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.

Governors' Cup Game 1 to the PawSox

International League Governors’ Cup (Best of Five): 0-1
Wrap, Box, Providence Journal

Life got in the way of baseball today. Probably no news here for Bulls fans. But just for the record.

Enny Romero started because Alex Colome was sick, perhaps a small bout of food poisoning. Romero was not sharp at all, but it could have been much worse in his three innings. By the time he was pulled the Pawsox had left five runners on base. The relief crew did just fine, only giving up one hit and not letting anyone past first base. Doug Mathis, if fact, had a 3 K stretch, and 4 on the night. Very likely that was his best outing of the year. Cory Burns did fine as well.

But the hitters did not. It’s hard to win games when you leave 9 runners on base. The 9th inning was particularly tough with the bases loaded and one out and no one scoring.

Alex Colome is scheduled to start tonight.

Outside the game —

• Persistent chatter/reporting that Nathan Karns has been called up to the Rays and will start a game this Friday. That punches a hole in the Bulls’ rotation if the series goes to five games (Mike Montgomery available to pitch game four). 
• TV coverage OK (channel 1250 on TW cable). Somewhat delayed from the radio broadcast. So you could listen to Patrick Kinas, then pay attention to the play. Actual view of the game very limited by lack of cameras, and I've gotten spoiled by the HD we get locally.
• Great quote from Charlie Montoyo reported by Kinas last night: "You know it's been a good year when you start the year in long johns and finish it in long johns."

Season Wraps Up With Win; 5 Hits, 5 Runs

Season: 75-69
Wrap, Box

Justin Christian must not have gotten the memo about it being the last game of the season. Instead of relaxing and being careful, he hit a home run and a double off the wall, stole third base, scored two of the Bulls five runs, and made a couple of nice plays in center field.

He was just part of a very pleasant (a bit warm) afternoon at the DBAP. We saw some good baseball, including four double plays by the Bulls infield. I doubt that’s a record, but still very welcome on a day when your opponents are getting on base. We were reminded what a smooth, competent infielder Ray Olmedo is as he started two, and was the pivot man in the third double play. Pitcher Doug Mathis started the other one, a 1-6-3.

Speaking of pitchers, this was a bullpen day as Charlie Montoyo apparently wanted to set his rotation to begin on Wednesday in Columbus. They did a remarkable job. Doug Mathis had not pitched since August 15, but got through his three innings only giving up a bases-empty home run. Similarly, Jake Thompson last pitched on August 13, but he got the win and pitched three scoreless. Lastly, newcomer Cory Burns made his 6th and longest appearance as a Bull, also going three scoreless innings.

Oddity of the game? Every Bull who got on base scored, all by hits. Nobody was going to wait for a walk, it seemed. That is, in my experience, unique: 5 hits (two doubles, a homer, and three singles), 5 runs.

A very good year that we’ll be writing about a bit as we start closing things out. But this was just a nice baseball game all by itself. Thanks, guys. It was fun.

Split; Roster Turmoil

Season: 64-61; Trip: 1-3
Wrap, Box 1, Box 2, Democrat & Chronicle

Lots of transactions and player shuffling over the last couple of days. But first these two screwy, and long, games.

The first one was a resumption of Tuesday’s game when the rains came down and the game was stopped after the second inning. That meant the Bulls came into the night to play their fourth double header in a week. That’s a lot of baseball and a lot of turmoil. Then, to top if off, the Bulls blew a 3 run lead and the game dragged on into the 11th inning before Mike Fontenot doubled and Vince Belnome went all the way from first base to home. Vince is not the quickest guy on the Bulls, but by the time he rounded third he had worked up a real head of team. Not real sure Charlie Montoyo could have stopped him. But he didn't try. He was waving his arms like a berserk windmill. Nevertheless, the Bulls had 15 hits over two nights and certainly one of their best hitting games in a long while.

Speaking of Charlie, he got tossed a few minutes later after Justin Christian got hit on the third inside pitch of his at bat. Very ugly words exchanged, most notably between Christian and a Red Wings fan whom the umps didn’t notice that Christian was inviting down into the dugout.

Speaking of fans, I gave up around the 4th inning of the second game, near midnight. I could see at least two, maybe three, fans left in the stadium. Gotta admit that 16 innings of baseball, even if you’re winning the second game, is a bit much.

Is Wil Myers to become a base stealer, or just having fun? He stole two in the first game (didn’t play in the second one). Noticed that in addition to his major league helmet, he’s in the long trousers worn by most, but not all, the Rays.

Players moving around —

• Let’s start with Tim Beckham. He was an important part of last year’s championship team. He started out at 2B, then played most of the rest of the year at shortstop after Hak-Ju Lee’s injury. He was in 122 games last year and had excellent numbers. Plus, he did OK in a September callup. He ripped up his knee in training over the winter and has finally made his way back. His opening night at second base was pretty darn good, 4 for 6 with 3 runs scored, and an RBI. Playing second base.
• Also moving onto the roster was Cory Burns a right-handed reliever, up from the Rays AA team, the Montgomery Biscuits. Burns has a bunch of Triple-A experience. [stats] He’s been doing just fine as a short reliever in Montgomery. The question might be how come he was there in the first place. Burns came on for 2+ innings in the second game, gave of three hits, but no runs and K’d two batters.
• Moving off the roster was Robby Price and Doug Mathis, both to the Hudson Valley roster, meaning that they can’t play in a Bulls uniform, but they are still traveling with the squad.
• Then Brandon Gomes was called to the Rays (and he appeared last night for two scoreless innings to close out the Rays/Rangers game).
• And Cole Figueroa is coming back. Mr. Figueroa is one of my favorite players and as much as I have hoped that he’s enjoyed bringing home the huge major league money (compared to Triple A money), I have worried about his lack of playing time with the Rays. He’s mostly been on the bench since his last callup. He does join the crowd of infielders on the Bulls roster. The Bulls now have six ballplayers who range from pretty good to excellent middle infielders — Figueroa, Fontenot, Franklin, Lee, Olmedo, and Beckham, and that doesn’t count Wilson Betemit who is a decent third baseman, and Robby Price who just went off the roster. What’s happening is that some of them are spending time in the outfield (Ray Olmedo was in left field for the first game last night). 
• At any rate, I’m happy to see Cole Figueroa and Tim Beckham back. I’d guess that Charlie’s going to have a tough time filling out a lineup. The odd man out, from a performance perspective, is young Hak-Ju Lee. He’s having a terrible year. Would it help for him to spend some time in Montgomery? Don’t know. What’s obvious from the stands is that he’s not hitting well at all and that he’s using is arm to compensate for not very good footwork in the field.

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?

Gettin' Outa' Laurenceville; Red Wings in Town

Season: 55-46; Road Trip: 2-2; Standings
Wrap, Box, Gwinnett Daily Post

That 2nd inning was just ugly. Doug Mathis came on after Mike Montgomery had managed only four outs, let 6 runs in, and had 2 runners on base.

Mr. Mathis has become this year’s sacrificial goat. He goes off to “extended spring training” or “Hudson Valley” when roster room is required. He comes back after the Rays have raided the Bulls. He usually comes in for long, very long, relief situations, often when the game is already out of hand. Is he any good? Hard to tell. All things considered, his line of 18 appearances, 49 innings, with an ERA of 4.22 isn’t bad at all.

After Mathis’ 3 innings, a couple of pitchers who haven’t thrown in a game since before the All-Star break got some time in: Riefenhauser and Kelly. Adam Liberatore wrapped up a lost cause.

Not a game for the Bulls to be proud of, though.

Matchup

Tonight is the first time that the Durham Bulls have seen the Minnesota Twins’ Triple A team, the Rochester Red Wings, this year. After this four-game home series, the Bulls will play them again in the middle of August for their last out-of-division games before the end of the season. The Red Wings are doing very well in the tough North Division of the International League. In fact, if the season ended today, they’d be the Wild Card team for the International League playoffs.

The Red Wings lead the Bulls in every key statistical category listed, so the Bulls will have their work cut out for them over the next couple of days. And there’s the very distinct statistical oddity of their Pythagorean Expectation being so far off from their actual. That implies a lot of games lost by low scores, and games won by very big scores. Let’s hope that they don’t start balancing that out tonight.

Karns & Moore Team Up for Win

Season: 53-44; Trip: 2-1; Last 10: 7-3; Standings

Wrap, Box, The Buffalo News

Regular readers will know that we are not yet fans of young Nathan Karns. To see why, take a look at our charts from a couple of days ago. But give credit where it’s due. He had a fine night last night going 7 innings and only letting in 1 run. There’s hope.

On the other hand, how about Jeremy Moore? Yet another game-winning home run! Then, just for grins, his last at-bat featured three pitches that went inside, inside, and even further inside. Those pitches brought Charlie Montoyo down to the plate to get between Moore and the ump. As it turned out, Moore hit a very sharp grounder to first for an out. But seemed to me to be kind of pointless on the part of the Bison’s pitcher.

Outside the game — 

• Reliever Jake Thompson has been put on the disabled list for an unspecified reason. Thompson has made 20 appearance since coming up from Montgomery and has done a good job over his 27 innings. Doug Mathis returned from Hudson Valley to take his spot on the roster. 
• Former Bull Dan Johnson was called up to the Bisons’ parent club, the Toronto Blue Jays, and went immediately into the lineup against the Rays last night. He drew four walks and scored three runs (including the winning run). That’s what DJ does — draws walks or hits home runs.

Charts — Durham Bulls Pitchers

The Bulls have had lot of pitchers so far this year, including a couple who are with Tampa Bay at the moment. The charts include ones with them now, or ones who might be coming back.

• Erik Bedard only pitched one game before being called up.
• Kirby Yates put in 21appearances and I’m leaving him on the charts because he could be back.
• Brad Boxberger is on his third visit to Tampa Bay and looks like he’s going to stick. 
• Juan Carlos Oviedo’s seven 1-inning appearances with the Bulls were officially rehab status.
• Jeff Beliveau has made three trips to join Tampa Bay (he’s pitched 2 innings for them).
• Juan Sandoval was released back near the end of May.
• C.J. Riefenhauser has made one trip to Tampa Bay and was on the disabled list for a couple of weeks in May.
• Jim Patterson came up from Montgomery, made 5 reasonably successful appearances, and went back.
• Braulio Lara came up from Montgomery, made 9 not very successful appearances, and went back.
• Brandon Gomes was optioned down from the Rays near the end of May.
• Josh Lueke came down in mid-June.

Add another rehab and a couple of position players thrown to the wolves and all together, 24 different ball players have been on the mound of the Durham Bulls this year. In 2013, 26 different guys pitched. The Bulls are on their way a new record? By the way, the Rays have had 20 different pitchers this year.

click on chart for larger image

I’m not a big fan of the Fielding Independent Pitching stat for minor leaguers for a couple of reasons, one of them being that I’m not sure I trust the constant value (in this case 3.2). Still, if FIP is an estimate of future performance then Adam Liberatore and Brandon Gomes are looking good. A couple of others, not so much. What jumps out is that two of the starters, Enny Romero and Nate Karns, simply aren’t doing very well no matter how you measure their performance. And the starters as a whole are a full 1.5 runs worse than the relievers as a group.

Walks/Hits per Inning Pitched is an interesting pitching stat and sometimes brings a different perspective. In this case, the bottom three (Mathis, Gomes, and Thompson) seemed to be doing better in terms of overall results. Not surprised to see Romero and Karns near the bottom though.

Lastly, in the just for fun category, is a chart of pitches made per out. Our home-brewed measure of efficiency. Sample size (Gomes and Geltz) may matter quite a bit here, but certainly Romero and Mathis are working awfully hard to get through their innings.

Split; Off to the Sox

Season: 45-38; Home Stand: 2-6
Wrap, Box, Indianapolis

Rehabbing Jeremy Hellickson extended his losing streak to four (although I’m not sure exactly why since he only allowed one run ...yet another scoring rule I don’t understand). But neither Jake Thompson nor Doug Mathis were exactly stellar since they gave up 5 earned runs between themselves. Doug Mathis does deserved some points for just getting through 4 innings leaving some flex in the bullpen for today’s game in Pawtucket. Mikie Mahtook’s home run came late, but it came. He remains the most reliable Bulls hitter.

Jeremy Moore delivered two perfect throws to the plate to prevent runs and two double plays show that it could have been worse.

Some (much) credit must go to Indianapolis' Casey Sadler, who pitched a fine game for the Indians.

Matchup

The Bulls split a 4-game home series with the PawSox early in June. The Sox are doing pretty well in what is turning out to be the most competitive division in the IL. It looks like the Bulls have a slight edge in pitching and Merrill Kelly gets a start tonight ... a good thing. Should be a good series if the Bulls can get past knuckleballer Wright tonight.

Outside the game —

• Leslie Anderson continues doing well for the league-leading Yomiuri Giants (Japan Central League. A slash line of .311/.367/.467 with 31 RBI looks very good. 
• J.D. Martin is doing OK as a starter for the Samsung Lions in Korea.

Pretty in Pink?

Season: 43-34; Home Stand: 0-2; Streak: 0-5
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Syracuse

As spectacularly ugly as we thought the pink jerseys were (even if the cause is most definitely not), Bulls pitching in the 2nd inning last night was even more spectacularly ugly. Alex Colome looked a bit shaky in the first inning, starting out giving up a single and walk, but then a K had us thinking things were OK. A single did drive in a run before the inning was over, but Hak-Ju Lee’s baserunning put the Bulls back in the game. The game was 1-1 when the 2nd inning began. And then ...

Single, double, single, single, hit by pitch, double, K (yeah!), single, walk ... and six runs were in and Doug Mathis came on with two runners on base. A K, then a single, walk (pushing a run in), single, walk, single, and single before the last out and five more runs were in. That could be an historically bad inning for the Bulls, but it would be too painful to check and I’m not sure I’d know how anyhow. How bad was it? Suffice to say that, as the chart below shows, it pushed the season’s team ERA up by 0.15 points.

Usually in trying circumstances like these we find a way to blame the Rays for the Bulls troubles. Not last night.

We left.

Sad to say that Robby Price took one for the team in the 9th. Although apparently a very different personality, Mr. Price is becoming this year’s Craig Albernaz as the infielder pitches, plays outfield, and goes to "extended spring training" as roster changes require. He has become a particularly important Durham Bull.

Outside the game —

• The Rays have a double-header coming up on Friday in Baltimore. Under a relatively new rule they can expand their roster by one player for the one day. In turn, that means that the Bulls can expect more pitching roster turmoil (see, we can blame something on the Rays after all). It might mean Hellickson will leave for Baltimore, but he will likely have to show significant improvement over his last two outings.

Bulls ERAs Soar
Only for masochists … click chart for larger image

Split; Nice Home Stand

Hak-Ju Lee turns a double play over Norfolk’s Francisco Peguero. Saturday, June 7, 2014.
Photo by Christine T. Nugyen, Durham Herald-Sun

Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Matt Andriese had a great day, while the quirky inning of the game was the Bulls 8th where they scored 2 runs without getting a ball out of the infield (3 errors by Norfolk).

Season: 38-27; Home Stand: 6-4
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

A pretty decent home stand, the longest of the year. Now the Bulls are off for their longest road trip of the year, 2 games in Norfolk and four each in Indianapolis and Louisville, followed by a day off. So we won’t be back to the DBAP for almost two weeks. Maybe, just maybe, the turf will get a chance to recover.

If it seems like I’m avoided talking about yesterday, I am.

Nate Karnes, acquired by the Rays as part of what seems like an aggressive approach to unloading competent catchers (Lobaton to Nationals in this case, but see also Giminez, Vogt, Navarro, Jaso, Albernaz, Rodriguez, Chirinos, Ashley), has actually been doing much better than his stats indicate. Four out of his last six games have been well-pitched no-decisions. But yesterday was awful.

Then Brulio Lara made it very much worse with a 4 walk, 4 run, 2/3 of an inning. I know that’s hard to do. Here’s how. You come into the game and strike out the first batter. Then you walk the next two. Get the third batter to fly out. Then walk the next two, bringing in a run. You leave the game with the bases loaded and your replacement (Doug Mathis) gives up a bases-clearing, 3-run double. That gave Lara an ERA for the game of 54.00!

About Mr. Lara: Nothing in his performance to date says that he is ready to pitch at Triple A level. Any talented left-hander will get his shot, but in 9 appearances, Lara has given up a run per inning pitched, has more walks than K’s (12 to 10) and has 3 losses and a blown save. He’s been with the Bulls for almost a month now. Seems like it’s time for the Rays to consider he get some more time at a different level.

Doug Mathis is back from his Bulls-pitcher-in-waiting position (last appearance May 27). I can’t imagine how he keeps himself in condition to play, but he’s done OK (not counting the three runners he inherited and let score yesterday) and has been a help to the Bulls. I take back critical things I’ve been thinking, and maybe saying, about him.

Hitters? Cold, cold, cold although Jayson Nix did hit a homer in the 9th. In fact — game trivia alert — he got 7 of the Bulls 11 total bases last night.

Outside the game —

• More background on Kirby Yates. The Rays would have done well to give him a shot last night. Instead, they went with Grant Balfour who gave up a bunch of runs to lose the game against the Mariners in the 9th.
• The Hak-Ju Lee photo from Saturday’s game certainly shows that he is back to form on the field. I am contually amazed at an athlete’s selective amnesia. Ordinary human beings would likely never put themselves back into situations that led to a year’s worth of trial and pain. But there he is. 

Bulls Got Shut Out, But Coming Home

Season: 32-23; Trip: 6-2
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

The Bulls shut out the Mud Hens on Wednesday. The Hens returned the favor last night, shutting out the Bulls for just the second time this season. (The Bulls have five shutouts on the season.) The major downside of the loss has to be that a terrific 2-hit six inning performance by Nate Karns did not get rewarded with a win. Meanwhile, the Mud Hens won on a Mike Hessman double. Hessman is the same guy who hit two home runs against Bulls pitching on the 6th.

Outside the game —

• All in all a good road trip. The Bulls return leading the South Division of the International League 1½ games ahead of the Gwinnett Braves. Considerable roster turmoil. 
• I have subscribed to MiLB TV this year, but I usually mute the sound and listen to Patrick Kinas' stream. But this trip I did check in on the other broadcasters. That reminded me that we are lucky to have Patrick calling the Bulls' games. He's clearly interested in the game; doesn't go off on odd tangents (at least not too often); very smooth dealing with commercial necessities; and he gives the opposing teams and players their due. He often discovers a story to track through the game that is just fascinating. As an example, a couple of games ago Toledo catcher Luis Exposito could not do anything right, committing three errors (and there was a wild pitch that could have been called a passed ball). Patrick noticed it early and kept us interested in the story as the game progressed (which was otherwise a 7-0 blowout by the Bulls).
• The Bulls are making room on their roster for Alex Colome by moving Doug Mathis off to extended spring training.
• Cole Figueroa is coming back after an exciting time with the Rays. [MLB.com]My guess is that Robbie Price will be the one who goes to extended spring training to make room.

Matchup

The IronPigs are the Triple A franchise for the Philadelphia Phillies. Watch this space later on today for a guest blog post from our colleague in the Allentown area.

They are tied for second place in the very tight North Division race. [Standings]

 The anomaly in the table here is the Pythagorean Expectation projection since they have given up more runs than they have scored. As noted before, this implies an unusually effective relief corps. Maybe so.

One of the relievers starters is former Bull Chris Bootcheck. No other former Bulls jump out at me on the roster, although infielder Reid Brignac was with them earlier in the season. He is now with the Phillies.

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.

Durham Bulls Back in First Place

Wrap, Box, Columbus Dispatch

Season: 28-21; Trip: 2-0

Wrap, Box

Last week, last Saturday to be exact, the Bulls lost to Indianapolis and fell out of first place in the International League South Division. They’re back. With last night’s win (and Gwinnett’s loss) they are ½ game in front. [IL Standings] Good news.

Back at the beginning of the season I had the opportunity for a short chat with a couple of Bulls players. I asked them which pitcher should I watch this year. Who had an “arm”. One of them just shrugged, but the other thought for a moment and then said, “Andriese.” After these last three starts of his, it may be that he was on to something. Last night Matt Andriese went 7 innings (100 pitches) and it sounded like he was in control almost all of the way. That let Adam Liberatore come on in the 8th and strike out the side and Jeff Beliveau, he of the astounding ERA after 14 appearances (0.00) came on and added his 3 Ks to the total.

Nice to see Kevin Kiermaier back in center field (he delivered the winning hit as a pinch hitter the previous night). Vince Belnome continued his return to form with a 1 for 2 and 2BB night. Nice to see everyone on the roster above the Mendoza line (.200). That’s a recent, and very welcome, development.

Outside the game —

• Not sure we’ve mentioned all these roster changes: Pitcher Jim Patterson has been sent back to the Montgomery Biscuits. Pitcher Doug Mathis has been assigned to extended spring training. Brandon Gomes is with the Bulls and pitching in relief. Kevin Kiermaier is back.
• Long time WDBB favorite Elliot Johnson is playing for the Columbus Clippers. He started the season with the Cleveland Indians, was designated for assignment, passed through waivers, and accepted assignment to the Clippers early in the month. Mr. Johnson put in most of three years with the Durham Bulls and stands very high on WDBB’s Greatest Bulls Hitters leaderboard. [WDBB] Since leaving the Bulls he has played in the majors for the Rays, the Royals, Atlanta and Cleveland. [Baseball Ref]
• Speaking of former Bulls, Shelley Duncan, a important part of last year’s championship team [WDBB], is back in the game and playing in the International League. He just signed with the Reds and is now playing for the Louisville Bats, joining with Jason Bourgeois on that team, also of the 2013 Durham Bulls championship team. [MLB Rumors]
• Cole Figueroa had a spectacular moment last night playing for the Rays. Just check out the game video and you’ll see. [MLB.com] He came on in the bottom of the 9th as a pinch-hitter and hit a game-winning RBI double.

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.

Double Header Split; Bats in Town

Season: 24-28; Home Stand: 3-1
Wrap, Box 1, Box 2, Herald-Sun, MiLB.com

The prominent story in the first game was the dominance of rehabbing White Sox pitcher Chris Sale, and we was very, very good. He struck out 11 Bulls in just 4 innings. The Bulls were really swinging, by the way. They had 15 K’s in the 7-inning game, a season high.

But Enny Romero only gave up one run, a bases-empty homer, in his 4 innings. And he struck out 7. So it really wasn’t as if Sale won the game. In fact, he didn’t, the win went to reliever Donnie Veal. The loss went to the Bulls Doug Mathis. I have to point out that his last three appearances have all resulted in losses. Worrisome.

The second game was more fun for the Bulls and their fans, although watching a good pitcher at work is always interesting, even if he’s your opponent. After the Knights got back in the game with two runs in the 5th, the Bulls took advantage of the tiring Knights starter and then exploited former Bull Frank De Los Santos’ bad night. De Los Santos let both of his inherited runners score on a hit and three walks, allowed another. Pretty terrible night for him.

Robby Price and Jerry Sands hit home runs in the second game. That put the Knights pitching in first place in the International League for home runs allowed (37). Don’t look too closely, though, because the Bulls are in second place with 36 home runs allowed.

Outside the game —

• Missing from the lineup was outfielder Kevin Kiermaier. He is off to join the Rays to stand in for their outfielder Desmond Jennings for a couple of days.
• By the way, Cole Figueroa got in last night’s Rays game out in California. One at-bat, popped out. Two innings at second base. Rays catcher Ryan Hanigan left that game with an injury, but no word on if he will need someone to fill in for him.
• MLB Trade Rumors is reporting that the Rays have signed an infielder, Jayson Nix and will send him to Durham. Nix was at spring training this year with the Rays.

Matchup

Up until just a few years ago, the Louisville Bats, the Triple A franchise of the Cincinnatti Reds, were the team to beat in the West Division. Recently, however, the Columbus Clippers and Indianapolis Indians seem to be the Bulls key competition. Nevertheless, the Bats just won 3 out of four off of Norfolk, so they may be getting back into it. We’ll have to see.

Rarely Used Tactic Doesn't Work

Season: 20-14; Trip: 0-3

Wrap, Box, Syracuse.com

An intentional walk is not Charlie Montoyo’s favorite tactic. Last night was the first time in this year’s 34 games that he’s ordered one issued. In last year’s 144 games he ordered a grand total of 8. In contrast, Joe Maddon of the Tampa Bay Rays has called for 9 intentional walks in the Rays' 34 games this year. 

Last night the idea was to set up for a double play in the bottom of the 10th. The first batter drew a walk and was moved to 2B on a sacrifice bunt. Charlie called for the IBB to put a man on first. A little line drive to left field drove the winning run in. Not likely to encourage Charlie to do it more often.

Seems like the Bulls are playing a lot of extra inning games this year. So far they’ve played five of them. My view is that once you get past 9 innings the outcome is something of a crapshoot with the advantage going to the home team since they have the last at bat. The Bulls have won 3 out of the 5 extra inning games (2-1 away, 1-1 home). That seems about the best you can expect.

The last several innings were a parade of the new guys on the mound. Jim Patterson in his second appearance, Jake Thompson in his first AAA appearance (very nice 2 ⅓ innings) and Doug Mathis in the 10th with the aforementioned IBB. 

Attendance: 1,508

Outside the game —

• About those attendance numbers. In addition to the awful spring weather (last night’s 61˚ start temp was one of the warmest this year), some of it is due to a deliberate modification to the Syracuse Chief’s business plan. It seems that the Chiefs had become famous for giving away tickets. The new general manager decided to change that this year and has put a virtual stop to the gravy train. 
• It sure looks like the “tough love” approach to Syracuse’s addiction to freebies is going to take some time to work out. In the meantime, with the combination of low turnout and bad weather I’m sure glad we don’t have the beer concession for NBT Bank Stadium. We’d be out of business before the summer crowds show up.

Solid Finish to Home Stand

Season: 20-11; Home Stand: 5-3
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Since the Rays desperately needed Nate Karns sitting on their bench yesterday, relatively new guy Doug Mathis got the start and did just fine. Mathis isn’t a strikeout pitcher, but except for the unfortunate solo home run in the 4th, he led a fine “committee” day for the Durham Bulls.

He was followed by even newer guy just up from Montgomery, Jim Patterson, who got the win in relief. Patterson had a very brief AAA appearance back in 2012. He might stick around this time.

Bulls power was not in much evidence this home stand. In the eight games we only saw four home runs (one each by Belnome, Sands, Betemit, and last night’s by Solis). On the other hand, Roman Ali Solis’ in the 7th broke up the tie game. The two more runs scored in the 8th meant that Sandoval could stay in the game (and get a save) and the Bulls relievers could get some more rest.



Here’s an observation for those of us who puzzle about this game: When Jim Patterson came into the game to start the 5h inning, had he ever even thrown a ball to his catcher, Ali Solis? Was that warm-up their first encounter? Did they even have a chance to have a chat before the game? Seems to me it says a lot about both players' professionalism that they did so well together.

Outside the game —

• When pitcher Jim Patterson came in to pitch, Robby Price was out in left field. Here’s a bit of deep WDBB trivia for you. They were this blogs’ Moonlight Graham Award winners for 2012. That is a somewhat tongue-in-cheek award that we give to the players with the least amount of playing time in a Bulls uniform each year. Price came up from Single A Charlotte to play in two games at the old Charlotte Knights stadium in early September. Patterson also came up from the Stone Crabs and came on in relief on the September 3rd. So here they were yesterday, together in Bulls uniforms again.
• Huge crowd yesterday(11,507). One of the largest in Bulls history. Probably means more Star Wars nights in the future.
• Bound to be some kind of transaction today involving pitchers. Doesn’t make sense to send someone off to Syracuse when the Rays are short a reliever. With Riefenhauser on the DL, the Bulls only have 12 pitchers (usually have 13) and another reliever to St. Petersburg makes it 11. Watch this space.
• Former Bull Reid Brignac is having a decent year with the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs

Extra Innings, Extra Runs

Wrap, Box, Virginian-Pilot

This was the first road loss of the year for the Bulls. Young Enny Romero went a little too long (102 pitches, the most of any Bulls pitcher this year).

Season: 14-5; This Trip: 3-1
Wrap, Box, Virginian-Pilot

Pretty nice visit over in Norfolk. Three wins, two in extra innings, plus their second shutout of the season. That says a lot about Bulls pitching and overall aggressiveness. This is a very good team.

In this game, the new guy, Doug Mathis, made his second appearance as a Bull in the 9th inning, and got the win. He has not yet pitched at the DBAP. [Oops! Yes he has. Back on April 16th. Not a good day for Bulls' pitching, but not all his fault. Thanks to Chris D for the correction. Also note that there was a problem in the line score of that game that has been corrected.] The near goat of the day was Adam Liberatore who may end up being a poster boy for the stats geeks. His FIP is a stunning 0.98 while his ERA is an awful 5.19. FIP, Fielding Independent Percentage, is supposedly predictive of ERA in the long run. We’ll see.

Kirby Yates got his 7th save, best in the International League.

You have to like everything about Justin Christian this year. Yesterday, as leadoff batter he got 4 hits (including three doubles), and scored half of the Bulls runs. He plays a mean outfield and is a smart baserunner.

Meanwhile I’m worried about Vince Belnome. I know that he will break out of it eventually, but it’s just painful to watch/listen to. It will come, but his all-to-brief visit to the Rays this year seems to have broken something.

Matchup

The Bulls drove by Durham on the way to Charlotte yesterday. Wonder if they even got to wave hello.

The Bulls have already gone up against the Knights 6 times this year and are 5-1. Meanwhile the Knights aren’t doing much better against anyone else in the South Division. The White Sox affiliate is off to an awful start with the worst batting average in the league and near worst pitching. It’s got to turn around eventually. Just not any time soon, let’s hope.

Outside the game —

• Juan Carlos Oviedo has finished his rehab and gone to St. Petersburg. C.J. Riefenhauser is back. Maddon had nice things to say about the Bulls relief crew.
• For the first time since the season opened, the playing field, which really wasn't quite ready, has been given a rest. Looks much better. 

DBAP, 22 Apr 2014