Georgia to Virginia

The Bulls swept the Gwinnett Stripers and now go head-to-head with the South Division leader the Norfolk Tides, the Orioles AAA franchise. The Bulls are only 1/2 game back and are on something of a roll. The Tides just finished a losing series with Charlotte.

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Matchup

The matchup is pretty close. Durham certainly has the overall edge in pitching, but otherwise, it looks as if the teams (and fans) are going to have some fun.

Bulls Off to Georgia After Great Week

The Durham Bulls did a fine job in this 6-game home stand, winning 4 games against decent North Division teams. They ended up two games below .500 and in second place in the South Division, 2 1/2 games behind Norfolk. Standings

Team ERA showed a modest improvement, going from 2.72 down to 2.63. Team OPS improvement was impressive, from .642 to .692 in just six games.

The individual player story-of-the-week was, of course, Willy Adames, who hit a grand slam on Sunday, then hit for the cycle on Monday. Those heroics were still not enough to get noticed by the Durham Herald-Sun, but did merit a mention several days later in the Raleigh News & Observer. In addition to Adames' 2 homers, we saw 5 other home runs by Jason Coats (2), Adam Moore (1), Brandon Snyder (1), and Jake Bauers (1).

Matchup

The Bulls are off to Lawrenceville, Georgia to play three games against Atlanta's AAA affiliate, the Gwinnett Stripers. They then take the bus and drive past Durham to get to Norfolk for three games against the Tides.

I failed to mention that one of our favorite guys from 2016 is now with the Stripers, Jaff Decker. I liked the way he played the game in his time with the Bulls.

Slamer Shutout

April 23, Game 15
Durham Bulls 10; Lehigh Valley IronPigs 0
Wrap, Box

A grand slam off the Bull is very cool. Congrats to Willy Adames (and to Jason Coats for his homer). And the first shutout of the year is also nice. Are the Bulls getting on track? Maybe.

Meanwhile, young Andrew Velazquez at second base is a serious talent and fun to watch. Nice to know that the Bulls can deal with Kean Wong's trip to the DL without great harm.

More Press Grumbles

We didn't write all that much about Danny Farquhar while he was a Bull in 2016 (although we did misspell his name a lot — three times in one post). Still, if we had a decent sports press corps in the area we'd at least know a little bit about what now seems to be a really interesting guy. See today's USA Today.

Matchup

The Buffalo Bisons suffer from playing in Buffalo — they've played four fewer games than the Bulls this year (rain, sleet, snow, etc). At that, however, they outmatch the Bulls in hitting by a quite a bit. On the other hand, the Bulls have the best ERA in the league. On the Bisons' pitching staff is young Taylor Guerrieri, a first-round pick of the Rays with 5 productive years in the system, who had two starts with the Bulls last year, and then ended up in the Blue Jays system. Looks like they are using him as a reliever.

Pitcher Worries

April 22, Game 14
Durham Bulls 4; Lehigh Valley IronPigs 8
Wrap, Box

Anthony Banda has only had four appearances, but his game score trend is disturbing (50 is "average"). Last night it was either strike 'em out or give up a solid hit. I only recall one easy infield ground ball. No doubt he's a talented guy, but here's hoping he gets into a rhythm.

Otherwise, Lehigh Valley's 22-year-old Enyel De Los Santos was an uncomfortable pleasure to watch. Assuming he doesn't blow out his arm along the way, he's going to be a star.

Grumble of the day:

The Bulls hometown newspaper, the Durham Herald-Sun, has not run a single game story since opening day. Must be awfully lonely up there in the press box. Has anyone else seen any stories that were not re-writes of the Bulls' own press releases?

You'd think they'd at least mention the hospitalization of Danny Farquhar who pitched in 32 games for the Bulls. The Tampa Bay Times had a nice piece.

Back From the Cold

I'm struggling to find something good to say about the Bulls' trip to Ohio. The weather was awful with one rainout and one game shortened by snow. Most games were played with temperatures in the 30's and low 40's. And, as might be expected, played to essentially empty stadiums in Columbus and Toledo.

The Bulls lost 5 of the 6 games played.

They arrived back in Durham in last place in the International League South Division.

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The team taking the field tonight changed quite a bit during its trek through the frozen north:

• RHRP Ryan Weber came down from Tampa Bay (he had one appearance as a Ray). So far he has 1 inning with a blown save as a Bull.
• RHSP/RP Chih-We Hu went to Tampa Bay, put in 2 2/3 innings in relief, and has come back.
• Switch-hitting infielder Andrew Velazquez came up from Montgomery and has stolen 4 bases in two games so far.
• Infielder Christian Arroyo went on the DL
• RHRP Hunter Wood was called up to Tampa Bay 
• Infielder Brandon Snyder was called up to Tampa Bay
• Infielder Jake Cronenworth came up from Montgomery and has played in two games.
• Outfielder Johnny Field was called up to the Rays.

Matchup

The Phillies AAA franchise the Lehigh Valley IronPigs are having a decent start to the year. They are in the middle of the pack in the IL North (standings). Plus they are the only other team in AAA baseball with a fan blog (although they, like us, have not been all that busy this year).

They are obviously hitting and fielding very well (only 1 unearned run).

Matchup: Bulls v Mud Hens

Ugly, ugly weather up in Ohio. Supposed to be around 38˚ at game time.

The big, big deal for WDBB is that Mikie Mahtook will be playing with the Mud Hens. Mikie came to the Bulls back in 2014 and played some terrific ball for the Bulls. He went back and forth with the Rays until going off to the Detroit Tigers for the 2017 season, when he had a good year. He appears to be caught in some roster turmoil, is off to a slow start, and had options left. I'm skeptical. I always like watching him play, so I hope my MiLB connection is working over the next couple of days.

Matchup

The Mud Hens are off to a good start. Most notable is their defense. They've only given up 2 unearned runs this year (the Bulls have given up 6).

Bulls Split Homestand, Off to Columbus

The Bulls started the season with a 3-3 homestand. And looked OK.

On Twitter we're hearing that Johnny Field has been called up and the Bulls roster shows outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker coming down from Tampa Bay. Very pleased to see Field get his chance.

The Bulls are off for their first out-of-Division games this year with a trip to Columbus to play Cleveland franchise, the Clippers, then off to Toledo to play the Detroit franchise, the Mud Hens. The Clippers are the frequent power in the West Division. So far this year their pitching isn't helping them much. But it's very, very early days.

Even Up

Game 3
Durham Bulls 0; Charlotte Knights 5
Wrap, Box

Game 4
Durham Bulls 4; Gwinnett Stripers 2
Wrap, Box

Season: 2-2

Ugly weather day at the DBAP. I never made it out there.  I watched via MiLB. I have to point out that the two Bulls wins so far have been gifts from the opposing pitchers. But it's early days.

Who Are These Guys? - The Pitchers

(In order of appearance this year)

• Chih-Wei Hu, RHSP, got the first start. This will be the third year that he's spent time with the Bulls. Last year he began as a starter and finished as a reliever. Now he's back as a starter. His first appearance this year was not very impressive.
• Cody Hall, RHRP,  is coming to the Bulls out of indy ball, but has a fair amount of AAA time with Pacific Coast League teams. He's appeared in relief in Games 1 and 4 (getting a win)
• Adam Kolarek, LHRP, is a back-and-forth to the Rays reliever from the last two years and we like him a lot. He did give up some hits in his first appearance, but did fine his second time out.
• Ryne Stanek, RHRP, had 36 appearances with the Bulls and 19 with the Rays last year. He's already made three this year. Not sure why he didn't stay with Rays out of spring training, but likely to go back any day now.
• Anthony Banda, LHSP, started game 2 and he looked very good. Banda was part of a complicated trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks and is considered a top prospect. He is on the Rays 40-man.
• Ian Gibault, RHRP, is coming up through the Rays system. His relief appearance in game 2 was his AAA debut. 
• Hunter Wood, RHRP,  was a really interesting guy to watch last year and extremely important in the playoffs. He's made two appearances and picked up his first save yesterday.
• Jose Mujica, RHSP, got the start (his AAA debut) and the loss for game 3. He is the youngest pitcher on the team, coming up through the Rays system. My guess is that he will be either stick around and be thoroughly tested or go back to AA for more work.
• Jonny Venters, LHRP, made his first appearance in game 3. He was helpful in the playoffs last year, but mostly he's been battling injuries for the last several years as he recovers from Tommy John surgeries. He could be a real asset if he continues on his healing track.
• Jamie Schultz, RHRP, is back and we're happy about that. He's running out of time, but we love seeing him on the mound. Good luck. 
• Diego Castillo, RHRP, opened his 2018 season with one inning's work and 3K's. We would expect no less. He had 3 saves in the playoffs, following a terrific post-All-Star break season with the Bulls.
• Vidal Nuno, LHSP,  started game 4. He's bounced around a lot in his career over several years and a good bit of major league time. He looked just fine yesterday, just giving up the one home run. 
• Forrest Snow, RHRP, made his first appearance in game 4. He's got AAA time over 8 seasons. He took free agency at the end of last season and was signed by the Rays.

Note: RHP Ryan Weber never made it to the mound. He was called up by the Rays during the Bulls game 3

Taking the 5th

Game 2
Durham Bulls: 11; Charlotte Knights: 1
Wrap, Box, Play-by-Play, Video (Banda strike 'im out, Moore throw 'im out)

Charlotte's Chris Volstad gave up a couple of runs in the 5th, so reliever Robbie Ross came in and threw a couple of wild pitches moving runners around, then a walk, then two singles, and then another walk. Rose left the game with 4 earned runs and an essentially infinite ERA on the year. By the time Ross' replacement, Tyler Danish, finished the inning the Bulls had scored 8 of their 11 runs. A big inning on a big night.

Bulls starting pitcher Anthony Banda, out of the Arizona system, was impressive.

Who are these guys? (continued)

• Brandon Snyder started at 3B and batted 5th in the order last night. If he looks familiar, that might be because he's played with almost every team in the International League including Norfolk, Pawtucket, Gwinnett, and Syracuse. He brings a wealth of experience to this young team. Last night he was 1 for 4.
• Micah Johnson started in center field and batted 6th. He is out of the Atlanta system with time with both the Charlotte Knights in 2015 and Gwinnett last year. He was 2 for 4 last night with 2 RBI.
• Adam Moore started at catcher and batted 9th. Moore is the "old man" on the team at 34. He spent the last two years with Columbus and can be seen at work in the video above with a nice strike 'im out, throw 'im out sequence. He was 2 for 5 last night with 3 RBI.

I'll get around to the pitchers eventually.

Weather for tonight does not look good. Let me refer you to my advice on dealing with rain up to the right, or you can click here.

The 2018 Season Begins

Game 1
Durham Bulls: 2; Charlotte Knights: 6
Wrap, Box

Who are these guys?

• Christian Arroyo played 3B and led off. He went 0-4. He was a key part of the Rays' Evan Longoria trade. On 40-man. 
• Jake Bauers played 1B and batted second. He went 2-4 with two doubles. He was a star last year and we're happy to see him back, if only for a little while. 
• Willy Adames started at SS and batted third. He went 1-4 and got on base with a HBP. He looked good last year (with the most starts of any Bull). Also on the 40-man, it's guesswork to determine how long he will be here.
• Joe McCarthy, in left field, is new to the Bulls and he started as the cleanup batter. He went 1-4 with a double. He's been coming up through the Rays system for the last three years (all of last year with Montgomery). Staring his first AAA game batting cleanup says something about him.
• Jason Coats, the designated hitter, is out of the White Sox system. He missed all of 2017 with an injury. He was 1 for 4 last night.
• Justin Williams, batting 6th, was in right field. He spent all last season in Montgomery, but came to the Bulls in the post-season and played well. He's on the 40-man.
• Johnny Field, in center field, batted 7th. Last year he was our favorite leadoff batter. Maybe he'll get back to it. 1 for 4 last night.
• Kean Wong, 2B. Hero of the postseason with his grand slam in the championship game, he is a fun-to-watch infielder. And, here's a fun bit of trivia, at 23 the oldest of this game's infielders. It's a young team this year.
• Curt Casali, catcher, has spent a lot of time in Durham over the last several years. He is essentially the Tampa Bay Rays backup catcher (although this year they'll have to do some roster manipulation to call him up). In our view, he's very important to this year's team. Hope he sticks with the Bulls for a while.

Pitchers? We'll get to them later.

Opening Day Comments

The video board did not get into full operation until about the 5th inning and I was surprised at how much I missed not having the lineup right in front of me. By the end of the game, however, things appeared to be on track.

Very pleased to hear broadcaster Patrick Kenas and his sometime partner Scott Pose back on the job. They are clearly the best broadcast crew in AAA baseball (and I have listened to all of the broadcasters in the International League). That said, however, the feed dropped out last night for an annoying 15 or 20 minutes. Listen on various apps, or 620 AM, 96.5 and 99.3 FM. Note: All games are streamed via MiLB.com and later in the season most games are on broadcast TV.

2018 Roster Announced

We'll have comments later, but first here's a link to the

2018 Durham Bulls Opening Day Roster.

A quick glance here shows 7 pitchers and 4 position players on the Rays' 40-man roster (about average). Several familiar names.

Durham Bulls Basics - 2018 - Part 3

The Players

Each of the 30 major league teams has 25 players = 750 major league baseball players(!). Out of those 25, usually 13 are pitchers and 12 are position players = 390 pitchers (usually 5 starters - 150; and 8 relievers - 240); 360 position players. Of those 12 position players, most teams have 2 catchers, 5 infielders, and 5 outfielders.

For those 750 guys who are on a major league roster, we have another 750 players divided into 25 man teams who are in Triple-A and, trust me, every one of them could be playing in the major leagues today.

How do the Durham Bulls fit into that?

Well, now, sigh, we need to talk about the Tampa Bay Rays, who own the players wearing the Durham Bulls uniform. To oversimplify just a bit, the Tampa Bay Rays have a contract to provide the Durham Bulls a baseball team. In turn, the Durham Bulls provide a place to play and folks to cheer them on (that would be us).

To clear up some possible confusion, the Tampa Bay Rays play baseball in St. Petersburg, Florida, not Tampa, in a much-maligned, but actually not too bad, domed stadium. That may come as a bit of a surprise to those not familiar with Florida geography (or modern marketing strategies).

As mentioned above, major league team consists of 25 players on the “active” roster. Those are the guys in the games and in the box scores, traveling in chartered airplanes, and making decent, sometimes obscene, amounts of money.

The 40-man Roster

An additional 15 players are added the 25 to make up a 40-man roster. In general, once a player makes it to the 25-man "active" roster he stays there (unless traded, sold, released, or designated for assignment). For players who have been around for a while, there are all sorts of byzantine rules regarding how this works. To complicate matters, the rules were recently changed to allow major league teams to expand their roster to 26 on days that they have a double-header. What matters to Bulls fans, however, is that a Bull cannot be called up to play in a Rays game (even to temporarily replace an injured player) unless he is first on the 40-man roster.

Here in Durham, we are not much interested in the active roster. What matters to Bulls fans are those 15 ballplayers who are on the Rays 40-man but not on the active roster. Members of that 15 man group usually make up the heart of the Durham Bulls.

If previous years are typical, we can expect that 11 to 12 of the players on the 40-man will be assigned to Durham and they will probably be split about 6 or 7 pitchers and 4 or 5 position players. Of the pitchers, one or two will be prospective starting pitchers, the other potential relievers. Fairly often when WDBB writes about a Bull we will mention whether or not he’s on the 40-man.

What about the rest of the team? Without exception — and this is part of what makes AAA baseball so much fun — they are ballplayers who have played, or are judged capable of playing, at the major league level. The precise reason why they are not playing there is also part of the fun — too young, too old, no room at the top, needs to work on a specific skill — sometimes all of the above.

The odds of a player called up are pretty good. There are enough injuries and trades in a given year that almost all of the players on the 40-man who start the year with the Bulls will at least get a few days with the Rays. Some will go there and stay.

However, unless Tampa Bay takes someone off the 40-man, a non-40 man player cannot be called up. Adjustment to the 40-man roster can, and does, happen — just not very often. On the other hand, the Rays are nothing if not creative in gaming the system.

The 40-man roster also has an effect on how the players who are with the Bulls are used. For example, pitchers may be on limited pitch counts and/or working on specific pitches that the Rays have decided the pitcher needs to develop. Relievers may be tested to see if they can do two days in a row, or “tried out” as a closer. We will see infielders playing the outfield (and vice versa).

My point is that sometimes what we see on the field is decided in St. Petersburg, not in the Bulls’ clubhouse. The Rays really aren’t particularly interested in the Bulls’ won-loss record. So, we will inevitably see some unfortunate (for Bulls fans) decisions, such as a player being called up, sitting on the Rays’ bench for a couple of weeks, then coming back to Durham with his timing shot and struggling at bat. And with this new 26 man roster for doubleheader rule, Bulls’ pitching rotations can get really screwed up with a pitcher being called up for a spot start and then coming back.

Nevertheless, we cannot avoid the fact that the Durham Bulls live and die at the whim of the Tampa Bay Rays' front office. What’s fortunate for Bulls fans is that the Rays have invested a ton of effort into building a steady stream of talent to feed into the big team. More than that, in the Rays system very few upcoming prospects just “pass through” AAA-level ball. Time with the Bulls is a real and very serious testing ground for pitchers and hitters. That means we will get to see some very talented ballplayers with first-rate managing/coaching crew. Lastly, without the Rays, we wouldn’t have AAA ball here at all.

All of which is not going to keep me from complaining about the Rays. Hey, it’s baseball!

More Stuff

For  more background on the 114 years of Durham Bulls history, check out the Bulls’ History link page and their Wikipedia page.

For a terrific book about Triple-A baseball, the Durham Bulls, and sheer great writing and photography, you cannot go wrong by picking up a copy of Bull City Summer. Available at local bookstores,  or online shops. We reviewed the book here.

See also Durham Bulls Basics - Part 1 and Part 2