Last Durham Bulls Homestand of 2023

Standings

The Durham Bulls had a fine week over in Charlotte, winning 5 out of 6 games and stabilizing their hold on first place in the International League. Solid pitching and exceptional hitting kept the key team metrics moving up. Run differential (+89), Team OPS (.824), and Team ERA (4.68) are the best they’ve been all season.  

With 12 games left in the regular season and a 2-game lead, the key will be to stay focused as Tampa Bay makes a run at the Orioles this month. Meanwhile, their nearest competitors are facing a mixed bag of opponents. Second-place Lehigh Valley has six games against 16th-place Rochester; third-place Buffalo is playing 9th-place Scranton/Willkes-Barre. The season is far from over.

Near-term, the Rays have to figure out what to do to replace Jose Siri, whose hand got broken yesterday. They will surely reach down to Durham. Rehabing Manuel Margot is supposed to show up at the DBAP today. He would be a maybe. The only position player left who’s on the 40-man is Curtis Mead, but the Rays are exceptionally creative about manipulating that constraint and could call someone else up. Billy Hamilton is reportedly lurking somewhere in the Rays' system. It would be a bit ironic if he showed up at the DBAP. He could have been here back in 2013 playing for the Louisville Bats.

Matchup

Matchup: Bulls vs Bats, September 11, 2023
As of September 9	W-L	Rk	RDiff	OPS	ERA	WHIP	uERA
Durham Bulls (Rays)	40-23	1	89	.824	4.66	1.44	.647
Louisville Bats (Reds)	30-33	15	-46	.860	6.15	1.65	.481
RDiff-Run differential;  Rk - Rank in International League; WHIP - Walks/Hits per Inning; uERA-unearned runs per 9 innings

The Louisville Bats are the Triple-A franchise of the Cincinnati Reds. The Bulls have not played them this year. They have not had a very good year when it comes to wins and losses. However, they are the best hitting team in the International League and very likely to challenge the Bulls' pitching crew. 

This is our last chance to watch the Bulls at the DBAP this year. Wish them well. Hope they keep on playing at the end of the month.