Who’s On the Mound? The Bulls 2013 Roster - 2

I am having trouble figuring out which pitchers are likely to be with the Bulls on opening day, particularly after I check their online roster and see 17 pitchers listed. How many of them are going to get on the bus for Norfolk next Wednesday (or will it be early Thursday morning)? I’m going to chop the list down to 13 just to give everyone of taste of how great the beginning of the year could be. Players on the Tampa Bay Ray 40-man are marked with asterisks. Note that there are eight of them on this list, including five of our potential starters! That has to be a first.

Also, please note that even at AAA the distinction between a “starter” and a “reliever” can be fuzzy. Heck, that can be fuzzy in the majors. As of today, the Rays have yet to choose their fifth starter.

Starters

• Chris Archer* is a first-rate, major league-ready pitcher. Sometime this season he will go up to the Rays and not come back. So check the schedule and make sure you get to the DBAP and see him pitch this spring. He did a fine job for the Bulls last season
• Jake Odorizzi* is new to the Rays system, but comes out of the Royals system with spectacular credentials. Stats. 
• Alex Torres* has been a top prospect in the Rays system for what seems like forever. Last year was awful. He is the only pitcher in this year’s starting lineup that worries me. But I’ve been wrong before. I hope that I am and Mr. Torres has somehow found his groove for 2013.
• Alex Colome* could easily start the year in Montgomery (with the Rays AA team the Montgomery Biscuits) or the Bulls. He did get a few innings in with the Rays in spring training. Stats.
• Mike Montgomery* is also over from the Royals and appeared in 17 games with their AAA team last year. Less impressive stats than the rest.
• Jim Paduch doesn’t quite fit any particular mold. At 30 he may end up in long relief, a spot starter, or a full-time starter if the Rays want to start the season with someone else down in AA instead of AAA. Not a great year in 2012, but he sure ate up a lot of innings.

Relievers

• Brandon Gomes* shouldn’t be with the Bulls, but he is and we are happy to have him. You can be sure that Montoyo and Neil Allen will put him to work. He is a terrific pitcher and is probably here only because of some quirk in the business of baseball.
• Josh Leuke* has decent stats, but we were really disappointed in his performance at the end of last year. He got a bit more playing time in major league spring training than most, so he must be looking pretty good this year.
• Frank De Los Santos* only pitched an inning major league camp and we have no data on the rest of the spring. Happy to have him back, but wonder if he's healthy.
• Adam Liberatore. I’m a big fan of Adam Liberatore. He had spectacular numbers with the Bulls last year. Here’s hoping he progresses this year.
• Will Inman is out of the Milwaukee, Padres, and Boston systems — and he’s only 25 years old! He did a heck of a job for Pawtucket last year, appearing in 35 games and keeping his ERA down at 2.23. Stats.
• Juan Sandoval is the famous blind-in-one-eye reliever who got a lot of press in spring training. He spent the last two years in the AAA Mexican League. Could be a lot of fun to watch. Stats.
• Steve Geltz is a very, very recent addition to the Rays system, out of the Angels in trade for Bull Dane De La Rosa. As noted elsewhere, in spite of his good numbers as a Bull, De La Rosa appeared to have lost the confidence of the Rays. Geltz could be fun to watch. Stats.

In sum, even if I’m wrong about one or two of these guys being on the opening day roster (imagine that!) , this is an amazing list. We could be in for some great baseball this year.

Next — start working on your lineups ...