Where Nobody Knows Your Name

Book Review

John Feinstein, Where Nobody Knows Your Name: Life in the Minor Leagues of Baseball, Doubleday.

John Feinstein, sportswriter/commentator of great repute, spent the 2012 baseball season roaming around Triple-A, mostly in the International League. He followed several players, an umpire, and two managers (including the Durham Bulls’ Charlie Montoyo). We heard him interviewed by our own Patrick Kinas during that season.

I really wanted to like this book because very little has been written about Triple-A baseball and Feinstein spends a good bit of time with managers and players I am intensely curious about. I am a fan of Charlie Montoyo and really wanted to hear what he’d said to Feinstein. Nevertheless, I have my reservations that I’ll get to later.

For Bulls fans you need to know up front that several Bulls, former Bulls, and DBAP denizens who were prominent in the 2012 season get at least some mention, including Craig Albernaz, Chris Gimenez, Dan Johnson (he was playing for the Charlotte Knights that year), Stephen Vogt, Jeff Salazar, Brooks Conrad, Reid Brignac, Wil Rhymes, Scott Strickland, broadcaster Patrick Kinas, Rich Thompson, the Matsuzaka/Matsui matchup game, and more names that I’m probably forgetting. But all of them also show up right here in WDBB if you search on them.

Feinstein worked hard to get inside the heads of the players and managers of Triple-A, reinforcing WDBB’s own view that Triple-A, while it is a minor league, is also different from the rest of the minors in that the players are so very, very close to the majors.

His technique is to introduce several players (veteran pitchers and position players), two managers (Norfolk’s Ron Johnson in addition to Durham’s Montoyo), and an umpire at spring training. He then spends some time with them throughout the season. Along the way he introduces a ton of other folks and, to be honest, I began to lose track of who was in the spotlight and could not follow just why they were introduced. All the players highlighted were players who had made it to the big leagues for at least a few games and were trying to make it back and/or decide to not try any more. I often lost the thread of the stories he was trying to tell.

Entirely missing is an effort to take Triple-A as a baseball experience of its own. Admittedly, that’s a rare thing to try to do, and there’s likely little audience. But some small fraction of the audience at the 2,000 games played in the International League each year go to the games because they want to watch a specific team play within a specific context of International League competition.

On the other hand, the book is full of trivia that I’ll probably be using for years.

Final assessment: Bulls fans might need to read this book, but it is a bit of a slog. Plus, what Bulls fan really wants to remember much about 2012?

On the shelf at Raleigh’s Quail Ridge Books.

A Loss and a Big Win

Wrap, Box, Syracuse Post-Standard

Season: 16-8; Trip: 1-1
Wrap, Box, Syracuse Post-Standard

Not much to say about Saturday’s game. The Chief’s pitching, especially starter Daniel Rosenbaum, held Bulls hitters to just three singles. Alex Colome did just fine.

In the second game, the Chiefs came unraveled in the 7th, but the Bulls were doing pretty well before then, and after.

WDBB  has had a notable lack of success in helping high-performing ballplayers we like move up ladder. Maybe that’s a good thing. That means they then stay with the Bulls and help the Bulls win. So I’m going to point out, again, that Vince Belnome is having a spectacular season so far.

Mr. Belnome came to the Bulls out of the Padres system in a trade for one of the Rays minor league pitchers. Apparently it was expected that he would start the season in AA since he does not appear in the Bulls media guide. He is youngish and has played in only 80 AAA games before this season (Tuscon in the PCL). There are some hints in his stats that he could hit the ball (50 home runs over four years as a pro). For the Bulls he has stepped up as the go-to guy. When Steven Vogt didn’t make in through waivers, Belnome was the guy to share 1B with Leslie Anderson. He has had 8 starts there. After Hak-Ju Lee was hurt, he moved over to 2B and he’s had 5 starts there. His hitting has been so hot (and Charlie really likes to move his players around) that he’s had 6 starts as DH.

Last night’s 4 hit, 4 RBI evening is just another in a spectacular terrific stretch for him. In the last week he’s hit .500 with three home runs, 11 RBI, and scored 7 runs. On the season his slash line is an spectacular  awesome .364/.463/.652. He isn’t on the Rays 40-man, which is good news for the Bulls. The Rays will have to jump through some hoops to get him up there. But if he keeps this up, he’s really banging on their door.

Outside the game —

• The Chiefs had one of those dog-in-the-park events yesterday. Cute photos here.
• Surprised that the triple-play/grand slam game got no mention in any of the Rays media that WDBB watches. Seems like they are only interested in a couple of this year’s Bulls players and none of them were involved in the plays.
• In case you missed it, here’s an update on Charlie Montoyo’s son, Alex. Sounds very good.
• The Bulls are playing in NBT Bank Stadium. Here’s one look at the place.
• Will Rhymes, who played in 46 games with the Bulls last year is playing with the Chiefs and is off to a good start. He is a major league quality guy, but I don’t know enough about the Nationals to guess if he’s got a decent shot with them. His isn’t on their 40-man.

Update 9:46: 

• I wuz wrong. Rays Index did notice the triple play (and he's got neat stuff about confrontation with ump in Chicago yesterday).
• And Vince Belnome was name International League Batter of the Week. Congrats.

Hemstitching: Rhymes, Beckham, Wrigley, and More ...

• Will Rhymes, who played in 46 games with the Bulls last year, has signed with the Washington Nationals. We liked watching him play the game.
• Tim Beckham, who was with the Bulls almost all of last year except for his 50-game suspension, has been moved to the Rays’ 40-man roster. Also on the 40-man is much-talked-about infielder Hak-Ju Lee, who has not yet made it to Durham.
• Henry Wrigley became a free agent over a month ago, but haven’t heard anything since then.
• Rich Thompson, on the other hand, is back in the fold. Hoorah! Along with Rich, veteran infielder Mike Fontenot signed a minor league deal. Fontenot played mostly with the Phillies last year with a few games in Lehigh Valley. (Stats)
• In addition to Thompson and Fontenot, the Rays have also signed RHP Matt Buschmann, who spent most of 2012 in Montgomery, but did have two starts with the Bulls. And they have signed one of my favorites from 2012, Shawn O’Malley. 
• Two others, RHP Will Inman and IB Nick Weglarz are new to the Rays and, if they show up, will be new to the Bulls. Inman, however, pitched for Pawtucket last year and we’ve probably seen him.
• Former Durham Bull Jonny Gomes seems to think that his time in Durham will help him in left field in Fenway.

When he was a prospect in the Tampa organization and playing at Triple-A Durham, Gomes says he imagined himself one day playing left field for the Red Sox at Fenway Park. The left field wall at the Bulls’ ballpark in Durham has similarities to the Green Monster and it was then when he began to learn how to handle the complexities of the position.

          Yeah, that really helped former Bull Carl Crawford ...

The Durham Bulls in 2012 — The Hitters: Part 2

In addition to the 12 ballplayers profiled in our last post, 20 other ballplayers came to bat for the Durham Bulls in 2012. Players are listed in order of number of games played. The “slash line” is Batting Average/On-Base Percentage/Slugging. An asterisk after a player’s name indicates he bats left-handed, a # sign indicates he is a switch hitter. Basic 2012 Bulls stats are here and here.

Short-Timers

Will Rhymes* (29) played in 46 games (194 times at the plate) in his two stretches with the Bulls. He was mostly at second base.

• Decent, but not particularly helpful hitting numbers, .256/.326/.361 with 21 RBI, an OK wOBA of .320 and a slightly negative wRAA of -0.9. Rhymes was an infielder-in-waiting all year for the Rays as they moved folks on and off the disabled list. Mostly Rhymes stayed with the Rays. However, the Rays dumped him off the 40-man at the end of the Bulls season, when the Rays designated him for assignment. I was mildly surprised to see him pass through waivers.
• Will the Rays want Rhymes back next year? A larger question might be, does Rhymes want to come back? Hard to tell. My guess is that everything will depend on how the Rays are looking at their future infield. 
• Stats

Juan Miranda* (29) started the season with the Bulls, then was moved on in early June. He was in 44 games (176 PA) primarily at first base.

• Miranda is one of the poster children for the Rays not treating the Bulls right this year. Signed at the last minute, he stuck with Rays through spring training then was assigned to the Bulls. He went 0-5 with three strikeouts on opening day back in April. He stayed until June when he was released to make room for Brandon Allen (see below). 
• His numbers: .187/.307/.273 with only 8 RBI. His wOBA was .279 and his wRAA was -6.3.
• Stats

Nevin Ashley (27) was one of the Bulls I was looking forward to watching this year. But he broke his hand in April and didn’t make it back until late July. He got into 35 games with 130 plate appearances.

• We are getting into small sample size issues here, take everything hereafter with a grain of salt. Decent numbers. Slash line: .245/.357/.455 with 13 RBI. His wOBA was a decent .363 and his wRAA was 3.8.
• If anyone didn’t think that catching was a tough job, they should look at what happened to the Rays this year. At least Mr. Ashley got back into a lineup. Robinson Chirinos spent the entire year on the DL.
• Stats.

Kyle Hudson* (25) was traded to the Phillies system for Rich Thompson. He started the season with the Bulls and played in 31 games (133 PA).

• As a Bull he had some decent numbers, .291/.378/.318, wOBA .327, wRAA 0.2. However, the rest of the year got pretty ugly for him as an Iron Pig with a wOBA of 281 and wRAA of -11.5. 
• Stats.

Brandon Allen* (26) was the last of the collection of late signers that showed up in Durham (following Feliciano, Salazar, Mangini, and Miranda). He played in 29 games (129 plate appearances) after being sent down by the Rays.

• His numbers are OK. Again, please note we are venturing well into small sample size territory here. His .263/.295/.451, 14 RBI, wOBA of .327,  and wRAA of .2 reflect end of tenure improvement, because his start wasn’t very good.
• Allen was off to play in Japan in late July.
• Stats.

Early, Late, and Mid-Season

Brandon Guyer (26) is a terrific young ballplayer who started the season with the Bulls (22 games), got called up, messed up his shoulder, and was on the disabled list for the rest of the year. Maybe in 2013.

Brooks Conrad (32) was a mid-season hire by the Rays who finished the season with the Bulls (25 games. He was very helpful at the end. Not likely to be back.

Hideki Matsui* (38) was one of the odder moments in Bulls history. He was signed by the Rays and sent to the Bulls to get in condition. He played in 13 games and apparently helped the Bulls out quite a bit on the financial side. Otherwise, his numbers were pitiful, .170/.231/.444. For a while it was fun having him around. But also a little sad.

Rehabbers

Evan Longoria, Jeff Keppinger, Sam Fuld, Jose Lobaton, Desmond Jennings, Luke Scott, and Matt Joyce all had rehab assignments. Other than having the opportunity to see the big leaguers on the field, an unfortunate reality of minor league baseball is that these fellows aren’t much help to the team. As a group they played in 31 games, had 125 plate appearances, and only managed 8 hits (.198) with a grand total of 8 RBI, half of those on Luke Scott’s two home runs.

Oddities

Catcher Craig Albernaz (29) was essentially with the Bulls all year, but only saw action in 23 games, 6 of those as a pitcher in the waning innings of a losing game.

Catcher Mayo Acosta (24) came up from Montgomery to lend a hand for a couple of games (9) in May. He had a decent year overall. Very good chance that he will be in a Bulls uniform at some time next year.

Infielder Sean Rodriguez (27) was sent down for two games at the end of the Bulls season in some roster maneuvering by the Rays. He won a game for the Bulls with a home run, then broke his hand in some sort of locker room incident.

Latecomers

At the very end of the season two players were jumped all the way up from the Charlotte Stone Crabs played a couple of games, then went on to help Montgomery in their playoffs.

Kevin Kiermaier* (22) played in four games and was the one and only young outfielder to play for the Durham Bulls in 2012. At a guess he’ll be playing in Montgomery next year.

Robby Price* (24) is an infielder who played only in the last two games that were played in Charlotte. He went 3 for 6 in a promising start.

More *&#!

Bulls infielder Will Rhymes was designated for assignment today to allow Jeff Niemann to come off the Rays’ disabled list. That means that Rhymes will have to clear waivers to play for the Bulls. I don't see how that can happen before the end of the Bulls season.

That also means that the Bulls go into tonight’s game with exactly 9 position players. I wonder if any of those guys in the bullpen would like to DH if something goes awry? How about tonight’s starter, Alex Torres as a DH instead of pitching? Probably wouldn't be any worse. Cant' pitch, maybe he can hit.

Gotta admit that's an interesting twist to the game. Usually it's a position player who goes out the mound as a sacrificial lamb. Maybe tonight we'll see roles reversed, with a pitcher having to borrow a bat and getting a quick class from hitting coach Dave Myers on which end to hold.

Also noticed that former Bull Russ Canzler was called up to the Cleveland Indians. That makes four of last year's favorite Bulls playing in the majors for teams other than the Rays (Johnson, Olmedo, Ruggiano, and Canzler, although I haven't seen Johnson on any on the lists, just in Indy Week.)

7 in the 8th

Season: 59-67; Trip: 2-4; Bulls v. Clippers: 4-2; Standings

Box, Wrap, Columbus Dispatch, Clippers’ Wrap

I had a meeting in downtown Raleigh last night and since 620 coverage there is basically awful (why is it that one of the most important media guys on the east coast and baseball team owner can't arrange for a radio signal that goes more than about 5 miles?), it wasn’t until late in the 6th inning that I could get the score,. The Clippers were up 6-2. Remembering that I’d heralded the arrival of Cesar Ramos as a new starting pitcher, I started a lead paragraph retracting that assertion.

Got home. Bulls now down 7-2. Parked the car. Went inside. Fired up the computer and gameday and audio stream, just in time to hear Kinas call Chris Gimenez’ second home run of his 5 RBI night with Stephen Vogt and Henry Wrigley on base. Since Wrigley had doubled in Rich Thompson earlier, it was Clippers 7, Bulls 6! Brooks Conrad walked and the Clippers brought in former Bull and former Tampa Bay Ray Dan Wheeler. Will Rhymes hit a home run, just his 4th of the year, and the Bulls go up 8-7. Rich Thompson, in his second at bat, singled in a run later, much later, to make it 9-7. Twelve Bulls came to plate in the inning and that would be enough.

This year’s Bulls have not been much of a come-from-behind team. But last night was different. I count myself lucky to have happened to listen to it. Congrats to Josh Leuke on getting credit for the win, Adam Liberatore for the hold, and Dane De La Rosa for his 15th save.

Chris Gimenez is hitting .335 with an OPS of .932. His two 2-home run games recently has surely been noticed down in St. Petersburg. He should be playing down there in September.

Outside the game —

• Guess I need to mention that the Tampa Bay Rays gave up a perfect game to Seattle’s Felix Hernandez yesterday. Only 23 perfect games have been thrown in major league history — three of them against the Rays/Devil Rays. 
• DRaysBay speculates that the Rays might wait until September to bring Jeff Niemann onto the lineup. He’ll have to be somewhere. Perhaps in Durham?
• The local Kia dealer is having a meet the team event on August 25th.

Dark Days

Box 121, Box 122, Wrap, Toledo Blade

Season: 57-66; Trip: 0-3; Bulls v. Mud Hens: 2-5; Standings

Box, Wrap, Toledo Blade

Toledo was Will Rhymes’ home stadium for most of the last three years, but his home run in the second game Saturday night seemed to have been particularly offensive. The end result was the manager and two pitchers getting tossed. The first pitcher hit Nevin Ashley, Manager Phil Nevin got tossed for arguing about it, and the next time Rhymes came to bat the Mud Hens pitcher pitched behind him and he got tossed. The one pitchers got a five-game suspension, the other sits out three. 

Otherwise Saturday had to have been simply frustrating. Setting the stage for the suspended game with the bases loaded must have been odd for a reliever like Brandon Gomes, and he ended up allowing 5 runs in 1⅓ innings and really, really messed up his stats for the year.

In the next game, the one with all the excitement, only Rhymes managed to touch the ball with authority.

Sunday’s game drove me to my spreadsheet where something very odd jumped out. Since Chris Archer returned from his stint with Tampa Bay in early July he has allowed just 8 earned runs in 7 appearances. Here’s the oddity — seven of those eight runs came in the 1st inning. I’m guessing that I’m late to the party, but the opposing teams are not. I’m guessing that their scouts have seen this oddity and are telling their hitters to come out swinging when Archer is on the mound. Seems like there ought to be a way to take advantage of that.

Otherwise, a pretty quiet game. The Bulls simply could not put anything together after their big first inning.

Outside the game —

• The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees are getting a new stadium next season (they’ve been essentially homeless this year). In celebration they are going to give themselves a new name. In keeping with 21st Century marketing wisdom, they are crowd-sourcing the name and letting fans vote. I’m voting for Trolley Frogs. I’ve no idea what that means, but I didn’t know what an Iron Pig was until a baseball team got it as a name.
• Reporter Randy Turner of the Winnipeg Free Press hit the road with the Goldeyes of American Association (an independent baseball league). He has written a terrific bit of reportage focusing on the players in this fairly obscure corner of baseball — why are they playing, what are their dreams. Fascinating stories including a few from a former Durham Bull. And a video/photo essay. Nicely done.

Oh Runs, Wherefore Art Thou?

Box, Wrap, Herald-Sun

Season: 56-63; Home Stand: 4-3; Bulls v. Clippers: 1-2

Home Games Left: 12; Standings

Box, Wrap, Herald-Sun

A tough 10-inning loss and a shutout. The Bulls simply aren’t a run-scoring team most of the time. Alex Colome looked just fine until the 6th inning which he began with a single, a walk, and a single. At 80+ pitches and 6 innings work, no one was warming up. He made it through the inning, partially due to call at the plate that went the Bulls way, but two more runs were in. Hindsight being 20-20, looks like maybe he was in too long.

Those two runs may not have mattered that much. The Bulls hitters were clearly outmatched by the Clippers’ Jeanmar Gomez. Here’s hoping that Cleveland calls him up before the Bulls get to Columbus next week. Only Rich Thompson and the returned Will Rhymes seemed to be able to touch his stuff.

Oh well, there was a beautiful partial rainbow out to the southeast in the early innings. We take our pleasures where we can.

Jim Paduch, last seen in a fairly disastrous 6 inning start on July 27, put an inning as a reliever to finish the game for the Bulls. Did OK. 

Outside the Game

• As noted, Will Rhymes is back in a Bulls uniform. Couldn’t tell for sure, but looks like he’s going without his mustache. Hard to keep track of that. 
• Pitcher Bryan Augenstein came off the disabled list. Alex Torres is on the DL, so the roster matches up.
• Infielder Brooks Conrad was designated for assignment the day after he hit a home run for the Bulls. If he passes through waivers he could end up back in a Bulls uniform.
• Tampa Bay rehabbers lurking out there include pitcher Jeff Niemann and DH/1B Luke Scott. We saw Scott earlier this year. One or both could show up, but probably while the Bulls on the upcoming trip to Toledo and Columbus, Ohio.

Trying a new bit of numerology here. Just a basic matchup. Shows the Clippers score more runs, get on base/hit for power (OPS), and pitch better than the Bulls. I  think we knew that (except for the power part, they haven’t done much bashing, yet).

Stars of the Game — The Grounds Crew!

They weren't dancing last night ... they were workin!
 (photo from Aug 4 by Orin Day, used with permission)

Season: 56-61; Home Stand: 4-1; Bulls v. Clippers: 1-0
Home Games Left: 14; Standings; Wild Card: -8
Box, Wrap, Herald-Sun

I was doing a volunteer shift at RDU and isolated from the weather, but then my shift replacement arrived shaking the water off her umbrella. A check of the webcam showed the tarp on the field. Leaving RDU I heard on the radio that the tarp’d been pulled, which meant that we were 30-45 minutes away from the game starting. I went home and watched on TV. Kudos to the fans who were still there after 9:00 pm.

I did get to see a pretty interesting game played in almost continuous rain. The tarp was pulled for another delay late in the 4th inning. Then it was rolled up and the field prepped and play resumed for a while, mostly in the rain. A small fortune in Diamond Dry was spread along the baselines and around the bases, but eventually the rain won out. At the end of the 7th the tarp was pulled for the third and final time (at 10:00 this morning it's still there). Heroic efforts were made by the grounds crew and the “all hands” effort that it takes to pull and roll up the tarp, particularly the last time when the wind kept trying to get underneath it.

Meanwhile the Bulls were facing their nemesis of 2010 and 2011 for the first time this year. Columbus has been one of the most talented and best-managed teams in the International League and is in the hunt for the wild card this year (Indianapolis is running away with the IL West division much like Charlotte is running away with the South). As with all out-of-division teams, the Bulls only play them four at home and four away each year. This year those games occur nearly back to back with this series and then a trip to Columbus to follow up next week. Also making the games interesting is the presence of 2011 Durham Bulls hero Russ Canzler who has been playing for the Clippers this year.

Take a look at Harold Gutmann’s piece in the Herald-Sun for some solid number-crunching on the two teams and last night’s game.

I’ve been lamenting the Bulls lack of power and it took new guy Brooks Conrad to change that with the key hit of the game, a two-run homer past the Bull in the 4th.

Lance Pendleton had an above average outing. In fact, if he could somehow wipe the slate of a couple of unfortunate outings during the Bulls long slide in early July, his year would be looking much better. He did a great job getting out of tough situations in the 4th and, after the delay, in the 6th. Adam Liberatore got himself into, then out of trouble (bases loaded K) in the 7th for his first save of the year.

Outside the game —

• Evan Longoria was activated off the disabled list and is back with the Rays. Will Rhymes will be returning. I wish Longoria well. 
• If you keep score at the game as I do (I like the Reisner system, but the one in the programs works almost as well), you might want to consider having a very, very elegant pen to mark your scorecard. Last week, I happened to meet the fellows who make Baltz pens in Raleigh. I like stuff that’s made by hand, especially if someone can combine skill with beauty as these guys are doing. To be honest, I probably wouldn’t take the one I bought to a game. I really wouldn’t want to lose it. But it is very, very pretty and it writes well. They have a pencil under development. May want to try that when they have it done. I might take a pencil to a game. On very, very rare occasions I make a trivial mistake that needs correcting. 

Two 1-0 Shutouts in a Row!

Season: 53-60; Home Stand: 1-0; Bulls v. Braves: 8-8; 

Home Games Left: 18

Standings, Box, Wrap, Herald-Sun, Indy Week

For the first time this year, Bulls pitching put together two shutouts in a row. Congrats!

Somewhat similar to last Tuesday, the offensive side was small ball writ large: Nevin Ashley drew a walk, went to third on a Rich Thompson single, and scored when new guy Brooks Conrad hit into a double play. That was enough.

In the meantime, Chris Archer had his best game of the year. Six scoreless innings, no walks, one hit batter (to my eye the batter came out of the batter’s box and back in the dark ages of baseball would not have been called as a hit by pitch … but he (Jose Constanza) really was hurt by Archer’s fastball and had to leave the game), and 3 Ks. Tight control. MiLB story here.

His Braves counterpart, Yohan Flande is a pitcher who sometimes the Bulls get to and sometimes he gets to them. This time he got to them, mostly, even if he did take the loss.

The other big story was that the scoreboard got fixed and we had lights for balls, strikes, outs, hits, and errors. Don’t know about the Bull. The last time a Bulls batter hit a home run was on July 26 down in Gwinnett’s home park. Home runs are not a Bulls thing this year. So we may not find out for a while.

Well, maybe there is another big story. Former Bull (briefly) Evan Longoria was back in town and helped explain the 8,000 plus who came to a Thursday night game. They got to see him hit a single, draw a walk, and strike out twice. As much fun as it is to have him here, from a pure Bulls fan point of view the problem is that when he does get his eye back, he will be outa here. Nevertheless, the Herald-Sun and N&O write-ups are good reads. 

Outside the game —

• According to both the Herald-Sun and Indy Week, Will Rhymes has been called up to Tampa Bay.
• Last night probably wasn’t new guy Brooks Conrad’s first time in the DBAP. He played 110 games with Gwinnett back in 2009.
• A circus act, the Russian Bar Trio, performed between innings, and drove the cynic out of me. They really were fun to watch. Wonder how they get the bar into their carry-on luggage? Couple of good videos at their website.

A Starting Pitcher! Hurrah! Hurrah!

Cesar Ramos

Season: 52-60; Road Trip: 4-4; Bulls v. Tides: 7-7; Standings
Box, Wrap

The offensive side was routine and sounded like real baseball: Rich Thompson gets a single, steals second base, gets sent home on a Chris Gimenez single. Well, not really routine, but certainly an exemplar of the kind of baseball the Bulls can play this year.

The unexpected was to have a starting pitcher who pitches shutout baseball for 5 ⅔ innings. Wow! And Cesar Ramos has been hanging around all year, just not as a starting pitcher until last week down in Gwinnett. We can hope. We can hope.

Meanwhile Frank De Los Santos is zipping in 96 mph fast balls, hitting two batters (stand back!), striking out 2, and getting his first save since coming up. We can hope. We can hope.

Outside the game —

• Josh Lueke was off to Oakland where he apparently got to sit on the bench while James Shields got a complete game shutout and saw his trade value go through the roof.
• Thrown off the Rays bus was infielder Brooks Conrad. Since they can’t bring him back for 10 days, speculation is that Reid Brignac or Will Rhymes will get called up. Conrad stats here and here.
• Speaking of starting pitchers, a fellow named Alex Colome is lurking down in Montgomery. Will we see him this month?

After the Rain, Part 2

Season: 46-55; Home Stand: 3-2; Bulls v. Red Wings: 4-1; Standings

Box, Wrap, Herald-Sun

Will Rhymes returned to the Bulls in style. Batting leadoff on the second pitch of the game he hit a home run. Welcome back!

The inning continued with a double by Henry Wrigley (have I pointed out what a great season he’s having?) and another home run by catcher Stephen Vogt. When the rains came at the end of the 5th inning we could reasonably hope that the game was over with the Bulls ahead 4 to 1. But noooo, the umps were better weathermen than that (and the DBAP folks probably wanted to do their fireworks thing). That meant that after a 45 minute delay, even though the Bulls added two more runs in the 7th, when Bryan Augenstein had an uncharacteristically tough time in the 8th, the lead got down to just 6-3 and I was worried. 

Enter Dane De La Rosa who gave up a double and a single to start the 9th. With runners on first and second, Tim Beckham playing second base made a spectacular play on a foul ball that was near the bullpen pitching mound for the first out, but a run scored. De La Rosa gave up a single, but struck out the next batter. Runners on first and second, tying run at the plate. A long fly ball to left field and rehabbing Sam Fuld with his back right against the Blue Monster made the catch to end the game.

Other game high points were Brandon Gomes coming back after the rain delay (he made two pitches before the deluge) for two solid innings; Frank De Los Santos doing his left specialist thing for the last out K in the 8th (with runners on first and second); pitching and good defense stranding 14 Red Wing runners.

Outside the game

• A careful reader has pointed out an error that I need to correct. A few days ago I complained that the local media was not digging in sufficiently on Chris Archer’s  physical situation and on Brandon Gomes’ poor performance on returning from the Rays. Well, in fact the Herald-Sun had reported on that situation. Not only that, I had even put up a link to the article! I can’t say something dumb like that won’t happen again. But I can say that if it does I will try to fix it.
• Speaking of Chris Archer, he is supposed to start tonight. His last time on the mound of the DBAP was June 8th (he’s had three minor league and two major league starts since then, he just hasn’t been here). He was only up for an inning in his last start down Gwinnett on July 7, so I’m looking forward to seeing him here.
• One reason to want to see Archer now is all the speculation afoot regarding the Rays these days. If the Rays do make a move, you have to think that Archer will be part of the equation.

Rhymes on Roster; Mangini Inactive

Matt Mangini has been moved to the "temporary inactive" list, which makes room on the roster for Will Rhymes. The inactive list usually is used for family/personal needs absences. Guess we'll have to wait and see. See an earlier post for some of the background.

Rhymes Back; Who's to Go?

The Tampa Bay Times is reporting that infielder Will Rhymes is on his way back to Durham. That's creates a puzzle for the Bulls that's probably already been solved. Just for grins, though, who do you think is leaving and where will he go?

Rhymes' last at bat as a Bull was on April 30th, so it's been a while since he was in Durham. We never knew his exact contract status, but sounds like he has options left and has no real choice. As a Bull he played 17 games at 2B and 5 at 3B. The Bulls have Matt Mangini, Reid Brignac, Cole Figueroa, Tim Beckham and Shawn O'Malley cued up for those locations. Just glancing at that list, it sure looks like Mr. O'Malley (who's been seeing some playing time in the outfield) will be on his way back to Montgomery.

Other thoughts?

Pain

Season: 15-26; Home Stand: 0-2; vs. Red Sox: 0-6; Standings
Box, Wrap, Herald-Sun, Indy Week

Seeing all these big name baseball stars can be fun. But only if you’re not a fan of Durham Bulls baseball. In that case, not so much. In fact, watching Durham Bulls baseball is painful.

I once had a stretch of several months when I spent an inordinate amount of time in a dentist’s chair. That’s what last night was like. I felt a bit like the Dustin Hoffman character in Marathon Man.

I know it’s masochistic of me to do this (and perhaps sadistic to inflict it on you), but let’s go over last night. In the 1st inning, after two outs, Lance Pendleton walked the next two batters. But he got away with it. In the 2nd inning he started out with two BBs. Even with a double play, one of the walks scored. In the 3rd inning after two outs, he walked a batter, but, as in the 1st, got away with it.

[Is that a mosquito in my ear? Am I having a flashback? Are the screams for Matsui or the “Yuuk! Yuuk! Yuuk!” cheers morphing into some weird auditory hallucination?]

The 4th inning’s walk came after only one out. That runner was wild-pitched into scoring position, but Pendleton escaped unharmed. The 5th inning, ahhh, the 5th inning. No walks here. Just pure baseball: single, double, home run, single, single off the team of Lance Pendleton and Romulo Sanchez.

But wait, here comes the 7th inning. Two outs. Gaub on the mound. Walk. Reid comes in. Walks his first batter. Runners on first and second. A run scores on a single to right. That play was highlighted by a really crappy throw by Jeff Salazar, although I think the run would have scored anyhow. (Red Sox ahead 5-4). 8th inning. Two outs followed by a walk, but no runs score. 9th inning. Two outs followed by a walk.

For those who might be counting (not really a mentally healthy activity under the circumstances) Bulls pitchers walked 7 batters after they had two outs last night. (11 overall, but who’s counting?)

As the Herald-Sun quoted Charley Montoyo after the game:

No excuses — tough to watch when you keep walking people. This game was the story of the whole season: Leaving people on base and walking people.

I guess I didn't mention that the Bulls left 10 runners on base. Charley has it right.

But new guy Hideki Matsui did get his first hit. It was a pretty wall-ball double that scored two runs.

Outside the game

• It becomes more clear why Kyle Hudson was shipped off to Hudson Valley yesterday. Sometime in the past few days recently called-up Brandon Guyer was injured. Showing (what’s the right word here? Contempt?) extreme lack of confidence in either Jesus Feliciano, Jeff Salazar, Leslie Anderson, Henry Wrigley, or Mr. Hudson, the Rays went off to the Phillies to get a guy who has had one major league at bat. How can that not work on the heads of the Durham Bulls outfield?
• Most recent word out of St. Pete is that Will Rhymes, who collapsed on the field after being hit by a pitch last night, is OK. Good news. The hammering we’re hearing from down that way is coming from the crews hard at work expanding the Rays’ rehab facility. Depending on how you want to count them, at least 10 Rays are on a disabled list.

Chart of the Day

Walks/Hits per Inning

WHIP is not particularly popular with the stats geeks. But it's an easy stat to compute and understand. Essentially, WHIP tells you how many guys get on base per inning. Sabermetrics guys think that 1.62 is awful. We've got a bunch of guys well above awful and only a few who make the "average" (1.32) cut line. I left Josh Lueke on the chart because I'm guessing he will be coming back in a day or so.

Jesus the Hero!

Game 26, Tuesday, May 1, DBAP

Durham Bulls 5, Indianapolis Indians 4 (10 Innings)

Season: 8-18; Home Stand: 2-3; Streak: 2-0

Box, Wrap, Herald-Sun

Jesus Feliciano, one of nine left-handed hitters in the game, got to be a hero, twice. The first time was in the 8th inning when he hit a double that scored Sean O’Malley and Kyle Hudson putting the Bulls ahead 4-3. But the Indians got a run back in the 9th and the 4-4 tie went into the 10th. One more time Feliciano came to bat, with O’Malley again on base (this time on third), and a single was enough to win the game.

Meanwhile Lance Pendleton got his first start since joining the Bulls and Montoyo got to  play matchups with the rest of the bullpen. Nunez, Gaub, Leuke, and Ramos all did just fine, even if Ramos did give up a home run to force Feliciano’s heroics.

Speaking of home runs, the last home run hit by a Bull was Will Rhymes’ against the Norfolk Tides six games ago (the Bulls have only hit 7 home runs this year, the fewest in the league). 

Speaking of Will Rhymes, he got called to Tampa Bay yesterday afternoon. That left the Bulls with exactly one position player on the bench, catcher Craig Albernaz, who besides being the only right-handed batter on the team, was busy warming up pitchers all night. 

That left Charlie Montoyo the job of making sure his guys were nice to the umps, otherwise he’d probably have to use a pitcher as the DH. That was a difficult task when the ump made a particularly bad call invoking a fairly obscure rule. The ump was flashy about it though. You could just see him back in ump school when he learned the rule and thinking, someday I’m going to be able to call this and somebody’s going to argue with me and I’ll get to throw him out of the game. 

The Bulls had the bases loaded and no outs in the 4th inning. Kyle Hudson hit a grounder to second. The first part of a fairly routine double-play effort was started, but a nice, hard slide by Sean O’Malley into second broke it up. Should have been one out and a run scored, but no. The ump dances into the play, calls interference and deems both O’Malley and Hudson are out, plus the runners have to come back to second and third, and there's two outs. I guess that’s the rule, but I think the ump was just showing off.

Outside the game:

• The News & Observer noticed that the Bulls exist with a page one story. Unfortunately it was about Tim Beckham.
• Even with the arrival of Cole Figueroa from Montgomery, the Bulls will still have a vacant spot on the roster. Sure wish Guyer would get well soon. Figueroa is, of course, a left-handed bat.
• Bulls games are also being broadcast on HD radio. I’m going to have to look into that. You will see at the link the AM 620 coverage. No wonder I can barely get the games at home!

Chart(s) of the Day

This is an update of the runs scored-runs allowed chart. As of last night’s game, the Bulls have scored 88 runs and allowed 146 runs. The chart shows the game-by-game path to that condition. If you run these numbers through the Pythagorean Expectation formula, it will tell you that the Bulls "should" be at 7-19 rather than the 8-18 they are. In general, differences between expectation and actual is attributed to relief pitching and luck. I’ll take the pitching.

click on chart to enlarge

Just to show new Bulls fans what we old farts are so upset about this year, this chart shows how things were going at this point in previous years. It ain’t pretty. But it’s getting better. It’s getting better. It’s getting better. We hope. We hope. We hope.

click on chart to enlarge

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.

Thriller in the Ninth

Game 3, Saturday, April 7, DBAP
Durham Bulls 6, Gwinnett Braves 5
Box, Wrap, Herald-Sun
Season: 2-1; Games left in home stand: 4

Talk about ups and downs. The Bulls weren't exactly cruising, but at the top of the 9th we felt comfortable enough to start heading for the gate. New guy Romulo Sanchez had a good rep, so even if the Bulls were only up by one run, it seemed as if the game was in hand.

A walk, a hit batter, a sacrifice, and a single later, Mr. Sanchez was being helped off the field and the Bulls were down by one run with Braves on the corners. Cesar Ramos came in and gave up a walk, but got out of the inning on a double play. But with the score now 5-4 it sure looked like the Bulls were, at best, heading for another extra inning game.

Not so fast. Tim Beckham draws his second walk of the night to lead off the 9th. Brandon Guyer moves him to second. Matt Mangini singles Beckham in and is replaced by pinch runner Jesus Feliciano. Leslie Anderson's second double of the evening brings Feliciano around for the win.

This was the second come from behind win in the first three games.

There's nothing in Bryan Augenstein's recent history to show him to be a starting pitcher. In 2011, for example, he was in 26 AAA games, all but one as a reliever. And yet, after a tricky first inning when his own fielding error set up a run, he had a very impressive six innings. He finished out the 6th by striking out the side — 8 Ks, 0 walks, 1 ER. Of his 80 pitches, he threw 61 for strikes.

Recent arrival John Gaub didn't look all that great, but Brandon Gomes kept things on track until Sanchez' troubles in the 9th.

In the meantime, the Bulls collected their first extra base hits of the year. Brandon Guyer and Jeff Salazar hit home runs, Chris Gimenez had a double and, as mentioned, Leslie Anderson had two.

We saw Will Rhymes at third base last night and Shawn O'Malley at second base. O'Malley did just fine. Notable was a couple of heads up moments covering first base.

Anderson showed some flash with the glove and at bat. Trying to work his way back to the 40-man?

At the time of this writing, no news regarding Sanchez's injury.

The Braves Julio Teheran looked nothing like the pitcher we saw last year. The Bulls got to him by the 2nd inning, forcing the Braves once again deep into their bullpen.

Beautiful late afternoon game at the DBAP. Chris Archer tomorrow.

Outside the game:

• The DBAP comes in as #2 in AAA according to a new rating.
• The Biscuits lost to the Wahoos 4-5.
• After all the demolition, big changes underneath the stands. And changes coming on the outside.
• Josh Leuke, who sort of started the years with the Bulls, did not have an auspicious beginning as a Tampa Bay Ray reliever: 1 1/3 inning, gave up 3 runs on 3 hits with 2 walks.

Here We Go

Photo By Travis Long, News and Observer

Game 1, Thursday, April 5, DBAP
Durham Bulls 4, Gwinnett Braves 3 (12 innings)
Season: 1-0
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Indy Week, N&O

The weather was cold and ugly. The baseball had its good and not so good moments. Nevertheless, what seemed to be one of the longest and oddest winters ever is over. Baseball is back.

First impressions of the team are pretty positive. Will Rhymes brought a lot to the game and Chris Gimenez is looking to be a terrific catcher (note his interview on WRAL yesterday) A commenter noted that Shawn O'Malley was Tampa Bay's Organization Baserunner of the Year a couple of years ago. He missed some time with a shoulder injury, but did just fine last night after coming in to run for Mangini and then playing the last several innings. Looks like I might have to eat my words regarding the lack of speed on this team.

Gwinnett used nine pitchers, including former Bull Adam Russell. I thought he would have stuck with Atlanta. Guess not. The Bulls used seven pitchers and, except for the home run given up by Romulo Sanchez Cesar Ramos, they looked just fine. Alex Cobb, coming off his surgery, looked particularly good. In previous seasons, Tampa Bay has limited starters to 75 pitches. Cobb went five full innings and 89 pitches, so I'm guessing that they are trusting Neil Allens' judgment.

My first impressions of the new broadcaster Patrick Kinas are positive. Keeps his (and our) heads in the game. Has obviously been talking to the players a lot. Very knowledgeable on minor league baseball. Kept his voice for four hours. Pretty good.

Outside the game:

• The Rays pulled the trigger on Bulls pitcher Josh Lueke's assignment and he is on his way (or already there) to St. Petersburg. 
• The Rays claimed a left-handed pitcher from the Cubs organization, John Gaub, and put him on the 40-man. Pretty sure he will end up in Durham in the next couple of days.
• Local TV station WRAL spent a lot of time at the DBAP yesterday. See here and here.
• The Durham Bulls did not make Baseball America's Top 10 minor league team list, and neither did any other International League team.

Profiles on Potential Durham Bulls

Two of the non-roster invitees are having a good time at spring training and they are getting some deserved attention on the web: outfielder Jeff Salazar and infielder (and sometime outfielder) Will Rhymes.

Thirty year old Salazar gets some attention over on DRaysBay. He is likely not a stranger to the DBAP since he's had playing time with Indianapolis, Norfolk, and Toledo over the last couple of years.

Will Rhymes (profiled here) has even more time in the International League, exclusively with the Mud Hens. He has surely spent some time at the DBAP as well. He also looks as if he would be an asset to the Bulls.

However, the injury list down at the Rays training camp grows longer each day (Brignac, Upton, Fuld, Jennings, Chirinos) so both players have a chance to stay past opening day. However, someone will have to be dumped from the 40-man to make room.

Rays Prospects is reporting that pitchers Cesar Ramos and Josh Lueke have been optioned to the Bulls, which means that the pitching roster is filling out very nicely.