One Month's Worth of Pitches

Keeping track of Durham Bulls pitching can be tough to do. The season is not quite a month old yet and seventeen players have already taken the mound for the Bulls (eighteen if you count catcher Craig Albernaz’s two appearances). The Bulls' website seems to have trouble keeping track. For example, as this is being written Alex Cobb’s return from Tampa Bay does not show, nor does the departure of the unfortunate Paul Phillips to Montgomery. Even with those transactions, the Bulls are carrying 13 pitchers, one more than usual. Also, we can expect a visit from rehabbing Tampa Bay reliever J.P. Howell soon.

The Bulls have two starting pitchers on the disabled list, Richard De Los Santos and Dirk Hayhurst. Chris Bootcheck just came off the DL.

Ryan Reid and Jeremy Hall joined the Bulls while they were on this road trip.

As a group, Bulls pitching ranks fifth in the IL on ERA and third on the WHIP (walks and hits per inning) metric. They are fifth in the league on won-loss percentage.

As this chart (sorted by innings pitched) shows, ERA is mostly OK. You have to discount the low-inning guys who are down near the bottom. That’s going to get better. The two worrisome numbers are R.J. Swindle’s and Brian Baker’s, the same two who have WHIPs up and out of the zone.

The stats guys don’t like ERA very much. To see their tRA and other such numbers, check here.

This crew ranges in age from 23 (Cobb and Torres) to 32 (Bootcheck), so a pretty decent balance there. From a fan’s perspective it does not look like this year we are going to be seeing any fireballers — unless Jake McGee, just back from Tampa Bay, is supposed to be working on his fast ball. Just about all of this crew are finesse guys, which can be just as much fun to watch.

Update 5 May, 2:45: Tampa Bay's Jeff Neimann may be going on DL. If so, then either a starter (Cobb or Torres) or a reliever (your guess is a good as mine) will be called up from Durham. 

Quality Time in Virginia?

Game 17: Durham Bulls 6, Norfolk Tides 4 (14 innings)
Wrap, Box, Play-by-Play, MiLB.com

Game 18: Durham Bulls 5, Norfolk Tides 6 (11 innings)
Season: 11-7
Wrap, Box, Play-by-Play, Virginia-Pilot

Here’s hoping that the Bulls at least got some rest after yesterday afternoon’s 11 inning slog. If I heard Solondz correctly they have not even been able to take batting practice in several days. You will recall that Friday it rained all day and night, which didn’t keep the umps from requiring a game to be played. The Bulls then bussed to Norfolk and played a 4-hour, 14 inning marathon (with the same umpiring crew — maybe there's some justice), so they didn’t take batting practice before yesterday’s 1:15 start that went on for 11 innings and 3+ hours. And then today they’ve got one of those “education day” games starting at 12:15. Maybe Charlie’s thinking they are getting plenty of time at the plate. As a team they’ve had 105 plate appearances in just the last two games (normal would be mid-60’s for 2 games).

Just a few notes on the games while we wait for today’s to start.

On Saturday Dirk Hayhurst had his first rough outing. He only lasted 4 2/3 innings and committed the cardinal sin of walking in a run. Guess who got the win? Paul Phillips went 3 innings and lowered his ERA to 14.14. Considering his start point of 40.50 a couple of days earlier, that’s pretty good.

Brandon Guyer had a great night going 4 for 7 with a home run and 2 RBI. He is currently leading the team in just about every statistical category.

Sunday reads (I wasn’t able to listen to the game) like more of a slog. Oddities included Omar Luna getting on base twice on being hit by a pitch. Too bad he wasn’t able to score. Statistical freak — two of our pitchers (De La Rosa and Ekstrom) got charged with blown saves. Our relievers have now put in 20 innings in the last three games (starters, 13 2/3). Thank goodness Cobb was able to go six yesterday.

Edgar Gonzalez is due up today. Maybe he can put in enough innings to give the bullpen a bit of a rest.

Last Year's Durham Bulls: Pitchers

Here's what I've heard about last year's pitchers.

• Richard De Los Santos, 148 innings pitched, Durham Bulls
• Heath Phillips, 139 innings, Long Island Ducks
• Jeremy Hellickson, 117 innings, Tampa Bay Rays
• Aneury Rodriguez, 113 innings, Houston Astros
• Brian Baker, 105 innings, Durham Bulls
• Carlos Hernandez, 90 innings, ????
• Joe Bateman, 76 innings, Oakland Athletics
• Virgil Vasquez, 66 innings, LA Angels
• Dale Thayer, 60 innings, NY Mets
• Mike Ekstrom, 58 innings, Durham Bulls
• Winston Abreu, 55 innings, Toronto Blue Jays
• R.J. Swindle, 55 innings, Durham Bulls
• Darin Downs innings, 40, Florida Marlins

We had 11 pitchers with 20 innings or less (details here) and we'll surely be seeing some of them in 2011 (Cobb, Torres, McGee). If anyone can fill in the holes above I'll update this. Could swear that I heard something about Heath Phillips, but sure can't find my notes.

Update: April 19. Changes in italics

Looking at 2010 — 4 — Pitchers

Twenty-seven ballplayers stepped onto the mound for the Durham Bulls in the regular season. That compares to just 17 so far for the Tampa Bay Rays. We’ll take two of those off the list, since infielders Angel Chavez and Omar Luna were thrown to the wolves in the last inning of two games. Interestingly, they both did just fine. And we'll add one to the list, Alex Torres, who pitched a couple of postseason games.

We’ll look at the rest in order of innings pitched, since with only a couple of exceptions the Bulls seemed to be a bit confused over who was going to be a starter and who was going to be a reliever this year. It will probably take a couple of posts to get through these guys.

Richard De Los Santos (26). RHP. Mostly a starter. 148 1/3 innings (7 innings, postseason), 28 games (23 starts), 14-5, ERA 3.52.

• De Los Santos started the year as a reliever, making his first appearance in the Bulls’ third game. He started a game on May 1 and eventually set a Durham Bulls record of 14 wins in the regular season. How good is he? Pretty good. In a year where all except one other starter went on the DL, De Los Santos certainly showed durability and a very respectable ERA. Furthermore, as the season went on he was going further into games, although he never got past the 7th inning. We’ll have to see how the Rays treat him next year. My guess is that he will be back with the Bulls and we should be happy to have him.
  
• Stats.

Heath Phillips (28). LHP. Starter. 139 1/3 innings. 24 games. 8-7. ERA 4.07.

• Phillips has been a “wait till next year” kind of guy for quite a while now. We like him. But then there’s the 21 home runs he gave up (the most, by far, of a Durham pitcher). He was in the starting rotation from the beginning of the year and we are somewhat surprised that he put in as many innings as he did. He went on the DL in mid-August and sat out the remainder of the season. He’s been pitching in AAA for 4 years now, so he may have reached his limit. Nevertheless, big left-handers are a treasure, so expect him back next year.
  
• Stats.

Jeremy Hellickson (23). RHP. Starter. 117 2/3 innings. 21 games. 12-3. ERA 2.45. On Rays 40-man.

• A terrific pitcher and a pleasure to watch. Deserves all of the awards he got this year for his minor league performance. Unlike David Price’s tour as a Bull, when he was clearly working to some kind of Rays program and not necessarily focused on game situations, Jeremy made a big difference in the Bulls won-loss record. Very, very impressive young man. More than that, there’s a chance that he will at least start the season with the Bulls next year depending on how their year works out. Called up in August, he had a couple of very successful starts and then went to the bullpen where he is having no success at all, so far.
  
• Stats.

Aneury Rodriguez (22). RHP. Mostly a starter. 113 2/3 innings (7 2/3 post-season). 27 games (17 starts). 6-5. ERA 3.80.

• For Rodriguez I would judge his season as one of him wondering just what the Bulls expected of him. He was pressed into service after starter Jeff Bennett went on the DL in April. He had two brilliant games as a starter, then a couple not-so-brilliant, and then worked as a reliever and starter the rest of the year. Overall, an asset to the Bulls.
  
• Stats.

Brian Baker (27). RHP. Long relief, spot starter. 105 innings. 37 games (12 starts). 9-5. ERA 3.86.

• Even though he seemed to run out of steam at the end of the year, we were very impressed with Mr. Baker. Poised on the mound, smooth delivery, slightly generous with home runs (10), but not too bad. Note the number of innings he pitched relative to the rest of the team. Good job.
  
• Stats.

Carlos Hernandez (30). LHP. Starter. 90 2/3 innings. 18 games (17 starts). 6-5. ERA 4.17.

• I want to like Hernandez, I really do. But for two years we’ve been wondering if he was going to make it to the park for his next start. Something started going wrong in mid-June and even though he pitched in four games in July and one in August, he was really out for the season. Overall, he hasn’t been a very effective pitcher for the Bulls for the last two season. His ERA is up almost a full run from last year as well (3.29 to 4.17).
  
• Stats.

Joe Bateman (30). RHP. Reliever. 76 innings (6 2/3 postseason). 54 games. 7-0. ERA 1.66. 7 holds. 4 Saves.

• Bateman is one of my all-time favorite Bulls pitchers (the other being Winston Abreu) and this year he was even better than last year. More efficient, hit fewer batters (5, down from 9), and seemed to not get himself into as many difficult situations. We have always thought it odd that he has never had a chance with the majors. He still pitches a good game as far as we are concerned and we hope that he makes it back.
  
• Stats.

Virgil Vasquez (28). RHP. Starter. 66 1/3 innings. 12 games. 6-2. ERA 4.88.

• For his fourth AAA season (two with Toledo, one with Indianapolis), Virgil got off to a bad start when he broke both wrists in a traffic accident early in the year. That happened after just three games and he didn’t make it back until June 29. He went back on the DL in mid-August. Seems a likable guy, but his stats are nothing special.
  
• Stats.

Dale Thayer (29). RHP. Reliever. 60 innings (7 1/3 postseason). 46 games. 4-1. ERA 3.43. 5 holds. 2 saves. On Rays 40-man.

• This was not Dale’s best year. He did get to Tampa Bay twice, but only pitched in one game. He did a good job for the Bulls this season, just not as dominant as he has been in the past. He was outrighted to Durham September 1 (i.e., dropped from the 40-man) which means he will be a free agent at some magic day soon. Doubt that he will be back with the Bulls next year.
  
• Stats.

Bulls Lose Game 3

Durham Bulls 1; Louisville Bats 2
Series (best of five): 1-2
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Triangle Offense, Louisville Courier-Journal, Bats

Excitement! Great fans really getting into the game, understanding the game. Terrific pitching. Impeccable fielding (with one exception). What more could you ask for on a September evening?

Well, that’s what I’m thinking this morning. Last night I was thinking, “Charlie, Charlie, Charlie, how could you leave that kid in for the 7th?” As were we all, I’d say.

This was a game that would drive a true baseball numerologist nuts. Every number says the Bulls ought to have won it. Hits, 8-3; total bases, 9-6; team OBP, .236 to .125; strikeouts, 14 to 8. And so on through just about any metric you’d like to put up there, except for one — runs scored.

I’m going to leave all the analysis to the links above. The Bulls had their chances. Did not happen.

So, let’s celebrate this terrific young pitcher we got to see — Alex Cobb. Way back in February RaysProspects had him pretty high on their list. With his year in Montgomery and what he showed last night, his future looks bright. Here’s hoping he’s with the Bulls next year. He very effectively controlled the Bats until the unfortunate 7th when he let one pitch get away from him.

That wouldn’t have mattered if the Bulls could get a run across, but they couldn’t. My heart soared with that shot of Angel Chavez in the 8th. A couple of feet to the left and it would have been off the wall, Richard would have scored, and all would have been right with the world.

Tonight’s another night. These Bats are good. They are well-managed. The Bulls are starting Paul Phillips, we saw him in the last game of the year when he pitched six terrific innings in relief of Bobby Livingston. Seems a good choice among the limited options available to Charlie Montoyo.

Tonight is, as we know, a critical game. A Bulls’ loss and the season is over. This is a terrific team. Pretty sure we can do it.

A last point: What a great baseball town/region this is! The fans last night knew exactly what was going on and let the team know it. Think we could have done just fine on our own without the PA system’s encouragement (but that’s another rant for another day). What we want to say here is how much fun it is to be at the park for a night when folks are actually watching the game and getting behind the Bulls.

-----

Up in Pennsylvania, the Columbus Clippers shut out the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees and lead them 2-1 in their series.

Playoff Pitching — 1

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

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

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

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

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

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

Marching Out of Georgia

Game 121: Durham Bulls 1; Gwinnett Braves 4
Season: 74-47
Wrap, Box

First inning, bases loaded, one out, no runs scored. Does that sound a bit familiar?

Hit into three double plays. How about that?

Those two scenarios seem a bit typical for the last couple of weeks. The four errors do not. That isn’t like the Bulls at all and I’m pretty sure we won’t see that again. At least I hope not. Nor losing a series. That hasn’t happened very much, if at all, this year.

Brian Baker did a very credible job. As did new guy Paul Phillips. Only one earned run was scored against the pitching staff.

Leaving Georgia yesterday was probably a good feeling. Too bad the Bulls only get to Fort Mill, SC and the Knights. Don’t know just what the accommodations there are like, but from a distance the field does not look like a great place to play.

The overall pitching situation is not getting better. The radio reported that Virgil Vasquez has knee problems. So that puts us with three (four if you count Jason Cromer) pitchers who aren’t readily available: Heath Phillips, Carlos Hernandez, and now Virgil Vasquez. Maybe what we really need to call up are reinforcements for trainer Roger Fleming.

As a side note, the roster on the Bulls website is different from the roster on the International League website. The IL roster shows Fernando Perez on the disabled list. However, the IL’s transactions list also tells us that outfielder Emeel Salem has gone back to Montgomery. Wonder if he had to drive himself to and from Laurenceville, GA? And did he enjoy the ride? Does he get to keep the uniform? The hat and batting helmet?

Jeremy Hellickson won another game yesterday. Less and less likely we’ll see him in a Bulls uniform again. But we didn’t think that would happen anyhow. A puzzle will be the status of Dan Johnson once Carlos Pena comes of the DL. He’s played in ten games and his numbers are not good at all. Nevertheless, his wOBA of .346 is better than a bunch of other players with the Rays (Aybar, Kapler, and more). So maybe someone else will get pushed off the ledge. Likely to depend as much on perceived team dynamics and contractual arrangements as immediate value to the team. Whatever’s decided, my guess is that it will only be for a couple of weeks until the rosters expand in September.

Pitching Challenges

Game 118: Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay) 3; Gwinnett Braves (Atlanta) 4
Wrap, Box
Game 119: Durham Bulls 2; Gwinnett Braves 4 (7 innings)
Game 120: Durham Bulls 6; Gwinnett Braves 2 (7 innings)
Season: 74-46; Games Remaining: 23; Home Games: 10
Wrap, Box (119), Box (120)

To say that the Bulls’ pitching situation has been difficult over the last two days is not exactly accurate. Chaotic might be a better word. In Friday’s game Heath Phillips pitched one inning, gave up four runs, left the game, and is now reported to be on the disabled list. Carlos Hernandez (who came off the disabled list a couple of days ago) came in, pitched two innings, and is now reported to be back on the disabled list. Aneury Rodriguez came in to hold things in check for five innings, but the offense could not quite catch up. Plus, since Rodriguez was supposed to start Saturday, Montoyo and X. Hernandez had to do some scheming.

As an aside, I like watching Carlos Hernandez pitch. For those new to the Bulls, he’s been around for much of the last two years. He started 21 games last year and he’s got 18 appearances this year. And yet I also worry about him. If he’s back to the DL you’ve got to wonder if he will be around to finish the year with us. I hope so.

Outside of the pitching problems, Friday’s game also saw new outfielder over from Montgomery, Emeel Salem, take left field and hit a double in his second at bat.

Because Aneury Rodriguez pitched Friday, Charlie Montoyo had to get creative for the double-header yesterday. He started the first game with new guy Brian Shouse. I couldn’t chase down the last time he started a game. However, in 10 years in the majors (467 games) he doesn’t have a one. Unfortunately, the baseball gods don’t necessarily smile on either ingenuity or necessity. Shouse gave up four runs in the first inning and that was enough for Gwinnett to take the game. Need to mention Darin Downs. He pitched 4 innings of 1-hit baseball. Very nice performance. He’s looking better every day. Nice to see Elliot Johnson back in the lineup.

Back to Shouse — Chris Richard is no longer the “old guy” in the clubhouse. Shouse (41) has him by several years.

Which brings us to the second game of the double-header and a very nice 2-inning start by Jake McGee. Four K’s, still no walks for the left-hander. Followed by 2 innings by Dale Thayer, 2 by R.J. Swindle (who got the win), and one by Winston Abreu. Brian Baker will be starting today and, if he can hang on, the pitching situation might settle down just a little bit.

Nice to see the 13-hit performance by the offense.

Phillips Hurt; Phillips In

No more details on Heath Phillips’ departure from last night’s game, but Stacy Long is reporting that Montgomery Biscuits reliever Paul Phillips in on his way from Montgomery, Alabama to Laurenceville, Georgia.

We saw Phillips on the roster last year for three games in September, two regular season and one during the playoffs. In fact, he got the crucial win against Louisville in the final game of the first round.

Hope he gets there in time for tonight’s games.

No Homers? No Problem

Game 113: Durham Bulls 6; Indianapolis Indians 4
Season: 70-43; Home Stand: 2-1
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Indy Week

When your opponent outhits you and you still win the game, then something else was probably going on. In this case it was a series of timely mistakes and, hindsight now tells us, errors of judgment by Indianapolis’ manager and good ideas by Durham’s manager. In fact, you could say that our manager outmanaged their manager.

Starting pitchers did their job. Durham’s Heath Phillips was pretty good, Indianapolis’ Charlie Morton was even better.

But the managers? Well, here’s the way I saw it.

In the 8th the Bulls were down 3-1. Indianapolis sent in reliever Daniel Moskos, who had pitched an inning the day prior. Elliot Johnson got a single, Justin Ruggiano drew a walk. Montoyo told Johnson and Ruggiano to run with Chris Richard on an 0-2 pitch. Richard grounded out, but a double play was prevented (one out, runners on second and third).

Moskos struggled with Joe Dillon and then Indians Manager Frank Kremblas called for the intentional walk. Maybe the idea was to get to newcomer Leslie Anderson and set up a double play (which the Indians have been very good at this series). Didn’t work. Moskos hit Anderson and a run was in and bases were still loaded.

So Kremblas changed pitchers and brought in Brian Bass, who had also pitched the previous day. Bass walked Angel Chavez, bringing in the tying run. Jose Lobaton dribbles a ball in front of the plate that Bass can’t handle correctly and the go ahead run scores, bases still loaded. Lastly, for the first time in the inning, the ball leaves the infield when J. J. Furmaniak hits a single scoring two runs.

Player of the game: J. J. Furmaniak. Manager of the game: Charlie Montoyo.

Have to say something about yesterday’s game in Toronto. You’ve got to think that the Rays really aren’t looking forward to listening to “O Canada” again any time soon. Dale Thayer was called in to try to put out a bonfire. In the first four innings Toronto had “touched” James Shields for 9 hits, 4 walks, 6 homers and eight runs. Dale poured gas on the fire: seven hits, another homer, six runs. Ultimately the game ended with Toronto ahead 17-11. Dale is on his way back.

On the other hand, Dan Johnson got 4 RBI on a home run and a sacrifice fly. He’s doing just fine since he’s been up there (17 plate appearances, .273/.471/.545, wOBA .441).

Two More Wins

Game 103: Durham Bulls (Rays) 5; Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (Phillies) 3
Wrap, Box

Game 104: Durham Bulls 3; Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs 2
Season: 64-40; Trip: 2-0
Wrap, Box

Seven wins in a row; twenty-four games above .500, the best won-loss ratio in a couple of years; thirteen games ahead of Charlotte in the South Division of the International League. After a few problems just after the break, the Bulls are more than back on track.

Up in Pennsylvania we’ve had a couple of interesting games. In both the starting pitchers, Heath Phillips and Brian Baker, had above-average starts, but ended with no-decisions. In both Winston Abreu came on in the 9th and struck out the side.

In the first game Lehigh Valley did what it could to avoid Dan Johnson and it was modestly successful. They walked him twice and he was held to “only” one single. In the meantime they may have lost track of other power hitters on the Bulls. In the 9th, Justin Ruggiano came to bat with runners on first and third, one out, and the Bulls behind by one run. You have to pitch for the double-play because Dan Johnson is up next. Showing signs of the Ruggiano of 2007 and 2008, Justin put it over the wall.

In the second game the Iron Pigs sort of pitched to Dan. He singled in the 2nd, but was caught in a double play. He singled in the 4th, but was again out on a double play. In the 6th, with Elliot Johnson on third base, he grounded out and got his 92nd(!) RBI. He led off in the top of the 8th and drew a walk. Fernando Perez came in to run for him and promptly stole second base. The next batter, Chris Richard was walked. Joe Dillon got a bunt single, so the bases were loaded for Dioner Navarro, who drew a bases-loaded walk for the tying run. The next batter, Furmaniak, hit into a double play, but the go-ahead run scored.

Speaking of Furmaniak, he hit into two bases-loaded double plays yesterday. I don’t know how you work on your “situational hitting”, but his needs some work.

A couple of charts. Click on the chart for a larger version.

Since the last time, the Bulls keep on improving.

And the runs scored/runs allowed chart is simply spectacular.

Meanwhile, down between the Bay and Clearwater, Florida, the Rays are having a so-so season, and a fair-to-middling runs scored/runs against numbers. Note that Baltimore is doing so awful I’ve taken them off the chart. It was screwing up my scale. Given how the Rays are doing, you’ve got to wonder why there are any trade rumors at all. What’s to fix?

’Till September?

Game 98: Durham Bulls 4, Columbus Clippers 2
Season: 58-40; Home Stand: 2-2
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Indy Week

Columbus Clipper right-hander Josh Tomlin had a terrific five innings. In that time he faced just 21 batters, struck out nine, only walked two, and gave up three hits, all singles. But then came the 6th inning. By the end of it the Bulls had tied the game at two-all after a walk, double, and bases-clearing single.

On the other side of the scoresheet, Durham Bulls left-hander Heath Phillips was having one of his better outings. True, he gave up solo home runs in the 2nd and the 4th, but that’s what Mr. Phillips does. He’s given up 20 of them this year. Nevertheless, he was well into the 8th inning before he got into anything like serious trouble and that was only after a rare error by J.J. Furmaniak put runners on first and second with two outs. R.J. Swindle came in to solve that problem.

But let’s rewind to the Bulls half of the 7th, because that’s where they won the game. At that time the score was 2-2 and the Clipper’s right-hander Shane Lindsay was making his Triple-A debut. Fernando Perez drew a walk, but was out on a fielder’s choice that put J.J. Furmaniak on first. Elliot Johnson walked, putting men on first and second. Justin Ruggiano struck out (his third of the night) for the second out.

On the last pitch of Ruggiano's at bat, Montoyo called the key play of the game, a double steal. And it worked, with J.J. Furmaniak ending up on third and Elliot Johnson on second. You have to wonder at the Clippers decision to then pitch to Dan Johnson. But they did, and Mr. Johnson did what he does so well, hitting a line drive that just blew between the center and right fielders to the wall. Two runs scored. Between them Mr. Phillips and Mr. Swindle, who picked up three more K’s in the 9th, finished things off.

Unfortunately, we could have some serious people problems in tonight’s lineup.

In the 6th inning Desmond Jennings (who was getting a day off) pinch hit for Angel Chavez. Jennings had a key double that got the Bulls back into the game. But our concern is why Chavez came out of the game. Reports are that the problem is his shoulder. We are hoping that the problem is short-lived. Jennings stayed in the game, going to left field, while Dan Johnson, who started in left, came in to cover third.

Also in the 6th inning, Alvin Colina, batting as the designated hitter with one out and Jose Lobaton on first, hit a grounder to third. He really pushed himself to get to first to prevent the double play, and succeeded when the throw got past the first baseman. But that’s when things went very wrong. Just past first base Colina fell to the ground, curled up, and was still for quite a while as trainers and others hovered over him. The Clipper first baseman picked up the ball, tagged the curled up Colina, and trotted off the field with the rest of the team, to a chorus of boos. Broadcaster Solondz said he was puzzled at the boos. Well, it had to do with essentially kicking a guy while he’s down. Colina had to be helped off the field and was in obvious pain (ankle, knee?). So, at a guess he may be out for a while. Dioner Navarro took his place in the lineup for the rest of the evening. Joe Dillon put on catcher’s gear to warm up, briefly, Darin Downs, and then R.J. Swindle.

So, if Dillon stays out (he’s had some kind of illness), Chavez is out, and Colina is out, we have precisely nine batters/ballplayers to put in the lineup tonight. Do we have a pitcher who can actually play baseball? And bat? We just might have to find out.

Looking to September, if the Bulls win the South Division and Columbus wins the West Division the Clippers will be back in the DBAP on 10th of September for the third game of the Governors’ Cup playoffs. Really, really want to see that game. The team will likely be quite different. Nevertheless, we are 4-4 so far this year, so what could be a better match up than to extend the series into Cup competition?

A Tale of Two Games

Desmond Jennings, July 21, 2010, Courtesy Durham Herald-Sun

Game 96: Durham Bulls 7, Columbus Clippers 0
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Indy Week

Game 97: Durham Bulls 6, Columbus Clippers 7; 12 innings
Season: 57-40; Home Stand: 1-2
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Indy Week

About the only thing these last two games had in common was an inordinate length, times trying fans' souls. Tuesday’s game had a hour and a half rain delay to add to its 2 hr 50 minute length. Wednesday’s went on for 12 innings, and 4 hrs and 20 minutes ending up at almost exactly the same time of night, 11:30 or so. Paid attendance at the first game was 3,861 and at the second was 3,151. But I’m here to tell you there were surely only a couple hundred left at the end of either. Unfortunately, last night that included the annoying little kid who kept kicking my seatback the entire game — shouldn’t he have been home in bed? As far as the first night goes, I must admit that I never made it to the DBAP, but watched on Channel 151.

Otherwise, the games were very different.

In the first game the Bulls pitching lineup did very nicely. Richard De Los Santos, R.J. Swindle, and Winston Abreu combined for a 7 hit shutout. Meanwhile the Johnson boys, Justin Ruggiano, and Chris Richard led the pack as the Bulls put together 14 hits and 7 runs.

For the second game things were very different. Virgil Vasquez in his second straight shaky start gave up 6 runs, but Joe Bateman, Mike Ekstrom, and Dale Thayer kept us in the game until the 12th when Winston Abreu gave up his first run since May 18th. An amazing 21-appearance run. Just wish it had gone one more game.

There were interesting events to watch throughout, however. For instance, After Dan Johnson hit his 26th home run in the 1st, and singled to lead off the 4th, he didn’t see another decent pitch. He drew three walks, including a lead off walk in the 12th. Unfortunately, while he got on base 5 out of 6 times at bat, he only scored one run (off of his homer). The snakebit guys of the night were the six and seven batters, Dioner Navarro and J.J. Furmaniak. In their combined 12 at bats in the game, 11 came with runners on base. Mr. Navarro got a vital ground-out RBI in the 6th, But Mr. Furmaniak didn’t get a one. The hitting hero was Angel Chavez with his three-run homer in the 6th that pumped some life back into the team. But after tying in the 7th, the Bulls could not push another run across.

I’m something of a Desmond Jennings skeptic. But even I have to admit that he made a spectacular, running into the wall catch in the 1st inning (see above) and a terrific running forward, keep us in the game catch in the 11th.

Both teams essentially ripped the heart out of their bullpens. Heath Phillips is due to start tonight. Every one of our relievers has seen duty either last night or the night before. One (Abreu) was up both nights. Who goes to the mound from the bench? One of the catchers?

These Columbus youngsters (the oldest is 27) are giving us fits. Maybe Mr. Phillips will repeat his terrific performance of a few days ago. We need it.

Durham Bulls At the Break — 3

Pitching

As the last piece of this series, let’s take a look at pitching. Pretty darn good.

The first chart is the team trend over the last twenty games. This may at first glance, look fairly flat, but flat at what level, you may ask? And the answer is, at a pretty good level, since we won 13 out of those twenty games.

At the individual level we use Fielding Independent Percentage as a metric (think ERA, it’s almost the same thing at these sample sizes). The pitchers marked with a * are on the Tampa Bay 40-man. What I find interesting about this chart is how well our relievers are doing. Everyone knows that Hellickson is a first rate pitcher, but notice that most of our relievers are better than the team average. The implication is that, even on a bad day, we always have a chance.

I’ve thrown in strikeout to walk ratio mostly to once again show R.J. Swindle’s unusual numbers. But notice how well Virgil Vasquez does on both charts. He’s probably the guy to watch in the second half of the season.

What does the rest of the season look like? A couple of these guys are on the cusp of moving up/moving on.

R.J. Swindle is not on the 40-man, but according to this post yesterday, he has a 15 July opt out clause. Opt out as in, “Call me up or call me gone.” That’s Thursday folks. We would do well to remember what the Rays did last year in similar circumstances. They called up Winston Abreu, let him sit in the bullpen for a few days, and traded him to Cleveland. If history were to repeat itself, R.J. might be back in time for the playoffs. Somehow I don’t think that will happen. I, along with a lot of other folks [WDBB, Adam Sobsey, Jason Collette], would love to see him get a chance to see if he can handle major league hitters.

Another guy I’d love to see get his shot is Joe Bateman. He isn’t on the 40-man either, but, as was pointed out yesterday, the Rays have got several open 40-man slots.

How about the guys who are on the 40-man?

• Jeremy Hellickson — the Rays, unless they really, really need him, will probably leave him with us until September.
• Dale Thayer — insurance for a TB injury. Dale’s basic numbers are pretty good, but June was not his best month.
• Mike Ekstrom — have to say that he’s probably available for a trade

Not in Durham are two more pitchers on the TB 40-man, Jake McGee and Alex Torres. Both are with the Montgomery Biscuits. Torres is having a good year, McGee isn’t. I think we’ll see Torres before the end of the year. Much like Hellickson showed up in late July of last year.

How about the rest?

Let me first say how much I like almost all of these guys. Going forward, in addition to the guys already mentioned, I’ve got to say that I’m really looking forward to watching Virgil Vasquez and Brian Baker get in a bunch of innings; Winston Abreu show the International League how to close out a game; and Dale Thayer getting back on track. Unfortunately, I’d guess that Heath Phillips and Aneury Rodriguez may not be long with the team. If Darin Downs had done better, one of them might be on the bubble right now. Richard De Los Santos is doing a good job. We need him to stick around as well. I like having a lefty, but Carlos Hernandez, whom I also like a lot, may not be with us all that much longer either.

Some of you guys out there understand this much better than I do. What do you think?

USO and More

Before we talk about the game, let’s mention the USO. As it happens, I spend a good bit of time lending a hand at the USO lounge at RDU. There I have the privilege and opportunity to spend some time with the men and women (and their families) serving our country these days. As you must know, North Carolina is home to three of the major military installations in the country — Camp LeJeune, Fort Bragg, and Seymour-Johnson — so we have plenty of traffic at the USO (and at the one at Charlotte’s airport). Volunteering there gives me a chance to stay in touch with these young people and let me tell you they are just great. You’d be proud to know them.

Anyhow, you can bid on a cool jersey worn by a Bull this 4th of July. And the USO gets the proceeds. How neat is that?

— — —

Game 81: Durham Bulls 5; Louisville Bats 10
Season: 49-32; Home Stand: 6-2
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

You know things are not going well when:

• It’s Joe Bateman, not Heath Phillips who gives up a big home run;
• You get 15 strikeouts, but they get 15 hits;
• Dan Johnson hits two two-run homers and you can’t get the lead in the game;
• Desmond Jennings gets caught stealing;
• The opposition gets four lead-off doubles (three of them scored, as did the leadoff single they got);
• Your pitchers throw 205 pitches in nine innings;
• Your suggestion that this Louisville team might be better than their record becomes painfully, obviously true.

I could go on, but you get the point. For a deeper meditation on the meaning of it all, especially the youthfulness of the Louisville team, there’s the Indy Week link.

In the meantime we get to take on Gwinnett tonight. They are on a run, having won six in a row. We should do what we can to change that.

How Hot Was It?

Pouring Pig Iron

Game 76: Durham Bulls 2; Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs 4
Season: 45-32; Home Stand: 2-1
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, The Morning Call

Just the weather, not the bats or the pitchers.

The simple explanation of what happened is that two throwing errors, one by Omar Luna in the 4th and one by Jose Lobaton in the 8th, made all the difference. And they did add two runs to the books.

On the other hand, Lehigh Valley got eleven hits, including three doubles and a triple, a two timely run-scored sacrifice flies.

On a brutally hot day, Heath Phillips had already faced 21 batters when he started the 6th. A single, a double, and a sac fly and another run was in. If only …

This year’s Bulls, as good as they are, and they are very good, don’t seem to come from behind very well. Can only recall one “walk-off” game this year. Last year, to cite one particularly spectacular example, someone who left the park in the 4th with the Bulls down 1-8, would miss an 11th inning comeback where the Bulls ended up winning 13-9. If only …

I thought maybe Fernando Perez’s second home run in two days was going to turn the tide, and it did help, but not enough. Beautiful shot, though. Probably got the attention of diners at the restaurant since it appeared to hit the wall just above the awning.

Didn’t make the Iron Pig pitcher work all that much. Only 88 pitches through seven innings. Given the heat, a bit more patience to make him work harder might have made a difference.

Today we’re on national television. Time to shine. Hope that we don’t wilt.

Webworld

• News & Observer does a nice profile of Dan Johnson. Gets a few minor details wrong (Shoppach was never going to stay in Durham). But can’t disagree with the overall sentiment — that Dan Johnson is a major-league quality player.

• Huge media coverage of Longoria/Upton dustup yesterday. For long time watchers of B.J. just another example of his inability to stay focused on the game.

Indians Zoom Past Bulls

Game 71: Durham Bulls 1; Indianapolis Indians 9
Season: 42-29; Last 10: 5-5
Wrap, Box

Sometimes, and I’m sure pitcher Heath Phillips would agree, it doesn’t pay to get out of bed in the morning. Phillips had been on a very nice run, but his tendency to give up the home run did him in last night. Four homers is just way too many.

Justin Garcia, just up from the Biscuits, had a decent 2 ⅔ innings.

Let’s see, what else positive can I find to say ... Not much.

For the team:

We are still in great shape. Thirteen games over .500 is an extraordinary performance. Eight games ahead of Charlotte. (Is there anything to the rumor that the Rays ownership is looking to move to Charlotte? No? I thought so.) The Knights, by the way, have won six in a row and are looking much better.

Predicted heat index for tomorrow in the Triangle region is 105°. Might be a good idea to stay in Indianapolis another day or so (as if you had any choice).

Batted

Game 66: Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay) 0, Louisville Bats (Cincinnati) 2
Season: 39-27; Last 10: 7-3
Wrap, Box, Louisville Courier-Journal

Just why a baseball team is named after a small, furry, flying mammal is beyond me. And then there’s the attendance figures which are routinely at the top of the International League. But that’s the way it is.

Heath Phillips had another very good start, but Louisville’s Chad Reineke’s was just a bit better and that’s how it ended up.

Minor features of the game: Chris Richard got a double. Maybe light at the end of the tunnel. Moving Fernando Perez to leadoff didn’t help. He went 0 for 4. Omar Luna got his first start in a Bulls uniform and went 1 for 3. This was the Bulls fifth shutout this year.

Other stuff:

Charlie Montoyo was named as the International League’s manager for the All-Star game. Another bit of well-deserved recognition. Also got good local coverage in N&O and Herald-Sun.

Ryan Shealy has signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox. So he must have had something lined up as he left the Bulls. Good chance we’ll see him in Pawtucket next month.

As mentioned by a commenter earlier, there was some major grounds keeping going on in center field a while back. Good photos here. Which reminds me that the appearance of the field is pretty ragged, but it’s supposed to get some re-sodding during this away trip. Seems like the local Trinity College folks are doing a bit more damage than was expected.

Gotta put up this link. Turns out things are not all sweetness and light in the baseball wife world.

Bison Basher

Game 61: Durham Bulls 6, Buffalo Bisons 1
Season: 37-24
Streak: W3; Last 10: 8-2
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Indy Week

Heath Phillips had his best game of the year, Jose Lobaton hit a grand slam, and some very nifty ball handling made it a great night.

It also occurred to me that there may be readers who’ve never seen the Durham Bulls Athletic Park and thus have no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned the crepe myrtles yesterday. Here they are.

Everything about Heath’s performance was good. He faced 28 batters and only used 86 pitches to get through 7 ⅓ innings. Except for the first inning, no more than four batters came to the plate per inning. This was his third win in a row. His ERA has dropped nearly a full run (from 4.68 to 3.76) over the last several games. Things are looking up for the left-hander.

The moment of the game was Lobaton’s grand slam in the 2nd. A single by Ryan Shealy, a walk to Chris Richard, a single to Angel Chavez and the bases are loaded with nobody out. Jose just crushed it and it was all good.

A great night-at-the-ballpark moment rounded it out. Bison new guy Marshall Hubbard hit a grounder to J.J. Furmaniak playing second base in the 7th inning. Furmaniak had to go way to his right to stop the ball and by then he was hopelessly out of position for the throw to first. So he tossed the ball to shortstop Angel Chavez. Chavez made the throw to Chris Richard at first for the out. Pretty, pretty, pretty.

Noticed another little touch I’d not seen before. In the top of the 7th Alvin Colina warmed up Phillips while Lobaton got his gear back on. As Jose came out of the dugout heading toward the plate Colina, instead of tossing the ball back to Phillips, turned and snapped a throw to Lobaton. Sort of, “Here, this guy is yours now,” kind of gesture. The moment had a nice, team-building feel to it.

Charlie Montoyo was quoted in both Herald-Sun and Indy Week as going with eleven pitchers. Did I miss something in the early part of the radio broadcast? I’ve got emails out, but if anyone knows who’s missing (we’ve got twelve pitchers on the roster), please let me know and I’ll update.

Bulls Win Series; Cromer Returning?

Game 46: Bulls 8, Red Sox 5
Season: 26-20
Home Stand: 3-1
Streak: W2
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Indy Week

The links have most of the story, the ‘wrap’ is, I think, particularly good today.

Wasn’t that a nice night at the park? Even though we kept glancing at the horizon expecting black clouds to come boiling up, they didn’t.

Wool E. Bull seems to be back to his old self. Not noticing any limps.

We left at the 7th inning, with the Bulls up 6-2, but were able to keep up on the radio. Scary moments in the 9th.

Heath Phillips had what could have been his best start of the year. Nevertheless, he gave up another homer and a lot of long outs. Worrisome.

We were listening when Thayer had his awful experience. So very uncharacteristic of him, walking four batters. Thanks to Mike Ekstrom for shutting things down as effectively as he did.

So, on to the news. Jim Sumner in the Durham Herald-Sun, in what is the first baseball-related “scoop” for that paper in memory, is reporting that Heath Rollins is being sent to Montgomery to make room for Jason Kromer [sic]. We will assume they mean Jason Cromer. Since Jason is my all-time favorite Bulls pitcher (along with Winston Abreu, of course), sure am happy to hear that he’s coming off the disabled list and I’m full of hope that he has recovered from whatever was wrong. The question will remain, who goes into the pen, Rodriguez or De Los Santos? I’ve got a 50-50 chance of getting that one right so I’ll go with Rodriguez to the pen. Unless, of course, Sumner got it wrong and it’s Heath Phillips who’s going to Montgomery.