Bulls Back in Town

 

The Bulls did not have a particularly successful post-All-Star trip. They won 4 games, two against St Paul and 2 against Rochester, and lost 5, 1 to St Paul and 4 to Rochester. They now stand 10-11 for the 2nd half of the season. That puts them in a tie for 14th place in a 20-team league, almost 200 percentage points behind the league leaders Worcester and Lehigh Valley. Standings.

Statistically, last week was pretty much a wash. They ended up 10th in OPS and 5th in ERA. They are not helping each other on offense with awful, league-leading strikeout numbers, 974. Roughly a quarter of the time a Bull comes to bat he strikes out. And they are not running bases very well, 16th in total number of bases stolen (74) and they lead the league in number of times caught stealing (40). Stats.

About them Rays

Meanwhile, The Bulls' parent club, the Tampa Bay Rays, are having an awful July. See chart at the top. After leading the American League East (and most of the rest of baseball) since the beginning of the season, they dropped 3 of 4 against the Baltimore Orioles. At home. In their own bandbox-by-the-bay. Ugly, ugly, ugly.

Matchup

Matchup: Bulls vs Knights, July 24, 2023
As of July 23	W-L	Rk	RDiff	OPS	ERA	WHIP	Fld%
Durham Bulls (Rays)	10-11	14	9	.803	4.89	1.44	.977
Charlotte Knights (White Sox)	3-17	20	-84	.741	6.32	1.72	.978
RDiff-Run differential;  Rk - Rank in International League; WHIP - Walks/Hits per Inning;

The Charlotte Knights are in town. They are having a much worse second half than the Bulls. They've only won 3 games so far and have stats to match. The last time they were in town, June 13-18, however, they won 3 of 6.