Let’s Move On

Game 63: Durham Bulls (Rays) 4, Gwinnett Braves (Braves) 11
Season: 38-25
Last 10: 8-2
Wrap, Box

My plan today was to take a cue from a baseball wife about how to deal with bad outings, but then I remembered that I’m not married to these guys...so maybe I’ll just rant, grumble, and mumble a bit. Then get ready for today’s game.

The game was a mess. Richard De Los Santos got lit up, big time. The Braves got 11 hits (8 singles, 3 doubles) off of Richard and he gave up a couple of walks. And yet he had his moments such as the five strikeouts in a row at the end of the 3rd to the beginning of the 5th. Unfortunately, the 5 K’s were followed by three doubles. He also had some bad luck, an error in the 3rd (the first in 13 games!) was followed by a couple of really crippled infield hits, but then they got three pretty solid singles to follow as the Braves batted around.

So let’s talk about a couple of other things.

Elliot Johnson pulled up, crouched on the ground beyond first base in considerable pain and left the game in the 2nd. Radio speculated it was hip flexor, Herald-Sun said quadriceps, and Indy Week said hamstring. Take your choice. Here’s hoping whatever it was that it heals quickly.

With Ruggiano off to the Rays, Elliot Johnson and Joe Dillon hurt, it could be an interesting couple of days for the Bulls, but maybe Jason Bartlett (see below) will help out.

Speaking of Justin Ruggiano, here’s a particularly ugly way his Rays time could work out. Jason Bartlett is the Rays’ shortstop and currently on disabled list. He’s due to come off soon, possibly this coming Tuesday. Reports say that he may be sent to the Bulls to get some playing time before returning to the Rays. The Bulls are playing the Gwinnett Braves in Laurenceville, GA, Monday and Tuesday. The Rays are playing the Atlanta Braves in a three-game set that starts Tuesday. So ... Bartlett flies up to Atlanta and takes taxi to Laurenceville. He plays with the Bulls Monday and Tuesday and gets a taxi to Turner Field. He strolls into the clubhouse and shouts, “Hey, Ruggiano, want me to hold the taxi?” Justin takes taxi to Laurenceville where the Bulls are loading the bus heading back to Durham. Logic would say that Ruggiano would stay with Rays since he’s an outfielder and Bartlett’s an infielder. But somebody with the Rays has got to be pushed off the team and the only other candidates are Dioner Navarro and John Jaso. There’s probably other options I haven’t thought of. I hope so.

In the rant category, we have to mention that a home field advantage is not a home field advantage if you don’t know how to play the home field. I am speaking, of course, of Matt Joyce and the Blue Monster. A whole bunch of guys are making it to second base (not to mention the inside-the-park fiasco) that should not be if Matt (and to a lesser extent center fielder Desmond Jennings) were playing the wall better. That’s what practice is for, guys. Let’s do better, please.

Also in the rant category, whomever runs the Bulls website should make sure the standings are right (as of 12 o’clock they aren’t). And while she’s at it, help us figure out how to find the Bulls TV broadcast on Time-Warner cable.

In the quirky category, after Ryan Shealy’s homer the Bull couldn’t seem to stop smoking. Having had that problem myself over the years I had a great deal of empathy with the poor guy.

In the look-to-the-future category, our own Joe Bateman is featured in an article about career minor leaguers. We’ll be taking a closer look at Joe. Is it time for a “Free Joe Bateman!” campaign? Can we afford to lose him to the Rays?

On the radio last night Neil reported that Jon Weber has signed with Detroit and the Toledo Mud Hens. I can’t find anything out about it on the web. Sure hope it turns out to be an accurate report.

Ruggiano to the Rays

Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times is reporting that Justin Ruggiano is on his way to the Rays. Right fielder Gabe Kapler has been put on the 15-day DL with a hip flexor strain (wonder what that is?). Kapler isn’t having a particularly good year in the Rays right field platooning system.

Here’s hoping Justin gets a chance to shine.

Sweep!

Game 62: Durham Bulls (Rays) 8, Buffalo Bisons (Mets) 3
Season: 38-24
Streak: W5; Last 10: 9-1
Wrap, Box

Five games in a row; sweep of the 4-game series with Buffalo; 14 games above .500; 10½ game lead in the IL South Division; run differential a startling 134 (Bulls 358, opponents 224); it’s all good.

Is Desmond Jennings coming out? Beginning to look like it. A triple, two doubles, a walk, and 2 RBI last night pushed his batting average up to .272 and his OPS to .742. Those aren’t very good numbers, but for the last ten games they are .381 and 1.030 — and those are very good numbers. He’s looks more like the player that came up from Montgomery last year and the player that all the prospect-watchers seem to think so much of.

Angel Chavez is the game story, though. Playing third base last night he got on base every time he came to bat with three singles, a double, and a hit by pitch. His three RBI came at just the right moments in the game. And he stretched out the pitcher each time, it seemed, running up the count before getting his hit. Chavez was also the batter selected by Buffalo to take the obligatory HBP after warning that resulted in the pitcher (Lujan) and manager (Oberkfell) getting run out of the game in the 8th. I missed that event, but I have to say that it really doesn’t make much sense, we aren’t deliberately hitting guys in games we’ve pretty much put away. (Although, we have hit 5 Bison in eight games — seems a bit high.)

Aneury Rodriguez had his best game since those two back in April. Could have been even better if he hadn’t started the 6th inning, but guess Montoyo wanted to see how much farther he could go. Turned out to be not very far.

Broadcaster Neil Solondz [Welcome back, Neil!] solved the puzzle of the missing pitcher reported yesterday. It’s Jason Cromer and it seems his elbow is still giving him trouble. Not yet on the DL.

With Lobaton and Colina both in the lineup, mystery catchers were out warming up pitchers. Actually, not very mysterious. Justin Ruggiano had a glove on and it looked like Joe Dillon was fully geared up.

We need to at least mention the really tough year that Fernando Perez is having. And it isn’t getting any better. He at least got on base last night with a walk, but he is in a severe slump with his average dropping to .209 over the last couple of weeks. I’m wondering if he really has recovered from his year off. He just doesn’t look like the guy we liked so much back in 2008.

Stacy Long brings to our attention that just about every team in the Rays organization is in first place: The Rays, Bulls, Montgomery Biscuits, and Charlotte Stone Crabs.

Lastly, Bulls fans, welcome a newcomer to our ranks, Luke Lamphere. Luke came out of the dugout Thursday night at 9 lbs, 5 ozs. Luke’s mom, Morgan, was seen Wednesday evening coming down the steps from the Blue Monster. Luke was reported to be several days late and some thought was being given to perhaps a few runs up and down the stairs. Then maybe some real excitement up there under the snorting bull. Instead a more conventional approach was taken. Mom, Dad (Mark), and Luke are reported to be doing well. We look forward to seeing them at the DBAP soon.

Bison Basher

Game 61: Durham Bulls 6, Buffalo Bisons 1
Season: 37-24
Streak: W3; Last 10: 8-2
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Indy Week

Heath Phillips had his best game of the year, Jose Lobaton hit a grand slam, and some very nifty ball handling made it a great night.

It also occurred to me that there may be readers who’ve never seen the Durham Bulls Athletic Park and thus have no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned the crepe myrtles yesterday. Here they are.

Everything about Heath’s performance was good. He faced 28 batters and only used 86 pitches to get through 7 ⅓ innings. Except for the first inning, no more than four batters came to the plate per inning. This was his third win in a row. His ERA has dropped nearly a full run (from 4.68 to 3.76) over the last several games. Things are looking up for the left-hander.

The moment of the game was Lobaton’s grand slam in the 2nd. A single by Ryan Shealy, a walk to Chris Richard, a single to Angel Chavez and the bases are loaded with nobody out. Jose just crushed it and it was all good.

A great night-at-the-ballpark moment rounded it out. Bison new guy Marshall Hubbard hit a grounder to J.J. Furmaniak playing second base in the 7th inning. Furmaniak had to go way to his right to stop the ball and by then he was hopelessly out of position for the throw to first. So he tossed the ball to shortstop Angel Chavez. Chavez made the throw to Chris Richard at first for the out. Pretty, pretty, pretty.

Noticed another little touch I’d not seen before. In the top of the 7th Alvin Colina warmed up Phillips while Lobaton got his gear back on. As Jose came out of the dugout heading toward the plate Colina, instead of tossing the ball back to Phillips, turned and snapped a throw to Lobaton. Sort of, “Here, this guy is yours now,” kind of gesture. The moment had a nice, team-building feel to it.

Charlie Montoyo was quoted in both Herald-Sun and Indy Week as going with eleven pitchers. Did I miss something in the early part of the radio broadcast? I’ve got emails out, but if anyone knows who’s missing (we’ve got twelve pitchers on the roster), please let me know and I’ll update.

A Durham Bulls Fan Looks At the 40-Man

… and the news is good.

One of the first things things about Triple-A baseball that needs to be understood is the 40-man roster. Fortunately, WDBB has been helpful in this regard and a brief explanation is here. Briefly, players on the 40-man and not on the 25-man “active” roster can be called to the Rays on a moment’s notice.

The Bulls have five position players on the Rays’ 40-man: Catcher Jose Lobaton, and outfielders Matt Joyce, Desmond Jennings, Justin Ruggiano, and Fernando Perez. The other eight players are on minor league contracts. A player not on the 40-man roster is much less likely to be called up.

Let me say right here, on the remote chance that a Bulls player sees this, that on a player-by-player basis, WDBB would be happy to see any Bull currently on our roster playing in the major leagues tomorrow. Happy up to a point, that is, since we’d also like to be able to go to a ball game tomorrow. For that purpose, WDBB also wants to see the best possible Durham Bulls team on the field.

Here are the numbers for our current position players, sorted by Weighted On Base Average (wOBA), a metric that does a good job describing a player’s performance.

Name/ wOBA / Games/ RBI/ Age
Chris Richard / .430 / 48 / 33 / 36
Dan Johnson / .407 / 53 / 50 / 30
J.J. Furmaniak / .391 / 10 / 3 / 30
Jose Lobaton / .369 / 30 / 13 / 25
Joe Dillon / .368 / 41 / 24 / 34
Ryan Shealy / .358 / 44 / 34 / 30
Matt Joyce / .351 / 13 / 7 / 25
Desmond Jennings / .343 / 37 / 11 / 23
Elliot Johnson / .343 / 55 / 28 / 26
Justin Ruggiano / .342 / 44 / 19 / 28
Angel Chavez / .341 / 46 / 28 / 28
Alvin Colina / .336 / 30 / 22 / 28
Fernando Perez / .263 / 50 / 12 / 27

What jumps out is that, except for Jose Lobaton, all the players on the 40-man are (1) outfielders and (2) not very high on the list.

The good news, then, is that almost all of our power is safe from call up and some very good players who haven’t hit their stride yet (Justin Ruggiano and Fernando Perez) aren’t likely to get the call either. Stability is pretty rare in minor league ball and this implies that we could be reasonably stable for a while.

What this really means, given my track record, is that the Rays are about to rip the heart out of the Bulls, but maybe not today. We can hope.

Slow is OK

Game 60: Durham Bulls 6, Buffalo Bisons 4
Season: 36-24
Streak: W2; Last 10: 8-2
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Indy Week

It was a long, slow game, relieved by a couple of oddities and the fact that we won. But first let’s mention the beautiful crepe myrtles that are in bloom inside the park up near the Blue Monster and out along Blackwell street. In this part of the south we do not have a better signal that summer is actually here.

To the game: Jeremy Hellickson did not have a good outing, simple as that. Yes, a lot of strikeouts (8) and only two walks. On the other hand, he took 101 pitches to get through 4 ⅔ innings. Hints were there as early as the second inning when Jeremy gave up two doubles and a walk. The 4th was a mess with a homer and three singles before Montoyo pulled him. Reliever Mike Ekstrom might not mind since he’s gotten two wins in his stats for the last two Hellickson no-decision starts.

Before the game we had a discussion regarding what might happen when Joe Dillon comes off the disabled list. The consensus was that J. J. Furmaniak would go to Montgomery. J. J. must’ve been listening. He led off with a triple, had two more hits, and scored two runs, including a heads up dash on a passed ball in the 6th. He’s hitting .333. I don’t envy the decision that’s coming for the Bulls.

Matt Joyce, Chris Richard (really hot lately), Angel Chavez, and Jose Lobaton hit the RBI. Justin Ruggiano had three singles and found a new way to take one for the team when he was hit by an errant throw the Bison’s second baseman.

The oddity of the night, however, was Matt Joyce insuring Bison Mike Jacobs’ inside-the-park home run by throwing the ball up to the fans on top of the Blue Monster. Jacobs hit a fly ball to the top of the Blue Monster that hit something and dropped back down to the warning track with Joyce (left field) and Perez (center field) watching. They appeared to have a conference and must have decided (a) “it’s a home run” or (b) “it’s a ground rule double”. “In either case we don’t have to do much.” Apparently a third option, (c) “none of the above”, did not cross their minds. Meanwhile Mike Jacobs ran around the bases. Surely, surely the team will not let either player forget that mistake.

Have to mention Ryan Shealy’s stellar play at first base last night. He grabbed at least three low and outside bounced throws for outs. Great job.

Now, how about Salisbury-born Bison reliever Bobby Parnell? Here’s a pitch speed sequence for two at-bats last night: 98, 96, 95, 97, 97, 99, 100, 99, 91. I saw at least two 100 mph signals during his appearance. So here was a guy who can really bring in a fast ball. We got two hits off of him, and a run on a wild pitch. Don’t think we’ll see him again this trip, and that’s a good thing.

In our corner up came left-hander R. J. Swindle, who is a guy worth coming to the park to see. Swindle’s “heat” hits 80 mph on a good day and he has a curve ball that is 20 mph slower. Talk about screwing up a batter’s timing. Gotta love the guy and glad he’s pitching for us.

Winston Abreu provided a couple of thrills before closing the Bisons out. Keeping the ol’ heart pumping.

As noted by commentators the last couple of days, we really miss Neil Solondz doing play-by-play on the radio. Among the comments along our row last night were, “What are you gonna say about his in your blog?” And a loud grumble, “It’s men on second and third, not first and second, dummy.” That last to the great puzzlement of fans who didn’t have earphones on. And, “It’s the Bisons, dammit, we’re playing the Bisons, not the Tides,” to the persistent references to the wrong team by Rich Herrera’s colleague Scott Pose. I won’t go on at length. Neil simply does a better job than Herrera.

Pretty Night; Pretty Baseball

Game 59: Durham Bulls 7, Buffalo Bisons 0
Wrap, Box, Herald Sun, Indy Week

Bulls pitching has been superb in recent days, and Carlos Hernandez’s one-hit performance last night is a a good example. He had probably his best outing of the season and certainly the postgame comments recorded by reporters for the Herald-Sun and Indy Week show that all the team knew it. The Bisons only managed to get three base runners and the Bulls got their fourth shutout in 10 games. I should also correct a recent comment I made that Richard De Los Santos was our #2 pitcher numbers-wise. That simply is not the case. Sorry, Carlos. You are well established as our #2 and you showed it last night (but Richard is getting close). See the charts below for a comparison.

Sobsey over at Indy Week has a good discussion of some of the statistical features of where the Bulls are this year.

Wasn’t that a simply pretty night for baseball last night? The weather could not have been better for baseball, and the baseball was pretty too. Pretty, that is, except for the pink. I know, it’s all for a good cause, but the Bulls really didn’t look all that great in pink. Here’s hoping that the cause made a few zillion dollars off the jerseys, though.

Joe Dillon was spotted in catcher’s gear warming up Joe Bateman. That’s gotta be a good sign if his hamstring can handle working out of a squat.

Here’s a bit more information regarding Neil Solondz’s visit to the jukebox between the ocean and the bay down south.

Adam Sobsey notes that former Bull Jason Childers is in town and promises an interview.

Still trying to find out if Jon Weber has found a home. In the meantime, here’s a reflective piece on his career from a Yankees blog.

Rays Prospects providing detailed coverage of the MLB draft.