Who Will Be On the Field Tonight?

Several transactions today

• RHP Alex Colome, who was mentioned here just the other day, has been called up from Montgomery. This will be his first time in AAA.
• Infielder Brooks Conrad is on his way down from Tampa Bay. I’d thought that he was part of a shuffle to make room for Josh Lueke when the Rays thought they needed him out in Oakland a couple of days ago. We’ll see. 
• Meanwhile Josh Lueke is officially on his way back. He didn't get a chance to throw any while with the Rays.
• Romulo Sanchez has been released by the Rays organization. Last seen when he came off the DL on July 30 and took the loss in the 12 inning session down in Norfolk. With an ERA of 6.31 and a FIP of 4.98, he was not having a good year.
• Craig Albernaz, who pitched four innings on back to back days down in Gwinnett, has gone of on the disabled list.

I think with Lueke gone the Rays have room for one more player before their game with Baltimore tomorrow. Want to guess who it might be? Longoria doesn’t count.

Tough Loss

Season: 51-60; Road Trip: 3-4; Bulls v. Tides: 6-7; Standings
Box, Wrap, Herald-Sun

A walk-off home run in the bottom of the 12th is a tough way to lose a game. But the Bulls parent club, the Tampa Bay Rays, one-upped them by losing in the bottom of the 15th out in Oakland.

The Bulls looked to have the game in hand when they scored four runs in the top of the 2nd. Unfortunately, the Tides came back with five runs. After that the game mostly stabilized itself. The Bulls went ahead in the top of the 7th, but several pitching moves in the bottom of the inning didn’t work,  and the Tides tied the game. Otherwise, the Bulls might have made it through.

In the 10th Leslie Anderson pinch-hit for Evan Longoria, was hit by pitch, and later thrown out at the plate. Here’s hoping his hand is OK. He’s having a great season and I’d hate to see him miss any time. DHing Longoria struck out twice, but singled in one of the runs and drew a walk.

In one of his more unusual moves, Montoyo put Jesus Feliciano in to pinch hit for Henry Wrigley after Anderson was hit by pitch in the 10th. Feliciano did manage to get the sacrifice bunt down (after two strikes) and move Anderson to second, but in the end the move didn’t pan out.

In the end, Romulo Sanchez came off the DL and into the game. Got a ground out and a fly out and then gave up a home run. Tough loss.

If you’re into grinding your teeth, please note that the Bulls have outhit the Tides in the last two games, 15-10 and 13-12, and lost both games.

Outside the game —

• As mentioned, Romulo Sanchez came off the disabled list yesterday. 
• Pitcher Bryan Augenstein went on the disabled list. He had a very long stretch on the DL at the beginning of the season. Let’s hope this is a short one.
• Rays blogger Tommy Rancel thinks the Rays may be looking to convert Cesar Ramos back into a starting pitcher.

Even More Roster Stuff

You are probably as tired/confused as I am, but as the infomercial says, "Wait, there's more!"

Nevin Ashley (Remember him? Catcher? Played in a couple of games at the beginning of the season) is off the disabled list and due back. Tonight? Don't know.

Reliever Romulo Sanchez has been placed on the disabled list

Pitcher Adam Liberatore has been called up to the Bulls from Montogomery (We've saw him early in season.

Infielder Shawn O'Malley has been sent to Montgomery (Too bad. I like Mr. O'Malley. He'll be back someday).

That's six, count 'em, six roster transaction affecting the Bulls today, and that doesn't count Mangini and Albernaz or what may happen if the Rays' Alex Cobb isn't able to make his next start.

After the Rain ...

Season: 45-55; Home Stand: 2-2; Bulls v. Iron Pigs: 4-4; Standings

Box, Wrap, Herald-Sun

I was at the game with a bunch of friends last night. Among them were a couple of Phillies fans. They had a good time and I was, I think, happy for them. 

Otherwise, I don't think I can improve on Steve Wiseman’s lead in this morning’s Herald-Sun:

As has happened many times this season, the International League’s worst pitching staff put the Durham Bulls in a hole they couldn’t climb out of on Thursday night.

Alexander Torres really is not improving as the season goes on. The Iron Pigs jumped on him early and often, driving Torres off the mound after just three innings with five runs on five hits, three walks, two stolen bases, and a wild pitch. 

Josh Lueke kept things in check for a while and there was occasional glimmers of hope. But the Bulls left most of the hope standing on the bases (9 of them). Die hard fans got to see a couple of nifty plays in the 8th (I wasn’t one of them. I was home watching on TV). An Allen to O’Malley to Gimenez play prevented a run; a catch of a line drive by O’Malley led to a double play to end that inning. Things really came apart in the 9th, however, and Montoya was not going to waste a pitcher on a lost cause. Romulo Sanchez let four more runs across, including a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch. No help was going to come in to save him.

Nevertheless, we should not take anything away from the Iron Pigs. They are a very good team. They lead in what appears to be the tough division of the IL this year. If their pitching can be a bit shaky, they are a heck of a lot better than the Bulls and their bats are not shaky at all. No reason to think that they couldn’t be in the Governors’ Cup this year (unless the Phillies strip them out in September). The Bulls can be modestly proud of a season 4-4 split with them.

Outside the game —

• Kudos to the video board guys at the DBAP. An early evening lightning strike messed up the only electronic stuff on the old-fashioned manual board: the ball, strikes, outs, hits, and error lights. Within a inning or so, somebody figured out (or already knew) how to modify the video board to display the balls, strikes, and outs and kept us informed through the rest of the game. Great job!
• In fact, the information on the video board has been impressive all year. Almost every home stand has seen some tweaks and improvements. 
• There was more bike rack controversy last night, this time from the top of the Blue Monster. From my seat, however, the ball seemed to hit that plexiglass in front of the railing and simply bounce back, a live ball by DBAP ground rules.

Pitching, Pitching, Pitching

Season: 42-47; Home Stand: 1-1; Bulls v. Tides: 5-5; Standings

Box, Wrap, Herald-Sun

The fundamental weakness of the 2012 Durham Bulls — pitching (especially starting pitching) — was re-exposed last night. Decent hitting simply wasn’t enough to hide it this time. 

We Bulls fans are simply shaking our heads over Alex Torres this year. Last year it was the huge BB and K numbers of the young man. Our view then was that if he could keep the Ks up and drop the BBs then the Bulls (and the Rays) would have themselves a pitcher. But this year all seems to be in confusion. Torres had five starts to begin the year, the last three of which were just awful, only a total of 8 innings and 17 earned runs given up. So he went to the bullpen, from which he made 11 appearances for 10 innings and 11 more earned runs. He had a decent start on June 19th (and a win). He went up to sit on Tampa Bays’ bench for a couple of days (was that meant to be a motivational gimmick?). He came back to a relief appearance, another pretty good start on June 30th, and then last night’s three inning, 62 pitch mess. Today at 20 appearances he’s got a FIP of 4.75 and an ERA of 6.84. I have to take the baseball gurus word that he’s a “prospect”, but he isn’t helping the Bulls this year.

Then Ryan Reed ended up facing a very experience pro in Norfolk’s Bill Hall in the 5th inning with two runners on and a 3-0 count. Not pretty. Hall’s home run put the Tides up 7-3. The Bulls got two runs back in the 6th on small ball, although they left two runners on base (as they had in the 5th). Norfolk led 7-5 until Romulo Sanchez imploded in the 8th giving up three runs on a single and back-to-back home runs.

Outside the game —

• I haven’t mentioned the extraordinary job that the DBAP folks have done with the scoreboards this year. If you pay attention, they can really keep you in touch with the game. Live updates of batting and pitching stats (including pitch counts); a recap of in-game performance each time a batter comes up; and more. Great job. 
• I missed this when it happened. A $4,400,000 shirt!

Series Split; Off to New York

Season: 30-41; Trip: 2-2; Bulls v. Iron Pigs: 2-2; Standings

Box, Wrap, Allentown Morning Call

Yes, the Bulls lost, but this one was an interesting, well-played game. Lance Pendleton had as good a start as could be expected. He went five full innings (95 pitches) and kept the Iron Pigs to one run. Romulo Sanchez went three scoreless innings for his longest stretch of the year. Josh Leuke kept them scoreless for the 9th and 10th, but couldn’t hang in the 11th. Running one man short among the relievers, and not expecting any help from Tampa Bay, keeping Leuke in the game made sense. But sure would have been nice if the Rays hadn’t pulled Gomes when they did, or at least sent a replacement.

Stephen Vogt, Matt Mangini and rehabbing Evan Longoria were not in the game. Would their slightly better bats have made a difference? Also hard to tell. The Bulls did not have a lot of opportunities against a pretty good Lehigh Valley pitching staff. 

The Iron Pigs second baseman Kevin Frendsen, who gave the Bulls fits all through the series, singled to start the 11th. Got to second base on a balk. And came home on a Jason Pridie single. That was enough.

Outside the game

• Brandon Gomes is coming back and a position player will be sent to join Tampa Bay in time for the Rays' Tuesday game in DC against the Nationals. That gives me an opportunity to guess wrong, again. I’m going with Rich Thompson, again.
• Wonder if the major leaguers will travel to Rochester with the Bulls or ride in greater style? Broadcaster Kinas probably said something about that but I missed it.
• The Bulls are off to Rochester to play the Red Wings, the Minnesota Twins AAA team. The last time the Bulls were in Rochester was just last month, but they were there to play the homeless Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Yankees. This time they are playing the actual residents of Frontier Field. The Red Wings are 32-37 and in fifth place in the six-team North Division of the International League.

A Loss, Then a Win

 Box, Wrap

Season: 23-31; Trip: 3-2; Bulls vs. Indians: 2-5
Box, Wrap, Wrap (Indianapolis)

Jeff Salazar is one of the many Bulls that needs to show his stuff if Durham is to get above .500. He did that this afternoon with a bizarre 10th inning inside-the-park home run. As described in the wraps, the ball essentially parked itself underneath the bullpen bench and by the time the Indy outfielder got the ball out, Salazar was home.

Before that, however, new guy Shane Dyer had another ugly early inning, giving up four runs in the 1st, then did a fine job for the next four. In the Bulls 6th some razzle-dazzle base running (and a bad throw) scored one run. A single by Leslie Anderson brought in another. And a home run by Juan Miranda (!) brought in two more. Bulls pitching, Romulo Sanchez and Brandon Gomes, kept the Indians in check until Salazar’s heroics. Dane De La Rosa closed it out.

Monday’s game has little to recommend it. The Bulls left a bunch of guys on base. The old Alex Torres peeked out with 3 BBs in 1 inning (but no runs scored on him).

Outside the game:

• As we guessed, Mayo Acosta was sent to Montgomery. He did a good job. We will be seeing more of him I am sure.
• Chris Gimenez and Stephen Vogt were in the house. Vogt pinch hit for Albernaz in the 7th and stayed in the game at catcher.
• BurGi at Rays Prospects has done another of his analytical pieces, this one on Rays’ system pitching. Nice work.
• Ms. Van Deren is on Ocracoke Island!

The Bulls played an afternoon game and have an evening game tomorrow. That means that they can have a night on the town in Indianapolis, Indiana. Indulge me by taking on this true story about an evening I once spent in Indianapolis.

Our team was seeking a place to eat on a Friday night. We were hungry and didn’t want to wait in line. But it seemed like the parking lot of every restaurant we found was full. Finally we found a place that didn’t seem to be too busy and we were able to get a table immediately. 


It wasn’t until after we’d put in our orders to a not-very-efficient waiter that one of us put it together. 


It’s Friday night. Every other restaurant in Indianapolis is busy. This one is not. There’s a message there. The message came with our awful, awful meals. 


Moral for the Bulls: Busy is good.

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.

Albernaz Throws Perfect Inning

Game 8, Thursday, April 11, Coolray Field, Lawrenceville, Georgia
Gwinnett Braves 7, Durham Bulls 1
Box, Herald-Sun, play-by-play

Just to get this off on the right foot to all those who remember Pogo: Friday the 13th comes on Friday this month (that would be today)!

The 14th pitcher to take the mound for the Durham Bulls in 2012 and the fifth, and arguably the most successful, last night, was ... catcher Craig Albernaz! That’s a hint on how the night went down in Georgia.

After pitcher Bryan Augenstein came up with a sore elbow (he's now on the 7-day DL), the Bulls took a “starter by committee” approach with the first pitcher out of the box being former Brave Jhonny Nunez. He was followed by Ryan Reid, Romulo Sanchez, John Gaub, and Albernaz. Pretty ugly all around, with only Gaub and Albernaz having scoreless outings.

None of the Bulls did very well at bat and Beckham (2 errors) and Miranda (3 errors) were awful in the field.

Shake it off!

Outside the game:

• The Bulls are playing at Coolray field, a new facility not far from Atlanta. It hasn’t been treated very kindly by the folks who judge ballparks, such as Stadium Journeys and Ballpark Reviews. Brian Merzbach over at Ballpark Reviews was particularly harsh:

It is a great example of how a minor league ballpark is now more of a playground for spoiled suburban kids than it is a place to watch a baseball game. 

• Former Bull Jeremy Hellickson is reported to be OK.
• Rays catcher (and former Bull) Jose Lobaton is reported to have a hurt shoulder. That could shake up some rosters, including the Bulls. Slightly surprised that Robinson Chirinos isn’t included in the speculation.
• Former Bull Dirk Hayhurst adds in his two cents to the Guillen controversy.
• Johnny Damon signing with the Indians means that there’s one more guy in the way of former Bull Russ Canzler getting to the big leagues. Too bad.

Sunday at the Park

Game 4, Sunday, April 8, DBAP
Durham Bulls 7; Gwinnett Braves 4
Season: 3-1, Games left in this home stand: 3
Box, Wrap, Herald-Sun, Indy Week, Examiner

That was fun. Beautiful day. Great baseball. Bulls win.

The story at the links is pitcher Chris Archer, and he did do quite well. He’s going to be fun to watch this year. He held the Braves to just one run, a homer by Ernesto Mejia to start the 2nd. His 8 strikeouts ties him with Augenstein and Cobb. Note: how about that, three out of four Durham starters begin the season with 8 K’s, and the fourth (Torres) had 7? Very impressive even if it is the beginning of the season.

I like the youngster on the team, infielder Shawn O’Malley. This is his first time in AAA and he’s doing just fine. He got his first hit yesterday, a big home run over the Blue Monster in the 6th. As important, however, was his bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the 2nd that pushed across the first of five runs in that inning. He started at shortstop yesterday, giving Tim Beckham his first day off. Given the way Charlie Montoyo like to run his team, what we are likely to see is O’Malley at shortstop or second base when Beckham or Rhymes is due a day off, maybe a start or two at third over the year, and possibly a stint in the outfield.

Leslie Anderson is starting the year on a roll. He picked up two more hits (singles) yesterday and is batting .500 in 12 ABs. He’s had just the one start at 1B, while his counterpart at that position, Juan Miranda, is waiting for his first hit. It will come, but it’s becoming frustrating to watch.

Big day today for folks who follow the Bulls from year to year. Dan Johnson and Ray Olmedo come to town wearing Charlotte Knights uniforms. The Knights are 2-2 on the season. Johnson has played in all four games and hitting .333 in 12 AB. Olmedo is waiting for his first hit in 11 ABs.

Outside the game:

• While you’re waiting for the Bulls front office to fix their site, here’s a link to the Bulls roster. 
• I’ve been using the Bulls app. After a slightly rough start, it’s been working very well. Not really useful for listening to the game while at the game (a bit of a delay as the electrons work their way through cyberspace), works fine if you’re not at the park.  I haven’t tried the LiveShare app.
• Broadcaster Patrick Kinas reported that pitcher Romulo Sanchez is OK after taking that line drive off his ankle on Saturday. Could be back very soon.
• Who reading this remembers Joel Guzman? Well, he’s still playing ball, now for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, and he hit a home run yesterday that helped them beat the Montgomery Biscuits. I can still remember him hitting the biggest homer I've seen at the DBAP. It rattled around inside the framework of the under construction Diamond View II, at least a floor, possible two floors, above what's now the Tobacco Road cafe. Last we heard he was in the Baltimore system. Now looks like he's with the Reds after a year in Japan.

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.

First Impressions — Part 2 — Pitchers

The starting rotation for any AAA team is frequently in flux. This year won’t be any different. But it sure looks good for the opening round of games.

We saw, and wrote about, four of the five starting pitchers last year (see here and here). Of the four, Alex Cobb, Alex Torres, and Matt Torra are very solid guys. We only saw Chris Archer a couple of times so we neither agree nor disagree with the hype around him. Alex Cobb, on the other hand, is for sure the real deal and if Alex Torres ever gets a handle on his control, he is sure to see some big league time this year. Cobb, Torres, and Archer are on the Rays 40-man.

New guy Bryan Augenstein has some major league time and has bounced around a bit, most recently in the Cardinals system. His stats show him as spending almost all his time as a reliever, but it appears that the Rays want to look at him as a starter. I think he’s going to be a very interesting ballplayer to watch.

As with the starters, most of the relievers have spent some time in a Bulls uniform. Five of the seven on the roster have been with the team. (However, in Marquis Fleming’s case it was only for 2 innings last July. He was the winner of the 2011 Moonlight Graham Award.) Cesar Ramos only had 4 innings, but Ryan Reid had 55, Dane De La Rosa had 70, and Brandon Gomes had 25 before he was called to the Rays. So the only relievers who are complete strangers are Jhonny Nuñez and Romulo Sanchez. We saw Nunez in a Charlotte Knights uniform last year. Sanchez played in Japan last year and has a good bit of AAA time (and a few innings with the Pirates and Yankees). Gomes, De La Rosa, and Ramos are on the Rays 40-man roster.

That leaves reliever Josh Leuke, who comes to the Rays system from the Mariners. We assume that he’s to start the season with the Rays, but we don’t know that for sure. Nor do we know if there could be a ripple effect down through the system. He is on the 40-man, has decent stats, and obviously ready to play in the big leagues.

Stacy Long Goes to Spring Training

Stacy Long is a reporter for the Montgomery Advertiser and blogs about the Montgomery Biscuits, the Tampa Bay Rays AA team. He is, as far as I can tell, the only print reporter who goes to Port Charlotte to see what’s going on in minor league camp. I’d been wondering if he was going to be able to make it down there this year, and he has. He is a terrific writer with a good sense of humor. If you are wondering who might be in line to show up later this summer as a Durham Bull, you can do no better than keeping an eye on Biscuit Crumbs. Link also at my sidebar.

Over on his blog yesterday he reported that catcher Craig Albernaz, just about my all-time favorite Durham Bulls catcher, has just been sent down to minor league camp.  Four other ballplayers, pitchers Jhonny Nunez and Romulo Sanchez, infielder Matt Mangini and outfielder Brad Coon were also sent down. All of those, with the possible exception of Albernaz are very likely to be in a Bulls uniform at the start of the season. Although Craig has spent a good bit of time in Durham over the years, by far most of his time has been in Montgomery. The Rays seem to like him there where he can help bring young pitchers along.

Long quotes Joe Maddon as saying: “He’s [Albernaz] been a big part of our success just by what he does on a daily basis. He’s a lot of fun to be around. He doesn’t complain about the workload. This guy has coach written all over him.”

In an even more recent post, Long quotes Rays GM Anthony Friedman as saying Matt Bush won’t be playing for the Rays, hence not for the Bulls, this year. “I think it’s safe to say that he’s not going to play for us on the field.”

In his story in the Advertiser, Long reports on the competition between former Biscuits (and former Bulls) Jeff Neimann and Wade Davis for a starting pitching slot.

Great stuff. Good reporter.

Hemstitching: Four Bulls (maybe), Ruggiano, Kinas, and More

Justin Ruggiano at the DAP

** 71 Days **

• The Rays recently signed four players to minor league contracts, most of whom have experience in Durham, if not always with the Bulls. 
• Will Rhymes has put in a lot of time with Detroit’s AAA team, the Toledo Mud Hens, the last three years (so he’s probably played at the DBAP). Looks to be a solid 2B. Signed to a minor league contract, probably with an invitation to spring training, you’ve got to think he’s on the hunt for the Rays 2B slot. Good possibility to end up with the Bulls this year. He sounds happy.  Stats.
• Jesus Feliciano, an outfielder, spent most of last year with the Mets’ AAA team, Buffalo. An outfielder, at 32 he might bring some maturity and depth to the Bulls. Trivia: He was in the Devil Rays system back in 2004. Stats.
• RHP Romulo Sanchez is 27 and has some time with Indianapolis and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, so he’s likely to have visited the DBAP as well. He spent 2011 in Japan, so we’ll have to wait and see how he comes out of spring training. Stats.
• Then there’s Matt Torra, whom we know and like from his time with us last year. Glad to have him back.
• Durham Bulls stalwart, Justin Ruggiano, has been designated for assignment. He doesn’t sound too happy about it. Can’t say that I blame him. He spent a good bit of time in Durham last year, but my bet is that if he isn’t picked up on waivers he’ll try free agency. 
• The Bulls have hired well-known local broadcaster Patrick Kinas to fill Neil Solondz's slot as the “voice” of the Bulls. Thirteen seasons in Double-A. Time to get called up. See commentary at a recent post on this blog.
• Catcher Nevin Ashley cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Durham. Good news.
• Dirk Hayhurst, possibly channeling his inner yoda, is offering advice to minor leaguers (here and here) as spring training approaches. His new book, Out of My League, is on the cusp of being published. However, as I recall, that was what he was saying when he showed up here last spring.
• For the stats geeks among you, here is the godfather, Bill James, speaking out on the subject of great pitchers duels.