Not a Good Home Stand

Season: 3-6; Home Stand: 0-3
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun [Paywall]

We saw youngish (26) Jim Patterson a few times early last year. He went back to Montgomery for the rest of 2014. [stats]. After one inning in relief by new guy Andy Oliver, Mr. Patterson came on in the 6th inning with the Bulls up 2 to 1. He got out of the inning, but first gave up a single, two wild pitches, and a walk, putting runners on first and third with just one out. A popup to the catcher and soft line drive to Lee at SS let him escape.

The 7th started with a single and a fly out to center field. But then there was a walk, followed by a visit to the mound by new pitching coach Kyle Snyder. Impossible to know what Snyder and Patterson talked about. It sure seemed to us that when Snyder got back to the dugout he and manager Jared Sandberg decided to let Patterson twist in the breeze (or maybe it was before Snyder went to the mound). No pitcher began warming up. Instead we fans were treated to: a hit batsman that loaded the bases; a single that scored two runs; a single that scored another run; a sacrifice fly that scored a run; a single; and, at last, a grounder to short to end the inning. 4 runs. Bulls behind 5-3. At the end of the inning there still wasn't a reliever warming up.

Déjà vu, we’ve seen this before, just the day before. On Thursday Matt Buschmann was similarly left dangling.

Interesting, if that’s what you want to call it, but my section of the stands got up and left after that, even though the game was not out of reach. That did not happen until the 9th when 4 runs were scored off of Jim Miller. Still, the pitching side of this year’s crew leaves something to be desired.

On the other side, Taylor Motter had a good night. Mr. Motter is one of the few “prospects” on this year’s Bulls team. At 25, he is working his way up through the Rays system. He had a good year at Montgomery last year (stats) but had only had one hit so far this year in 22 ABs. He went 4 for 5 last night (single, two doubles, and a home run). He has experience at 3B, so we might see him there this year as well.

Outside the game —

• C.J. Riefenhauser was called up to Tampa Bay. He pitched a scoreless 7th inning for the Rays last night.
• Ryan Brett, who’s been playing mostly at 2B, was called up. He was the Montgomery Biscuits’ MVP last year and, with Motter, a ‘prospect’. [stats] Apparently callup related to Longoria injury.  As a Bull, he had 6 games at 2B and 2 in the outfield (first pro experience in the outfield) and was hitting .226 in 31 ABs. He will be back.
• Catcher Mayo Acosta was “assigned to Hudson Valley”. For those new to WDBB, assignment to the Hudson Valley roster is usually a paper transaction. It does not mean that Acosta has left the team, but it does mean that he cannot play in a game until he’s added back. Acosta has played in two games this year and is 0-4, so far.
• Outfielder Mikie Mahtook is back from Tampa Bay. We saw him in the dugout last night, so he hurried back. As far as I can tell, he almost no playing time with the Rays, although he did hit a pitch hit home run as his first major league hit.
• Relief pitcher Andy Oliver was recently signed by the Rays and sent to Durham. Story here. He has a lot of AAA time with Toledo (Detroit) and Indianapolis (Pittsburg) both as a starter and as a reliever. [Stats] He pitched last night, as noted above, and did OK. First game appearance this year.
• J.P. Arencibia has also been signed to a minor league deal and sent to the Bulls. We saw him leaning on the dugout rail last night. Although he has played catcher most of his career, reportage out of Tampa implies he is lined up for a DH/1B role. [stats]
• Six transactions in one day! And the Bulls are still short one player for their active roster.
• I tried the Rise Donut stand on the 1B side of the concourse last night. Apple fritter was terrific! Will be working my way through their offerings.