Durham Bulls Starts Second Half

The Bulls matched against last week's opponent (Norfolk, currently in 5th place), next Friday's opp (St Paul, in 1st place), and next Monday's (Rochester, currently tied with the Bulls in 3rd)

The International League doesn't have an All-Star game anymore, but it does take an All-Star break along with the Majors. That means we won't have any games until next Friday. How are the Durham Bulls doing in the second half?

After 6 games in Jacksonville (3-3) and splitting 6 games at the DBAP at home against Norfolk. the Bulls are 6-6. That puts them in 11th place in the 20-team International League, but just three games back from 1st place St Paul. Standings. 

Not too much has changed in the stats to begin the 2nd half. The most worrisome is the dismal strikeout pattern. The Bulls are the worst in the league. And they lead the league in getting caught stealing. That leads to some worries about the coaching staff.

On the other hand, if you would like to see/hear some baseball thrills at their finest, you could do no worse than to cue up your MiLB-TV app and replay the bottom of the 9th of the Bulls/Tides 4th of July game. Fast forward to 3:25 or so. The crowd was huge, 11,000, because of the postgame fireworks show. The Bulls were losing 0-5, but folks started chanting because, oh, why the hell not? The Bulls did get a couple of runners on, but also got up to two outs and a 3-2 count. And then ... Well you'll have to watch it yourself. See the link Enjoy.

Matchup

Matchup: Bulls vs Saints, July 14, 2023
As of July 9, 2023	W-L	Rk	RDiff	OPS	ERA	WHIP	Fld%
Durham Bulls (Rays)	6-6	11	11	.808	4.88	1.44	.977
St Paul Saints (Twins)	9-3	1	46	.833	4.67	1.55	.984
RDiff-Run differential;  Rk - Rank in International League; WHIP - Walks/Hits per Inning;

After the All-Star break the Bulls are off to St Paul, Minnesota for their first-ever game against the Twins AAA franchise, the St Paul Saints. The Saints are a very good team. Notable is a roster that includes 6 batters with OPSs over .900. Since Jonathan Aranda got called up, the Bulls are down to 0 batters over .900 (not counting young Blake Hunt). Now, there's no telling how many of those guys will be with the Saints next Friday, but probably most of them.

After three days in St Paul, the Bulls go around a couple of Great Lakes to Rochester, New York to play 6 games against the Rochester Red Wings. They aren't back in town until July 25th. Looks like the DBAP will be getting a long rest.