Hemstitching: Moves Continue Shredding 2014 Roster

A bunch of moves yesterday, and some from a week or two earlier, are putting the finishing touches on shredding the 2014 Durham Bulls. Happens every year. Part of being a minor league fan.

• To go back in time a bit: Early in the month Jerry Sands, who started the 2014 season with the Bulls, got called up, then got hurt, has been designated for assignment (DFA’d). Reportedly he will not be accepting an assignment to Triple-A. 
• Also DFA’d was Vince Belnome, who apparently will be taking a Triple-A contract.
• Adam Liberatore, a star of the Bulls’ bullpen, was traded to the LA Dodgers. Too bad. Liked watching him pitch. 
• Cole Figueroa was DFA’d by the Rays to make room on their 40-man. No word yet on whether or not he will be taking a minor league contract. Hope so. Like him a lot. He makes a difference as his stats show.
• Mikie Mahtook and Matt Andriese were added to the Rays 40-man to protect them from the Rule 5 draft. For a non-geek explanation of the Rule 5 draft check this out. They earned their place on the roster with their performance last year. Congrats.
• Neal Allen, the Bulls pitching coach for a really long time, has been interviewed by the Twins for a pitching coach job. I think he had a lot to do with Bulls (and Rays) success over the last several years. Would hate to see him go.

Change at the Top, and More

What does it mean to the Durham Bulls that the top of the Tampa Bay Rays leadership team jumped ship?

Hard to say.

One of the oddities of the Tampa Bay Rays has been the stability of their front office and coaching staff. But the #1 front office guy, Andrew Friedman, and the manager, Joe Maddon, have moved on.  Friedman is off to California and manager Joe Maddon has signed on with the Chicago Cubs.

Friedman was “in the house” at the DBAP once or twice each season and was thought to keep a very close eye on the Bulls’ roster. Certainly someone up there was finding the veterans to fill out the team each season. And grabbing guys when the Rays needed help.

As far as I know the only time that Joe Maddon was ever at the DBAP was that exhibition game a few years back.

We are pleased to pass on that Bulls manager Charlie Montoyo is on the long list of folks to be interviewed for the Maddon job. However, he has lots of competition. The current Rays bench coach, Dave Martinez, would seem to be a leading candidate, which could open the door for Charlie to move into that position.

For Durham Bulls fanatics, note that another candidate on the long list, Kevin Cash, spent a good bit of time in a Durham Bulls uniform back in 2005 and 2006. He is coming into the interview from a coaching job in the Cleveland organization.

So, what does it mean? It could mean that for the first time in a very long while we will see some change in the leadership of the Bulls. We always see a lot of change among the players, but we’ve been blessed with a very stable managing/coaching crew for several years. It could stay the same, but ...

Outside the game —

• Robby Price has been released. As noted earlier, he was a valuable guy last year, but often an odd man out.
• Jerry Sands, the outfielder who started with the Bulls last year with some extraordinary numbers, went up to the Rays and then had a season-ending injury, has been designated for assignment. Power hitter. As regular readers know, we are far from being expert on the DFA process. He could end up with the Bulls in 2015, but other teams could want him.
• Vince Belnome has also been DFA’d to make room on the Rays 40-man. Again, hard to say if he will be back. We like Mr. Belnome, but have to recognize that 2014 was not a good year. Maybe 2015. 

The Durham Bulls in 2014 — The Hitters — Part 2

In Part 1 we put up a table of all the position players who came to bat in 2014 ordered by the numbers of games they played. Then we discussed four of those players. In this post we'll sort the table by wOBA (less two rehabbers who were left out of the sort) and continue our discussion.

Bulls Player Stats Sorted by wOBA

Name	Age	G	PA	AVG	OPS	wOBA	wRAA
Jerry Sands*	26	54	219	.268	.825	.369	6.8
Kevin Kiermaier*	24	34	143	.305	.823	.369	4.5
Jeremy Moore	27	55	218	.262	.827	.368	6.7
Mikie Mahtook	24	132	550	.292	.820	.366	16.1
Justin Christian	34	127	520	.271	.778	.350	8.8
Cole Figueroa*	27	71	312	.282	.761	.350	5
Vince Belnome*	26	118	492	.245	.740	.341	4.8
Jayson Nix	31	55	216	.272	.748	.339	1.6
Mike Fontenot	34	113	454	.276	.714	.328	-0.3
Curt Casali*	25	46	183	.237	.694	.322	-1
Wilson Betemit	32	111	453	.217	.694	.311	-6.5
Robby Price	26	70	249	.216	.604	.285	-8.6
Nick Franklin	23	27	113	.210	.578	.273	-5
Hak-Ju Lee*	23	93	357	.203	.563	.268	-17.2
Ray Olmedo	33	104	404	.224	.551	.259	-22.3
Tim Beckham*	24	15	65	.258	.572	.256	-3.7
Ali Solis	26	73	266	.203	.514	.234	-19.9
Mayo Acosta	26	32	94	.133	.408	.198	-9.6
Eddy Rodriguez	28	13	49	.152	.443	.198	-5.1
Wil Myers	23	7	31	.250	.961	.409	2
Brandon Guyer	28	5	26	.400	1.238	.533	4.2

   * on the Rays 40-man roster.

Wilson Betemit (111 games) was the rare power hitter in the Bulls lineup this year. But once you crunch all the numbers together he simply did not make that much of a contribution. He played mostly first base and DH and his glove appeared above average. Without drilling too deep into the numbers, our impression is that he was not improving as the year went on. Not likely to be back next year. Stats.

Ray Olmedo (104 games) is an all-time WDBB favorite player. He brings a tremendous amount of energy to the game and the sheer quickness of his hands from catch to release is a great pleasure to watch. This year he extended his repertoire of fielding positions by 20 appearances in the outfield and even had a brief moment at first base (wonder who he borrowed a glove from?). In Ray’s case I’d say the hell with the numbers and bring him back. I just like watching him play. Stats.

Hak-Ju Lee* (93 games) messed up his knee early in the 2013 season and did not return to the Durham Bulls until 23 April of this year. For a long time he has been near the top of various prospect lists, but he was one of the least productive Durham Bulls this year. Was he ready to return? Is his knee up to the job? No fan in the stands is going to be able to tell about that. We don’t think that the Rays are going to give up on the 23 year-old, but here’s hoping that in the off-season they find a way for him to work on his hitting. Stats.

Ali Solis (73 games) is the first of a cluster of four catchers we saw this year. To be perfectly honest, none of them showed Triple A caliber stuff. I hate to say that because I love watching players at that position. Catcher is a tough job at any level, but at Triple A you’ve got pitchers who are (or who think they are) right on the edge of becoming big leaguers. For the last couple of years the Rays system does not seem to be either growing or hiring good catchers. In fact, they seem to be trading some of the good guys away. But that’s for another article. Ali Solis certainly seemed to handle the pitching crew quite well, had a decent arm, and was only charged with seven passed balls. At 26 he’s still young, but his bat needs a lot of work. He did get a callup to the Rays this year and appeared in 8 games. Stats.

Cole Figueroa* (71 games) is another WDBB favorite who had a decent year, mostly at third base. His low number of game appearances with the Bulls is the consequence of his two callups to the Rays in mid-May and six weeks in July and August. He appeared in 23 Rays games after his debut on 16 May.  [Note to self: let’s not rant about the Rays pulling good players up to sit on the bench]. For reasons that are a mystery to us, he does not seem to be part of fanblog discussions over with the Rays. He should be. Otherwise, we would be more than happy to see him back with the Bulls next year. Stats.

Robby Price (70 games) was, by far, the most jerked around player on the Bulls roster this year. It seems every year they Bulls have a player who is kind of a “ghost” player. He’s on the roster for a few days then in a paper transaction is taken off for a few days and then he comes back. Robby Price (and to a lesser extent Mayo Acosta) was that guy this year, he figured in 9 different transactions. The 26 year-old’s numbers aren’t all that great, but without any consistent playing time, how can we judge? The Bulls need a guy like Price on the roster. He even pitched in three games for 2⅓ innings. I’d assume he will be a free agent next year. Here’s hoping he gets a shot with a team that will give him some playing time. Stats. [Update: Price was released by the Rays in late October.]

Jayson Nix (55 games) was apparently brought on board as a deep backup to the Rays infield. The 31 year-old was reasonably productive during his time from mid-May to 1 August. On the other hand we worried about the other infielders available (Price, Fontenot, Olmedo, Lee) who might have lost playing time while he was with the team. Nevertheless, his stats show that he was helpful. He apparently had an opt-out contract. He will likely have some place in baseball trivia questions for his trek from the Phillies to the Bulls to the Pirates to the Kansas City Royals. Not a snowball’s chance he’ll be back with the Bulls next year. Stats.

Jeremy Moore (55 games ) was our joy of the last part of the season. We’d actually forgotten about him being on the non-roster invitee list last spring training, so when he showed up from Montgomery on 25 June we didn’t know quite what to expect. Very exciting guy to watch. Reminded us a lot of Leslie Anderson, not in style, but in the excitement he brought to the game. He started off extremely hot, cooled off a bit, but the Bulls finally had a power hitting outfielder to pair with Mikie Mahtook. With 12 homers in 55 games he was on a league-leading pace. Here’s hoping that the Rays do whatever it takes to bring him back next year. He sure seems like a guy who could do the Bulls (and the Rays) some good. Stats.

Jerry Sands* (54 games) started the season with the Bulls and was doing an extraordinary job. In fact, his stats are among best of any Bull this season. He was called to the Rays at the 1st of June to fill in for an injury down there. On 22 Jun, however, he had a season-ending injury himself. We like what we saw while he was here and we’d love to see him back. We’ve seen very little about his injury status, however. Stats.

Curt Casali* (46 games) was one of the four catchers with the Bulls this year. The 25 year-old came up from the Montgomery Biscuits in early May and was called up to the Rays in mid-July. While with the Bulls he put together some decent numbers, by far the best of any of the catchers this year. His trip to St. Petersburg was not expected to last, but in fact he stayed there for the rest of the year, appearing in 30 games. However, he left Rays’ game on 25 September with a season-ending concussion. Assuming he recovers OK, he is very likely to start next year either with the Rays or the Bulls. Stats.

Kevin Kiermaier* (34 games) was with the Bulls at the beginning of the year and we could not have been more excited. We thought that with Jerry Sands and Mikie Mahtook we were going to see one of the finest outfields in Bulls history. Unfortunately, the Rays could not keep themselves healthy and once Mr. Kiermaier got to the Rays he did everything he could to make sure he would not come back, and he didn’t. He had a terrific year with the Rays, but I sure wish he’d stuck around here a bit longer. Stats.

Mayo Acosta (32 games) started the season with the Bulls and was in the dugout all year. But, as with Robby Price, the young catcher spent much of the year in paper purgatory. We cannot fault a player with such an erratic schedule for never get his timing right. So we are not sure his numbers are actually worth anything at all. Perhaps a better measure of him as a player is to note that he was the guy that got the best relief crew in International League baseball ready to pitch. And then there were the two games where he pitched for 3 innings and got 2 K’s. Stats.

Nick Franklin* (27 games) came to the Bulls as part of the big David Price trade on 1 August. Young Mr. Franklin has a solid reputation. We’ll see. So far we aren’t impressed at all. But apparently the Rays are. He got a lot of September playing time even if he wasn’t hitting. That would imply that he’s on the short list to stay with them next year. Stats.

Tim Beckham* (15 games) returned to the Bulls after surgery and a long rehab on 12 August. We’ve seen a lot of Mr. Beckham over the last few years and we like him. His bat seemed to have a bit more pop than we recall and his speed is still up there. We look forward to seeing him at second or shortstop next year, at least at the start of the season. Next year could be his year. Stats.

Eddy Rodriguez (13 games), the fourth catcher in a Bulls uniform this year, was released in early May when Curt Casali was called up from Montgomery. To be honest, we are a bit surprised he did not catch on somewhere else, but we haven’t found him, so we guess that he’s retired from the game. Update: Thanks to Doug (see comments), we now know he caught on with the Red Sox in a coaching job. Good for him.  Stats.

Wil Myers played in 7 games and Brandon Guyer played in 5 games on rehab assignments. Both did reasonably well and both seemed to be playing hard. Not always the case with rehabbing major leaguers.

Back From the Break, In Style

Season: 54-44; Trip: 1-0; Last 10: 7-3; Standings
Wrap, Box, Gwinnett Daily Post

It's well beyond the actual midpoint of the season for Triple-A (that was back on June 15, game 72) and yet a psychological midpoint and several days off for most of the Durham Bulls. The game started out with a wonderfully familiar sequence: runners on 1st and 2nd (Justin Christian and Vince Belnome), and Jeremy Moore doubled in two runs and the Bulls never looked back.

WDBB’s favorite starting pitcher of 2014, Matt Andriese, was on the mound and threw a stellar 7⅔ innings backed up by 5 (count ‘em, 5!) double plays. Everyone but Robby Price and Vince Belnome got hits and they both got on base with walks.

The quirky stat (other than all the double plays) is probably the fact that they scored 7 runs on only two extra base hits (doubles by Moore and Mahtook.

This was the first shutout by Bulls pitching since June 9th.

Outside the game —

• Catcher Curt Casali has been called up to the Rays. This will be the young player’s first time in the major leagues and the Rays will be doing some razzle-dazzle with the 40-man to make it happen. The callup was because Rays' catcher Ryan Hanigan will go on the 15-day disabled list, but outfielder Wil Myers is going on the 60-day disabled list to make room.
• Not sure that we’ve mentioned that Jerry Sands, a terrific hitter who started the season with the Bulls, is likely out for the rest of the season after being called up to the Rays and then being injured.
• Along those lines, have not heard a thing about injured infielder Tim Beckham in a long time.
• We’ve been waiting for ground ball inducing pitcher Matt Andriese to pitch before putting up this link. In it blogger Cork Gaines speculates that the Rays don’t particularly like ground ball pitchers in their stable because the artificial turf down at Tropicana Field makes turning double plays difficult. To be honest I’m not sure the analysis holds up, but if it does it looks like a terrific young pitcher for the Bulls might not have a future with the Rays.

Cole Figueroa Called Up

Cole Figueroa is on his way back (already there?) to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Jerry Sands, who started the year with the Durham Bulls and was expected back in a few weeks, has hurt his wrist and will be going on the disabled list.

Matchup: Durham Bulls v. Syracuse Chiefs

The Syracuse Chiefs are the Triple A team of the Washington Nationals. At 42-30, they lead the International League 6-team North Division by 2 games. [standings] If matched up across the divisions, Syracuse and Indianapolis would be tied and the Bulls would be a full game behind both teams.

These teams are very well-matched, but the Chiefs have a series edge since they won every game of a 4-game series in Syracuse in early May. They arrive from Norfolk on a 3-game winning streak. The Bulls are coming off a 3-game losing streak, a very long road trip, and a rare day off.

So this is a chance for the Bulls to show us what they’ve got. They should be able to beat these guys.

Outside the game —

• Meanwhile, I love pointing out that the Durham Bulls manager, Charlie Montoyo, has been named manager of the International League’s All-Star Team. Congratulations. Well-deserved.
• Brandon Guyer, who had been rehabbing with the Bulls while they were on the road, has been activated and Ray’s outfielder David DeJesus has been put on the DL with a broken hand. That  probably means that Jerry Sands is going to stay with the Rays a bit longer. Good for him, but it means that the Bulls are back to just two outfielders on the roster. Guyer started in Thursday night’s game against Houston.

DPs and Shutout #7

Jayson Nix gets to third base, beneath PawSox's Garin Cacchini
Photo by Bernard Thomas, Durham Herald-Sun

Season: 37-25; Home Stand: 5-2
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Two runs in the 8th won the game, but let’s point out the quirky stuff before getting to that. Three double plays helped keep young Mr. Alex Colome out of trouble last night. In fact, they kept any PawSox runner from even getting to or beyond second base until the 9th inning.

Look a bit more closely and you discover that they were three completely different kinds of double plays. And that is the sort of thing we love here.

In the 1st the DP was a classic 6-4-3,  ground ball to shortstop Hak-Ju Lee, toss to Mike Fontenot covering second, and a nice throw to Wilson Betemit on first to wrap it up. Nice start to the inning.

Then in the next inning, with one out and a PawSox runner on first base, the batter struck out and catcher Mayo Acosta (nice to see him in a game, by the way) threw out the runner attempting a steal. K, 2-4 on the scoresheet.

The last DP came in the 6th when the PawSox again had one out and a runner on first. This time the batter hit a line drive to right field, Justin Christian caught it and threw to 1B Wilson Betemit to double off the runner. 9, 9-3 on the scoresheet.

So, if you now check out the box score you will see that Colome only let 5 guys on base in the game (4 singles and a walk), and of those 3 were ensnared in double plays. That is a terrific 8 innings of baseball.

Nevertheless, picking up the Bulls seventh shutout was not entirely easy. First they had to get some runs across and they never did solve knuckleballing PawSoxer Steven Wright. They did load the bases in the 3rd with none out, but could not score. They had to wait until they could deal with a more conventional guy in the 8th to get some runs across. In that inning they loaded the bases with one out. and a ground ball infield single by Justin Christian scored Hak-Ju Lee and a sac fly by Vince Belnome brought Mikie Mahtook home.

Closer Kirby Yates gave us a thrill in the 9th by serving up a leadoff triple in the 9th, then walking the fastest guy on the PawSox team, Mookie Betts. Yates was thereby doing his part for all of our cardio-vascular systems (I was watching from the top of the Monster by then). Coach Neil Allen came out for a talk (wonder what they say when they get out there?). Yates got the next three batters and all was right in the world.

Outside the game —

• Kevin Kiermaier hit a home run for the Tampa Bay Rays and Jerry Sands got his first major league hit, an RBI single last night. The Rays, unfortunately, lost, and have now dropped 10 in a row.
• Speaking of Kiermaier, he gets some love from The Process Report and we begin to wonder what will happen when Brandon Guyer and Wil Myers come off the DL. Will Kiermaier come back for more development (Sands will surely be back) or will he stay

Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang

Season: 34-23; Home Stand: 2-0
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

I could not go to the game last night. I didn’t even get to my radio until the bottom of the 7th inning where I learned that, contrary to my expectation, Alex Colome had done just fine before handing the game off to Merrill Kelly. The Bulls were ahead 3-0 and I figured that since Kelly was in things were OK.

More than OK. By the end of the inning the Bulls picked up 6 more runs on four singles, a double, a Jerry Sands home run, and an IronPig fielding error. Justin Christian homered for the 10th run of the game in the 8th inning.

Bulls pitchers got their 6th shutout of the season. Bulls hitters created the biggest win margin of the year. Gwinnett lost, opening up a 3½ game spread. The Bulls are now 11 games over .500, their best mark of the year. Things are right with the world.

Meanwhile, I have a question for those who listened/watched the game: Why was Vince Belnome playing left field? I’m guessing that it was Mikie Mahtook’s day off and that Charlie Montoyo wanted to keep Belnome's bat in the lineup instead of Price or Nix. But that didn’t work since he was the only Bull not to get on base last night.

About Alex Colome. I assume that readers of this blog know all about the drug suspension. If not, the Herald-Sun story summarizes it. I’m not a very tolerant guy and I find it hard to forgive. Nevertheless, he obviously spent his time away from the game working on his craft, and that’s good for him and for the Bulls. He certainly performed far above my expectations last night.

Cole Figueroa started at 3B. Welcome back.

Outside the game —

• The Rays lost to the Red Sox, again, last night. Their only run was a distinctly weird inside-the-park home run by Kevin Kiermaier. Kiermaier started in right field in the place of injured former Bull Wil Myer.
• In that same game Ali Solis got his first major league start. While in his first AB in the 3rd a pitch went into the dirt, bounced off the catcher’s shin guard, and hit him in the nose. He was taken out of the game. Reports are that his nose is not broken.

Sweep, On to Toledo, Colome Back

Wrap, Box

Nate Karns pitched very well; Vince Belnome hit a home run; Kirby Yates got his 13th save; 12,000 fans. Great day at the park.

Season: 30-21; Trip: 4-0

Wrap, Box

Mike Montgomery continued to show the world how much he is developing. In this case a solid 7 inning, 2 hit, 94 pitch win. Meanwhile Jeff Beliveau is becoming a closer-in-waiting with his 4th save when the Clippers showed some life in the 9th. His ERA remains at 0.00.

On the other hand, inept fielding by the Clippers themselves killed any chance they could stay in the game. Note that there were only 2 earned runs. Mikie Mahtook did not wait for any gifts. His single, double, and home run accounted for all but one of the runs (Jerry Sands’ single was the other.

Outside the game —

• Alex Colome comes off his 50-game suspension today and will start against Toledo. He had three “rehab” starts with the Charlotte (Port Charlotte, Florida) Stone Crabs: 11 innings, ERA-1.64; WHIP-1.091. No word (that I’ve heard yet) on what the Bulls will do to the rotation. If anyone heard anything, please chime in.
• I noticed that Kevin Kiermaier was pulled late in the game on Saturday evening and did not play yesterday. Unlikely to be anything significant, and probably mentioned on radio. If someone did hear an explanation, please pass it on.

Matchup

The Toledo Mud Hens are just down the road from their parent club, the Detroit Tigers. The second-most famous club in minor league baseball, they have not done all that well in recent years. Is that because they are so close to parent club and it's just easy to move folks around?

For those who are into those things, note that the Mud Hens' Pythagorean Expectation won-loss is quite different (and much better) than their actual won-loss. That is, they should be a .500 team based on their runs scored and runs allowed record, but they are not. The most typical explanation for that is: relief pitching and bad luck leading to losses in close games. But the PE observation is based on thousands of games over decades of baseball. For our purposes, let's just say that it looks like the Mud Hens are a better ball club than their record indicates.

Double Header Split; Bats in Town

Season: 24-28; Home Stand: 3-1
Wrap, Box 1, Box 2, Herald-Sun, MiLB.com

The prominent story in the first game was the dominance of rehabbing White Sox pitcher Chris Sale, and we was very, very good. He struck out 11 Bulls in just 4 innings. The Bulls were really swinging, by the way. They had 15 K’s in the 7-inning game, a season high.

But Enny Romero only gave up one run, a bases-empty homer, in his 4 innings. And he struck out 7. So it really wasn’t as if Sale won the game. In fact, he didn’t, the win went to reliever Donnie Veal. The loss went to the Bulls Doug Mathis. I have to point out that his last three appearances have all resulted in losses. Worrisome.

The second game was more fun for the Bulls and their fans, although watching a good pitcher at work is always interesting, even if he’s your opponent. After the Knights got back in the game with two runs in the 5th, the Bulls took advantage of the tiring Knights starter and then exploited former Bull Frank De Los Santos’ bad night. De Los Santos let both of his inherited runners score on a hit and three walks, allowed another. Pretty terrible night for him.

Robby Price and Jerry Sands hit home runs in the second game. That put the Knights pitching in first place in the International League for home runs allowed (37). Don’t look too closely, though, because the Bulls are in second place with 36 home runs allowed.

Outside the game —

• Missing from the lineup was outfielder Kevin Kiermaier. He is off to join the Rays to stand in for their outfielder Desmond Jennings for a couple of days.
• By the way, Cole Figueroa got in last night’s Rays game out in California. One at-bat, popped out. Two innings at second base. Rays catcher Ryan Hanigan left that game with an injury, but no word on if he will need someone to fill in for him.
• MLB Trade Rumors is reporting that the Rays have signed an infielder, Jayson Nix and will send him to Durham. Nix was at spring training this year with the Rays.

Matchup

Up until just a few years ago, the Louisville Bats, the Triple A franchise of the Cincinnatti Reds, were the team to beat in the West Division. Recently, however, the Columbus Clippers and Indianapolis Indians seem to be the Bulls key competition. Nevertheless, the Bats just won 3 out of four off of Norfolk, so they may be getting back into it. We’ll have to see.

Nice Homecoming Win

Season: 23-17; Home Stand: 1-0

Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun 

Mike Montgomery’s two starts following his no-hitter were pretty awful. But last night he was definitely back on form. After a two-run homer in the 1st inning, he only allowed one more hit through a full 8 innings. He gave up only one walk, and then picked off that runner to end the 6th inning.

We also got to see Kevin Kiermaier do his thing in center field with two very nice running catches at the bottom of the 5th and top of the 6th. 

At bat, Jerry Sands and Wilson Betemit teamed up for the first two runs, Betemit singled and Sands homered. In the 6th an early error and a Kiermaier double gave Sands the opportunity to get his third RBI of the night. He’s up to 31 now and stands second in the International League.

The oddity of the night was that only two umpires were on the field. Typically at Triple A level we see three and sometimes four. I don’t recall just two in any games that I’ve seen. No close plays, fortunately. 

Outside the game —

• Kudos to the new layout of the video board! I’ve laid off commenting, thinking that they would figure a better configuration, and they did. Even for my old eyes it works. The previous display had type sizes for the very, very young. This one is very nice. And I also like the info that started showing up about mid-game on the right field video board. Yeah, the new ballpark is a bit like being inside a pinball machine, but I'm beginning to like this. It's coming along.
• As is the turf. 
• And Food Trucks tonight! We can’t be there, which I sincerely regret. Enjoy it folks!
• And were you curious about walk-up tunes? Check this.
• The mystery of Enny Romero’s scratch on Monday night was solved. He was held out so that he could get on a plane, fly to Seattle, and then fly back to Durham. Does that make sense? I guess it does to the Rays.

Shutout #4; 11 Innings

Season: 19-11; Home Stand: 4-3
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Not sure I have much to add to the wrap and Herald-Sun stories. I was only able to see the game from the 8th inning on, and that on TV. Great defense kept the Clippers in the game. Poor defense kept them at risk. They have a serious need to do some drills on bunt protection.

In the end, after having runners on 3B with no outs in four other innings, with infield and outfield drawn in, pinch hitting Jerry Sands was the hero with a line drive over the head of the Clipper right fielder. That shot was such a no doubter that the Clipper was running to the dugout before the ball even hit the ground.

Says a lot that in an 11-inning game the Bulls only used three pitchers. The Clippers went through six.

Outside the game —

• Broadcaster Kinas reported that Mikie Mahtook may be back in the game on Monday’s game at Syracuse.

End of Game Thrills and Injury Updates

Season: 17-9; Home Stand: 3-1

Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

A tip of my Durham Bulls hat to Harold Gutmann for his reporting in today’s Herald-Sun. It appears that the Bulls/Rays don’t feel any obligation to report injury information to the fans … unless queried by the media. Well, here’s what the Herald-Sun is reporting:

Mikie Mahtook, who got hit in the face with a fastball Monday night:

Outfielder Mikie Mahtook was headed to Florida Tuesday to see a specialist after he was hit by a pitch in the face on Monday. The doctor will determine if he could play with a protective helmet of if he will be out for up to four weeks. 

C.J. Riefenhauser, who was placed on the disabled list Monday:

… C.J. Riefenhauser went on the DL with an oblique sprain.

Kevin Kiermaier, who has not played since April 23 and whose absence is the reason for infielders playing outfield:

Outfielder Kevin Kiermaier (hamstring) is hoping to return Thursday after missing the past four games.

Again, thanks Harold. Nice to have someone looking out for the fan’s interests.

This was a really interesting game. If you weren’t able to make it there, too bad. Yes, the weather was ugly and the kids were loud, really loud, but the baseball was thrilling.

Infielders Robby Price, playing in the outfield for the first time in many years and Ray Olmedo, playing 2B had some key hits, Olmedo’s triple in the 2nd inning got the scoring started and his beautiful safety squeeze bunt in the 8th scored a critical game-winning run in the 8th. Price’s single in the 8th set it up.

And then there was Mike Fontenot in the unusual role of designated hitter to simply would not let Rail Rider pitching off the hook. He had two singles and an RBI double on the night.

What may have been the key to winning the game, however, were the two hitters who started off the 8th inning. Rail Rider Chase Whitney had been on the mound since the 4th inning.  Justin Christian took him to a full count before striking out and then Vince Belnome chipped his way through a 10+ pitch at bat before hitting a double to right field. That opened the door for the Bulls. Jerry Sands got a walk. Mike Fontenot doubled, scoring a run. Robby Price’s single brought in the go ahead run. Olmedo’s bunt brought in the insurance run the Bulls would need.

Kirby Yates (ERA 0.00, 8 saves) came on to close in a 6-4 game. I packed up my stuff and bragged about Yates to the fans around me. Never a good idea. The first batter tripled then came home on an infield ground out. The next batter struck out, but it took 9 pitches to close the deal. After two strikes on the next batter, Yates threw eight straight balls, putting runners on first and second. Time for a mound visit by Neil Allen. Ball, strike, ball, strike, strike, game over. But it was a bit more thrilling that I wished. Yates’ ERA ballooned up to 0.69.

The Rail Riders are a better team than their record shows. If their pitching comes around they could be contenders.

Today is the first day off for the Bulls this season. Take a break guys.

How Long? Oh, How Long Will That Baseball Game Go On?

Season: 17-9; Home Stand: 2-1
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Times-Tribune (Scranton)

On a game like this one someone who writes about baseball may be forgiven if he (or she) tries to find some deep significance in a long (almost five hours), miserable (damp, breezy, mid-50’s) night. Is there something to be discerned among the seven pitchers? Some quirky moment to help make the game come to life for the 5 or 10 folks who were still there at midnight? Not much. So here’s a few small highlights and then we need to get ready for this morning’s 11:00 game.

A very scary moment in the 10th when Mikie Mahtook took a pitch right in the face. By that time I was watching on MiLB-TV and got several re-runs, none of them clear. At at guess the pitch ricochetted off the inside of his helmet's brim into his cheekbone. Given the laudable new protocols in place regarding concussions, I’d guess we won’t see him on the field for a couple of days. However, he did look alert on his way off the field.

After our praise yesterday, Jerry Sands had a rough night with 4 Ks. But his leadoff single in the 12th was the one of the few opportunities the Bulls had to win the game. Wilson Betemit's game-tying home run in the 9th was a beauty.

We remain unimpressed with Nate Karns. Is he really ready for AAA? My guess is that he’s going to be this year’s hole in the rotation and we’ll have the chance to watch him develop (or not). His first couple of innings were OK, then he had an all too typical big inning in the 4th, 4 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks (none of the walks scored, to his credit. In addition, the RailRiders got three stolen bases off of him.

C.J. Riefenhauser was put on the disabled list yesterday and I heard no explanation. As is typical with the Rays, if they don’t have to say anything, they won’t. But if anyone did hear something, please speak up.

In his place, infielder Robby Price, in “extended Spring Training,” magically appeared on the bench. Then even more magically came into the game as a pitcher in the bottom of the 13th after the Rail Runners had picked up their winning runs off of Gelz. He faced one batter and will now be forever on the books as a Durham Bulls pitcher. He could very possibly be the first ballplayer ever to win two WDBB Moonlight Graham awards — one as a hitter (2012) and one as a pitcher.

Pretty Sunday

Season: 17-8; Home Stand:2-0
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, SWB RailRiders

An interesting game, but let’s lead off with the quirky stuff (with thanks to broadcaster Kinas for mentioning it).

Last Sunday, April 20th, reliever C.J. Riefenhauser was wearing a Tampa Bay Rays uniform. In the 12th inning of a game against the New York Yankees he was called in for just his second appearance as a major leaguer with a runner on first and no outs. A little bit later there are runners on first and third with two outs and he was instructed to walk the batter (Jacoby Ellsbury) in order to get to left-handed, weak hitting shortstop Dean Anna. Riefenhauser walked Anna on a disputed call at 3-2 and the run that came in turned to be the winning run. Rays manager Joe Maddon had lots to say about the call(s).

Fast forward to last night, top of the 8th inning, the Bulls have just gone ahead 5-4. Mr. Riefenhauser, now wearing a Durham Bulls uniform, is on the mound and the leadoff batter is … shortstop Dean Anna, now wearing a RailRiders uniform. Anna pops up to 3B Cole Figueroa, the next two batters line out to left field, the Bulls score an insurance run in the bottom of the inning, Kirby Yates does his thing, and C.J. Riefenhauser has his first win of the year. Gotta love Triple A baseball.

Now, what about the rest of the game?

Merrill Kelly gave up two home runs and Bulls pitchers hit a season high number of opposing batters (3), and yet Jerry Sands and company kept the runs coming across until Sands’ last hit, a single in the 8th created an insurmountable lead.

If that’s a clue regarding how much we are coming to admire Mr. Sands, it should be. He is having a career year with the Bulls. The fact that he is a local lad (Clayton) and out of Catawba College in Salisbury just adds to his stature. His swing has been a beauty to watch, but last night what was most impressive was his bat handling. Of course there was the home run in the 2nd inning. But what about the two opposite field RBIs: A sacrifice fly in the 5th and a single in the 8th? Now that was professional hitting.

Last night was the first time I’ve been able to watch Hak-Ju Lee on the field since his return. He made several nice plays, including participating in a twisting 1-6-3 double play. At bat he has a long way to go, but he did draw a couple of walks.

Yet another oddity of last night was seeing Ray Olmedo out in left field. It’s not that he doesn’t have any experience there. But it’s been a while, 2 games in 2012 and another few games in 2010 (this is a guy who has 1425 professional minor league games under his belt). Kevin Kiermaier is reportedly day-to-day with a hamstring concern and I’m guessing it was Mikie Mahtook’s time to have a day off.

Outside the game —

• Check out the new item at the Bulls history link.
• Mike Montgomery was named International League Pitcher of the Week

Kelly Resets the Bulls

Season: 11-4; Home Stand: 1-1
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Merrill Kelly was a big deal for the Durham Bulls last year. He’s back in town and keeping the Bulls on track this year. He’s only had four appearances, two in relief and two starts. But he nevertheless has the most innings (18), most wins (3), and a very nice 1.50 ERA.

Last night he got only slightly off track in the second inning when a walk, single, and a double put two runs across. Otherwise, he was untouched for the rest of the game. Those two hits were the only hits of the game for the Tides.

And then there’s the rehabbing major leaguer, Juan Carlos Oviedo, who got in his inning last night. Oviedo is on his way back from surgery and a stellar career as a closer. Mostly, we here at WDBB are not big fans of the Bulls' role as a place for rehabbing ball players to work on their ouchies. More often than not their constraints mean that the Bulls have to work around them and they don’t really help the team win ball games. Oviedo seems to be an exception. Apparently he’s on a “one-and-done” rule. He’s made six appearances in relief, each for one inning. His very first time out he got touched up for 3 hits and two runs and threw 14 pitches. Those were the last runs scored on him and he’s only given up 1 hit in the last 5 games. His WHIP is a stellar 0.67 and his “efficiency”/pitches per out is an equally stellar 4.28. He doesn’t count against the Bulls 25 man limit, so in his case, it’s a win-win for everyone.

Lastly, Kirby Yates had a two-inning save. He did let two guys get on base — a rarity. But his 5 saves and ERA of 0.00 are the best in the International League. You just know he’s going to get some time with the Rays this year.

Sometimes we’ve participated in that great debate regarding shortstops — do you want a strong arm or a quick release? Last night Ray Olmedo made his case for the quick release faction. My notes show three very smooth plays where the ball seemed to barely touch his glove before it was on its way to 1B. You don’t see a clothesline throw from Mr. Olmedo and he often throws sidearm. But it does not seem to matter. He is so often positioned just where he needs to be and the transfer is so smooth that he gets the out anyhow. Fun to watch the veteran at work.

Lastly, kudos to Jerry Sands for his 1st inning 2 RBI shot to right field and to Mike Fontenot for his very hard hit grounder that just ate up Norfolk’s 2B and brought the winning run home.

Outside the game —

• Chris Gimenez, a catcher we liked to watch last year, appears to have found a home with the Round Rock Express, the AAA, Pacific Coast League, team of the Texas Rangers. There was a moment when he might have come back into the Rays system. Guess not.
• The Bulls have four games in Norfolk then drive past Durham to go to Charlotte for four games. One of the IL schedule quirks for this year.

Seven in a Row!

Mikie Mahtook

Season: 10-3; Road: 5-0

Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

The Bulls had an amazing 16 hits last night for a stunning 32 total bases (3 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs). Leading the charge was Jerry Sands with two home runs, and Mikie Mahtook with a double, triple, and two singles. His 11 hits in a row were close to an IL record, but he K’d in the 8th to end the streak. It was, by the way, 45º when they reached that point and the stands were reportedly empty. But it was a stellar night for the hitters.

Meanwhile, Enny Romero, who had be held out from his regular start on Monday because the Rays thought they might need him, got the start and the win. Matt Adriese, who was to have started the game in his ordinary rotation instead came in the game in relief and went two innings. Jeff Beliveau closed it out. Very astute management of the pitching crew, I’d say.

Outside the game —

• The Bulls have a new pitcher. Doug Mathis has been signed after leaving the Rangers system a couple of days ago. The Bulls need the arm. So we can hope.
• The Bulls are the first team in the IL to reach 10 victories, but that’s partly due to the fact that they are one of only two teams that have played the full 13 games. Other than Charlotte, every other team has had at least one game postponed. Columbus has only managed to play a total of 10 games. Buffalo has played just 9 games. It’s ugly out up there. 

Matchup

Norfolk is off to an awful start this season. They really got bashed last night down at Gwinnett (15-0). Obvious problems with their pitching so far.

Triples

Season: 6-3; Trip: 1-0
Wrap, Box, Gwinnett Daily Post

A triple is an unusual hit in baseball. Three in a game is very unusual.

Last night’s first, by Mikie Mahtook, drove in Jerry Sands. The second, by catcher Roman Ali Solis, put him on 3B and he came home on a Ray Olmedo single. The third, by Justin Christian, drove in two runs and blew the game open. Christian came home on a sacrifice fly of Wilson Betemit.

Meanwhile Mike Montgomery continues to look very good in a 5-inning, 5K, 1ER performance. Jeff Beliveau came back from Tampa Bay and put in a solid two innings. C.J. Riefenhauser and Kirby Yates closed it out.

Outside the game —

• Kevin Kiermaier is in the starting lineup for todays game in Cincinatti.
• Merrill Kelly is tonight’s starting pitcher (He did that 14 times last year. He was, in fact, the 5th man in last year’s rotation.)
• As to why, well reports have Durham Bull Erik Bedard being called up even though Cesar Ramos is listed at Tampa Bay’s starter and no corresponding roster move has been announced.
• Charlotte's new park opened last night. Background story here.

Early Bird Gets the ...

DBAP, April 7
click on image for larger view

Season: 3-2; Home Stand: 3-2
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Concession stand owners probably weren't happy with yesterday’s 30 minute early start. But it turns out to have been a very smart move on the part of the Bulls. Only two games were played in the IL yesterday as the weather closed out almost everyone. But someone in Durham saw a 2-3 hour window and went for it. As you can see from the webcam shot not a whole lot of folks made it to the game, but the sunset sure was pretty, wasn’t it?  Note the folks sitting in our seats. Official count was 1,901, but that includes season ticket holders. Doesn't look like more than a couple hundred to me.

On the other hand, some folks (such as WDBB) just didn’t want to leave the house. Probably a few more compared the sitting out in the weather to watching the NCAA championship and went for that. Too bad. From listening it was an interesting game.

To begin with, the first batter up, left fielder Justin Christian, banged one off the Bull and discovered he had a whole lot of friends in the clubhouse. Christian (see Herald-Sun story), it seems, just gave up tobacco and red meat so he’ll be giving away the free steak.

That was followed by a Wilson Betemit single that drove in Kevin Kiermaier for enough runs to win the game. A home run by Jerry Sands and an Knights' error-plagued 8th inning added on to the score.

This was the first appearance of Erik Bedard in a Bulls uniform. His 10 years of major league service time is the most on the team and he showed it with a solid 60 pitch appearance.

But the guy I want to talk about today is Cole Figueroa. Is this his year? The 27 year-old infielder is off to an amazing start with a league-leading OBP (on base percentage) (Oops, original had OPS not OBP) of .722! His “slash line” is a startling .500/.722/.700; OPS 1.422. Sure it’s early in the season and he’s only had 18 plate appearances. But he is on track to do the Bulls at least as much good as he did last year and very likely much, much more.

Outside the game —

• Former Bull and WDBB favorite Leslie Anderson is off to a booming start for the Yomiuri Giants of the Japan Central League: 4 for 8,  1HBP, 2 singles, 1 double, OPS - 1.556! Good for him. 
• Another former Bull, Mike Moore, left last night’s Rays-Royals game early. He’s due for an MRI soon. If he does need some time off, one of the current Bulls would be on the short list to join the Rays. Mike Montgomery is the most mature of Bulls starters on the 40-man. But you have to think the Rays would do some roster magic to move Bedard up instead.
• This post from Rays Index might seem discouraging to current Bulls. But maybe not. 
• In the category of—how did I miss this? — we’ve learned that Justin Ruggiano is playing outfield for the Chicago Cubs. Not having a good start. Apparently hurt ankle near the end of spring training. He left some impressive numbers behind in his five year career with the Bulls.

Great Start

Season: 1-0; Home Stand: 1-0
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, N&O, Indy Week, WRAL

First game and the baseball was just fine (once the Bulls bullpen went to work).

Neither Chris D nor I were particularly accurate in our lineup predictions. Vince Belnome got called to St. Pete, sat on the bench for about half the game and is on his way back. So we both missed that one. Justin Christian started in left field. We had him as DH, so we both missed that one, too. But we both had Kevin Kiermaier in centerfield (but then we both had him early in the order. Montoyo had him batting #6). We both had Jerry Sands in RF, he started at 1B. I had Ray Olmedo on the list, but in the wrong place. He started at 3B. Chris D correctly picked Cole Figueroa to start at SS and he did a fine job there. We both liked Mike Fontenot at 2B and we were right. Mikie Mahtook started in RF, so we had the right guy, but in the wrong place. Wilson Betemit started in DH slot and did very well. We were both right about the catcher, Roman Ali Solis.

Not bad.

And I could find nothing to fault about the Bulls position players. A lot to like there. A good spread of youth and age. Some power (3 homers last night), some speed (3 stolen bases), decent hands (a double play on the only real opportunity), and a nice running catch by Christian to break the Braves’ back in the 8th.

Mr. Nate Karns was very shaky in his first Triple-A start. Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt. Merrill Kelly, Adam Liberatore, new guy Brad Boxberger, and Kirby Yates started the season much like they finished last season. That is, they looked great. 6⅓ innings of scoreless ball.

How about the park? Very impressive. The crew obviously has been working very, very, very hard to get things in place. More than one commented that they were getting by on only a few hours rest in the last week or so. Give me a couple of more days before detailed comments.

Check out the links above for more stories. Particularly cool is Vince Belnome taking batting practice wearing Google Glasses at the WRAL link.