Rainout; Rosterizing

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

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

More

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

Thrilling 9th

Season: 18-11; Trip: 1-0
Wrap, Box, Syracuse.com

Last night I was off having fun playing guitar in a group of friends, but my iPhone First Pitch app kept up with these annoying notifications telling me that the Bulls were losing, badly. The last time I looked the score was something like 6-1, so I stopped looking.

Then I got to my car, turned the radio on and discovered the Bulls were back in the chase after scoring a run in the 6th and three more in the 7th. I was home and had the computer fired up by the top of the 9th. There I saw Hak-Ju Lee single and steal a base, Taylor Motter get a walk, Alexi Casilla sacrifice them over to 2nd and 3rd, Eugenio Velez bring Lee home on a sac fly, and Corey Brown double in the go ahead run.

Then Andy Oliver got his first save opportunity and squeezed the thrills out it. After the first batter popped up, a single and a walk put men on 1B and 2B. Then Lee, playing shortstop, tried for a force out at 3B on a ground ball. Didn’t work. Bases loaded. One out. The heart-stopper was a line drive to third baseman Leonardo Reginatto. He grabbed the line drive, then tagged the base for an unassisted double play. Game over.

And so the Bulls have their fifth win in a row and added to their lead in the IL South. The relief corps has now gone eight games without letting a run across. That means that Matt Buschmann was charged with all 6 of last night’s runs, which didn’t do his ERA any good. And the 3 home runs by Syracuse ruined his FIP.

Rosterizing —

• After a grand total of 2 innings pitched in one game, Matt Andriese is headed for St. Petersburg, probably for a start opportunity. 
• Andrew Bellatti, who has had 5 appearances and doing very well, was added to the 40-man and called up. Congrats!
• Jake Elmore, last seen in a Bulls uniform on April 21, is on his way back. His playing time with the Rays was limited. Only 14 plate appearances in 7 games. But solid numbers: .308/.357/.973. Not sure why he’s coming back unless Nick Franklin has finished his rehab.

How about them Rays?

We don’t have a lot of Rays fans around here, but it’s fun to keep an eye on them and run at least a couple of the same charts we do for the Bulls. Here’s the games above/below .500 chart for the American League East. The Rays are doing pretty well and are staying in touch with the Yankees in spite of all the pitching injuries, flu, etc.

click on chart for larger image

Their runs scored minus runs allowed chart is less encouraging.

It Was a Dark and Windy Night, But ...

Season: 10-9; Trip: 1-0
Wrap, Box, Allentown Morning Call, Noise Nation

It was a miserable night in Allentown, 55° and windy, and from the first it looked as if the IronPigs would have the edge. Do you get used to that windy, cold place? Maybe not. Especially in the 4th when the wind helped former Bull Russ Canzler to a double and he eventually came around to score.

Speaking of Russ Canzler, since he broke into AAA with a great year with the Bulls in 2012 he has become possibly the leading expert on International League ballparks and locker rooms. He’s had playing time with the Columbus Clippers (Cleveland), the Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh), the Norfolk Tides (Baltimore), the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (New York), and he is now in his second season with Philadelphia’s Lehigh Valley IronPigs. He had a pretty good spring. We liked him as a Bull. Always a threat since those days.

It was the 6th inning that did in the IronPigs. Wind starting helping rather than hindering when Mikie Mahtook tripled and then came home on a Joey Brown Butler [Sorry, Joey] double. Then an error (the ‘Pigs had 4 on the night, one by each infielder) put runners on first and third. A Luke Maile sacrifice fly brought in another run. A Eugenio Velez single put runners on first and second. But a spectacular catch by ‘Pigs center fielder Bugusevic kept things on track. However, a double brought home both runners and the Bulls had four runs in. Then the wheels really came off. The ‘Pigs changed pitchers and reliever Adam Loewen walked the next four batters, pushing in two more runs. Pitching change and a popup ended the inning.

That was enough. An ugly win, but still a win.

Rosterfication —

• I’m losing track of all the roster moves, but for the record, Alan Dykstra is now with the team.
• Reliever José Dominguez is back from Tampa Bay.
• Reliever Jhan Marinez has been called up from from Montgomery to pitch for the Bulls (he got in an inning Sunday night).
• Pitcher Jim Patterson has been sent to “extended Spring Training”, which is sort of like being assigned to Hudson Valley. Wink, wink, he’s probably still around, just can’t come into a game.
• Have I mentioned that Everett Teaford got called up the other day? He pitched in the Rays loss at Yankee Stadium last night. 

Education Day Win

Season: 6-7; Home Stand: 2-0
Wrap, Box

If you have never been to an “Education Day” at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, then you have missed an experience. Just imagine the park seething with thousands of youngsters (mostly middle schoolers, I think). No chance of getting to a concession stand, so bring your own snacks. Most of the children seem to be moving in colorful packs through the concourse. And they can be LOUD. But it’s fun. However, as an indication of their interest in baseball, they were collecting autographs from the peanut guy, who was able to get his call and response thing going late in the game. The next, and only other, Education Day is May 7th, against Buffalo. Check it out.

The baseball was fun as well. Alex Colome, who spent most of the last two years with the Durham Bulls, is with the team on a rehab assignment. Not sure for how long. He’s recovering from a bout of pneumonia and is on a limited pitch count. Today it was reportedly 75 pitches and he left the game at 77 pitches.

How did he do? Just OK. Plenty of velocity and a slowish curve ball that I don’t recall seeing last year. Odd collection of hits (4), walks (3), and strikeouts (6) over his 3⅓ innings. Did not hear how much longer he will be with the Bulls.

Meanwhile Joey Butler and new guy J.P. Arencibia were having fun at bat. Butler tripled and scored two runs. Arencibia had a timely sacrifice fly and a late inning RBI single. A home run from leadoff man Eugenio Velez was a pretty thing to watch.

Speaking of watching, Mikie Mahtook firmly established his credentials as a center fielder. Chasing down a fly ball in the 5th he crashed into the wall, and broke it, knocking one of the padded panels out. Game was delayed for several minutes while the ground crew went out to fix the panel. Then in the 7th he timed a catch and throw perfectly, making it an easy out on the runner trying to move from second to third.

Outside the game —

• For all the stats geeks out there: Jeremy Dowdy, the Charlotte Knights catcher, was playing in his first game at the Triple A level. In four plate appearances he had two singles and two walks. What’s his OPS? 

Split, On to Charlotte

Wrap, Box, Gwinnett Daily Post

Season: 2-2
Wrap, Box, Gwinnett Daily Post

We certainly can’t make any pronouncements on a team we have yet to see, but we can hope about a few things. One would be for fewer errors as the season goes along. So far they have six, three by Hak-Ju Lee, which may not mean anything much at all, but is something to worry about. Those errors have led to a bunch of unearned runs (5 if I’m counting right). So that’s worrisome.

As they headed towards Charlotte last night a couple of hitters should be optimistic about the season. Among them Vince Belnome (4 hits, 5 BB, OPS - .902), infielder Eugenio Velez (4 hits, 3 BB, OPS - 1.045), and outfielder Joey Butler (4 hits, 4 BB, OPS - 1.271). At the other extreme catchers Curt Casali and Luke Maile, and shortstop Hak-Ju Lee are off to slow starts.

Today we will see/hear about the 5th starter, and we’ll be able to gain some sense of at least the starting rotation. However, we also have to expect more than a bit of roster turmoil as the Rays get healthier (assuming that’s what happens).

Two for two is a decent start.