Harbor Park and the Norfolk Tides

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The season begins tomorrow (Thursday) evening when the Durham Bulls play the Norfolk Tides at , Harbor Park in Norfolk, Virginia. Brian Merzback over at ballparkreview.com seems to like the place. A few more photos are over at Minor League Ballparks.

The Norfolk Tides are the Triple A franchise of the Baltimore Orioles. Here’s what the International League preview had to say:

Probable Starters: 1B – Brandon Snyder; 2B – Justin Turner; SS – Blake Davis; 3B – Josh Bell; C – Adam Donachie; LF – Jeff Salazar; CF – Joey Gathright; RF – Lou Montanez; DH – Scott Moore.

Key Pitchers: Starters – RH Chris Tillman, RH Jake Arrieta, LH Troy Patton, RH Brandon Erbe, RH Alfredo Simon. Relievers – RH Kam Mickolio, RH Jim Miller, RH Ross Wolf, LH Alberto Castillo, RH Dennis Sarfate, RH Andy Mitchell.
Strengths of the Club: Four pitchers in the likely rotation have success at Triple-A. Combined with the young infield of Bell (23), Snyder (23), Turner (25) and Davis (26), Norfolk should have a solid nucleus of young talent eager to prove themselves worthy of a call to Baltimore. The Tides bullpen has a lot of experience, as Jim Miller (30 career saves with Norfolk), Andy Mitchell (31 career wins with Norfolk) and Alberto Castillo (2.53 ERA and 17 saves in two seasons with Norfolk) should be solid. The Orioles don’t have as many openings, meaning young prospects such as Bell, Arrieta, and Snyder should get more time to hone their skills in Norfolk.

Weaknesses of the Club: CF Jeff Salazar is the only regular who swiped more than 10 bases a year ago (16), although potential backup Jonathan Tucker did steal 34 bases with Bowie...... Gary Allenson will juggle playing time between Josh Bell, Brandon Snyder, Scott Moore, Rhyne Hughes and Michael Aubrey. Moore, Hughes and Aubrey might have to learn to play outfield.

Top Prospects: The Tides should open the season with five of the top eight prospects in the Baltimore system according to Baseball America, a list which does not include RHP Chris Tillman...... Switch-hitting third baseman Josh Bell is the #2 prospect in the organization after he came to the Orioles in a 2009 deadline deal that sent George Sherrill to the Dodgers. Bell combined for 20 HR, 35 2B and 76 RBI between Double-A Chattanooga and Bowie last season...... #4 is starting pitcher Jake Arrieta, who led all Orioles minor leaguers with 148 SO while tying for 1st with 11 victories between Bowie and Norfolk last season...... 1B Brandon Snyder is the #6 prospect after he ranked among the leading minor leaguers in RBI (2nd, 88), home runs (T-2nd, 12) and average (.289) last season. Snyder was impressive in the Arizona Fall League, (.354 with three home runs and 18 RBI in 17 games).

Other Organizational Prospects: Pitcher Zach Britton (#3) and catcher Caleb Joseph (#10) could force their way to Norfolk with strong performances in Bowie.

Veterans to Watch: OF Lou Montanez will most likely open the season in Norfolk despite the fact hitting safely in each of his past 35 minor league games. Montanez (who won the 2008 Eastern League Triple Crown) suffered a thumb injury in 2009 after he was promoted to Baltimore in April...... Another player coming off a thumb injury is Scott Moore, who slugged 7 HR in just 32 G for Norfolk last season...... Speedster Jeff Salazar will man the outfield at Harbor Park after he hit .270 and stole 16 bases for Indianapolis in 2009.

Items of Interest: With 31 wins in Norfolk, Andy Mitchell enters the season eight shy of tying the franchise mark of 39 wins (Roy Lee Jackson)...... Jim Miller has amassed 31 saves in three seasons with the Tides, a mark that ranks him 6th on the franchise list (Derek Wallace tops the list with 49 saves)...... Manager Gary Allenson has 924 career wins as a minor league skipper.

The Tides’ roster on their website is not up to date, yet, although it’s likely that former Bull and Rays farmhand Rhyne Hughes will be playing first base.

Roster

Just a quick note to let everyone know that the Bulls finally got a roster up on their website. More about the players in another post.

Now if we could get a hint about the starting rotation? And maybe fire up the webcam?

Rosters, Or Not

I was going to start this off with my best shot at who’s on the Durham Bulls this year. But then I realized that I could just go out to the DBAP tomorrow night and see. So I’m going to put off my own roster speculations for a while longer. Regardless of how it sorts out eventually, pitchers Jason Cromer and R. J. Swindle along with outfielder Desmond Jennings will likely not be with the team when they go to Norfolk this week. All are expected to join the team any day now.

As far as other takes on rosters go there’s Stacy Long’s here, and then if you drill down in the Rays website you can find this one. The end-of-2009 roster is still up on the Bulls website, so that’s not much help. The Rays 40-man doesn’t have 40 men on it. So that’s a puzzle.

The International League’s website has put up a pretty nifty preview (you’ll have to look for it. It comes as a pdf file). Here’s what they’ve got to say about the Bulls. (Note that Reid Brignac stayed with the Rays.)

Probable Starters: 1B – Chris Richard; 2B – Elliot Johnson; SS – Reid Brignac; 3B – Joe Dillon/Angel Chavez; C – John Jaso; LF – Fernando Perez; CF – Desmond Jennings; RF – Justin Ruggiano; DH – Dan Johnson.

Key Pitchers: Starters – RH Jeremy Hellickson, LH Carlos Hernandez, RH Jeff Bennett, LH Heath Phillips, LH Jason Cromer. Relievers – RH Winston Abreu, RH Joe Bateman, RH Dale Thayer.

Strengths of the Club: The Bulls will have a lot of speed at the top of the lineup, particularly if Fernando Perez, Desmond Jennings, and Justin Ruggiano are on the club together and in the first three spots in the batting order...... There should be positive team chemistry with so many veterans returning along with manager Charlie Montoyo and his coaching staff...... The Bulls will also have a very solid bullpen.
Weaknesses of the Club: There are some question marks with the starting rotation...... There are also health concerns in the Rays organization heading into the season. There have been at least nine key injuries during spring training.
Top Prospects: OF Desmond Jennings was named the Rays Minor League Player of the Year and Most Valuable Player of the Double-A Southern League in 2009. Heading into this season, he was dubbed Tampa Bay’s top prospect and the No. 6 prospect in baseball by Baseball America...... The same publication rates RHP Jeremy Hellickson as the organization’s top pitching prospect and No. 18 prospect overall in the game...... SS Reid Brignac, named the Rays’ No. 5 prospect and best defensive infielder by Baseball America), returns to the International League where he was an All-Star in 2009.

Other Organizational Prospects: Other prospects who could reach Triple-A this year in the Tampa Bay organization include several talented players. LHP Jake McGee (Baseball America’s No. 8 Rays prospect) owns a 3.53 ERA through his first 109 starts in the Minor Leagues...... LHP Alex Torres (No. 9) won 13 games last season combined between Class-A and Double-A...... 1B Matt Sweeney is ranked as the system’s best power hitter by Baseball America. Before suffering an injury in 2008, Sweeney tore up the Class-A Midwest League by hitting 18 homers with 72 RBI in 2007.

Veterans to Watch: It will be interesting to see how OF Fernando Perez responds after an injury-plagued 2009 campaign...... INF Elliot Johnson, likewise, endured an injury-hampered 2009 season. Will he be able to consistently hit for average?
Items of Interest: Durham has been the International League’s winningest team since getting the expansion franchise in 1998...... The Bulls are the defending Triple-A Baseball National Champions, and have played in the Governors’ Cup Finals each of the three years since Charlie Montoyo became manager...... The club is in the first year of a three-year contract sharing the park with Duke University’s improving baseball team, and the park will host a USA vs. Korea collegiate series in July......The Bulls will play their first game at historic Durham Athletic Park on May 10 against the Toledo Mud Hens.

Should have put this link up yesterday. Bunch of photos taken by N&O photographer Robert Willett

Rays Visit, Briefly

Rashad Eldridge reaches for Upton line drive in 2nd.

Durham Bulls 6, Tampa Bay Rays 9
Bulls Wrap, Rays Wrap, Box

That was fun. Hats off to the Durham Bulls marketing guys because the park was full of fans, and knowledgeable ones at that. The wraps have got the game story, which leave to me to point out some of the trivia and oddities. That is, the really important stuff.

The top of the 2nd was a mess and it wasn’t all Hellickson’s fault. First, Dan Johnson, playing third, dropped a line drive, then picked it up and made a bad throw, putting Longoria on first. Then with a shift on for Pena, you’ve got a shortstop and a third baseman trying to pull off a 6-5-3 double play around second base. Didn’t work. So Pena’s on first base on a fielder’s choice. Rashad Eldridge made a beautiful play (see photo) on Upton’s liner into left field, only it wasn’t pretty enough since the ball popped out when he hit the ground, so Pena’s on second, Upton’s on first. Now Hellickson does make a mistake and walks Pat Burrell to load the bases. Then Shoppach hits a popup over short that just kept drifting and drifting and drifting until it made it over the Blue Monster for a grand slam. I won’t go into the rest of the inning. It got way uglier and much of it (a walk, two singles, and a double) was Hellickson’s fault.

Great to see Fernando Perez here. Interesting to see him batting right against a right-hander. Have always wondered why the Rays have insisted all these years that Perez develop himself into a switch-hitter. We’ll have to see if it will work out. Batting leadoff yesterday he didn’t do all that great, 1 for 5 with 2 K’s.

Yesterday’s infield was what may kindly be called “veteran”. Angel Chavez, 28, started at shortstop; Dan Johnson, 30, at third; Joe Dillon, 34, at second; Chris Richard, 35, at first. Rumor has it that Elliot Johnson, 26, and Hank Blalock, 29, will be joining soon, but they are hardly going to lower the average age or lighten the footsteps of the infielders as they run out a bunt or chase after a grounder. Mild worry, but still …

After two innings all of the Rays stars, other than the pitchers, disappeared. We got to see Ryan Royster, Matt Hall, Emeel Salem, Shawn O’Malley, John Matulia, and Scott Cursi. For the most part, I'd bet even the guys over at Rays Prospects wouldn’t know who these players are. The exception was infielder Matt Hall who was greeted with great enthusiasm by all the “in the know” fans. Matt, of course, was the 2009 recipient of the Watching Durham Bulls Baseball Moonlight Graham Award. His appearance in a Rays uniform was duly noted by at least one fan.

The Herald Sun reports that Rashad Eldridge is OK after hitting the wall and leaving the game in the 5th.

I’m not sure what either the Rays or the Bulls will be up to over the next few days. The Rays open against Baltimore sometime next week. The Bulls go to Norfolk to open against the Tides on April 8th.

Last comment: Those Rays uniforms are some kind of ugly, aren't they? Too bad.

The Best

Today is an opportunity to witness an attempt at answering one of the most often asked and rarely answered questions in baseball —

Is a team that was 8th in the American League and had the 15th best record in baseball as good as the best team in Triple A baseball?

At a guess the 2009 Bulls would have a good shot at beating the 2009 Rays. As for the 2010 teams? We’ll see.

We appreciate that for most folks in Durham the interest is elsewhere (Indianapolis) and their fortunes are in the hands of that guy with an unspellable/unpronounceable name. (The 2009 Bulls had Mike Wlodardcsyk, but he seems to have disappeared this year.) Still, the tip off is at 6:00 pm and the Bulls/Rays game should be over by then.

Nice to see local media notice of today’s game, in the Herald-Sun.

Terrific story on Charlie Montoyo in today’s Tampa Tribune that points out that Alex, Charlie’s two-year old son, is expected to be in the stands today. Great news there.

In an update to yesterday's Who’s On First, Hank Blalock was cut from the Rays roster to keep Reid Brignac there. He doesn’t have to make the trip to Durham, but he could. If so, at 29 he would be the youngest of the candidates for the Bulls first base job.

Today’s starting pitcher, Jeremy Hellickson, is the subject of a Stacy Long profile. Sounds like a level-headed young man.

Gates open at 1 o’clock. Game starts at 3 o’clock. See you there.

Who’s On First?

Tomorrow, April 3rd, is a big day in Durham Bulls history. The Tampa Bay Rays are coming to town to play the Bulls in the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Some more details here.

I have no doubt the Bulls front office is experiencing some of the same difficulties that I am, such as, Who are the Durham Bulls?

I’ve got it easy, I can just go to the game and get a program and find out.

They don’t. They’ve got to print the program.

Who will be on the roster is a really tough question to explore for a lot of reasons, but mostly because Saturday’s game is only an exhibition game, the last of the season, and the Rays do not have to make decisions just yet. The Rays have a game tonight in St. Pete (the Mets) and then have to get here for the 3 o’clock game tomorrow. They will go home to open against Baltimore on Tuesday the 6th.

As for who is traveling, that’s another question. But mostly it boils down to whether or not two players of interest to us stay with the Rays — Reid Brignac and Sean Rodriguez (Matt Joyce has been placed on the disabled list, so he doesn’t count, yet). Fortunately for Durham fans, against all logic and evidence to the contrary, the Rays are hanging on to Pat Burrell and Gabe Kapler. That means that we’re going to have the pleasure of watching players like Desmond Jennings, Justin Ruggiano, Dan Johnson, Fernando Perez and others at the beginning of the season.

I could make some guesses about the roster and the lineup, but that doesn’t make much sense if the answer will be there for all to see tomorrow. So let’s just limit ourselves to the headline question: Who’s on first?

Possibilities:

Chris Richard (36): Durham Bull stalwart of several seasons. Had a good year with the Bulls last year, but missed the championship run because he spent most of the last month with the Rays. Solid spring training stats with Rays, but didn’t spend much time there (wOBA - .516). Fan favorite (including WDBB). Stats. Interviewed yesterday on 620 The Buzz.

Dan Johnson (31): Played a good bit of first base for the Bulls in 2008, but mostly was a designated hitter. Couple of innings in left field and at third base. Reportedly spent a lot of time at third base in Japan last year. Spring training numbers with Rays not all that good (wOBA - .321). Stats.

Ryan Shealy (31) has been a first baseman/dh his entire career, mostly in minor leagues. Don’t know much about him. Like Johnson, nothing special while with Rays in the spring (wOBA - .336). Stats.

Joe Dillon (34) finished out the season with the Bulls last year playing all the infield positions, but mostly the corners. Had some time with the Rays this spring, but did not do well (wOBA - .199). Stats.

Answer to the question — quite possibly none of the above, although it does begin to look like first will be a geriatric corner this season.

One-liner of the day:

In an AP story about the Twins new stadium and the prospects of painfully cold games in April and May, fans are quoted as saying:

We’re Minnesotans. We own jackets

Elliot Johnson on Waivers

No real surprise, but Elliot Johnson has been taken off the Rays' 40-man and placed on waivers. If not claimed by another team, he could end up back with the Bulls this year, which would be good for us. To be honest though, I'd like to see him get a shot with another team that has more room in its infield.