Bulls Below the Border

Actress Kay Guzman, the godmother of the Dominican League Aguilas Cibaena baseball club 

For some young men professional baseball is a year-round endeavor. The last Bulls game was September 18. Less than a month later at least seven of them are playing baseball in Arizona, Venezuela, and the Dominican. As other leagues come online we may see some more back at work. A link that shows Rays system ball players is here.

We mentioned earlier that two 2013 Bulls were playing in the Arizona Fall League, Mike Montgomery and Merrill Kelly.

Vince Belnome’s first game for the Dominican League Estrellas de Oriente was on October 18. His teammate on the Estrellas, Adam Liberatore, pitched in his first game on October 19.

Leslie Anderson has had a hot start with the Caribes de Anzoategui, in the Venezuelan League with an OPS of 1.056 in 17 AB.

Jesus Flores is also playing in the Venezuelan League for the Navegantes de Magellanes. He was playing  by Oct 11th.

Juan Sandoval has had a couple of relief appearances with the Aguilas Cibaenas in the Dominican. That’s the team with the attractive godmother.

Robbie Knopf over at Rays Colored Glasses keeps an eye on the Rays playing in winter leagues. His Spanish is much better than mine (which is non-existent ... thank you Google Translate).

Look Back; Look Forward

Durham Bulls Athletic Park, October 19, 2013

Most seasons we do a review of what we liked and what we thought were areas to work on for the DBAP and the Bulls in the season. We put out an invite for further comment and we usually get a few interesting observations.

This year is different because of the renovations going on. To be honest, until the announcement was made I had not noticed that things were getting a bit shabby around the edges. After the announcement, however, we started looking more closely and realized that renovation would be a very good thing. On the other hand, until we see what happens (including cup holders for the front row of the terrace reserved seats!) we'll hold off on comments about facilities. The plans look good, though.

So let’s just talk about what worked well:

• National Anthem singers. When you listen to 60 or 70 performances a year you quickly come to appreciate effort that the Bulls invested in finding performers. We particularly like the choral groups. Also notable were a brass group whose name I missed and an a cappella group called Cognitive Resonance.
• Bull Durham racers. Fun to watch and creative in finding ways for Nuke to lose each race. Hope they come back next year.
• Food Truck events. The only down side of the food trucks was that it gave you a hint of what was possible down in the regular concession area. We hate to miss a moment of baseball, so we had to come very early. Being in right field, if the sun was out, it could be brutal for the vendors, I’d think. We appreciate the difficult balance that has to be made with contractors, etc., but it was a good idea worthy of a couple of repeats next year.
• I’m not big beer drinker, so I appreciated beer in small quantities being available (if not the price). Nice to taste all the varieties available. More always better, of course.
• Bull City Summer was an interesting adjunct to the season. We are looking forward to the book when it becomes available.

What else? Chime in.

News

On the Bulls website

• You can download a stencil to carve a Wool E. Bull pumkin.
• Buy a Governors’ Cup Champions T-shirt (got mine already).
• Take a look at the 2014 schedule (April 3! 166 days … a long, long time).

Players:

• Several 2013 Bulls have declared free agency: Ryan Roberts, Shelley Duncan, Jason Bourgeois and J.D. Martin. The last three made a difference this year. I'll miss them. Nothing precludes the Rays from re-signing, but usually doesn’t happen.
• Out in the Arizona Fall League Mike Montgomery and Merrill Kelly are at work for the Salt River Rafters along with several other Rays prospects we’ve never seen.  

2013 Moonlight Graham Award

Each year Watching Durham Bulls Baseball recognizes the hitter and pitcher who has spent the least amount of time in a Durham Bulls uniform. The award is named in honor of North Carolinian Archibald “Moonlight” Graham who famously played only two innings for the New York Giants in 1905, never coming to bat.

We have just a few criteria for selection: Not considered are players who come through on a rehab assignment, played only in postseason, or (for the pitcher) a position player thrown to the wolves at the end of a losing game.

This year we cannot find a position player that really embodies the spirit of the award. Not counting rehabbing Ray Luke Scott, the player with the least amount of playing time was the unfortunate Hak-Ju Lee. Lee, however, did play in 15 games and had 57 plate appearances in his time as a Bull before his injury. So this year we simply won’t make an award for a position player.

That leaves us with …

The 2013 Winner

Pitcher Austin Hubbard

On May 17, 2013 at Frontier Field in Rochester New York, Austin Hubbard came on in relief to begin the 6th inning. The Bulls were behind 5-0 after a disastrous 2nd inning. Hubbard had been called up from the Charlotte Stone Crabs where he’d been doing OK and it was understood that he was just filling in while the Rays sorted out their own bullpen. He did not have a good day: ⅔ inning, 5 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks before leaving in favor of Adam Liberatore and, in the 9th, catcher Craig Albernaz. After that game Hubbard went to Montgomery where he made 28 more appearances in relief for the Biscuits. Stats.

Good Luck in 2014!

About Moonlight Graham

Archibald “Moonlight” Graham achieved lasting fame as a character in the W.P. Kinsella novel, Shoeless Joe, and then became even more famous when he was played by Burt Lancaster (and Frank Whaley) in the Kevin Costner film, Field of Dreams. As a ballplayer in 1905 he played two innings in the major leagues as a right fielder for the New York Giants. He never came to bat. You can look it up. He did, however, go on to a career as a well-loved physician in Chisholm, Minnesota.

Of interest to us is that he was a North Carolina native (born in Fayetteville, grew up in Charlotte); graduated from UNC (where he played baseball); and was the older brother to UNC President and US Senator Frank Porter Graham. If you find him an intriguing character, his Wikipedia article is a good start. There’s a nice NBC piece done on him a few years ago. And then there’s a terrific book by Fayetteville writer (and Bulls fan) Brett Friedlander and Robert Reisling, Chasing Moonlight. Copies of the book are in the Wake and Durham County Library systems, and I found my copy at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh.

Durham Bulls Are .125 in Playoffs

Jonny Gomes on Rehab Assignment, May 30, 2007

Fairly simple, if a bit deceptive, arithmetic going on here. Eight teams are in the playoffs. They can have twenty-five players, thus 200 in playoffs. If we look at those rosters, we find 25 have worn a Durham Bulls uniform. Ergo: 12½% were Bulls.

Sixteen are with the Tampa Bay Rays. No surprise there, although one, Sam Fuld, was only in Durham for a very brief rehab stint. The others we saw more of at various times: Chris Archer, Alex Cobb, Jeremy Hellickson, Jake McGee, Matt Moore, David Price, Alex Torres, Jose Lobaton, Evan Longoria, Ben Zobrist, Matt Joyce, Sean Rodriguez, Delmon Young, Wil Myers, and Desmond Jennings.

 Then there are those who are elsewhere:

• Jonny Gomes with the Boston Red Sox
• Elliot Johnson and B.J. Upton with the Atlanta Braves.
• Grant Balfour and Stephen Vogt with the Oakland A’s.
• J.P. Howell and Carl Crawford with the LA Dodgers.
• Joquin Benoit with the Detroit Tigers
• Randy Choate with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Seems the Bulls front office could turn this into a marketing gimmick somehow. You really are seeing future stars when you come to a Bulls game.

Note: Thanks to a regular reader for help in remembering a couple of these guys (Benoit and Choate). Did I miss anyone else?

The Durham Bulls in 2013 — Pitchers — Part 2

This continues our look at the Durham Bulls pitchers for 2013. They are discussed in the innings-pitched sequence shown in the table in Part 1. Charts in this post exclude a couple of pitchers who will be discussed when we get to them: Craig Albernaz, Matt Moore, Austin Hubbard, and Braulio Lara.

Durham Bulls Pitchers, 2013
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Steve Geltz (RHRP) came to the Bulls out of the Angels system and made his first appearance with the team on April 6 (and got one of his 5 wins). He had the most innings of any of the relief corps (67) and appeared in 41 games. He was arguably the best of the relievers (not counting the closer crew of Lueke and Yates, but even there Geltz had 3 saves). Middle relievers are notoriously hard to evaluate. But Geltz has two stats that jump out at you. His Walks and Hits Per Inning Pitched (WHIP) was an impressive 0.85, the best on the team among the regular pitchers, and his ERA was 2.82. The majority of games he appeared in the Bulls won (26 out of 41). The mystery will be, of course, if he can get a contract and an invitation to spring training next year. He should. Stats.

Kirby Yates (RHRP) had a great year, as we’ve discussed a few times. If he seemed a bit tired near the end, he did pick up four (!) saves in postseason play. Stunning WHIP, ERA, and FIP numbers over his 61⅔ innings and 51 appearances. Fortunately for the Bulls, if not for him, he was not on the 40-man, so he was with the Bulls all year. Next year? The Bulls can hope. The Rays may be coming up on a decision time for him. Stats.

Adam Liberatore (LHRP) was in a lot of games (43) for quite a few innings (60) mostly in short relief and occasionally in a left-on-left situation. Most years we have not seen the Bulls play matchup very often, but this year when there were sometimes four lefties available (Liberatore, Beliveau, De Los Santos, and Riefenhauser) we saw more matchup appearances. His numbers are sort of middle of the pack for the 2013 Bulls, which means they are pretty good. A particularly low FIP of 2.42 means that the coaches are likely to be talking about what else he’s got. He could make it to the 40-man or be part of a trade package in the off-season. Stats.

Josh Lueke (RHRP) did a terrific job for the Bulls all year, making him and Kirby Yates an almost unbeatable team at the end of a game. His 17 saves matched up with Yates’ 20. Lueke got called up 4 times during the year. He appeared in 19 games for the Rays with an ERA of 5.06 and a WHIP of 1.64, nothing approaching his numbers for the Bulls. On the other hand, it doesn’t look like the Rays were using him in save situations. A very deliberate presence on the mound, he could be irritating if you were ready to go home, but going home with a win was worth it. Not on first round post-season roster for Rays. Stats.

Chris Archer (RHSP) started the season with the Durham Bulls and pitched in 10 games, not particularly successfully. But he was very likely working on specific pitches and waiting for his opportunity with the Rays. When that came in late May, he was off and not looking back. As a Ray he’s accumulated a very respectable (great!) 9-7 record, ERA 3.22 over 23 starts. He is on the Rays’ post-season roster and will be starting one of the early games of the ALDS. We won’t see him back in Durham except as a visitor. Stats.

Cory Wade (RHRP) was a Bull back in 2011 and we were pleased to see the Bulls pick him up during the confusion of mid-May. We also thought he’d be working hard to get back on a major league team. He did just fine, including several crucial spot starts. His ERA of 2.17 over 30 games and 50 innings was superb, the third best among the regulars. When it apparently became clear to him in late August that he was not going to get added to the Rays’ 40-man, he was released. He finishied out the season with the New York Mets Triple-A team, the Las Vegas 51s. Maybe he will make it back as a Met next year. Stats.

Alex Torres (LHSP/RP) has been with the Bulls for parts of three seasons. We have been quite critical of the young man, especially as he struggled through last season with an ERA of 7.30 over 26 games and 69 innings. Rumor at the beginning of 2013 was that he had worked something out over the winter. That was surely the way it looked in his 9 games he started with the Bulls this spring. His ERA wasn’t great, but his WHIP was, for Torres, an exceptional 1.20. Other metrics looked just fine. The Rays, however, had an eye on him as a left-handed reliever. He went up in mid-May, came back for two games, and went back up after a late May game. With the Rays he’s appeared in 39 games, all in relief. He has had an extraordinary WHIP of 0.90 and an equally exceptional ERA of 1.71. He is on the post-season roster and unlikely to be back in a Bulls uniform any time soon. He is a great example of how fans can almost never really get a grip on a ballplayer’s potential. Folks in the Rays system did not give up on Torres and he has paid them back. Stats.

Jeff Beliveau (LHRP) joined the Bulls a couple of weeks into the season. From the stands we always perceived him as a left-handed reliever-in-waiting and he made numerous trips to the Rays during the season. But he did not get into a game until September, after the Bulls season was over. Used almost exclusively in short relief, at the end of the season we realized, much like Steve Geltz, that he was one the the guys who really made a difference this year. Some of his metrics are on the high end, but he was a pretty reliable guy. Unless he gets involved in some trading activity, we’d guess he’ll be back with Durham next year. Fine with us if he is. Stats.

Jim Paduch (RHSP/RP) didn’t have all that good a year with the Bulls in 2012, but who did? So we weren’t too worried about him coming back this year. He won his first game pitching in relief of Mike Montgomery, but things really did not look all that good in his next several games. His best game was at the end of May, but by then it was too late. He was offered at job in Montgomery, but decided to retire instead. Always seemed like a nice guy to me, and he had a terrific backstory of getting up to AAA by way of several seasons in independent ball. But it wasn’t working out. Good luck, Jim. Stats.

Will Inman had a decent enough 2012 with the Pawtucket Red Sox, so he seemed a reasonable choice to help fill out the Bulls bullpen this year. But he wasn’t very impressive from the start and, while he didn’t have any truly disastrous innings, over time the bad news seemed to accumulate. By June his ERA was up to 6.47. He left the game with an injury on June 3, pitched in three more after coming off the DL, and was released in late June. Stats.

Frank De Los Santos (LHRP) is a pitcher who seems to have been around a very long time. But he actually hasn’t. He is only 25 years old. He just can’t seem to stay healthy. This year was no exception. He did appear in 26 games, but for just 32 innings. There were a couple of moments in 2012 where he looked very, very good. But we did not see any of that in this year's games. He appeared in 11 games, went on the DL, came back in early July and appeared in 15 more games. He was traded to the Chicago White Sox at season’s end. If he’d ever been truly healthy my guess is that he could have been something special. Stats.

Juan Sandoval (RHRP) spent most of his year with the Montgomery Biscuits (46 games/58 innings). But he sure was handy when he visited the Bulls. The first time was a stretch from late May to late June (11 games/19 innings) when he posted some good numbers and only got in trouble once. Then he came back at the end of the season for a desperately needed spot start in a end-of-season double header. In the Bulls’ post-season he was perfect over 4⅓ innings. At 32, Sandoval is famously coming back from serious injury and a lot of time in the Mexican League. Can he stick at AAA? Maybe we will find out next year. Stats.

C.J. Riefenhauser (LHRP) came up from Montgomery at the beginning of July and yet only appeared in 17 games and just 21 innings. He did OK, but each year of his professional career he’s been pitching fewer and fewer innings (2011 - 138, 2012 - 114, 2013 - 73). That leads to concerns about his fundamental strength and durability. He had one of the better WHIP (1.06) of the Bulls and if his time in Montgomery is included it was superb (0.83). Maybe it’s just a matter of opportunity. We’ll have to see next year. Stats.

Brandon Gomes (RHRP) spent a couple of weeks with the Bulls in August as he was working his way back to the Rays. Probably more time than he really needed, but the Rays were manipulating their roster at the time and Gomes had options left. He was very helpful as he pitched 10⅓ innings over 9 games with a WHIP of just 0.77. Stats.

Enny Romero (LHSP) was in only one regular season game for the Bulls, but that was a brilliant 8-inning shutout of the Norfolk Tides the last game of the year. He went on to pitch 2 innings in relief in the playoffs and after the AAA season’s end got called up to the Rays for one game start against Baltimore where he got a win. He had an excellent year in Montgomery, so we can expect him to start 2014 as a top Rays prospect, possibly with the Bulls. He is now on the Rays’ 40-man, although he was not at the end of the Bulls’ season. Stats.

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Players Not in the Charts

Ramon Ramirez (RHRP) was hired by the Rays in mid-July in what has to be described as a speculative flyer. At the time, however, there were a lot of Rays pitchers with injury problems. Ramirez appeared in just 6 games for the Bulls and pitched only 6 innings before being released at the end of the month. Stats.

Matt Moore (LHSP) had a one-game, 4-inning rehab appearance on August 29. Didn’t do all that great, but the Bulls won the game against the Braves 7-6. Adam Liberatore got the win. Box.

Craig Albernaz is a catcher, not a pitcher, but he did have three appearances on the mound this year and pitched three scoreless innings, allowing only one hit and recording 2 strikeouts. Not one walk. Well done!

Braulio Lara (LHRP) came up from Montgomery at the very end of the season and pitched 3 innings in relief of Juan Sandoval, who had come up to pitch in that same game. He had a busy 45 game, 72 inning year in Montgomery, but did not have all that strong a set of numbers (ERA 4.38, WHIP 1.54). Stats.

Austin Hubbard (RHRP) came up from Single A Charlotte for just one game in mid-May when the Bulls were on the road in Rochester. The Red Wings scored 5 runs off of him in just ⅔ of an inning (they had earlier scored 5 runs in one inning off of Jim Paduch). He then went off to Montgomery where he had 31 more  not particularly good innings on the year. The relentless arithmetic of baseball stats left him with the highest ERA of any Bull this year (67.5) and the lowest number of innings pitched (⅔). No surprise if you think about it. Stats.

The Durham Bulls in 2013 — Pitchers — Part 1

Twenty-six ballplayers pitched for the Durham Bulls in 2013. They ranged from stalwarts like J.D. Martin who appeared in 27 games and pitched 160⅓ innings or Kirby Yates who was in 51 games for 61⅔ innings, to young Austin Hubbard who pitched just ⅔ of an inning. The number of pitchers in a given year is highly variable at any level of baseball and this years seemed about normal. The Bulls had 25 pitchers in 2012, 33 in 2011, 25 in 2010, 34 in 2009,  and 27 in 2008. Some of those pitchers were position players brought in to finish a out-of-reach games and some were rehabbing major leaguers just passing through on their way back to the big leagues.

The table is sorted by innings pitched. Left-handed pitchers are marked with an asterisk (*). Players on the Tampa Bay Rays 40-man roster are marked with a dagger (†). We’ve only picked out a few key stats for the table. For more details, check out the Baseball Reference or Fangraphs pages. The chart at the end of the post pulls out just the innings pitched.

The starting rotation for the Bulls as 2013 began was Chris Archer, Alex Colome, Mike Montgomery, Jake Odorizzi, and Alexander Torres. Mike Montgomery went on the DL after his first 3⅔ inning appearance and J.D. Martin was moved into the rotation.

	Age	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	WHIP	FIP
J.D. Martin	30	16	4	2.75	27	27	160.1	1.21	3.62
Jake Odorizzi†	23	9	6	3.33	22	22	124.1	1.13	3.45
Mike Montgomery*†	23	7	8	4.72	20	19	108.2	1.46	4.35
Matt Buschmann	29	8	2	2.97	18	17	97.0	1.28	3.14
Merrill Kelly	24	8	4	3.19	15	14	84.2	1.28	3.47
Alex Colome†	24	4	6	3.07	14	14	70.1	1.31	3.48
Steve Geltz	25	5	3	2.82	41	0	67.0	0.88	3.48
Kirby Yates	26	3	2	1.90	51	0	61.2	0.97	1.97
Adam Liberatore*	26	5	3	3.58	43	0	60.1	1.24	2.42
Josh Lueke†	28	3	1	0.63	40	0	57.1	0.98	1.49
Chris Archer†	24	5	3	3.96	10	10	50.0	1.46	4.18
Cory Wade	30	4	1	2.17	30	5	49.2	1.11	3.68
Alex Torres*†	25	2	2	3.52	9	9	46.0	1.20	2.61
Jeff Beliveau*†	26	2	3	2.62	38	0	44.2	1.41	1.63
Jim Paduch	30	2	3	7.54	12	3	37.0	1.84	6.85
Frank De Los Santos*	25	1	2	5.34	26	0	32.0	1.59	4.51
Will Inman	26	0	2	6.47	21	0	32.0	1.66	6.17
Juan Sandoval	32	1	1	3.13	12	2	23.0	1.00	3.98
C.J. Riefenhauser*	23	2	1	3.05	17	0	20.2	1.11	3.49
Brandon Gomes†	28	0	0	2.61	9	0	10.1	0.77	2.33
Enny Romero*	22	0	0	0.00	1	1	8.0	0.75	3.45
Ramon Ramirez	31	0	0	2.84	6	0	6.1	0.95	1.46
Matt Moore*†	24	0	0	9.00	1	1	4.0	2.50	3.7
Craig Albernaz	30	0	0	0.00	3	0	3.0	0.33	1.87
Braulio Lara*	24	0	0	0.00	1	0	3.0	0.33	2.2
Austin Hubbard	25	0	0	67.50	1	0	0.2	10.50	13.7

2013 Durham Bulls Pitchers, Sorted by Innings Pitched

J.D. Martin (RHSP), as has been often stated here, was the leader of the starting pitching staff this year. His numbers are simply superb, but, as important, he was available every fifth day all year long, something that could not be said for any other starting pitcher on the team. That sort of stability is key to a team at any level, but possibly even more so at Triple-A ball. He won all sorts of awards this year, and deserved every one of them. He got a September call up for one day and accepted assignment back to the Bulls a day later. He is, or will become, a free agent, so it’s anyone’s guess on whether he sticks with the Rays system next year. He’s WDBB’s pitcher of the year. Stats.

Jake Odorizzi (RHSP) is likely one of the upcoming stars for the Tampa Bay Rays. In addition to being the Bulls’ #2 starter, he  appeared in 7 games with the Rays (29⅔ innings). His numbers are not spectacular, but they are certainly more than enough to make him look good for the future with the Rays. He was a September callup and it remains to be seen if he will be on the post-season roster(s). Stats.

Mike Montgomery (LHSP) was an instance of the Bulls being a place where a prospect works on his game — sometimes without a lot of success. Montgomery put in a lot of innings, but on a per game basis he rarely went long. He only pitched in one game before going on the DL early in the season. After his return in late May he made his turn in the rotation, but was rarely effective. Teams do not give up on left-handers with promise. He will probably be back next year and maybe deliver then. Stats.

Matt Buschmann (RHSP) is a surprising guy in a couple of ways. At 29 you’d think he’d be further along in his career path, but for now he was very, very good with the Biscuits and the Bulls this year. He came over to the Bulls at the end of May after the Rays had called up Archer and Torres, and Montgomery went on the DL, He is exactly the kind of guy WDBB likes. He carried the second best ERA among the regular starters. Looking back, we wish we’d written more about him. Terrific numbers. Kept the Bulls in the game. Won a bunch of games. Here’s hoping he’s back next year. Stats.

Merrill Kelly (RHSP) came over from AA Montgomery and pitched his first game on June 14. I’m looking forward to seeing how this young pitcher develops. He was the 5th man in a very solid end-season rotation. Fun to watch.  Stats.

Alex Colome (RHSP) did not have a good year, and I was surprised to see how many innings he pitched (70⅓). Early on he did have a great run of three games (5/13, 5/18, and 5/24). He was called up  to the Rays and started and won a game on May 30. He came back to the Bulls after that and appeared in 4 games before going back to Rays to appear in (and lose) two games. He came back to Durham not long after that, but was placed on the 60-day Disabled List in late June/early July before going back in the lineup. In tried and true Rays tradition, we have not heard a word since. Stats.
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Continued in Part 2

Good Morning From the DBAP

Seats are gone. Dirt's going. Stadium Cam.

DBAP, 3 Oct, 0931

The Last AL Wild Card Chart

The Rays and the Rangers played a tie-breaker last night and the Rays won 5-2. That puts an end to an exciting couple of weeks and sets the stage for Wednesday’s beginning of the post-season with the Rays at Indians. Both teams had a good month. Both teams will be adjusting their rosters. Should be a fun game to watch, even though we really don’t like the idea of single game playoffs.

But the run for the Wild Card is over and here’s the last 2013 American League Wild Chart chart.

Bulls’ Kiermaier in Final Rays’ Game

Kevin Kiermaier, 9th Inning, Rays v Rangers, Sep 30, 2013
Thanks to Rays Index for GIF

Bottom of the 9th, Rays ahead of the Rangers 5-2. The Rays’ Sam Fuld had come in to play center field in place of Desmond Jennings a bit earlier. Fuld had just scored that 5th run with some aggressive baserunning in the top of the 9th. With no dramatic music at all we get a camera shot of Kevin Kiermaier out in center field and see that Fuld in now in right field. So it’s Kiermaier for Wil Myers. Kiermaier to center, Fuld to right, and our guy is in the game. Smart (in our opinion) move. Help out on defense on the year’s crucial game. Win this one and go into the post-season.

This is a Moonlight Graham moment and Kiermaier’s official stat page is spookily similar to one from 1905 for North Carolina's Archibald Graham. That’s going to change, of course, but for now we could not be happier for the young man who helped the Bulls into the Governors’ Cup. Over in Montgomery, where he accumulated a bunch of awards this year, they are happy too. Box score.

Ordinarily at this point we’d provide a link to the Tampa Bay Times (née the St. Petersburg Times), but we won’t be doing that any more. They have just taken their Rays’ coverage behind a paywall and we don’t think we should link to for-pay coverage.

I have no idea how creative the Rays' had to be with their roster to get Kiermaier into the game. At a guess, they probably gave up on a rehabber and put him on the DL. But now I think that the Rays’ have to go back to a 25-man roster. My guess is that Kiermaier might not stay with the team. We’ll see. But by coming in the game yesterday it means that he’s on the Rays’ 40-man and that could last all the way into 2014 for him. Great!

Update: Pre-game comments from Kiermaier after his call-up.