Pitcher Emerging?

From “Baseball’s Hometown Teams: The Story of the Minor Leagues” by Bruce Chadwick and posted on Endangered Durham

Game 29: Durham Bulls 9, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees 3
Season: 19-10
This Home Stand: 2-0
Streak: W4
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Indy Week

No reason to stop worrying about our starting pitching, but maybe we can be a little less worried. Richard de los Santos really looked good last night, going well into the 6th inning. If his ERA of 4.56 looks a bit high, remember that after his first appearance of the year it was 27.00. He is billed as a “spot starter” as in, “We don’t have anyone else, so throw a reliever to the wolves.” This is his second start. He took the loss the last time out, but it was five innings in a 1-0 loss to Rochester, hardly a typical Bulls game this year. Last night Bulls had seven runs across before Bateman came in with two outs in the 7th.

About those 7 runs — we got two more in the 7th and 8th — the amazing year continues. The Bulls have scored 42 runs in the last four games. The run differential against our opponents is 67, another amazing number. Then there’s last night with 14 hits, including 5 doubles and 2 home runs (and 5 walks). Or the last four games with 99 total bases. We’ve had 500 total bases this year. The team OPS is .850!

Take one player, Joe Dillon. In the 1st inning he drew a walk with Elliot Johnson on 2nd. He then went to 3rd base on a Hank Blalock single (Elliot scored) and then scored on a Dan Johnson single. In the 3rd inning he hit a single to lead off the inning, got his first steal, but was left on base. He grounded out to lead off the 5th. He was Durham’s sixth batter in the 6th inning, coming up with two outs and Elliot Johnson on second and Perez on third. Perez zipped home on a wild pitch, Dillon alertly signaling that the Yankee’s catcher couldn’t find the ball. He then hit a double, sending Johnson home from third. Hank Blalock sent Dillon home with a single. To top it off, in the 8th he banged a homer off the bull. Pretty good day, 3 for 4, 2 RBIs, a walk, and 3 runs scored. And yet Joe's batting average of .316 is fifth among Bulls hitters! His OPS of .933 is sixth. Tells you something about this team.

Bench: Jennings (14, got another 1/2 inning in), Ruggiano (4), Chavez (5), Colina (1). Think that Luna is back to Charlotte without an at bat.

WebWorld:

• Photo above is from a website we were alerted to by the Bulls’ George Habel at his blog, Notes to Self. The website is Endangered Durham and it has some really cool old photos of El Toro Field and the Durham Athletic Park.

• The Wall Street Journal takes a look at that burning issue, how come we have two major leagues?

• Her Rays is having trouble dealing with the late night games the Rays are playing on the west coast. You just gotta click on the link. Trust me. You’ll love it.

• Great story-telling continues over at The Life of a Baseball Wife, including this one about coping with a husband off playing winter ball.