The Durham Bulls in 2013 — Pitchers — Part 2

This continues our look at the Durham Bulls pitchers for 2013. They are discussed in the innings-pitched sequence shown in the table in Part 1. Charts in this post exclude a couple of pitchers who will be discussed when we get to them: Craig Albernaz, Matt Moore, Austin Hubbard, and Braulio Lara.

Durham Bulls Pitchers, 2013
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Steve Geltz (RHRP) came to the Bulls out of the Angels system and made his first appearance with the team on April 6 (and got one of his 5 wins). He had the most innings of any of the relief corps (67) and appeared in 41 games. He was arguably the best of the relievers (not counting the closer crew of Lueke and Yates, but even there Geltz had 3 saves). Middle relievers are notoriously hard to evaluate. But Geltz has two stats that jump out at you. His Walks and Hits Per Inning Pitched (WHIP) was an impressive 0.85, the best on the team among the regular pitchers, and his ERA was 2.82. The majority of games he appeared in the Bulls won (26 out of 41). The mystery will be, of course, if he can get a contract and an invitation to spring training next year. He should. Stats.

Kirby Yates (RHRP) had a great year, as we’ve discussed a few times. If he seemed a bit tired near the end, he did pick up four (!) saves in postseason play. Stunning WHIP, ERA, and FIP numbers over his 61⅔ innings and 51 appearances. Fortunately for the Bulls, if not for him, he was not on the 40-man, so he was with the Bulls all year. Next year? The Bulls can hope. The Rays may be coming up on a decision time for him. Stats.

Adam Liberatore (LHRP) was in a lot of games (43) for quite a few innings (60) mostly in short relief and occasionally in a left-on-left situation. Most years we have not seen the Bulls play matchup very often, but this year when there were sometimes four lefties available (Liberatore, Beliveau, De Los Santos, and Riefenhauser) we saw more matchup appearances. His numbers are sort of middle of the pack for the 2013 Bulls, which means they are pretty good. A particularly low FIP of 2.42 means that the coaches are likely to be talking about what else he’s got. He could make it to the 40-man or be part of a trade package in the off-season. Stats.

Josh Lueke (RHRP) did a terrific job for the Bulls all year, making him and Kirby Yates an almost unbeatable team at the end of a game. His 17 saves matched up with Yates’ 20. Lueke got called up 4 times during the year. He appeared in 19 games for the Rays with an ERA of 5.06 and a WHIP of 1.64, nothing approaching his numbers for the Bulls. On the other hand, it doesn’t look like the Rays were using him in save situations. A very deliberate presence on the mound, he could be irritating if you were ready to go home, but going home with a win was worth it. Not on first round post-season roster for Rays. Stats.

Chris Archer (RHSP) started the season with the Durham Bulls and pitched in 10 games, not particularly successfully. But he was very likely working on specific pitches and waiting for his opportunity with the Rays. When that came in late May, he was off and not looking back. As a Ray he’s accumulated a very respectable (great!) 9-7 record, ERA 3.22 over 23 starts. He is on the Rays’ post-season roster and will be starting one of the early games of the ALDS. We won’t see him back in Durham except as a visitor. Stats.

Cory Wade (RHRP) was a Bull back in 2011 and we were pleased to see the Bulls pick him up during the confusion of mid-May. We also thought he’d be working hard to get back on a major league team. He did just fine, including several crucial spot starts. His ERA of 2.17 over 30 games and 50 innings was superb, the third best among the regulars. When it apparently became clear to him in late August that he was not going to get added to the Rays’ 40-man, he was released. He finishied out the season with the New York Mets Triple-A team, the Las Vegas 51s. Maybe he will make it back as a Met next year. Stats.

Alex Torres (LHSP/RP) has been with the Bulls for parts of three seasons. We have been quite critical of the young man, especially as he struggled through last season with an ERA of 7.30 over 26 games and 69 innings. Rumor at the beginning of 2013 was that he had worked something out over the winter. That was surely the way it looked in his 9 games he started with the Bulls this spring. His ERA wasn’t great, but his WHIP was, for Torres, an exceptional 1.20. Other metrics looked just fine. The Rays, however, had an eye on him as a left-handed reliever. He went up in mid-May, came back for two games, and went back up after a late May game. With the Rays he’s appeared in 39 games, all in relief. He has had an extraordinary WHIP of 0.90 and an equally exceptional ERA of 1.71. He is on the post-season roster and unlikely to be back in a Bulls uniform any time soon. He is a great example of how fans can almost never really get a grip on a ballplayer’s potential. Folks in the Rays system did not give up on Torres and he has paid them back. Stats.

Jeff Beliveau (LHRP) joined the Bulls a couple of weeks into the season. From the stands we always perceived him as a left-handed reliever-in-waiting and he made numerous trips to the Rays during the season. But he did not get into a game until September, after the Bulls season was over. Used almost exclusively in short relief, at the end of the season we realized, much like Steve Geltz, that he was one the the guys who really made a difference this year. Some of his metrics are on the high end, but he was a pretty reliable guy. Unless he gets involved in some trading activity, we’d guess he’ll be back with Durham next year. Fine with us if he is. Stats.

Jim Paduch (RHSP/RP) didn’t have all that good a year with the Bulls in 2012, but who did? So we weren’t too worried about him coming back this year. He won his first game pitching in relief of Mike Montgomery, but things really did not look all that good in his next several games. His best game was at the end of May, but by then it was too late. He was offered at job in Montgomery, but decided to retire instead. Always seemed like a nice guy to me, and he had a terrific backstory of getting up to AAA by way of several seasons in independent ball. But it wasn’t working out. Good luck, Jim. Stats.

Will Inman had a decent enough 2012 with the Pawtucket Red Sox, so he seemed a reasonable choice to help fill out the Bulls bullpen this year. But he wasn’t very impressive from the start and, while he didn’t have any truly disastrous innings, over time the bad news seemed to accumulate. By June his ERA was up to 6.47. He left the game with an injury on June 3, pitched in three more after coming off the DL, and was released in late June. Stats.

Frank De Los Santos (LHRP) is a pitcher who seems to have been around a very long time. But he actually hasn’t. He is only 25 years old. He just can’t seem to stay healthy. This year was no exception. He did appear in 26 games, but for just 32 innings. There were a couple of moments in 2012 where he looked very, very good. But we did not see any of that in this year's games. He appeared in 11 games, went on the DL, came back in early July and appeared in 15 more games. He was traded to the Chicago White Sox at season’s end. If he’d ever been truly healthy my guess is that he could have been something special. Stats.

Juan Sandoval (RHRP) spent most of his year with the Montgomery Biscuits (46 games/58 innings). But he sure was handy when he visited the Bulls. The first time was a stretch from late May to late June (11 games/19 innings) when he posted some good numbers and only got in trouble once. Then he came back at the end of the season for a desperately needed spot start in a end-of-season double header. In the Bulls’ post-season he was perfect over 4⅓ innings. At 32, Sandoval is famously coming back from serious injury and a lot of time in the Mexican League. Can he stick at AAA? Maybe we will find out next year. Stats.

C.J. Riefenhauser (LHRP) came up from Montgomery at the beginning of July and yet only appeared in 17 games and just 21 innings. He did OK, but each year of his professional career he’s been pitching fewer and fewer innings (2011 - 138, 2012 - 114, 2013 - 73). That leads to concerns about his fundamental strength and durability. He had one of the better WHIP (1.06) of the Bulls and if his time in Montgomery is included it was superb (0.83). Maybe it’s just a matter of opportunity. We’ll have to see next year. Stats.

Brandon Gomes (RHRP) spent a couple of weeks with the Bulls in August as he was working his way back to the Rays. Probably more time than he really needed, but the Rays were manipulating their roster at the time and Gomes had options left. He was very helpful as he pitched 10⅓ innings over 9 games with a WHIP of just 0.77. Stats.

Enny Romero (LHSP) was in only one regular season game for the Bulls, but that was a brilliant 8-inning shutout of the Norfolk Tides the last game of the year. He went on to pitch 2 innings in relief in the playoffs and after the AAA season’s end got called up to the Rays for one game start against Baltimore where he got a win. He had an excellent year in Montgomery, so we can expect him to start 2014 as a top Rays prospect, possibly with the Bulls. He is now on the Rays’ 40-man, although he was not at the end of the Bulls’ season. Stats.

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Players Not in the Charts

Ramon Ramirez (RHRP) was hired by the Rays in mid-July in what has to be described as a speculative flyer. At the time, however, there were a lot of Rays pitchers with injury problems. Ramirez appeared in just 6 games for the Bulls and pitched only 6 innings before being released at the end of the month. Stats.

Matt Moore (LHSP) had a one-game, 4-inning rehab appearance on August 29. Didn’t do all that great, but the Bulls won the game against the Braves 7-6. Adam Liberatore got the win. Box.

Craig Albernaz is a catcher, not a pitcher, but he did have three appearances on the mound this year and pitched three scoreless innings, allowing only one hit and recording 2 strikeouts. Not one walk. Well done!

Braulio Lara (LHRP) came up from Montgomery at the very end of the season and pitched 3 innings in relief of Juan Sandoval, who had come up to pitch in that same game. He had a busy 45 game, 72 inning year in Montgomery, but did not have all that strong a set of numbers (ERA 4.38, WHIP 1.54). Stats.

Austin Hubbard (RHRP) came up from Single A Charlotte for just one game in mid-May when the Bulls were on the road in Rochester. The Red Wings scored 5 runs off of him in just ⅔ of an inning (they had earlier scored 5 runs in one inning off of Jim Paduch). He then went off to Montgomery where he had 31 more  not particularly good innings on the year. The relentless arithmetic of baseball stats left him with the highest ERA of any Bull this year (67.5) and the lowest number of innings pitched (⅔). No surprise if you think about it. Stats.

Eight Transactions in Four Days; More Coming?

The last few days has seen exceptional movement to/from the Bulls’ roster — and no doubt it will keep on keeping on. I thought it would be nice to try to summarize what’s happened since the arbitrary date of August 25th, just four days ago. Players marked with an asterisk are on the Tampa Bay 40-man roster. For the most part I’m not going to bother with links, unless I think there’s a particularly juicy bit of gossip connected to the move. Sorted by date of transaction.

• Outfielder *Brandon Guyer has recovered from his broken finger very nicely. He is officially on a rehab assignment. We don’t know how long that clock can tick, but until the alarm goes off he doesn’t count against any rosters. He played in his first game August 25. Has been in three games, 15 for 34 with 2 doubles, 1 triple, 3 BBs.
• Outfielder Jason Bourgeois accepted his assignment back to the Bulls. He is not on the Rays 40-man, and is on the Bulls’ active roster. His first game was August 27. 2 games, 3 for 9, 1 double, 2 BBs.
• RHP Cory Wade was released on Aug 27. Possibly had an opt-out contract and didn’t see opportunities with the Rays.
• Outfielder/DH *Luke Scott was assigned to the Bulls on a rehab assignment. He doesn’t count against the Bulls roster either. No idea how long he will be with the Bulls. He played in a game last night (Aug 28). 1 for 4. Odd choice of photo. Done know what team hat that could be. Trivia: Same home town as recently-honored Chipper Jones (DeLand, Florida).
• *RHP Jake Odorizzi called up to Rays. Pitched for them today (Aug 29). Got zero run support in a loss. Up in place of Rays’ Jeremy Hellickson about whom little is being said.
• *LHP Jeff Beliveau was called up and is reportedly on his way back having, again, not appeared in a game.That will be the third time he’s been called up this year. He has yet to throw a ball for the Rays.
• *LHP Matt Moore is on a rehab assignment and expected to pitch tonight for the Bulls.

That’s what we know for sure. All things added up, and counting Beliveau and Moore, the Bulls have 13 pitchers on hand and 14 position players. Three of those are in some form of rehab assignment, so by the books, the Bulls are one player short of full strength (and Jeff Beliveau isn’t really with the Bulls, yet).

Now, how about the rumors?

• One blogger thinks Tim Beckham is due to be called up within a few days.
• Adam Sobsey is tweeting that Montgomery Biscuits LH starting pitcher *Enny Romero could be coming to pitch for the Bulls soon (Norfolk? Friday?). 
• Montgomery Advertiser reporter Stacy Long thinks that another starter, Jake Thompson, could be joining Romero.
• Will Jake Odorizzi come back to the Bulls for the playoffs? Will Jeremy Hellickson visit for a game? 
• For even more weirdness, Jeff Beliveau is showing up on the Montgomery Biscuits roster (????).

Bourgeois Back; Wade Gone

If ever regular readers needed confirmation that fans never really know what’s going on inside a ball club, here’s an example. Not that it doesn’t make sense, just that we didn’t see it coming.

As reported earlier, Jason Bourgeois is back. That means that for the first time in a couple of months the Bulls have some depth in the outfield.

Jason Bourgeois

The surprise for WDBB is that Cory Wade has been released.

Cory Wade

Wade has done a good job for the Bulls this year, particularly some tough spot starts: 30 appearances, 49+ innings, 4-1, 2.17 ERA. Much better that most that we’ve seen released by the Rays in my experience. The wording of the announcement was that Wade was  “… granted his release." So maybe he’s got another job lined up. Things had gotten crowded in the bullpen ever since Brandon Gomes came off the DL and maybe the music stopped while Wade was still standing. Good luck!

Wade, of course, will remain the topic of my favorite Bulls trivia question:

What two ex-Durham Bulls faced off in the bottom of the 9th inning in the most celebrated game in recent baseball history?.

Answer.

Shhh! Bulls Bats Sleeping!

Season: 73-44; Remaining Home Games: 12
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

As regular readers will know, there’s a lot I don’t understand/know about baseball. So I’m hoping someone will explain to me why Matt Buschmann took the loss in last night’s game. He only gave up one run, the Bulls lost 4-2, so how come Cory Wade didn’t take the loss since the third Red Wings’ run came on his watch?

Something that has worried me a bit these last weeks almost came true last night. As obsessive watchers of the Durham Bulls roster will know, they’ve been playing with only 11 position players for quite a while now. That means that there’s only two players on the bench. In the 9th inning Leslie Anderson singled in the second run and things were looking up, hopes were up, and Evan Frey came in to run for him. Then Shelley Duncan reached first on a error, but was limping when he pulled up (more worries there). The bases were loaded and the last man on the bench, Mike Fontenot, came in. Bases loaded. Just what might have happened next?

As it turned out, Jesus Flores smacked one right to 3B, and the third baseman stepped on the bag for the last out. But what if … ?

And now they are down to ten position players with the Jason Bourgeois call up. If Duncan is hurt they are down to 9. There is surely going to be a roster move or two today ... or maybe just Craig Albernaz will come off the DL. Or I wonder if any of those pitchers have outfield gloves?

Another mystery: How does a guy with a 6-11 record and an ERA of 4.68 in AA ball darn near no-hit the best hitting team in the International League in his AAA debut? That’s what Rochester’s Pat Dean did last night. More credit to him. This is a surprisingly good team that’s going to be fun to watch over the next couple of days. Here’s hoping the Bulls figure the pitchers out.

The Bulls got a couple of freebies from Rochester’s bad base running last night. Two Red Wings were picked off and two were thrown out at the plate (Bourgeois and Kiermaier showing their arms and accuracy, Flores showing his toughness, Buschmann showing a nice pickoff move).

Outside the game —

• Playoff tickets are on sale. A playoff game at the DBAP is a wonderful experience for fans. Typically the crowds are fairly small and the games are essentially matchups between which system has the best players coming up from AA, the best managing/coaching crew, and have hung on to key players from September callups. The opening series will match the South Division against the West Division, with the South hosting. That implies games at the DBAP Sep 4 and 5 and possibly a final round Sep 10-11.
• A brief chat with Scott Strickland last night reminded me of this item in George Habel’s blog from several days ago and Scott’s photo below. As Habel noted, some folks show off their ultrasounds, Scott is showing off the two acres (!) of turf that’s growing and to be installed at the DBAP this winter. Cute kids, ain’t they? Funny name, though … Tifway 419 Bermuda?

Two Out of Three; Martin Gets (More) Famous

Wrap, Box

Wrap, Box, Columbus Dispatch

Season: 69-40
Wrap, Box, Columbus Dispatch (1), Columbus Dispatch (2)

Those three ugly games after the All-Star break are quickly disappearing in the rear-view mirror. The Bulls’ two remaining 40-man guys (starters, that is), didn’t do very well back then. Now it’s all better. Mike Montgomery picked up a win on the 24th and last night, after two poor starts, Jake Odorizzi was very, very good. Only two hits over 7 innings and 101 pitches, and the first of those hits didn’t come until the 7th inning.

Odorizzi’s opponent, the Clippers’ Danny Salazar, was essentially matching him through five innings. But Salazar is on his way back from Tommy John surgery and left after five innings. In the 6th, however, poor defense by the Clippers let two runs in. Two more errors in the 8th set up two more runs.

But that is what the Bulls do this year. They just keep banging out singles and doubles, run the bases, and chip away. Yes, Belnome, Anderson, Duncan, and the much-missed Brandon Guyer are strong guys, but they aren’t going to beat an opponent’s brains in. What happens is that when the opposition looks up at the scoreboard around the 7th or 8th inning, they discover that they’re losing by a couple of runs and one of the Bulls two closers, Kirby Yates (ERA: 1.29, 14 saves) or Josh Lueke (ERA: 0.57, 13 saves) is warming up. Could not be a good feeling for them.

Last night also saw Charlie Montoyo do something that is fairly common this year, but something of a change from previous years. Cory Wade came in to pitch in the 8th and after a K got into trouble with a double and run-scoring single. Montoyo went for the left-on-left matchup and brought in Adam Liberatore to pitch to Clippers' Ezequiel Carrera. Yes, that’s a common enough move, and it worked. Carrera struck out. It just isn’t particularly common for the pre-2013 Charley Montoyo. More than that, after Liberatore walked the next batter to put runners on 1B and 2B, Montoyo brought in closer Kirby Yates for the second night in a row. Yates got a K with finish the 8th, and three quick outs to finish out the game.

Now, this sort of pitcher usage is common in the majors, but for most of the years we’ve been watching the Bulls it seemed that the manager and pitching coach would just as often go for a “development” opportunity. That is, more likely to leave a guy in for another batter or two (or three). This year, it seems as if Montoyo (and Allen, of course) are much quicker to pull a pitcher, much more willing to seek one or two outs from a reliever instead of one or two innings. That’s partly because after the early season turmoil the Bulls have more depth (and much more quality) in their relievers. As it is, Bulls relievers might be getting a bit bored. In the last three games they’ve only put in 7 innings, and only 6 pitchers have been used (Yates twice).

Outside the game —

• Brandon Guyer’s broken finger is reported to be a season ending injury. I don’t think we’ve witnessed a season with more severe injuries to position players. He joins Hak-Ju Lee and Rich Thompson on the “7-day DL”, but not likely to return. And just when he got his batting average up to .300.
• J.D. Martin has been named IL pitcher of the week. This is the second time this year for him. Quite likely if he were on any other roster than the Rays he would be banging on the door for a callup. As it is, even Chris Archer who just pitched a complete game, 2-hit shutout of the Yankees in Yankee Stadium, could be odd man out when Alex Cobb comes off the DL. Don’t get me wrong. Could not be happier than to have J.D. among us. Hope he's having as much fun pitching as we are watching.

Matchup: Bulls vs. RailRiders; And the Ultimate Durham Bulls Trivia Question

A small story first:

The year before last there was a Triple-A baseball team that played their games in Moosic, Pennsylvania. Moosic is sort of near Scranton and Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania. The team went by the name of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees and they were the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. The field in Moosic had a lot of problems, so it was closed for a year. The team was renamed the Empire State Yankees and played baseball last year as essentially tenants of various parks, mostly in New York. Now the team is back in Moosic and they are to be known as the RailRiders. There is apparently some regional connection to trolley manufacturing. Although, who are Bulls fans to judge a name? Who among you is even old enough to have even seen a pouch of Bull Durham tobacco, much less rolled a cigarette using the contents?

So, there they are, the Scranton/Wilke-Barre RailRiders, henceforth to be shortened to SWB. What other baseball park has a view of a golf course and a ski run?

The RailRiders are in the middle of the pack of the North Division and the Bulls have an edge in the matchup.

May 23, 2013	W-L	RS	RA	Diff	BA	OPS	ERA
Durham	27-19	234	187	47	.273	.748	3.77
SWB	21-23	169	166	3	.244	.689	3.84

However, the really, really big deal coming up is the possibility of a repeat of the all-time Durham Bulls trivia question. Here’s the question:

What two ex-Durham Bulls faced off in the bottom of the 9th inning in the most celebrated game in recent baseball history?

Answer:

Game 162, 2011, Tampa Bay Rays vs. New York Yankees, 9th inning, two strikes, pinch hitter Dan Johnson (a 2011 Durham Bull) faced …

Cory Wade (also a 2011 Durham Bull) ...

We all know what happened.

So here we are in 2013 and guess who’s in the Bulls’ bullpen? Cory Wade.

Cory Wade

Guess who’s playing for the RailRiders? Dan Johnson.

Dan Johnson

What are the odds of them facing off sometime in the next four days? Excellent. Probably not tonight since Wade pitched last night. But it will happen. Watch this space.

Durham Bulls Pitching ... and Today's Matchup

Catcher Craig Albernaz made his first 2013 appearance as a pitcher last night. I like Mr. Albernaz and I think he’s actually a decent pitcher, but his presence on the mound speaks to more than just the perception that the game was a lost cause.

Let’s try to track the changes among the Bulls pitching staff. Josh Lueke was called up when when the Rays’ Brandon Gomes went on the DL. He’s had three appearances since getting there and is doing just fine. That same day Bulls reliever Frank De Los Santos went on the disabled list.

A few days later the Rays signed reliever Cory Wade to fill one of the holes in the bullpen. He has had two appearances and looks OK, even though he coughed up one of the many, many home runs the Bulls offered up to the Rochester Red Wings.

The Bulls were still one pitcher short.

Then the Rays called up the Bulls best starting pitcher, Alex Torres, and put him in to throw five pitches to get the last out of a lost game Thursday evening. He was called up because starting pitcher David Price went on the DL. (Does a ⅓ inning relief appearance in replacement for David Price make any sense to you? No? Me, either.)

The Rays, apparently offering a AAA “cup of coffee” to Single-A reliever, Austin Hubbard, sent him from the Charlotte Stone Crabs up to Rochester to lend the Bulls a hand. Not so helpful — an awful ⅔ of an inning last night — 5 runs on 4 hits and three walks for a stunning ERA of 67.50.

A consequence of this turmoil (I haven’t mentioned Chris Archer’s troubles) is that Jim Paduch keeps getting called on to start games or come in for a long relief session — and Paduch is by far the least effective member of this year’s Bulls staff.

And the Bulls are still short a pitcher (remember, no replacement for De Los Santos was ever named). Hence Craig Albernaz on the mound.

And even if Torres only stays with the Rays for a few days, he would be out of any rotation for at least a week.

The Rays giveth, Cory Wade and Austin Hubbard; the Rays taketh away, Josh Lueke and Alex Torres; some players get broken, Frank De Los Santos, Mike Montgomery.

As this picture of ERA trends shows, this ain’t looking good at all.

Matching Up 

The Orioles farm team, the Norfolk Tides have been on quite a ride over the last couple of weeks and are now 4 games ahead of the Bulls in the South Division. Statistically, they are similar teams. Their pitching seems to be improving. Only two games, then the Bulls are out of town so that the ACC can rip up the turf of the DBAP.

May 18, 2013	W-L	RS	RA	Diff	BA	OPS	ERA
Norfolk	29-13	232	195	37	.279	.801	3.95
Durham	25-17	223	176	47	.275	.751	3.84

UPDATE: Forgot to add the rumor that Jake Odorizzi will be the actual call up for Price. That means the Bulls will be 2 pitchers in the hole while they wait for Torres to come back.

All's Well That Ends Well

Game 37, May 12, DBAP	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Lehigh Valley IronPigs	1	0	0	1	0	4	0	0	0	6	7	0
Durham Bulls	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	4	8	2

Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

A pretty good game until what in some circumstances might be consider minor errors in the 6th inning allowed 4 runs to score. Too bad. Torres looked very good, and the hitters got into the Syracuse bullpen. But by then it was too late.

Game 38, May 13, DBAP	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Lehigh Valley IronPigs	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	4	1
Durham Bulls	0	1	3	1	0	1	2	0	x	8	12	2

Season: 23-15; Home Stand: 3-5
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

The home stand ended on a high note with a very, very nice bit of pitching by Alex Colome. He’s actually been pitching pretty well all along, but this time he got a lot of run support (and some superb defense). Colome’s 11 Ks were a career high for him and, I think, the most strikeouts for any Bulls pitcher this year. Meanwhile Jason Bourgeois was a homer short of the cycle and every other Bull got at least one hit. Brandon Guyer collected two hbp’s! Must’ve said something to the pitcher.

Reliever Cory Wade’s signing was announced today and he pitched the last inning. Looked OK. Last seen in a Bulls uniform in 2011, we’ll put something up about him later on.

Matchup Bulls @ Red Wings

The Twins Triple-A team is the Rochester Red Wings. They aren’t having a very good year, but they have former Bull and all around good guy Ray Olmedo on their roster, so it couldn’t be all that bad.

May 14, 2013	W-L	RS	RA	Diff	BA	OPS	ERA
Durham	23-15	187	146	41	.264	.725	3.58
Rochester	15-22	132	181	-49	.245	.689	4.60

The Durham Bulls in 2011 — The Pitchers: Part II

Matt Moore (22), LHP, 9 games, 9 starts, 52⅔ innings, 4-0, ERA-1.37, 5 pro seasons, 1st season in AAA.

• I was surprised to see how many innings Matt Moore was able to pitch since his first game with the Bulls on July 22nd. Added to his 18 games and 122 innings he had with the Montgomery Biscuits, his year was busy even before going up to finish it out with the Rays. Very, very impressive young pitcher. If we're lucky, we will be watching him a lot as a Bull in 2012.
• Stats

Lance Cormier (31), RHP, 20 games, 4 starts, 47⅓ innings, 4-3, ERA-5.51. 8 pro seasons, 7 in AAA, 1st w/Bulls, most of 2008-2010 in majors (ML stats).

• Released by the LA Dodgers, Cormier was signed by the Rays to a minor league contract in early June and spent the rest of the season with the Bulls. Nothing about his stats as a Bull is particularly impressive although he did take several for the team in spot starts as the season went along. At a guess, the Rays were buying insurance for their relief cadre and stashing him in Durham. Not likely to return next year.
• Stats

Jay Buente (27), RHP, 24 games, 4 starts, 42⅔ innings, 1-3, 1 save, ERA-5.70, 6 pro seasons, 3 in AAA, 1/Bulls.

• The Rays outsmarted themselves when they claimed Mr. Buente off waivers as the Marlins were trying to send him back to their AAA team in New Orleans this May. As a Bull he had a rough beginning losing three out of four starts. In relief from early July to the end of the season he did OK, but not good enough to avoid being released at the end of the season to make room on the 40-man of the Rays.
• Stats

Cory Wade (28), RHP, 22 games, all in relief, 36⅔ innings, 3-1, ERA-1.17, 8 pro seasons, 3 in AAA, 1 w/Bulls.

• Cory Wade did a brilliant job for the Bulls in the first two months of the season. As with others on the Bulls this year, he had an opt-out contract and he pitched his last game in early June. Unfortunately for the Rays, Mr. Wade is now pitching in relief for the New York Yankees where he has an impressive 6-1 record and 1.98 ERA (ML Stats).
• Stats

R.J. Swindle (28), LHP, 39 games, all in relief, 34⅔ innings, 2-0, 1 save, ERA-4.15, 8 pro seasons, 5 in AAA, 2 w/Bulls.

• Yet another Bull with an opt-out contract. In Swindle's case the Rays were obviously taking a look at him as a left-handed relief specialist. Eighteen of his appearances were for less than an inning, often for just one out. R.J. is famous for his unique slow curve and in 2010 he was great fun to watch. But the slow curve wasn't working this year and he really wasn't helping the Bulls. After his opt-out, no report of him catching on with another team.
• Stats

Jake McGee (25), LHP, 24 games, relief, 33⅓ innings, 4-2, 9 saves, ERA-2.70, 8 pro seasons, parts of 2 in AAA, all w/Bulls.

• Jake McGee was with the Bulls at the very end of 2010 and up until essentially the All-Star break in 2011. Then he was off to the Rays where he's doing OK, but not as well as I would have expected (ML Stats). His superb work in the bullpen was very helpful in keeping the Bulls in the South Division race for the first half of the season.
• Stats

Brandon Gomes (27), RHP, 20 games, relief, 25⅓ innings, 0-1, 7 saves, ERA-1.07, 5 pro seasons, 1 AAA w/Bulls.

• Bradon Gomes' Triple-A career was very short. He left the Bulls just before the 4th of July with his stellar 1.07 ERA and 7 saves. He appears to be doing just fine with the Rays (ML stats). We probably won't see him back. With McGee, he kept the Bulls in the race in May and June.
• Stats

Joe Bateman (31), RHP, 15 games, relief, 21 innings, 1-3, ERA-4.71, 9 pro seasons, 3 in AAA, 2 w/Bulls.

• We really like sidewinding Joe Bateman. We liked him in 2009. We liked him in 2010. And we could not have been happier to see the Rays sign him out of the Oakland system in late July. That said, he wasn't quite the same Joe we knew from the last two years. Used mainly in short relief, he wasn't as sharp, especially against righties. Charlie Montoyo apparently likes him. So do we. And he was better than a couple others the Bulls had this year. He may not make it back in 2012.
• Stats

Jeremy Hall (28), RHP, 5 games, 4 starts, 17 innings, 0-2, ERA-8.47, 5 pro seasons, 1 AAA, w/Bulls.

• Jeremy Hall started the year with the Montgomery Biscuits and came up to Durham at the end of April when Dirk Hayhurst went on the disabled list. He wasn't very successful and he decided to retire.
• Stats

Adam Russell (28), RHP, 15 games, relief, 17 innings, 0-1, 1 save, ERA-4.24, 8 seasons, 4 in AAA, 1 w/Bulls.

• Adam Russell started the season with the Rays (36 games) and did not come to the Bulls until the end of July. His numbers with the Bulls are skewed by a truly awful ⅔ of a inning when he let 4 runs score. With this small sample we really don't know much about him as a AAA ballplayer. I don't think I understand enough about his status to speculate on his future with the Bulls. He looks better that a couple of the guys we saw this year, though.
• Stats

Rehabbers

Jeff Neimann and J.P. Howell of the Tampa Bay Rays put in some time with the Bulls on rehab assignments this year. Neimann started 2 games and put in 9⅓ innings, allowed 4 earned runs, and put up a win and a loss. Nice to see Jeff again. J.P. Howell coming off a long layoff appeared in 4 games for 3⅔ innings. He didn't allow any earned runs.

Short Visits

Chris Archer (22), RHP, 2 games, 17 innings, 1-0, ERA-0.69. Chris put in an impressive two game (plus one in playoffs) appearance with the Bulls at the end of the season. We hope for him to be back for 2012. Stats.

Paul Phillips (27), RHP, 6 games, 11⅓ innings, 1-1, ERA-12.71. Paul came up from Montgomery to lend a hand when Richard De Los Santos went on the DL at the very beginning of the season. Spent the rest of the year in Montgomery. Stats.

Jim Paduch (28), RHP, 1 game, 7 innings, 1-0, ERA-3.86. Jim Paduch was signed out of the independent leagues to Montgomery in June, had a one-game call-up to the Bulls when they were on the road, then went back to Montgomery. Part of the July turmoil. Would like to see him pitch some day. Stats.

Richard De Los Santos (27), RHP, 2 games started, 6 innings, 0-1, ERA-6.00. De Los Santos was a stalwart of the 2010 Bulls. But this year he had four not very good innings in his first game, 2 innings in his second start, and was on the disabled list for the rest of the year. We like him, but have no idea when or if he will return. Stats.

Cesar Ramos (28), LHP, 4 games, relief, 4 innings, 2-0, ERA-4.50. Ramos came down from the Rays in late July (with Adam Russell), appeared in 4 games, and went back to St. Petersburg the first week of August. Was nice to have a lefty in the bullpen for a while. A left-handed specialist for the Rays (57 appearances, 41 innings pitched). Stats

Marquis Fleming (24), RHP, 2 games, relief, 2⅓ innings, 0-0, ERA-0.00. Marquis Fleming joined the Bulls from Montgomery for a couple of games while they were on the road in late July. Then he went back to Montgomery where he had a decent year (41 games, 80 innings). Stats.

Rob Delaney DFA'd

To make room on their 40-man roster for Matt Moore the Tampa Bay Rays have designated for assignment 26-year old Bulls reliever Rob Delaney.

I'm surprised. Of all the relievers on the Rays 40-man that we've seen with the Bulls this year, Delaney had by far the best numbers. To take just one, Fielding Independent Percentage, Delaney's was 2.77 (the best on the team). Others: Mike Ekstrom - 3.43 (he's been DFA'd already), Dane De La Rosa - 3.57 (called up), and Jay Buente - 3.67. So it wasn't numbers, it must have been something else.

Of course, this could just as easily be a bit of three-card Monte and at the end of the season Rob will still be in the Rays system. As a Bulls fan, however, if it had come down to a choice between Jay Buente (who, to his credit, looked pretty good by the end of the season) and Rob Delaney, it should have been Delaney who was kept and Buente DFA'd.

The Rays are famously astute at picking and keeping overlooked players, especially pitchers. But they blew it with Cory Wade this year (1.23 ERA in 21 appearances with the Bulls, 1.93 ERA in 32 appearances with the Yankees). Have they done it again with Delaney?

Bootcheck Leaves Bulls

Interesting games last night. Not sure I want to write about them. According to the radio broadcast the second game of the double header was Chris Bootcheck’s last game. He had exercised the opt-out clause in his contract with the Rays.

Here’s a question for Rays’ management: What’s the point of all these opt out contracts?

With the departure of Chris Bootcheck, the Bulls have lost their third talented ballplayer in as many weeks. Bootcheck was preceded out the door by Cory Wade, now pitching for the New York Yankees and Chris Carter, now hitting .346 for the team that’s tied with the Bulls for first place in the South Division, the Gwinnett Braves. All three are now reported to have originally signed minor league contracts with clauses that said that if they weren’t called up they could move on. How many other Bulls have out clauses in their contracts? We don’t know.

As a general rule, the comments about the Tampa Bay Rays here at WDBB are made with with what I hope is seen as good humor. But it sure is tough to watch good ballplayers leave the Bulls, players whom we fans never knew weren’t going to spend the season with the team. Bulls fans have been blindsided again and again and again.

A week or so ago a fellow fan remarked to me that the Bulls didn’t seem to be playing like a team this year. Something to that?

Sitting up in the stands at the DBAP a few of us keep fairly close watch on this team. We keep track of things such as noticing who’s on the 40-man roster and who might be going up to or coming down from the Rays. We watch who's improving, having trouble, etc. Bootcheck, for example, was doing a fine job moving from relief to starting and really helping out the team. It really hurts to turn on the radio and discover that one of our best pitchers is pitching his last game in a Durham Bulls uniform.

Did the Rays try to keep him in Durham? Who knows? Reporters who could have been reporting this story haven’t. So we have been in the dark all season (which is now more than half over, I might add). Makes some of us (OK, maybe just me) feel like fools. Are we going to lose any more? Is anybody going to say?

In the abstract, for 2011 Tampa Bay Rays last spring, this may have made sense. The Rays were shedding payroll like there was no tomorrow and the Rays were obviously sweeping up any veteran ballplayer with a remote chance of being able to lend a hand to the Rays, especially if they could be had cheaply. The Rays obviously were also, we now know, more than willing to add opt out clauses to those minor league contracts.

Here’s another question for Rays management: Was any thought given to the impact this might have on their team in Durham? No? I didn’t think so.

Last question: What’s the point of this secrecy? It sounds like everyone under the stands (in their offices and locker rooms) and on the field at the DBAP knew about these contracts. Just not anyone in the stands. For that matter, if last night was Bootcheck’s last stand you’d think the print reporters would have mentioned it. They haven’t. Nor have any roster moves been announced at the usual places.

Well, maybe we have a reason for my fellow fan’s observation that the Bulls don't seem to be playing like a team this year. They aren’t.

Bulls Drop Out of First

Game 66, June 17, Coolray Field, Lawrenceville, GA
Gwinnett Braves (Atlanta) 10; Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay) 2
Wrap, Box, Gwinnett Daily Post

In a before-the-game interview Charlie Montoyo talked a lot about the importance of starting pitching.

The Bulls were five pitches into the game when his point was made. It only took those five pitches for Jay Buente to issue his first walk of the night. That runner got to second on a balk and to third on a ground out. Singles, a double and homer, two errors at third (one re-judged a hit later on), and the Bulls were down 6-0 in the 1st inning.

I’ve commented on Mr. Buente before. It looks as if a lot of time off is not helping. He last pitched on June 9. Maybe go on a shorter rotation (for another team)?

If Jay Buente wasn’t any help, what about returning third baseman, Felipe Lopez? Nope, he mishandled two grounders in that same 1st inning and was 0-2 at bat.

Is there any light? Well, sort of, if not for Bulls fans. The starting Braves pitcher, rehabbing Atlanta Brave Brandon Beachy had this to say:

“It was a lot fun.”

Elsewhere it looks like that in addition to Mr. Buente, the vaunted Rays management may be about to get bitten back back more directly. Remember Cory Wade who was a Bull a couple of days ago? I was, no surprise, wrong, or at least didn't keep track. He’s not pitching for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He just got his first win in his second appearance as a full-fledged New York Yankee.

Is there any good news? Well, yes there is. As Chris D pointed out a couple of minutes ago, Matt Moore, a rising young Rays prospect over with the Montgomery Biscuits (AA), pitched a complete game no-hitter yesterday. Stacy Long has the story here, here, and here. We’ll probably see Mr. Moore before the end of the season. Hope so.

In the meantime, the Bulls are out of first place in the South Division for the first time since April 15.

Chris Carter Released

I guess we should have seen this coming. When Cory Wade was released, reportedly in advance of exercising his opt-out, we could have gone through the roster and done some guessing. Very likely the official press knew who had opt-out contracts, but, to maintain their access to the players, declined to mention it. And in any case Chris Carter’s departure could simply be a matter of making room for Felipe Lopez. But that isn’t what the note from the Bulls reads like. This reads like Carter exercised an opt-out clause.

All I have seen so far is this email from the Bulls:

6/16: Chris Carter granted his release, Felipe Lopez outrighted to Durham

As the table from a couple of days ago shows, Mr. Carter had an above-average bat. Furthermore, his 46 RBI were a substantial fraction of all the runs scored by the Bulls this year (309, 15%). He was second in RBIs in the International League and had 8 more than his nearest teammate, Russ Canzler. He also led the Bulls in home runs with 10.

Have to say that I’m worried for several reasons:

• As with Cory Wade, we could see him in the uniform of a competitor in a couple of days.
• Unless Dan Johnson gets his groove back, the Bulls don’t have a single hitter the opposition needs to be afraid of.
• Doesn’t seem a fair trade for Lopez.

That said, it certainly is not Chris Carter’s fault that he and the Rays could not come to terms. We wish him well and hope that he catches on with either a major league team or with an organization whose AAA team is in the Pacific Coast League. Thanks for the runs and a couple of thrills. Good luck!

Wade To Scranton/Wilkes-Barre

Well, this is not good news. Cory Wade has been signed by the Yankees and assigned to Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. [Thanks for the heads up, Cork].

That means we could see him later this month. Make that will see him later this month.

Whimpering About the Pitching

Game 63, June 12, DBAP
Norfolk Tides 11, Durham Bulls 5
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

The Bulls were creeping back into the game until the 9th inning, which started out with the Bulls behind by only one run, 5 to 6. But Mike Ekstrom blew up and the Tides scored five more runs. Tides Manager Gary Allenson’s egregious delay of the game [DRR: Thanks for the link] as he crawled through the fence searching for baseballs in center field just added to the pain.

Before I get to my rant about Bulls starting pitching, lets make a few guesses about what’s happening on the field. Last night saw Russ Canzler in left field for the second time in three days. Although it’s likely that this is just Charlie Montoyo finally getting back to his routine of moving players around a lot (not seen as much this year as in previous times), it’s possible that he’s anticipating the return of Felipe Lopez to the roster. Hate to admit it, but Russ does not seem any to be getting any better at third and yet he still has the hot bat. Another piece to the puzzle is that Desmond Jennings could be called up just about any day and with that could come a hole in the outfield.

Also need to mention that after botching a play on Saturday, Brandon Guyer saved a run with a nifty catch and quick release of a fly ball in the 1st inning.

Cory Wade is gone from the bullpen. Turns out he had an “opt-out” contract. That is, the contract he signed before spring training had a clause that said something along the lines of, “If X doesn’t happen by Y date, then I don’t have to play for you any more.” Too bad. In 21 appearances he had some of the best stats of any pitcher on the team (best ERA - 1.23, best WHIP - 1.09, third best FIP - 2.52). His place has been taken by Lance Cormier.

Now (sigh), let us discuss the state of Bulls starting pitching. First a bit of deep historical analysis. For that let’s go back all of 20 games, May 23. The pitcher that day (a loss to Columbus) was Alex Cobb. He’s with the Rays at the moment.

In those 20 games the Bulls won 9 and lost 11. The starting pitchers went six innings or more only seven times and were credited with a grand total of five wins (out of the nine games won). Starters were tagged for seven of the nine losses. The chart below, which is the game-by-game cumulative ERAs, shows the trend over those games. The team start point, 3.94, wasn't all that great. But then it drifts upward to 4.03 by last night, dragged there by the starting pitchers. They go from 3.87 to 4.42. It isn’t pretty.

Cobb will come back some day, but he’s joining a really shaky bunch.

Is there any help down in Montgomery? Probably not. The Biscuits have two pitchers with ERAs south of 4.00 (Matt Moore and Shane Dyer), but the Rays are famously cautious regarding pitcher development. Are the Bulls going to have to suck it up, much like having to wear those ugly blue jerseys? Looks that way. About their only option is to go trolling around the independent leagues.

Is it time for new pitching coach Neil Allen to start earning his pay? You bet.

Six Innings, One Hit, Shutout

Game 61, June 10, Coca-Cola Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania
Durham Bulls 6, Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs 0
Season: 33-28; Trip: 2-2
Wrap, Box, The Morning Call

What a difference good pitching makes. Dirk Hayhurst’s six inning, one hit performance last night was among the best of any Bulls pitcher this year. Only a similar six inning, one hit game by Brian Baker back on April 8th is slightly better (one more K, one less BB). Sure would be great to add another reliable starter to the list.

How weird is that? Hayhurst and Baker, the premier Durham Bulls starting pitchers!

Obviously the whole pitching crew did a great job. Only four singles and four walks (plus a miscue by Hayhurst) allowed anyone on base at all. I’m a bit surprised that Cory Wade was touched for three singles in his stint, but no harm done.

What an odd series: 9-1, 0-6, 5-6, 6-0. Gwinnett stayed up with Durham winning a 14 inning marathon in Toledo, but they are on an unsustainable (I hope) seven-game win streak.

Russ Canzler started in left field last night with J.J. Furmaniak at third. That might be a good place for him. Did not help his hitting, though. He was 0-4 with a walk. The rest of the team was looking good. Most notable were Chris Carter, who got things going with a two-run homer in the 1st and a RBI in the 4th, and Desmond Jennings, who went 3 for 5 with two RBIs.

Rehabbing Elliot Johnson started at shortstop, got a couple of hits, and scored a run. He is apparently on his way back to Baltimore. I think someone has to be turned loose from the Rays’ active roster. But could be wrong. Who? Don’t know. I’m a bit surprised we’re not seeing any speculation among the Rays’ bloggers.

Also love pointing out that the Bulls pulled off four double plays last night, three of them started by Leslie Anderson (actually, Anderson got one of them all by himself by grabbing a line drive and doubling the baserunner on first). We’ve seen him make a couple of good plays at home. Has he emerged as a quality first baseman? Maybe so. He’s certainly a better all-around player than when he first came up from Montgomery last year.

Dan Johnson had a good trip. He may be getting back into his groove. He was 6 for 15 with 5 doubles and 4 BBs. His BA is up to .250 now (and his wOBA is up to .361).

Norfolk@DBAP@7pm. Alex Torres to start. Wonder which Torres will be pitching? The strikeout king or the base on balls specialist?

Box Score Deception

Game 52, June 1, DBAP
Durham Bulls 5, Columbus Clippers 4
Season: 30-22; Last 10: 6-4; Home Stand: 3-0
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Sometimes the box score just doesn’t tell the story. For example, last night’s. You see there that Chris Bootcheck went 6 1/3 with a no-decision and Cory Wade went 2/3 for the win. By the rules of the game, that is an accurate report. What’s missing is that reliever turned starter Bootcheck had his best game yet and probably should not have even started the 7th inning. With the score 4-1, Bootcheck hit the first batter who then moved to second base on a sacrifice. The next batter got a contentious walk, leaving runners on first and second, one out.

The Bulls, who have been pulling off double plays like clockwork this home stand, didn’t get a chance to do that this time. Cory Wade came in and gave up a game-tying three-run homer. So there’s a no-decision for Bootcheck and a blown save for Wade. However, Wade was still the pitcher of record when Russ Canzler’s single drove in Desmond Jennings in the Bulls half of the 7th. So Wade gets credit for the win.

Columbus has apparently had someone developing “spray charts” for the Bulls’ hitters. We are seeing some very odd shifts for some, but not all, of our left-handed batters. Sometimes just the infield shifting and not the outfield, sometimes just the outfield, sometimes both. The shift against Dan Johnson, however, gave him a freebie when a simple pop-up over third base, typically easily handled by either the shortstop or the left fielder, fell in for a hit (the shortstop was playing behind second base).

Please, please, please let’s not disturb whatever is keeping Ray Olmedo locked in. He was 3 for 3 last night, and sacrificed the eventual game winner to second, pushing his batting average to .301. Yes, he bobbled a grounder in the 6th, but he redeemed himself the very next play.

With Chris Carter out with a hangnail, we’re seeing some interesting guys in the outfield. On Monday and Tuesday it was J.J. Furmaniak in right field. Last night it was Omar Luna in left field. Both of them have done just fine.

Because of that double header in Toledo on Sunday, the Bulls don’t have a starting pitcher ready to go for tonight. Instead we’ll see relievers out there for short stretches. Still, we’ve beaten the best team in the International League for three games so far, let’s go for four.

Today’s Rants:

• The Bulls are still wearing those ugly, illegible jerseys.
• The field needs a rest! ACC tournament really messed things up out there. Hope it was worth it to the DBAP’s bottom line.

Today's Chart

This is the last 15 games with the wOBA and OwOBA plotted for each game. Remember that team wOBA is a pretty good measure of hitting and Opponent's wOBA is a decent measure of our pitching and defense. Bigger is better for wOBA (green), small is beautiful for OwOBA. Then a couple of simple trend lines for those 15 games. That dropping OwOBA trend is saying that our pitching and defense has really improved over the the period while our hitting/getting on base has stayed at a very respectable level. This is a very positive looking situation. Hope they can keep it up.

Click on chart for larger image

Hitters Hit; Pitchers Shuffle

Game 24: Durham Bulls 12; Indianapolis Indians 3
Season: 13-11; Streak: 2-0
Wrap, Box, Indianapolis Star

Yet another problem caused by this season’s screwy schedule is that fans have had no chance to get to know the players. Take, for example, one of last night’s heroes, Chris Carter. Although he has played 19 games for the Bulls with 87 plate appearances, he’s only had 8 games at the DBAP, mostly as the designated hitter (two starts in left field). Consequently, as a fan, we only have the box scores and stats to go on. Those are pretty good and last night’s 3 for 6, 4 RBI performance was exceptional. We just haven’t had a chance to see him.

The same problem holds for several other players such as Russ Canzler, Brandon Guyer, and Robinson Chirinos.

In a couple of months, things will be different. But for now, obviously, the only person commenting on the Bulls who has actually seen the Bulls is broadcaster Neil Solondz. So, it’s on you Neil. Remember, you’re the only guy who has really been watching these guys closely every day.

With those caveats, last night saw the Bulls have their best day at the plate this year. Every player (except for Robinson Chirinos) got a hit. Justin Ruggiano got 4 hits, but Carter’s performance moved him up into a tie for the RBI lead. They have 16 each. J.J. Furmaniak is inching up towards the Mendoza line, now at .192. Leslie Anderson got 3 RBI. A terrific day for the Bulls.

Pitcher Edgar Gonzalez only went 5 innings, but by that time the Bulls were ahead 7-0, so things were looking OK. The unfortunate Paul Phillips came on in the 6th and had a 1-2-3 inning. The 7th was different. He gave up a hit and a homer, then hit a batter and gave up a single. He left the game with two outs and two men on. R.J. Swindle let one of those runners score in his 1/3 of an inning.

That gave Cory Wade yet another chance to show his stuff. He gave up a leadoff single in the 8th, then struck out the side. In the 9th it was K, flyout, K. Very nice job.

Speaking of pitchers:

• Alex Cobb will make his major league debut pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays today against the LA Angels. Good luck, Alex!
• Jake McGee, the big left-hander we saw a bit of at the end of last season is coming to the Bulls (yeah!). I was impressed with McGee last year, and I was worried that the Rays might have been moving him along a bit too quick. He should be a big help to the Bulls.
• The same article says that Brandon Gomes might be going to the Rays. He’s done a terrific job for the Bulls. Is he ready for the Rays? Guess we will be finding out if the article is accurate. Note that all of the moves involving relievers circle around the question of when J.P. Howell will be getting back into the Rays bullpen.