Where Are They?

Time to take a look at the players who played for the Durham Bulls last year, but won’t be back for 2013. I’m a bit too lazy to chase down everyone who put on a Bulls uniform in 2012, so I will just mention those who were on the roster in September (including a couple of the September call-ups), but have since gone elsewhere. I’ve added some of my end-of-2012 comments about the hitters from previous posts (here and here). Pretty obvious that I guessed wrong in a couple (well, maybe more than a couple) of instances. With the exception of Brignac and Conrad, all of these players are on minor league contracts with, I think, invitations to spring training.

I was not able to find out anything about Jesus Feliciano, although he was playing Winter Ball. And Lance Pendleton does not show up on any of my searches. Help me out if you can.

Hitters

Jesus Feliciano - ???

Played in the most games of any Durham Bull (125) and was #2 in plate appearances.  His line of .270/.312/.326 and 46 RBI helped. An unimpressive Weighted On-Base Average  (wOBA) of .294 and a Weighted Runs Above Average  (wRAA) of -11.5 does not auger well for his future in a Rays system that loves to crunch numbers.

Reid Brignac - Colorado Rockies

99 games and 400 plate appearances as a Bull in 2012. His line .228/.321/.347 with 46 RBI is not too impressive. His wOBA of .308 and negative wRAA (-5.6) are simply not very good numbers. And yet, from a fan’s perspective, he was a valuable Durham Bull this year. Unlike their parent club, the Bulls defense held up pretty well and that was, in my opinion, helped both by Brignac’s play and by his apparent mentorship of young Tim Beckham.

Henry Wrigley - Colorado Rockies

Played 32 games with the Montgomery Biscuits before coming up and playing 94 games with the Bulls (380 PA). His numbers are pretty good: .285/.324/.472 with 52 RBI. And his wOBA of .350 and wRAA of +7.4 is a match with Vogt’s. Although he put in a few games in the outfield (6), he played mostly 1B (53 games) and as DH (31 games). My guess is that Mr. Wrigley has a good shot at coming out of spring training with a place on the Rays’ 40-man. If he spends the winter working on his 1B footwork, he might go places.

Will Rhymes - Washington Nationals

Played in 46 games (194 times at the plate) in his two stretches with the Bulls. He was mostly at second base. Decent, but not particularly helpful hitting numbers, .256/.326/.361 with 21 RBI, an OK wOBA of .320 and a slightly negative wRAA of -0.9. Rhymes was an infielder-in-waiting all year for the Rays as they moved folks on and off the disabled list. Mostly Rhymes stayed with the Rays. However, the Rays dumped him off the 40-man at the end of the Bulls season. I was mildly surprised to see him pass through waivers.

Nevin Ashley - Cincinnati Reds

Broke his hand in April and didn’t make it back until late July. He got into 35 games with 130 plate appearances. On a small sample, decent numbers. Slash line: .245/.357/.455 with 13 RBI. His wOBA was a .363 and his wRAA was 3.8.

Brooks Conrad - Hanshin Tigers (Japan)

A mid-season hire by the Rays who finished the season with the Bulls (25 games). He was very helpful at the end. Not likely to be back.

Pitchers

Matt Torra - Washington Nationals

Starter: 25 games, 147 innings pitched, 12-7, ERA 4.10, FIP 4.98. Workhorse of the Bulls in 2012 with the most innings pitched. That FIP was worrisome, but looks like the Rays have a lot of youngish talent they want to see with the Bulls in 2013.

Lance Pendleton ???

Starter: 26 games, 129 innings, 8-7, ERA 4.81, FIP 4.25. Says something about baseball that his numbers are significantly better than Alexander Torres, but Torres is still here and Pendleton appears to be still looking for work.

Ryan Reid - Pittsburgh Pirates

Reliever: 46 appearances, 79 innings, 7 holds, 1 save, ERA 3.52, FIP 3.62.