9th Inning Thrills

Game 28: Durham Bulls (Rays) 4; Syracuse Chiefs (Nationals) 3
Season: 16-12; Streak: 2-0
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Ballgames in May at the DBAP can be miserable. Last night it was cold. I kept adding layers and fortunately the wind wasn’t blowing. Still, the stands were getting empty by the bottom of the 8th.

Up until then, the evening’s story was Syracuse’s pitcher Tom Milone, who was giving a clinic on careful, precision pitching. His 11 K’s were the most of any single pitcher against the Bulls this year. Meanwhile the Bulls’ Edgar Gonzalez, who is emerging as the key man of the Bulls rotation, kept things in check for a solid six innings.

J.P. Howell got in one inning. He is reportedly on a 1-inning, 25-pitch, whichever comes first, limitation. After giving up a walk, he did just fine, especially his pickoff of a Chief runner on 2nd base. Last seen in Durham in 2007, Howell is working his way back after missing 2010 recuperating from surgery.

Milone finally left the game after 7 brilliant innings and Chiefs reliever Adam Carr gave up a double to Desmond Jennings and zinged a couple of inside pitches before Justin Ruggiano really crushed one to deep center field. Ruggiano is up to 22 RBIs now. That homer, with Jennings on base, tied the game.

If you were among the few left, you got to see a really thrilling walk off bottom of the 9th. Walk, pinch runner, sac bunt, broken bat popup up over the pitcher but at shortstop’s feet put runners on first and third, and Jennings’ single won the game. Video on Bulls’ website pretty well sums it up.

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But there was more than just a game going on last night.

• Dane De La Rosa is on a four-game suspension for his part in the exchange of inside pitches up in Indianapolis the other day. The pitcher who initiated the exchange, Rudy Owens, only got three days. Owens is a starter, so he is essentially unpunished. De La Rosa is a reliever, so the Bulls will miss him for a couple more days.
• Felípe López, who probably exemplifies the term “veteran infielder”, should be in Durham today. Lopez started the year on the Bulls roster, but was called up to the Rays before the Bulls season started when Even Longoria went on the disabled list. To be honest, I’m surprised he made it through waivers, but here he is. He hasn't played minor league ball since 2004. That makes him look a bit like this year's Hank Blalock. I think he’s going to give Russ Canzler a run for his money when it comes to playing time at third, but there’s going to be so much shuffling the next couple of days it’s hard to tell. Stats here and here.
• Outfielder Brandon Guyer got called up to Tampa Bay last night and is off to Baltimore. Why? That should become clear later in the day with the Rays also in a bit of lineup turmoil. My guess is that the Rays think that B.J. Upton is about to be suspended after a spectacular balls and strikes rant/tossed from the game episode the other night. Why not Jennings? Because it could be just a sit on the bench visit. The Rays have other outfielders, but they want to keep their roster full.
• What does it all mean for the Bulls? Not too much. Chris Carter or Leslie Anderson in the outfield. Canzler on first, probably. Or Canzler DHing. Guyer’s been hot, though, we’re going to miss that.
• If Upton is suspended, the possibility still exists for the Rays to pull a pitcher from the Bulls, because their Jeff Neimann just went on the DL.

De La Rosa Suspended

All we have is a note from the Bulls' front office,

Dane de la Rosa suspended by International League

But it wouldn't take too much to guess that it's related to the incident report here. Wonder if we're going to be able to find out what happened to Indianapolis pitcher Rudy Owens? And will things settle down before the Indians come to town on Monday?

One Month's Worth of Pitches

Keeping track of Durham Bulls pitching can be tough to do. The season is not quite a month old yet and seventeen players have already taken the mound for the Bulls (eighteen if you count catcher Craig Albernaz’s two appearances). The Bulls' website seems to have trouble keeping track. For example, as this is being written Alex Cobb’s return from Tampa Bay does not show, nor does the departure of the unfortunate Paul Phillips to Montgomery. Even with those transactions, the Bulls are carrying 13 pitchers, one more than usual. Also, we can expect a visit from rehabbing Tampa Bay reliever J.P. Howell soon.

The Bulls have two starting pitchers on the disabled list, Richard De Los Santos and Dirk Hayhurst. Chris Bootcheck just came off the DL.

Ryan Reid and Jeremy Hall joined the Bulls while they were on this road trip.

As a group, Bulls pitching ranks fifth in the IL on ERA and third on the WHIP (walks and hits per inning) metric. They are fifth in the league on won-loss percentage.

As this chart (sorted by innings pitched) shows, ERA is mostly OK. You have to discount the low-inning guys who are down near the bottom. That’s going to get better. The two worrisome numbers are R.J. Swindle’s and Brian Baker’s, the same two who have WHIPs up and out of the zone.

The stats guys don’t like ERA very much. To see their tRA and other such numbers, check here.

This crew ranges in age from 23 (Cobb and Torres) to 32 (Bootcheck), so a pretty decent balance there. From a fan’s perspective it does not look like this year we are going to be seeing any fireballers — unless Jake McGee, just back from Tampa Bay, is supposed to be working on his fast ball. Just about all of this crew are finesse guys, which can be just as much fun to watch.

Update 5 May, 2:45: Tampa Bay's Jeff Neimann may be going on DL. If so, then either a starter (Cobb or Torres) or a reliever (your guess is a good as mine) will be called up from Durham. 

Bulls in Town, At Last

Game 26: Durham Bulls 2; Indianapolis Indians 5, 7 innings
Box
Game 27: Durham Bulls 8; Indianapolis Indians 5, 7 innings
Season: 15-12
Wrap, Box

The Bulls are back. They are in a virtual tie for first place in the South Division. All is right in the world.

The Indianapolis series was rough, but the Bulls managed to win 3 out of 4 to finish out a very long road trip. The heroes of the day were Brandon Guyer and Chris Carter, who hit home runs in the second game. Carter paid something of price, and then ...

Well, let me just put up a selection from the play-by-play. (Note: De La Rosa’s line. 1 batter, 1 pitch, pitches for strikes - 0.)

Durham Top of the 3rd

• Omar Luna flies out to right fielder Andrew Lambo.
• Desmond Jennings walks.
• Justin Ruggiano singles on a line drive to left fielder Alex Presley. Desmond Jennings to 3rd.
• With Brandon Guyer batting, Justin Ruggiano steals (3) 2nd base.
• Brandon Guyer homers (6) on a fly ball to left field. Desmond Jennings scores. Justin Ruggiano scores.
• Chris Carter hit by pitch.
• Indianapolis Indians pitcher Rudy Owens ejected by HP umpire Toby Basner.
• Pitcher Change: Tony Watson replaces Rudy Owens.
• Russ Canzler grounds into double play, pitcher Tony Watson to shortstop Chase d’Arnaud to first baseman Matt Hague. Chris Carter out at 2nd.

Indianapolis Bottom of the 3rd

• Chase d’Arnaud pops out to first baseman Leslie Anderson in foul territory.
• Alex Presley strikes out swinging.
• Matt Hague grounds out, third baseman Russ Canzler to first baseman Leslie Anderson.

Durham Top of the 4th

• Jose Lobaton called out on strikes.
• Leslie Anderson lines out to shortstop Chase d’Arnaud.
• J. Furmaniak grounds out, shortstop Chase d’Arnaud to first baseman Matt Hague.

Indianapolis Bottom of the 4th

• Pitcher Change: Dane De La Rosa replaces Jeremy Hall.
• Andrew Lambo hit by pitch.
• Durham Bulls pitcher Dane De La Rosa ejected by HP umpire Toby Basner.

The South Division is heating up a bit. Gwinnett’s falling off the pace; Norfolk is getting it together; Charlotte looks snakebit.

The Bulls have four days against Syracuse (Washington) then another four against Indianapolis (Pirates), four days on the road, also against Syracuse. Then they are back with four games against Louisville (Reds). Should be some interesting baseball.

Rainout

With last night’s rain comes today’s double header starting (and on MLBTV) at 11:00. The decision-making going on last night highlights some of the difficulties in Triple-A, International League scheduling. The Bulls play out-of-division teams twice in the season a four-day home stand and a four-day away series. That’s it. There’s no return opportunity. With a rainout early in a series, every effort is made to schedule a double-header within the four-day visit. But sometimes that’s not possible (for example, when the rainout is on the last day of the series). If that happens, then they try to schedule a double-header in the next meeting. If they can’t pull that off, then the teams don’t meet again in the regular season.

Thus, last year the Durham Bulls only (only!) played 143 games instead of 144.

So, there they are in Indianapolis. Rained out in the third game. The twist is that the Bulls have a 6:00 PM flight booked for today. The Bulls rarely fly, but with a day off on Wednesday, I’m guessing the idea was to get home and take advantage of the day. I’m also guessing they are going to try to get the two 7-inning games in and make the plane. Glad I’m not the equipment guy for that rush to the airport.

While we wait for today’s game to start, a look around the web:

• Dirk Hayhurst has been using his “vacation” from the starting rotation to serve up advice to fellow minor leaguers, most recently a meditation on truck stop food.
• What happens to the wife and family when a player retires? Take a look at a recent entry on The Life of a Baseball Wife. Gotta say that business about fans chasing down addresses is a bit creepy.
• Craig Robinson, over at FlipFlopFlyBall has several new “infographics”. One of interest to Rays fans is a detailed analysis of Manny Ramirez’ contribution this season.
• Durham residents Elliot Johnson and Chris Richard get some love from local magazine.
• Stats geek alert: Interesting way of looking at FIP and ERA over at DRaysBay.

Hitting Surge Continues

Game 25: Durham Bulls (Rays) 6; Indianapolis Indians (Pirates) 1
Season: 14-11; Streak: 3-0
Wrap, Box, Indianapolis Star

Bulls hitters continued their remarkable run yesterday afternoon with 10 more hits (helped out by 5 walks and 2 HBPs) resulting in 6 runs. Chris Carter kept going with his outstanding performance going 3 for 5 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI (18 on the year). As a team, the Bulls’ wOBA has grown from .313 to .331 in just four games. The “Hitting and Pitching” chart provided just a couple of days ago has seen a dramatic change. Nice to see green (hitting) going up and red (pitching) going down.

Speaking of red going down, Alex Torres had another good, if erratic start. He’ll settle down someday, I’m sure. But his propensity to give up a string of walks adds discouraging excitement to a game.

Happy to see Chris Bootcheck back on the mound. I’m guessing that his long stay on the disabled list reflects the change in thinking about concussions in all of sports. Not long ago if you could correctly count the fingers a coach was waving in front of you it meant you were OK. Now head injuries are treated much more seriously. As mentioned, just a guess, but Chris was out for more than two weeks.

Newcomer Ryan Reid had a clean inning.

Down in St. Petersburg Alex Cobb did a decent job in his major league debut, even if he didn’t seem to be happy with himself and he may have been tipping his pitches. I guessing he'll be back on the mound in Durham later this week.

Also, local (i.e., St. Pete and Tampa) papers are reporting that the Bulls Brandon Gomes has been called up; however we’ve seen nothing official from the Bulls.

Reminder: Tomorrow’s 11:05 AM game will be broadcast on the MLB network. Set your DVR or, what the heck, take the day off and stay home to watch the Bulls in Indianapolis.

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Biscuit watch

Pitching prospect Matt Bush had a good day.
Game 24: Montgomery Biscuits 9; Jacksonville Suns 6
Season: 11-13
Wrap, Box, Montgomery Advertiser

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.