP, possibly late this afternoon.

Meanwhile, his recent Biscuits colleague, Leonardo Reginatto, playing 2B, was also having a great night going 2 for 3 with 2 RBI. Not to mention the rest of the team. Only two Bulls did not get an RBI in a game where the Bulls scored the most runs in a single game this year. Allan Dykstra and J.P. Arencibia contributed a home run each.

Nevertheless, the RailRiders batted around in the 9th inning and scored 4 runs off of Andy Oliver, causing Jhan Marinez to be called in to save the game.

Outside the game —

• The Bulls have won three in a row and got a 4-4 split on this road trip. Extraordinarily good work, especially given the roster turmoil and injuries. 
• The Rochester Red Wings (Twins) are in town today. The Bulls just had a 1-3 series against them in Rochester, so they know each other well.
• Doesn’t look like fans out there love their teams as much as we love our Durham Bulls. Average attendance at the Bulls’ 29 away games this year has been 5,459; for the 17 home games 7,573. That’s a pretty large 2,114 fan per game difference.
• When I checked in to the game I found that the radio stream was running the Indy 500, as was both AM and FM radio. Fortunately, Patrick Kinas responded to a Tweet and pointed out where I could find the game being streamed by WRAL. Seems to me that the Bulls could have done some Tweeting themselves and put something on their website. All the normal links via MiLB went to the Indy 500. Very poor job on the part of the Bulls, unless I missed something else. Not everyone is on Twitter and I don't think I'm the only one trying to listen to Bulls away games.

Standings

The Bulls come home tied with the Norfolk Tides for second place in the South Division. Not bad given that ugly losing streak they went through recently.

A Win and, How Bad is the DBAP Press Box?

Wrap, Box, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle

Wrap, Box

Season: 21-20; Trip: 1-2
Wrap, Box, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle

At last! A win. A bit ugly what with 3 errors and 12 runners left on base. But a win nonetheless with good jobs turned in by Enny Romero, Jhan Marinez (ERA 0.55 after 8 appearances and 16 innings!), and Ronald Belisario, who came into the game in the 8th with 1 out and runners on 1B and 2B and K’d the Red Wings out. A clean 9th inning got him his 7th save. New guy Preston Guilmet started the 8th and Jared Sandberg had had enough after 3 hits, two runs scored, and only one out.

Alexi Casilla left the game early on for an undisclosed (so far) reason. If anybody hears anything, please add to comments.

Outside the game —

In the “now it can be told” category.

First, let me point out that WDBB is not considered to be part of the "media" and we have never been in the press box or the broadcast booth (old or new) at the DBAP. Never thought to ask, to be honest. They might have let me in, but probably not now. And let me say that from where I sit, I have a hard time telling a curve from a slider from a changeup without checking the speed gun.

Now, on to the story …

I was watching the MiLB TV version of one of the games and listening to the Red Wings' broadcast team since the delay for Patrick Kinas was at least a minute or so and arrived well after the action on the screen. One of the broadcasters, whose name I didn’t catch, went into a fairly lengthy rant about the DBAP broadcast booth.

According to him, it's the worst in all of the International League. No other place in the IL puts the broadcasters where they can’t see the game! He likes the park, hates the booth. As we all know, the broadcasters are high up above first base, so they obviously don't have a very good angle to observe pitches. Nor can they see all of right field. And when the fans stand up, apparently their view is completely blocked. So the broadcasters end up calling the game from the video monitors.

I’ve wondered about that odd configuration myself. As we all can see, with the remodel came a club-like spot up above home plate, which must be really nice for the fans, but ... remember those scenes from “Bull Durham” where the broadcaster is essentially faking his calls?

Just how do folks way up above first base tell exactly where the ball crossed the plate?

Bulls Slide to Third Place

Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Steve Wiseman in the Herald-Sun pretty much said it all in his first sentence: “The Durham Bulls had chances and chances and more chances to score and avoid extra innings on Friday night.”

Amen.

Season: 20-17; Home Stand: 0-3

Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Standings

OK, I know it was Star Wars night and all, but those were quite possibly the ugliest uniforms I’ve ever seen on baseball players. And then the Durham Bulls went from first place to third place in the International League South as this even uglier home stand continues.

Dylan Floro looked pretty good through the first four innings, got hit hard in the 5th (2 doubles and a single, one run); and hit harder in the 6th, two singles and a home run. Not sure why Floro gets to stay up into the 90’s in his pitch count while other pitchers are being pulled much earlier.

New guy Preston Guilmet, last seen pitching for the Buffalo Bisons but claimed from the Toronto system the other day, had a nice inning, as did Jhan Marinez, but it was too late. The Bulls haven’t hit the ball well for the last week. In fact, last night all the offensive excitement was over after the first two batters, a single by Taylor Motter and a home run by Nick Franklin.

Rosterizing —

• Infielder Leonardo Reginatto has been sent back to Montgomery. We liked watching him play and he was doing a decent job at bat (.300/.323/.350). He’ll probably be back when/if the Rays give up on Hak-Ju Lee.
• Bryce Stowell was also sent to the Montgomery Biscuits. Too bad, because he had pretty decent numbers. I expect he will be back as well.
• As mentioned above, the Rays claimed reliever Preston Guilment from the Toronto Blue Jays. Stats. He looked just fine last night.
• Rehabbing Jake McGee is on his way back to Tampa Bay.
• Rehabbing Nick Franklin was pulled from the game after his home run last night. So he might be on his way back as well.
• José Dominguez came of the disabled list and should be in the bullpen for today’s game.
• According to The Tampa Tribune, Andrew Bellatti is coming back to the Bulls. He did a terrific job as a reliever for the Rays. We’ll have to see if he’s going to be starting or in relief as a Bull. 

Standings Chart

For a couple of days the Tides and the Knights were losing games along with the Bulls. Not yesterday, so that changes the chart to show the Bulls sliding into third place.

www.watchingdurhambullsbaseball.com

Bats Alive in Rhode Island; Hitting Trends

Wrap, Box, Morning Call

Season: 13-10; Trip: 4-1

Wrap, Box, Providence Journal

After a very early day game in Allentown, Pennsylvania the Bulls were off to Pawtucket, Rhode Island. There Jim Patterson flew in from “extended spring training” for his second start of the year. He did just fine. And he was followed by young Jhan Marinez (terrific), Bryce Stowell (premier middle reliever), and Ronald Belesario.

Meanwhile the Bulls hit three home runs, something they’ve only done once before this year. The first was a game-opening hit by Taylor Motter. The second was a three-run affair by J.P. Arencibia. And the third was a solo shot by Corey Brown.

We saw the very ugly, and endlessly replayed, play by Pawsox catcher Humberto Quintero. Mikie Mahtook was on second and attempted a steal of third. Luke Maile was at bat. Maile simply stood in the box and Quintero launched his throw to 3B right into Maile’s gut. Not OK, and Maile obviously felt it. But much worse was Quintero acting as if it was Maile’s fault. Would expect better from a 35 year-old veteran. Then things got very testy after a collision between Quintero and Hak-Ju Lee at second base later on in the game.

It was May 1 and the speed of game changes are in effect. A Pawtucket batter had a strike called in him because he was not in the box when he should have been.

Rosterizing —

• As noted, Jim Patterson is back from extended spring training
• Matt Andriese, who had five appearances with the Rays (two starts)  has been optioned to the Bulls to make room for Alex Colome. Probably will show up soon.
• Grant Balfour, a once great closer, and former Bull, has signed a minor league deal with the Rays and will be coming to the Bulls to see if he can regain the form he had with the Rays and the Athletics. The Australian should be fun to watch.
• Everett Teaford, who went up a couple of days ago, is on his way back.
• I don't think I've mentioned that Kirby Yates has gone on the disabled list. Fits with what we've seen since he came back to the Bulls.

Chart — Hitting

This is one way to look at the Bulls’ hitting performance. I’m using OPS (on base percentage + slugging) as a metric. That’s not my favorite batting stat, but for my purposes of trying to discern team trends, it’s OK. 

What is OPS? Well, it’s a combination of numbers you see on the scoreboard at each game. It is an effort to measure a player’s batting skill beyond batting average. It starts with On Base Percentage, essentially how often a player gets on base when he comes to bat — hit, walk, hit by pitch. And then you add to it the Slugging Average, which is the number of bases per at bat. One way to help understand slugging is that if you look up on the scoreboard and see a batting average that’s the same as the slugging average, it means he’s only hit singles so far this year.

There’s another stat I like better, called Weighted On Base Average, and I plot them both. But as far as trends go, I’m not seeing much difference.

This plots the OPS for each of the last 15 games. Included is the International League average over the last 3 years. The slight upward trend is a good thing. The Bulls’ overall OPS on the season is .690, which ranks them 6th out of 14 teams in the league.

click for larger chart

It Was a Dark and Windy Night, But ...

Season: 10-9; Trip: 1-0
Wrap, Box, Allentown Morning Call, Noise Nation

It was a miserable night in Allentown, 55° and windy, and from the first it looked as if the IronPigs would have the edge. Do you get used to that windy, cold place? Maybe not. Especially in the 4th when the wind helped former Bull Russ Canzler to a double and he eventually came around to score.

Speaking of Russ Canzler, since he broke into AAA with a great year with the Bulls in 2012 he has become possibly the leading expert on International League ballparks and locker rooms. He’s had playing time with the Columbus Clippers (Cleveland), the Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh), the Norfolk Tides (Baltimore), the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (New York), and he is now in his second season with Philadelphia’s Lehigh Valley IronPigs. He had a pretty good spring. We liked him as a Bull. Always a threat since those days.

It was the 6th inning that did in the IronPigs. Wind starting helping rather than hindering when Mikie Mahtook tripled and then came home on a Joey Brown Butler [Sorry, Joey] double. Then an error (the ‘Pigs had 4 on the night, one by each infielder) put runners on first and third. A Luke Maile sacrifice fly brought in another run. A Eugenio Velez single put runners on first and second. But a spectacular catch by ‘Pigs center fielder Bugusevic kept things on track. However, a double brought home both runners and the Bulls had four runs in. Then the wheels really came off. The ‘Pigs changed pitchers and reliever Adam Loewen walked the next four batters, pushing in two more runs. Pitching change and a popup ended the inning.

That was enough. An ugly win, but still a win.

Rosterfication —

• I’m losing track of all the roster moves, but for the record, Alan Dykstra is now with the team.
• Reliever José Dominguez is back from Tampa Bay.
• Reliever Jhan Marinez has been called up from from Montgomery to pitch for the Bulls (he got in an inning Sunday night).
• Pitcher Jim Patterson has been sent to “extended Spring Training”, which is sort of like being assigned to Hudson Valley. Wink, wink, he’s probably still around, just can’t come into a game.
• Have I mentioned that Everett Teaford got called up the other day? He pitched in the Rays loss at Yankee Stadium last night.