AAA Durham Bulls

[MagicRays]

Kirby Yates threw only 1 called ball to the first 4 batters he faced tonight. Perfect pitching for 5 outs to close out the game.

The whole team contributed on offense tonight, but Myers collected 3 more strike outs unfortunately.

[craig01]

Kirby Yates threw only 1 called ball to the first 4 batters he faced tonight. Perfect pitching for 5 outs to close out the game.

The whole team contributed on offense tonight, but Myers collected 3 more strike outs unfortunately.

The K's are what the resistance from Myers is about

Rays want him to shorten his swing, Myers wants to swing for the fences.

[MagicRays]

I believe Belnome's natural position is 3B. My thinking is we acquired him for insurance to cover down during Longo injuries. In the meantime, he's working on a transition to 2B to get into our lineup on a more permanent basis by filling a role we need more than just spelling an all star. To make his resume better, he's a lefty at the plate. Scott's days may be numbered if he can't get in the groove.

[MagicRays]

No Rays game today. Thankfully I have the Bulls to watch today!

[craig01]

No Rays game today. Thankfully I have the Bulls to watch today!

Your dedication is admired ....lol

Keep up the good work and us informed
.

Baseball is life .....

[MagicRays]

Guys performing at the plate: Myers, Belnome, Anderson and Bourgeois. Guyer's not doing bad either.

Myers' June numbers: .387 avg, 1.218 ops, 4 stolen bases, 13% strike out rate, 6/12 XBHs. He's on a roll.

Belnome's still getting on base at a blistering pace.


While I write this, Colome is pitching 5.2 innings of 1 run ball.

[MagicRays]

Myers went 1-4 last night with a HR and no SOs. June has been a very good month for him so far.

Leslie Anderson is quietly having a nice year. His OBP is 2nd to Belnome (but by a wide margin), OPS 2nd to Belnome, HR (10) 2nd to Myers (13), all in a large sample size now that we are this far into the season. He does all of this while striking out about 11% of his ABs. To compare, Belnome is at 20% and Myers (though better lately) is at 28% on the season. His issue is 4 errors on the season it looks like.

Yates and Leuke pitched an inning each of no-hit no-walk baseball. Leuke's ERA is night and day from bigs to AAA this season. Makes me wonder if he just had some bad luck moments, or maybe he gets nervous in the spotlight.

[craig01]

Leuke has a lot of potential as far as his stuff and velocity go.

I think if he's able to avoid some of his mistakes, he'll have a shot at being a quality closer down he road.

Myers has been tearing it up, and if he keeps this level of production, the rays will have to get him in the show..

Looking forward to that too.

[MagicRays]

Leuke has a lot of potential as far as his stuff and velocity go.

I think if he's able to avoid some of his mistakes, he'll have a shot at being a quality closer down he road.

Myers has been tearing it up, and if he keeps this level of production, the rays will have to get him in the show..

Looking forward to that too.

I just read that Myers was drafted as a catcher and is transitioning to OF. I see our need for another solid OFer, but I think our biggest glaring hole is at Catcher. Wonder if we considered moving him back to C.

[MagicRays]

Myers gets the call! Roberts optioned down to Durham. Good Luck Wil!

[MagicRays]

Belnome is gonna put SRod out of a job here shortly. He's split his time almost exactly even over 1B/2B/3B/DH, efficiently fielding every infield position and on fire at the plate. I'm not sure why we're holding this guy back at this point. I think we should make room on the 40-man and give this guy a shot down the road, if not sooner. If he continues to perform, he could be our DH with infield utility relief. He doesn't a ton of homers (got his 6th tonight), but man does he get on base often.

DJ (CF)
Zobrist (2B)
Joyce (LF)
Longo (3B)
Myers (RF)
Belnome (DH)
Loney (1B)
Molina (C)
Esobar (SS)

Loney will demand more than we can afford next year at this pace (though he has really cooled off lately). Belnome might take his spot. That would lock up 1B for awhile.

[MagicRays]

Can't help but to continue with the Belnome talk. The dude is on fire. He plays 1B/2B/3B well. He's getting intentional walks in AAA now. Especially great vs LHP but still excellent vs RHP. Not sure why we choose Scott and SRod over this guy.

[craig01]

Can't help but to continue with the Belnome talk. The dude is on fire. He plays 1B/2B/3B well. He's getting intentional walks in AAA now. Especially great vs LHP but still excellent vs RHP. Not sure why we choose Scott and SRod over this guy.

And Ryan Roberts? UGH

[MagicRays]

Rumor is Belnome is held back by lackluster defense. I'll have to look at the advanced stats to confirm or deny that. He's been playing 1B/2B/3B with very few errors and getting on base crazy often.

[craig01]

probably.....Inability to defend well has cost many opportunities in the past.

[MagicRays]

Here's a recent write-up on Belnome:

http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/07/04/ ... inues.html

Injuries held him back in the past. Durham manager says his defense has been better than expected. Nothing else on that though. He might be sugar coating that area of his game, lol. The dude went 1-1 with 3 walks yesterday. He's gonna get a chance in the bigs soon, regardless of defense, at his pace. Utility infielder at the least.

And then what if Hak-Ju Lee didn't go down with his injury, and kept hitting as well as he was? We might have our SS and 1B of the future right there. Infield of Longo/Lee/Zobrist/Belnome? We might see it as early as next year, assuming the Rays don't cough up the cash to keep Loney and Escobar around.

Lights-Out pitching in Durham:

Kelly -- recently promoted from AA Montgomery, 4-0 over last 5 starts allowing 3 runs over 31.2 IP, wow.
Lueke -- only allowed 2 runs in 40 innings of relief, 11 saves. 0.45 ERA. wow.
Yates -- 1.03 ERA over 43 innings of relief with 10 saves.

[craig01]

I really believe that lueke will be a player in the future.

Just needs consistency. Of course, that's a big "just" .... lol

[MagicRays]

Down on the farm..

Leslie Anderson and Vince Belnome are currently the best position players in Durham in my opinion. Leslie players 1B, and Belnome can play anywhere infield but has been spending most of his time at 1B lately. These guys are likely getting groomed to take Loney's spot when he gets paid the big bucks next year by some other team. Leslie can't hit lefties, and Belnome has utility but isn't spectacular at any particular position (but not bad in my opinion). Other than those 2 flaws, these guys are smoking AAA right now. Is a platoon at first coming next year? We might see LA starting 1B and VB as bench utility for match ups and injury replacement.

Brandon Gomes had his first rehab assignment tonight. Struck out the side in 1 inning of relief, 13 strikes on 18 pitches. Doesn't get much better than that. I'm looking forward to getting this guy back up in our pen. I've seen enough of Farnsworth.

J.D. Martin's numbers look amazing, and they've gotten progressively better throughout the season (based on monthly splits), posting a 1.39 ERA over 5 starts in July. I don't know his story, but everything's clicking for him right now. Wish we had a roster spot for him.

Lueke and Yates have been alternating save situations, and both performing at all-star levels. Lueke got a shot with the Rays earlier this season and stumbled, but got right back to being great with the Bulls after being sent back down. They've both also done well in long, high leverage relief as well.


Definitely some talent down there to tap into next year. Wish we had roster spots for them right now.

[craig01]

Thanks for the update.

Lueke has so much potential, and it was a shame that his time up in Tampa was a bit raggedy.

[MagicRays]

Gomes pitched another scoreless inning last night. Should be coming up soon.