2015 Comes to an End; Waiting for Spring

A good bit has been happening with the Bulls, including quite a few roster changes. To summarize, the 2016 Bulls are going to be nothing like the 2015 Bulls.

As a reminder, here’s a link to a list of the 31 hitters and 36 pitchers that put on a Bulls uniform last year.

Boog Powell, who played in 56 games last year and was a very exciting Kevin Kiermaier-type player, was part of a trade to the Seattle Mariners. Too bad. I was hoping to see more of him in 2016. 

C.J. Riefenhauser, who did a fine job in relief in 2015 (29 games, 2.86 ERA) was part of the same deal. 

We have to thank the Bulls’ Hit Bull Win Blog for a terrific update on a big 40-man roster shuffle a while back. From that we can deduce that there’s a very good chance that a couple of guys from last year may show up back in Durham, if they don’t stick with the Rays out of spring training (or get traded). Among our favorites staying on the roster are:

Taylor Motter, Mikie Mahtook, and Richie Shaffer. Unfortunately, three of our favorite guys were designated for assignment: JP Arencibia, Kirby Yates, and Brandon Gomes. Arencibia has signed with the Phillies; Kirby Yates is off to the Cleveland Indians; and Brandon Gomes has signed with the Chicago Cubs.

Again, with great thanks to the Bulls front office, we heard of even more transactions;

• Hak-Ju Lee, who has never seemed to really recover from his knee injury back in 2013, declared minor league free agency and signed with the San Francisco Giants.
• LHP Scott Diamond, our favorite 2015 starting pitcher, is off to Toronto.
• Joey Rickard got picked off in the Rule 5 draft, by Baltimore, which means he goes directly on their 40-man. Good luck. He was terrific at the end of last season.
• Jim Miller, a very reliable reliever in 2015, is off to Milwaukee.
• Jake Elmore is off to Milwaukee as well.
• Joey Butler, who started 2015 with the Bulls but spent most of the year with the Rays, signed with Cleveland.
• Robert Zarate, a very erratic guy and sometime Bull last year, is off to Pittsburgh.

Meanwhile:

The Bulls have also put up their list of the top 10 moments of 2015. Not quite sure why an ACC tournament that screwed up the playing field for the Bulls is in the top 10, though. (Have I ever mentioned that I’m not an ACC fan, or a Trinity College fan?)

Congrats to Mike Birling though for winning the International League Executive of the Year award. Well-deserved.

I see they’ve got a new tagline, "Known for Baseball, Famous for Fun" on web page.

This mild winter appears to have treated the field very, very well. 

Lastly, I have very mixed feelings about the new safety netting that’s going to go up over the dugout areas (and in front of my seat). I spent one year in a seat behind home plate and found the netting a distraction. Not sure just how it will work out. However, I have to say that all too often I’ve seen folks down by the dugout, with children, paying absolutely no attention to the game. So maybe they do need to be protected from themselves. For myself, I have not been particularly worried since Jon Weber left and I haven’t had to dodge one of his bats. From the image it doesn’t look like they’ve started work on that project yet.

  

Boog Booms One

Season: 72-69; Trip: 2-1
Wrap, Box, Charlotte Observer

Has Boog Powell turned into a home run hitter? He’s the guy who bunts his way on base a lot of the time and yet in the last two games he has put one over the wall. We expect it of Corey Brown, who hit a just barely fair one in the 9th for his 19th, or Taylor Motter, who’s 12th dinger in the 7th was the shot that doomed the Knights, but Powell?

Things got a bit testy in the 9th when the Knight’s Wendelkin tossed a pitch behind Taylor Motter. But Wedelken got ejected and if things didn’t calm down, at least the field got cleared of excess players after some intense discussions. In the last couple of games there was a good bit of plunkin’ and near-plunkin’ goin’ on. So maybe the umps had had enough. Too many home runs? Over the three game series 15 home runs were hit, 9 by Knights, 6 by Bulls, but that seems to be the result of the Knight’s very, very pretty Little League park. By the way, after Wendelkin got ejected, his replacement walked Motter and Corey Brown followed with his home run that put the game out of reach. Have to wonder what the chatter between dugouts was after that.

Meanwhile Blake Snell pitched his last minor league game of the year. With the Bulls he was 6-2 with a 1.83 ERA. He is an amazing young ballplayer. We can hope to see him for at least some of next season. The Rays have been appropriately cautious of him, limiting his pitch count and innings with the Bulls. Have to think that he will get in at least a couple of innings with the Rays before the end of this season.

We also saw Ernesto Frieri for the first time since July 7th. Frieri has been on the Durham Bulls’ books since passing through waivers on June 20, appearing in only 7 games. José Dominguez, another on and off pitcher, had a rough inning.

Now what? Standings. Norfolk leads Gwinnett by 2 games, they both have three games left to play.

Gwinnett plays Charlotte for their last three games down in Georgia. Norfolk comes to town for three games at the DBAP. As noted, Norfolk is just 2 games ahead of Gwinnett for the South Division title. That’s a big comedown for the Tides. They had led the division by six games as recently as August 18th, but they’ve had their troubles since then. Nevertheless, Gwinnett has to win all three against the Knights, and the Tides have to lose all three against the Bulls to take them completely out. We won’t go into tie-breaker rules. Makes my head hurt. Seems to me that both Norfolk and Gwinnett are going to have to work for it. By the way, the IL West is still a dead heat between Indianapolis and Columbus.

The Bulls are one game back of Charlotte. There’s a way for them to get out the cellar before the end of the year.

These last three games have odd timings: 6:35, 5:00, and 1:00. Don’t be late!

Roster moves —

• A pitcher, Kyle Bird, has been brought up all the way from Single A Bowling Green. Seems to be somewhat specialized for his age (22). 69Ks in 69 innings. Stats.
• Jim Miller was placed on the Temporarily Inactive List. Update: Reported to have become a new dad. Congrats!

Cruisin' Into the Seventh ...

Wrap, Box

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

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

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

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

Outside the game —

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

Goodmon Awards Announced

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

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

Congratulations!

Here’s how the IL South looks today

click on chart for larger image

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

Stee-rike!

Season: 63-66; Home Stand: 4-0
Games Left in Season: 15; Home Games: 10
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

The game story from last night is, as it should be, Matt Moore’s 16 Ks (a Bulls record) and the 4 more by the relievers to set a season team high of 20 Ks. Certainly very fine performances by Matt Moore, Robert Zarate (who got the win) and Kirby Yates. And yet after Moore gave up the home run in the 6th, the Bulls were losing the game.

So, yes, there was some great pitching on both sides until the 7th. However, the Clippers put in Michael Roth to take the place of Toru Murata and Roth never got an out. In fact, it wasn’t until his 13th pitch that he even threw a strike. That is, he walked the bases loaded on 12 pitches, something of a pitching accomplishment all of its own. A Boog Powell sacrifice fly brought in the tying run and Roth was pulled from the game. A Nick Franklin single brought the go-ahead run in and a J.P. Arencibia single brought in two more.

The last time the Bulls won four games in a row was back in June, from the 7th to the 12th, but only two of those wins were at home. We have to go back to the end of May for four home wins. And lots of folks are showing up for the games as well.

A feature of the Bulls’ recent success has been plate discipline. They’ve drawn 21 walks over the last four games. Before we get too excited about that, however, we have to also note that they have struck out 35 times over the same four games (the Bulls lead the IL with 1,071 Ks on the season).

This win over Columbus is a modest help to Gwinnett in the wild card race. The Braves are still 2½ back, but aren’t out of it.

Bulls Explode Against Mud Hens

Season: 60-66; Home Stand: 1-0;
Games Left: 18; Home Games Left: 13
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

As the line score shows, this was an amazing game for the hitters and pitchers. Every Bull got at least one hit: 4 doubles, a triple (Boog Powell), four home runs (two by Richie Shaffer, one by Nick Franklin, one by Taylor Motter), and 11 singles. Cory Brown was the only Bull who didn’t get at least one RBI. An amazing, year’s best, night: 38 total bases, team OPS of 1.404, team wOBA of .577.

Meanwhile, Blake Snell continues to show his stuff. He only gave up one hit (a solo home run) in 5 innings of work.

Outside the game —

• I can’t keep track of all the transactions. The Bulls have had 189 of them this year! That's 1.5 transactions per game! Pretty sure that I haven’t mentioned at least some of these. 
• José Dominguez was designated for assignment (the Rays needed his 40-man slot, Smyly finished his rehab). No word on his status. Note that former Bull Dale Thayer is in the same "DFA Limbo" status. 
• Leonardo Reginatto went back to Montgomery.
• Joey Butler came back to the Bulls from Tampa Bay.
• Edward Teaford went to Hudson Valley on the 15th and came back on the 18th. Hope he enjoyed the trip.
• Enny Romero was called up to Tampa Bay and I think he’s on his way back.
• Matt Andriese was called up (he took the loss in the 13th inning last night).
• Richie Shaffer is back, with his bat, obviously.
• Kirby Yates is back.
• Dylan Floro has gone on the disabled list.
• Meanwhile, I don’t think that I have pointed out that Vince Belnome was signed by the New York Mets and is playing with their AA team, the Binghamton Mets. Doing OK.
• The Biscuits are doing well.

Pitcher Has Problems

Season: 53-56; Home Stand: 1-3
Wrap, Box

A starting pitcher at the DBAP had an awful inning and gave up enough runs to lose the game — and he wasn’t wearing a Durham Bulls uniform!

Indianapolis’ Radhames Liz is a ten-year veteran who can still throw a 98 mph fastball, but sometimes has problems. Last night’s 4th inning, for example. Taylor Motter popped up to 2B for the first out. J.P. Arencibia walked. Corey Brown walked. Jake Elmore was hit by a pitch to load the bases. New guy Joey Rickard hit a line drive single to left to drive in Arencebia. Hak-Ju Lee hit a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Brown. With Elmore on 3rd base and Rickard on 1st base the Indians left fielder dropped Luke Maile’s fly ball right in front of the video board and Elmore scored. Liz then walked Boog Powell to load the bases again, but Desmond Jennings grounded out to end inning (note for Rays fans: second time this rehab stint that Jennings has made a bases-loaded out).

Three runs on one hit! It says something for Liz’s erratic nature that he finished his night pitching two more innings with seven straight outs: A ground out (Jennings), a liner to left, two K’s, a ground out, and two more K’s. Fastballs were still in the 95-98 mph range after 90 pitches.

For trivia fans, last night’s two hit win matches one from way back on May 13th that the Bulls won 1-0.

Outside the game —

• Richie Shaffer got on base, Mickie Mahtook got the game-winning RBI, and Kevin Kiermaier made a great throw. Good day for ex-Bulls up in Chicago. [story]
• Lots of folks go to Bulls games whether they are home or elsewhere. The Bulls average 7,776 at home and are averaging 6,676 as a draw while on the road. Although some might say that the away games are possibly not all that good a measure of how much of a draw the most famous team in minor league baseball can be. Last night (a Monday) was one of the smaller crowds this year and still fun. Buffalo back in May and Gwinnett just last week appear to be the sites where the Bulls are the least popular. Although it's entirely possible that it's the Bisons and the Braves who aren't popular.

Slide Continues

Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Season: 52-56; Home Stand: 0-3
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

The Durham Bulls slid deeper into the cellar of the International League South Division with last night’s shutout. Bradin Hagens had a decent start, but it’s hard to win without any run support. And then Everett Teaford, who has had a tough time of it since being sent down from Tampa Bay (10 earned runs in 6⅔ innings — ERA 13.5) had three runs scored on him (1 earned). Which brings up the problem of stone hands/rubber arms: the Bulls have committed 15 errors in the last 5 games.

Nonetheless, it was interesting to see J.P. Arencibia start the game as the Bulls' catcher. That has not happened much this year. Richie Shaffer started at first base, but got pulled from the game (apparently as a call-up to the Rays). Arencibia took off the gear and went to first. Mayo Acosta got to make a rare appearance as catcher.

Jared Sandberg got tossed from the game after a Boog Powell pickoff. Guess he couldn’t see the play on TV re-run. It was a good call by the ump (if that’s what he was arguing about). Powell also got caught attempting to steal and made a throwing error. Not a good day for the youngster.

Speaking of stolen bases, one of the few Bulls strengths this year. They have not stolen a base in the last six games. That might, however, simply indicate a respect for Braves catcher Christian Bethancourt’s arm.

Outside the game —

• Let me put in a bit of skepticism regarding the Richie Shaffer call-up. Don’t get me wrong, I really like him and he has been a very exciting guy to watch (even though he seems to do better on the road than at home). Nevertheless, it’s worth pointing out that IL pitchers may have figured something out about him. He’s .241 over the last 10 games and has just one home run. 
• Mikie Mahtook went up to the Rays; came back and put on a Bulls uniform for one game; and went back to the Rays (0-4 last night).
• Grady Sizemore is up with the Rays.
• Joey Rickard, a 24 year-old outfielder with the Montgomery Biscuits, has been called up to the Bulls. He has some very nice numbers with the Biscuits. And seems to be fast (19 stolen bases and 6 triples — I take a triple to be more a measure of speed than of power). Also looks like he crowds the plate a bit. He’s accumulated 40 hits by pitch in his 4 seasons of pro ball (just 5 this year, though). [stats]
• Matt Moore has been optioned to the Bulls. I like watching him pitch. He’s working hard to come back from Tommy John surgery and didn’t do well with the Rays after his two (also not very good) rehab starts here in late June. Yeah, he’s not likely to really help the Bulls, but at this point WDBB is starting to focus on individual performance anyhow. We get a chance to see a great pitcher work on his comeback. He probably should have stayed here for a couple more games anyhow.
• Another rehabber, Drew Smyly, may also be coming back for a start soon.
• The N&O has a feature article on new guy Blake Snell. He should start the next day or so.
• Today: Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh Pirates). First place in IL West. ERA - #5; Hitting (OPS) - #9.

The Slide

click on chart for larger image

They're Back

Lurker at the Charlotte Stone Crabs' visiting team dugout. A prospect due for promotion from A to AAA? [story]

 Wrap, Box

Wrap, Box, Gwinnett Daily Post

Season: 52-53; Trip: 3-8
Wrap, Box, Gwinnett Daily Post

Well, maybe a gator in the visitor's dugout is what the Rays need to import up to Durham for the next few games. The Bulls are going to be in town now for quite a while — 10 straight games. Here’s hoping that they do better than the last 10 games.

Looks like newcomer Blake Snell is the real deal. So we will want to try to make the games he’s starting. He only gave up one hit last night. If not for a wild pitch and an error, likely not even the one run would have scored on him.

Nick Franklin is showing his talent and his performance is one of the few bright spots from this trip. New guy Grady Sizemore was in the last couple of games. Boog Powell has come down from the celestial heights he was at, but still leads the team in his On Base Percentage of .375. Taylor Motter is back in the lineup and had a decent night in Tuesday’s losing cause.

Outside the game —

• We expect considerable roster turmoil over the next couple of days. We know that catcher Bobby Wilson is headed somewhere. And we have read that Jake Elmore, who played in 25 games before being called up late May, is coming back. Something will have to give to make room for him. 
• Interesting, for stats geeks, look at Boog Powell, with mention of fondly remembered former  Bull Joey Gathright.
• Good article in Grantland about the effect of the pace of game efforts. 
• Also in Grantland a deep look at the company/team behind some of the advanced analytical efforts in baseball.
• Lastly, some thoughts from the Tampa Bay Times on trading deadline concerns for the Rays. 
• Note that the Rays have already traded off one outfielder.

Maile Makes Good

Season: 48-43; At Home: 22-21; This Home Stand: 2-2
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Home plate umpire Brian De Brauwere had his hands full last night. He was on the crew (at first base) back on May 1st when the Bulls played the PawSox up in Pawtucket. Veteran catcher for the PawSox, Humberto Quintero, chunked a full-strength throw into Bulls catcher Luke Maile’s gut and later in the game spiked Hak-Ju Lee. We summarized the aftermath at the end of a post back on May 3.

De Brauwere's first big challenge came in the 2nd inning. Cory Brown was attempting to score from second base and to everyone (except the one guy who mattered) it sure seemed like Brown made it past the tag. So we’d have to say he (De Brauwere) missed his first chance.

Corey Brown slides under Humberto Quinetero's tag
Photo by Sue Roth

If Quintero got a gift then, the Bulls Maile in the 5th did not. Again, folks in the stands figured that Boog Powell in left field made a perfect throw home to catch the runner. De Brauwere did not agree.

Maile tags Jamile Weeks
Photo by Sue Roth

However, as they say in some circles, payback …

Even after wearing out the grass between home and the pitcher's mound — Quintero must have gone out the mound 15 or 20 times last night trying to sort out the PawSox pitching crew; he was the main reason the game went on for 3½ hours — in the 8th the Bulls managed to load the bases. Luke Maile hit a very pretty double that cleared the bases putting three runs across and putting the Bulls ahead 8-7.

Even more fun in addition to Maile's 3 RBI ensued. Boog Powell singled and Maile moved to third base. Ryan Brett and Mikie Mahtook struck out and J.P. Arencibia came to bat. Boog Powell attempted a steal of second base. On the throw, Luke Maile headed for home. So we were seeing double steal in action. Powell beat the throw to second and the second baseman threw home. Quintero blocked the plate without the ball as he waited for the throw (remember he’s an old-school guy). Catcher’s interference was called and the run scored. Luke Maile, the young catcher Quintero had essentially slugged in the gut back in May had three RBI plus had stolen home for a fourth run (in the books it will go down as an error on the catcher)! So, in the eyes of WDBB, umpire Brian De Brauwere had redeemed himself.

It got better when he threw PawSox manager Kevin Boles out of the game a few minutes later. Boles was last seen flipping a bird at the ump. Here’s hoping he gets whacked with a serious fine for that bit of childishness.

Lots of other thrills in last night’s game as the Bulls seem refreshed from their break. Richie Shaffer showed a ton of plate discipline as he drew three walks and got a RBI on a bloop single. Corey Brown got two doubles. The team batted around twice and came from behind twice, something not typical in this year’s Bulls.

Roberto Zarate actually looked very good for 4⅔ innings, but that previously mentioned call at home and then an uncharacteristic error by Corey Brown messed things up for him. Similarly, C.J. Riefenhauser got some solid defense from catcher Luke Maile and almost got out of a bad start to the 8th. But then a 3-run homer had him with at least a blown save. He ended up, however, with the oddity of a blown save stat and a win stat.

Best of all from the pitching side is that, at least for this game, the Kirby Yates of 2014 came out of the bullpen and struck out the side. That is a very, very good sign for the Bulls.

Outside the game —

• Scanning down the Pawtucket roster we see our old friend Ronald Belisario looking very odd in his brand new PawSox hat. Expect we’ll see him the next day or so.
• Last night the paid attendance 10, 370 and it looked like almost all of them actually came to the game. Good vibe, even if some of them were members of the Red Sox Nation.

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

Pitchers

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

click on chart for larger image

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

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

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

Hitters

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

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

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

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

Source: FanGraphs

On to the All-Star Break

Season: 47-43; At Home: 21-21; This Home Stand: 1-2
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

The Bulls don’t do well in extra innings this year and they didn’t do well yesterday. But it’s the All-Star break, as we were endlessly reminded over the radio. So let’s take a couple of days off and see what happens when Pawtucket comes to town on Thursday.

Boy do we like watching Boog Powell play baseball. It seems each season the Bulls get a player who is just a joy to watch — Kevin Kiermaier and Fernando Perez from previous seasons come to mind. This year that player has got to be Boog Powell who runs the bases with élan and yesterday dove into the stands after a foul ball. See the video below. Interviewed after the game he said that he didn’t even know he’d made the catch until he checked out his glove. Also, made a point of tossing the ball to the woman in whose lap he’d landed.

Nice to have a real starting pitcher back. Matt Adriese did just fine (GSc-69)

Outside the game —

• Tim Beckham has been called up to the Rays. The Rays shortstop has pulled a hamstring. Beckham was to have started the season with the Rays before his own injury, so here’s his chance.
• A couple of good articles in this morning’s N&O. The first is a profile of the official scorer of the Bulls home games, Brent Belvin. The second is a well above average profile of former Bull (and home town hero) Chris Archer.
• The Bulls have had the same umpiring crew for the last nine games. I’d imagine they are getting tired of each other. 
• Watch this space for All-Star break charts!

Hitless Wonderfulness

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Outside the game —

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

Bounce Back?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Outside the game —

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

Wet Late Night Win

Season: 43-38; Trip: 3-4
Wrap, Box, Virginian-Pilot

All-Star Taylor Motter led the Bulls to a late night victory over in Norfolk with all the Bulls’ RBI.

We have not written all that much about young Mr. Motter this year, but it has been fun to look around the field to see where he’s playing each evening. Mostly right field, but just about everywhere else over the course of this season. Last night was his chance to shine at bat (as he’s done several times). He got his first RBI with a ground out that scored Boog Powell from third.  He got two more in the 8th with a home run with Tim Beckham on first. And his last two in the 9th with a double that scored Ryan Brett and Boog Powell.

We are noticing, as the Bulls surely are, that young Boog Powell does his job as leadoff man. His On Base Percentage is a very nice .409 since coming up from Montgomery. He scored 2 of the runs last night. Also, Tim Beckham has been looking awfully good since joining the Bulls, 3 doubles out of his 5 hits, 2 walks, and an OPS of 1.266. That will drift downward over time, but still nice to see.

Matt Andriese is back with the Bulls and he had his 5th start. Here’s hoping he hangs around for a while.

By the way, in keeping with my skepticism regarding intentional walks, the Tides tried it last night and it didn’t work for them. You could say that it lost the game for them. In the 9th with one out, Ryan Brett had singled and stolen second base. The Tides gave an intentional walk to catcher Bobby Wilson (batting average .154) to set up a double play. Boog Powell obligingly hit a grounder, however not enough to set up the double play. Brett ended up on third base and Boog Powell was on first. Tim Beckham drew a walk (note: the Tim Beckham we used to know probably would have been swinging, no matter what), loading the bases and setting up Taylor Motter’s game-winning two out double that scored the runners from third and second.

Bulls hitting has been on the upswing. This chart shows the team Weighted On-Base Average (wOBA) on a game-by-game basis for the last 15 games. Nice little upwards trend these last couple of days.

Today's Chart

click chart for larger image

Split in Ohio

Season: 41-36; Trip: 1-2
Wrap, Box 1, Box 2, Columbus Dispatch

The way the first game went, it looked as if the Bulls were back on track with exceptional starting pitching from new guy Robert Zarate and timely hitting from Ryan Brett and Corey Brown. Included in the good news was their first shutout since June 7 (OK, a 7 inning game, but it still looked good). J.P. Arencibia had his game as a catcher in the game as well (no wild pitches, no passed balls, no steals, pretty good).

The Bulls and the Clippers both went to their bullpens for the second game, and that looked OK until Ernesto Frieri could not hold on to the tie game in the 7th.

Richie Shaffer played first base in both games. A rusty Alexi Casilla struck out three times in the second game. New guy Boog Powell got two singles and two walks in the first game, plus a triple in the second game.

The Bulls will play a two-game set against the Clippers in August at the DBAP. Let’s hope they get a grip on themselves before then. This 1- 6 stretch has been tough.

Outside the game—

• Norfolk now leads the IL South Division.
• Matt Andriese is reportedly heading back to the Bulls.
• Scott Diamond has been assigned to the Montgomery Biscuits, but I’m suspicious about that. Smells like a paper transaction to me. He hasn’t been below AAA since 2010. I’m guessing he had an opt out, is looking for another job, or is about to be released. Decent numbers for a 2015 Bulls starter. In fact, he is essentially the best of the surviving three (Floro and Teaford being the other two).
• Bulls are off to Toledo to see if they have any better luck in that part of Ohio.

Continuing my interest in the Game Score stat, here’s the last 15 games. It shows the pretty dismal performance of the starting pitchers over the last several games. Starting pitching isn’t everything, of course, but it does make a difference.

click on chart for larger image

Can't Handle the Clippers; Ruggiano Rules

Season: 40-35; Trip: 0-1
Wrap, Box, Columbus Dispatch

Looks like Matt Moore is ready to go to the bigs. As for a AAA team from Columbus, Ohio, not so ready. Against the Clippers he’s 0-2 (10.1 innings, 12 hits, 5 ER, 2 HR, 3.97 FIP, 4.35 ERA).

It’s possibly a measure of how desperate the TB Rays are to have a hitting first baseman that we saw young Richie Shaffer start at that position last night. Shaffer has a grand total of 16 appearances at the position, all in the 2012 and 2013 Arizona Fall League. As for regular season baseball—not ever. Wonder if he even has a glove? But there he was last night, just in time to not quite figure out a popup that dropped for a hit and let two runs across.

Meanwhile, the new Durham Bulls were mostly quiet against the Clippers, losing their fifth game in a row against them. Hak-Ju Lee, of the grand slam home run the other night, was ejected in the 3rd inning for arguing balls and strikes, something that seems to happen a lot to him this year. New outfielder Boog Powell was 1 for 3 in left field.

The scheduled second game wasn’t played because of poor field conditions. The plan is to try to have another double header today, first game at 4:00 today.

Outside the game —

• For the forty-leventh time this season we are reporting that Tim Beckham is on his way to the Bulls. We’ll believe it when we see it. Who will be the odd man out in the Bulls infield? My money is on Ryan Brett, but the Bulls could give up on Vince Belnome or Hak-Ju Lee. My track record on such predictions is woeful, however.
• Justin Ruggiano, thought by some to be the best outfielder in Durham Bulls history and who was recently DFA'd down from the Seattle Mariners, hit three home runs at Triple-A Tacoma yesterday.

Rainout; Rosterizing

As the Durham Bulls go into today’s double header at 5:30 (or so) up in Columbus, the team will be looking quite a bit different from the team that left town yesterday.

• Alan Dykstra and Eugenio Vélez have been released. When we looked at this year’s hitters the other day, neither of them were standouts. What would apparently be more of a problem, however, is that room needed to be made for a talented youngster on his way up and another reportedly talented guy on his way down. Dykstra is 28 and Vélez is 33. Here’s hoping that both of them catch on elsewhere.
• Nick Franklin is on his way down from the Tampa Bay Rays. He’s been with the Bulls before. He’s got a huge reputation and the Rays traded some valuable stock for him last year. Expect to see him spend time in the middle infield. He has not been doing particularly well with the Rays this year and really hasn’t had much playing time. The Rays just traded for a first baseman and needed room on their roster.
• Boog Powell is a young (22) player on his way up. He’s been assigned from Montgomery. See this profile from “Dr. Miraculous” over in Montgomery. Stats.
• In the bullpen will be Enny Romero, back from Tampa Bay. No telling how he will be used. He spent some time with the Bulls in mid-May when he made 3 starts. He was up to TB and then came back to make 2 relief appearances at the end of May. He made four appearances in relief for the Rays this month.
• Kyle Winkler is the young pitcher who came up from the Biscuits and made three appearances before going back to them a couple of days ago. He’s been traded to the LA Angels.

More

• Robbie Knopf over at Rays Colored Glasses has done a profile on young Richie Shaffer.
• WDBB favorite from 2011 and 2012, Dane De La Rosa, has decided to retire. He was with the Norfolk Tides, but did not make an appearance in any game that we saw this year.
• Oh, yeah, Matt Moore may get the start in the first game this afternoon.