Hideki Matsui (松井 秀喜) to the Durham Bulls

Hideki Matsui is scheduled to arrive in Durham this Tuesday or Wednesday.

For Bulls fans this is a really big deal.  Matsui could be the greatest baseball player ever to put on a Durham Bulls uniform. Will we get a chance to see great baseball? No way to tell. But will we get a chance to see a great baseball player? Undoubtedly.

How long will he be with the Bulls? Also not possible to tell. But for a few days or weeks the Bulls will have a very bright spotlight on them. The Raleigh News & Observer might even send a reporter to cover the event. 

Want a really great rumor? It could be (pure speculation) Daisuke Matsuzaka pitching when Matsui first comes to bat. Dice-K is currently rehabbing with the Pawtucket Red Sox.

Background. Stats. Note: Other than a couple of rehab visits, Matsui has never played minor league baseball in the United States.

Painful Round Trips

Box, Wrap, Herald-Sun
Season: 12-23; Trip: 1-3; Standings

Not much to say about this one. Three home runs accounted for all of Syracuse’s scores and Matt Torra, who leads Bulls pitching in the giving-up-homers category with 10 of them, took the loss.

Outside the game

• Brandon Guyer told a Tampa Bay reporter that his legal troubles have been a distraction. Guyer owned the car that Matt Bush was driving when he got involved in a nasty accident this spring. Guyer is party to a multi-million dollar lawsuit related to the event.
• More on Guyer: He started in left field in Yankee Stadium last night, but went 0-4 in the Rays’ loss. Looks like he will be there a few more days.
• Over at Rays Prospects BurGi updates his terrific table analyzing hitting prospects in the Rays system.
• Rays Index has a video of Hideki Matsui working out down in Florida. No word on when he will be arriving in Durham. That’s going to be fun.

Amazing Video!

A few days ago I noted that Dioner Navarro was now playing for the Louisville Bats. I recalled the time in 2010 when Navarro was with the Bulls and we were playing those very same Bats with Aroldis Chapman on the mound. Navarro “took one for the team” in the form of a 102 mph fastball.

Here’s the amazing bit. Careful reader The Grillmaestro has a video taken with his iPhone of that very moment. How cool is that?

Notice the ball skipping off of Navarro's back and down the batter's approach path.

Thank you Grillmaestro!

At Last!!!

Game 25, Monday, April 30, DBAP, Durham, North Carolina

Durham Bulls 1, Indianapolis Indians 0

Season: 7-18; Home Stand: 1-3; Streak: 1-0

Box, Wrap 

Matt Torra went eight innings allowing only 1 baserunner (a walk) in the 7th and gave up just one infield hit in the 8th. A brilliant bit of pitching. He was followed by Cesar Ramos who gave up one hit, then earned the first save of his eight years of professional baseball. Together they set the stage for breaking the Bulls’ long, long, long losing streak and won Bulls’ first shutout of the season.

To win, of course, the Bulls had to get at least one run, which they didn’t do until the 8th inning. Sean O’Malley drew a walk, scooted off to second base on a wild pitch, and then scored on a Jesus Feliciano double.

This has been a difficult road. Kyle Hudson’s single at the top of the 3rd inning was the first hit of any kind in more than 14 innings. It took a couple of brilliant plays by shortstop O’Malley and second baseman Reid Brignac to pull it off.

Second baseman Reid Brignac? There’s another mini-story. Will Rhymes was so upset being called out when he thought he beat a throw to first 6th he managed to get himself thrown out of the game. Reid Brignac was the only infielder on the bench, so he was in. I think Rhymes was the first ejection of a Bull this year.

Which brings up another mini-story. Stephen Vogt was the DH for the game and Craig Albernaz was catching. Vogt went out to warm up Ramos while Torra was pitching, then switched off with Albernaz so he could go to bat in the 8th.

About that bench. Ain't hardly anybody there. Brandon Guyer went on the DL.

Outside the game:

• According to broadcaster Patrick Kinas, big changes are coming for the pitching crew. Alexander Torres has been moved to the bullpen. Lance Pendleton makes his first start tomorrow. Jim Paduch will be here tomorrow as well and will go into the starting rotation. Torres is reportedly not upset at the change. Something clearly needed to be done.
• Over at Rays Prospects, BurGi has a spectacular analysis of all the pitchers in the Rays system. A swimming pool for stats folks to dive into.
• The Rays have done the deal with Hideki Matsui. He should be showing up in Durham in time for his 38th birthday. Setting up the trivia question: Who is the oldest player to put on a AAA Bulls uniform? 
• Jose Lobaton, who has spent a lot of time in a Bulls uniform, may be coming through on a rehab assignment. It’ll be nice to see him in the dugout again. 

Chart of the Day

Pitching Efficiency (Pitches Per Out)

This is a really simple stat with some interesting results. How many pitches are thrown per out? The fewer pitches, the more "efficient" you are. Matt Torra got through eight innings today with just 89 pitches. That's spectacular efficiency.

Click on chart for larger image

Correction: In the chart it shows Alex Cobb only pitching 2⅓ innings. It should have read 28⅓ innings. PE computation, however, is accurate.

Let's Talk About Something Else

Game 20, Tuesday, April 24, McCoy Stadium, Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk Tides (Baltimore) 8; Durham Bulls 5
Season: 6-14; Trip: 1-12; Streak: 0-9
Box, Herald-Sun, Virginian-Pilot

As mentioned yesterday, one of the teams playing last night was going to break a losing streak. It wasn’t the Bulls.

Is there some light at all? Maybe. Careful reader Chris D has run some numbers for us that are interesting. In this table are the historic (that is, their minor league) OPSs of the Bulls lineup minus new guys Reid Brignac and Stephen Vogt (who had four bases stolen off him and his pitchers while catching just one, but who’s counting?).

What jumps out is that all but three players are well below what they’ve done in the past. A couple are down by very substantial margins. If you’re a stats geek at all, regression to the mean would tell you that things just have to get better. Unfortunately, it doesn’t tell you when they will get better.

Thanks, Chris.

Outside the game:

• The Bulls are playing at Harbor Park, the main topic of an Adam Sobsey piece last August (scroll down), and reviewed here and here on other websites.
• The Bulls want you to improve on the look of the Blue Monster.
• The stats guys over at DRays Bay have taken a closer look at Hideki Matsui, but the Rays have yet to confirm the deal.

Cloudy Days

Game 18, Monday, April 23, McCoy Stadium, Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Pawtucket Red Sox 2; Durham Bulls 0 (7 innings)
Box

Game 19, Monday, April 23, McCoy Stadium
Pawtucket Red Sox 7; Durham Bulls 1 (7 innings)
Season: 6-13; Trip: 1-11; Streak: 0-8
Box, Herald-Sun

Is there some good to talk about? Well, yes, a few flickering lights

• If these two games had been played last night at the DBAP it would have been really miserable for us. Those of you from around here know that last evening was particularly cold and damp. I was happy not to be at the ballpark.
• New guy Stephen Vogt got his first hits of 2012, as DH in game 2. He also caught the first game. 
• New guy Reid Brignac played in game 2, at shortstop, and got a hit.
• Because these 11 losses have come on the road, none went into extra innings, and two games were these shortened minor league style double headers, the Bulls pitching staff has thrown 15 fewer innings over this stretch. (Home team doesn’t come to bat in the bottom of the last inning if they are winning.)
• Chris Archer and Ryan Reid had decent starts. Reid is emerging as a key figure on the Bulls pitching staff.

Otherwise, bleah!

• New guy Lance Pendleton made his first appearance and picked up his first loss. 
• Over the two games Bulls got 11 hits (10 singles, 1 double) but only scored 1 run. The Red Sox scored 9 runs on 15 hits (4 doubles and a homer).

Outside the game:

• The Bulls are playing the Norfolk Tides tonight. The Tides have lost the last 6 games in a row. The Bulls have lost their last 8. Somebody’s going to have their streak broken!
• Hedeki Matsui (stats) will likely be wearing a Bulls uniform in a couple of weeks, if various reports are accurate. Will that bring some nostaligic Yankee fans to the DBAP. Why not? If you’re into trivia, Matsui has only played in 5 American minor league games in his career (rehab games while a Yankee) He is expected to go to Port Charlotte to get in shape, then show up in Durham.
• If you missed it, Tim Beckham went on the 7-day DL, making room on the roster for Brignac. Just putting the decision off?