Who’s On First?

Game 45: Bulls 2, Redwings 5
Season: 28-17
Wrap, Box, Indy Week Story

Pitchers do OK, but Orvella gives up a home run in the 8th. All the new guys do OK, but not enough to win.

Adam Sobsey makes a very good effort at detailing all the changes over in his story. Let me give it a stab here and maybe between the two of us we can help make sense of it.

This feels like entries I was making back at the beginning of the year.

Here’s an annotated version of last night’s starting lineup, new guys in bold:

• 1 - Jon Weber, DH. Last night not so good (0-4). With all the changes and injuries, the Bulls are going to be depending on Weber, Joyce, Ruggiano, and Sadler to produce runs over the next several weeks. He’s basically on track in the last few games. Just hope he keeps his focus on getting on base rather than hitting homers.
• 2 - Henry Mateo, 2nd Base. First game was against Lehigh Valley on the 24th. Sort of a replacement for Adam Kennedy, Joe Dillon, Ray Olmedo, or Reid Brignac (take your pick). On the surface seems to be a prototypical “journeyman” AAA’er. Unknown quantity.
• 3 - Justin Ruggiano, Center Field. Another key guy to keep the Bulls sorted out. Very erratic so far. Great nights and not-so-great nights (like last night with 3 strikeouts).
• 4 - Matt Joyce, Right Field. Having a very solid year. We need him backing up what may become a porous infield. Problem is that if someone down in Tampa Bay gets an ingrown toenail, Joyce is gone.
• 5 - Ray Sadler, Left Field. Rounds out the outfield. So far, so good. We kinda know most of these guys, so far.
• 6 - Chris Nowak, 1st Base. Chris has played first a couple of times this year, and apparently quite a bit when he was in Montgomery. So, if he can get a bit more consistent at the plate, we’re still OK.
• 7 - Brandon Chaves, 2nd Base. See entry above for Henry Mateo for who he's replacing. Not much of a record to look at, but at first glance he appears to be a “journeyman” AA’er, which would not be good for the Bulls. We’ll have to see.
• 8 - Matt Hall, 3rd Base. Up from the Bulls A team at Port Charlotte, Florida. He’s had very little playing time in A and AA over last two years. Not sure why.
• 9 - Craig Albernez, Catcher. We sort of know Craig. Interesting ballplayer. Beginning to like him a lot.

As Sobsey pointed out this morning, three out of the four infielders in last night’s game were not with the Bulls five days ago.

Bench? What bench? Do we need to line up some wheelchairs to get them out for the National Anthem? The rest of the position player roster consists of exactly one, count ‘em, one healthy player, catcher Alex Jamieson, and there’s a chance he’s actually back on the Hudson Valley roster. Olmedo, Richard, Jaso, and Johnson are suffering various aches and pains. By the way, Bulls, please update the team roster on website.

Pitchers (sigh): Davis, Thayer, and Choate are gone. If the Rays keep having more troubles I’m not sure how long we’ll keep Davis, Talbot, and Abreu. Sobsey reports that Matt DeSalvo has been signed. I’m betting one or two may show up from Montgomery soon.

Jeremy Cummings where are you? We need you!

For the next several days/weeks, pitching and defense are clearly going to be our challenges.