I have still followed along with the team and enjoyed checking out their games on television, listen on the radio, or just looking at the box scores online. I decided to save posting this team set for this specific day after attending a Bulls playoff game last week against the Indianapolis Indians.
The team looked sharp. I had a good feeling about the end of this year's season, so I waited. I figured at worst I could make a post in a week or two and do a write up about another great season. The team ended up finishing off Indianapolis and took care of the Scranton Yankees last night to win the Governors Cup, which is given to the International League Champion.
" data-lang="en"> — Durham Bulls (@DurhamBulls) September 16, 2017
I am not sure how many baseball fans realize the success that the Durham Bulls have experienced over the past fifteen years. One of my favorite local writers best summarized this morning.
What @DurhamBulls have done since 2002 is amazing on its own & truly mind blowing in context of AAA. 9 finals appearances & 5 championships!— Adam Sobsey (@sobsey) September 16, 2017
Needless to say I am excited about watching the Bulls play in the Triple A National Championship game this coming Tuesday night against either the Memphis Redbirds (Cardinals), or the El Paso Chihuahuas (Padres). In the meantime, I am going to share out a few Durham Bulls posts over the next week, win or lose Tuesday night, starting with this one sharing the team set.
The design for the set was taken from the 2016 Topps base cards. No, this is not a base card, but it was sitting on my desk at the moment. I also scanned the cards in groups of 3 instead of the usual groups of 9 that I put in my normal Minor League team set posts. First group of cards.....
Pretty good trio of prospects here.
Bauers was in the Trea Turner/Stephen Souza/Wil Myers trade. I know many Rays fans don't like to talk about that one, but Bauers has shown some potential. The power hasn't quite shown up the way many would like, only 13 home runs, but he still has almost 50 extra base hits this year and a strong on base percentage.
Ames throws hard, been around for awhile. Not a ranked prospect, but improved his strikeout rate to more than 11 K's per 9 innings this year.
Adames is the top prospect in the Rays system. Top 20 prospect in all the Minors. He's a really good baseball player who will be around for along time.
Good group here too. Faria is one of my favorite Rays prospects. I need to make a post solely dedicated to just him. I saw his Triple A debut last year and have been following him ever since.
Chirinos flies under the radar. He won 12 games for the Bulls this year in with an ERA of 2.74. Should be a durable Major League starter somewhere.
Casali has been up and down between Tampa and Durham the last few years. I think at some point in the past the Rays had some high hopes that he would become their everyday catcher. He's clearly not that anymore.
Honeywell is the best Rays pitching prospect. Definitely deserves a post of his own. Guy throws a screwball. How cool is that?
Not sure where Hager fits in the Rays future plans. He can play all over the field, but I am not sure if there is a place on a Major League roster for a guy who hits .250 with a .300 on base percentage.
Goetzman has been in the Rays system for seven years. He has limited power, doesn't hit for average, doesn't get on-base. Strictly an organizational depth kind of player.
Hu has been up and pitched in a few games for the Rays. Seems like he has potential to be a rotation guy somewhere. Not a front line guy, but he'd be something along the lines of Matt Andriese.
McKenry and Marjama are both backup catcher material. Marjama played a few games with the Mariners. McKenry has made appearances with the Rockies, Pirates, and Cardinals. Patrick Leonard was apart of the Wil Myers trade with the Royals. He was in the lower minors when the trade took place, so all these years later he has made it to Triple A. He's got some pop, not sure how/where he fits in with the Rays in the future.
Mallex Smith is a really cool player to watch. Reminds me of one of the old 1980s Cardinals players. Speed, good defense, and an electric feel when he gets into games. Seems to make things happen when he plays. The Rays have a crowded outfield, but he offers something different.
Shane Peterson is the old guy on the team. The Rays called him up to play in Tampa this year, but I like to point out that he was once traded from the Cardinals to the A's for Matt Holliday. He's got to be pretty good, right?
A little faster pace. Kean Wong is Kolten's brother. I like Kolten better, so does the stat page. Neil Wagner has been around the Minors for more than a decade. He's pitched games for the A's and Blue Jays. Wagner is 33 and is Triple A. Stanek played college baseball at Arkansas, throws 100, and has an incredible mullet. I saw him a few years back with the USA Baseball team.
Ryan Yarbrough was the best pitcher on the Bulls this year. I was hurt and pained for several days last off season when the Rays traded Taylor Motter to the Mariners, but they got Yarbrough back in return. Jared Sandberg is the manager and Ryne's nephew. He started coaching from the bench this year instead of working the game from third base. Seemed to do well. Albernaz is a former Bulls player. Fan favorite, worked hard, not in the cards for him to be in Majors. He did this though....
He actually ended up coaching the Hudson Valley Renegades, the Rays New York-Penn League short season team, and lead them to the league championship.
Wool E. Bull is the world's greatest baseball mascot. Ozzie Timmons is a former Cub. Kyle Snyder went to UNC and pitched for the 2007 Red Sox World Series winning team. There are at least ten International League baseballs in my house and 9 of them were given to my son by Kyle Snyder, who sorts out the baseballs in the bullpen before the game, and gives the discards to anyone who is nearby. The other baseball was one Tim Beckham gave to me to spite a bunch of middle school kids.
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