Showing posts tagged “Jason Isringhausen”
Adam Sobsey ·
14 Jun 2009, 11:08 AM ·
1 Comment
Winston Abreu was promoted to Tampa
Jason Isringhausen did something bad to his elbow while pitching for Tampa on Saturday night and has been placed on the disabled list.
Winston Abreu has been called up.
It’s disheartening that Abreu’s promotion had to be tied to what may be a career-ending injury to another player (Isringahusen had that elbow surgically repaired last September), but he was bound for Tampa sooner or later anyway. His line in Durham was eye-opening. Although Dale Thayer, who didn’t fare especially well in his stint in the majors, looked great on paper too, Abreu’s stuff might translate a little better: He keeps the ball down more consistently than Thayer does; and I’ve gotten the sense, watching Thayer, that he sometimes seems a little unfocused. The same isn’t true of Abreu, who always looks locked and loaded on the mound.
Abreu is 32 years old. He has been in the majors briefly before, in 2006 and 2007, but this is the moment for him to prove that he belongs there. He seems to have the will and the determination. Does he have the skill? It’s all about the arm. “His head was full of larceny,” Arthur “Bugs” Baer once wrote of a would-be base-stealer, “but his feet were too honest.” In other words, sometimes the only thing that lets you down is the weapon.
Baseball, Durham Bulls, Tampa Bay Rays Bulls on the Move, Jason Isringhausen, Winston Abreu
Adam Sobsey ·
26 May 2009, 11:36 AM ·
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Five recent Bulls helped the Rays implode last night.
Somehow the injury- and promotion-depleted Bulls managed to win again yesterday at Rochester,
3-2. John Jaso, Ray Olmedo and Chris Richard all sat with minor injuries (at least, I assume they’re minor) so the lineup was once again rather lite—although .634-OPSing Chris Nowak made the difference with an eighth-inning single. Still, the Bulls are going to need more production from the lower third of its order. Without it (i.e. if the injured Jaso and Richard don’t return soon), they’ll struggle to score enough runs to keep winning at the pace they’ve set so far this year.
It ought to be pointed out that Durham starter Carlos Hernandez wouldn’t have needed Nowak’s hit (and would have gotten credit for the victory) had he not made two throwing errors, each of which led to a Rochester run. He and Sunday’s starter, Wade Davis, allowed no earned runs in their two starts, but all three they permitted came as a result of their own fielding mishaps. I’m all for consistency in the rulebook, and I know that’s why a pitcher’s own error holds him harmless against an earned run, but sometimes I wonder if the rule shouldn’t be changed. Why isn’t the skill to field his position considered part of a pitcher’s basic responsibilities? If someone commits a crime and represents himself in court, we don’t let him off the hook because he flubs his own defense (yes, there’s probably something wrong with that analogy, but give it to me anyway).
Anyway, out of the courtroom and back to the field.
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Baseball, Durham Bulls, Tampa Bay Rays Carlos Hernandez, Chris Nowak, Chris Richard, Dale Thayer, David Price, Dewon Day, Harmon Killebrew, I Am Psychic, Jason Isringhausen, John Jaso, Matt Hall, Randy Choate, Ray Olmedo, Reid Brignac, Rochester Red Wings, schlmazel, Wade Davis, Winston Abreu
Adam Sobsey ·
22 May 2009, 11:55 PM ·
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Other than Chris Richard’s three-run home run, his 10th—he now has the second most in the International League—the Bulls hitters couldn’t do much tonight, and Mitch Talbot got roughed up in a 5-3 loss at Lehigh Valley. Talbot permitted thirteen baserunners in five innings, and was probably fortunate that only a third of them scored. Ten IronPigs were left stranded, and not even Eumaeus could bring them home (there, I’m a book critic).
With Reid Brignac gone to Tampa, Ray Olmedo played shortstop, and Joe Dillon took over at second base, a position he had previously played in 62 games over 12 seasons in professional ball. Close enough, I guess. It’s probable that a Biscuit will rise from Montgomery to Durham soon.
Meanwhile, in Tampa tonight, Dale Thayer got his first major-league save in his inaugural appearance. Thayer pitched three innings in relief of Andy Sonnanstine, and allowed a meaningless ninth-inning run in the Rays’ 15-2 rout of their Citrus Series rivals, the Florida Marlins. The official scorer gave Thayer a judgment-call save, which is permitted by league rules if the reliever pitches at least three innings, finishes the game, and is effective in the scorer’s eyes. Thayer even got an at-bat, grounding out to the pitcher to end the top of the ninth. He didn’t strike anyone out and gave up too many fly balls, but still, three good innings are three good innings.
Brignac came into the game at shortstop when manager Joe Maddon cleared the benches late, and went 1-2 with a single and a run scored.
Although both newly-minted Rays did well tonight, there’s every reason to think they’ll be back in Durham soon enough once everything gets sorted out in Tampa (and particularly, in Brignac’s case, when interleague play ends). Nonetheless, it was nice to see them do well immediately after their call-ups.
When will they be sent down again? The answer to that question got muddied today.
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Baseball, Durham Bulls, Tampa Bay Rays Andy Sonnanstine, Bulls on the Move, Chris Richard, Dale Thayer, David Price, Jason Isringhausen, Joe Dillon, Joe Maddon, Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Mitch Talbot, Ray Olmedo, Reid Brignac, Scott Kazmir, Troy Percival, Wade Davis
Adam Sobsey ·
18 May 2009, 11:57 AM ·
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Jason Isringhausen was promoted to Tampa.
With outfielder/DH Pat Burrell placed on the disabled list, Jason Isringhausen was called up to Tampa yesterday. The move was as much one of scheduling as anything else: Minor-league rehab assignments for pitchers expire after 30 days, so Izzy would have to have been moved by tomorrow anyway. It isn’t clear what the Rays will do when Burrell returns (he was DL’d retroactive to May 11, so he could be back in just over a week), but with any luck
someone else will pull a muscle the Rays will make another move before that happens.
No word yet on a corresponding minor-league roster move to add a player to Durham. Failing other solutions, catcher Alex Jamieson is in “Hudson Valley,” a.k.a. the Bulls’ dugout, and could become a Bull again with as little as a change of uniform. I’ll try to remember to ask Charlie Montoyo about it tonight.
Isringhausen showed glimpses of effectiveness in Durham. At his best he forced hitters to swing at his pitches and produced outs by letting his fielders do their work behind him. But a good deal of that glovework was done by outfielders, and Izzy could turn out to be a Scary Fly Ball Guy in the majors. He recorded zero strikeouts in his seven innings of work as a Bull, posting a 5.14 ERA in six appearances. Nonetheless, he’s an intelligent and aggressive pitcher, and he still throws hard enough to succeed as a setup arm for Rays’ closer Troy Percival. Of greater concern is the possibility that Percival gets injured and Isringhausen gets the nod as his replacement. Right now, it’s hard to see that working, essentially just swapping one breakdown-prone old pickup truck for another. But that, as they say, is why they play the games.
On an unalloyed happy note, Chris Richard was named the International League Player of the Week for an obvious reason. But Richard’s production last week wasn’t limited to his historic Friday night. Here are his lines for the week and season:
G AVG H AB R 2B 3B HR RBI SLUG BB SB
7 .429 12 28 6 5 0 3 13 .929 2 0 (WEEK)
33 .281 34 121 21 10 0 9 29 .587 18 0 (SEASON)
Richard had more than half of his season’s hits, exactly half of his doubles, and almost half of his RBIs, in just seven games. His alphabet-soup stats (OBP, SLG, OPS etc.) for the week were ridonculous. And as Charlie Montoyo told me after the second of Richard’s grand slams on Friday night won the ballgame, “it couldn’t have happened to a better guy.”
See you at the DBAP tonight.
Baseball, Durham Bulls Alex Jamieson, Bulls on the Move, Charlie Montoyo, Chris Richard, Jason Isringhausen, Player of the Week
Adam Sobsey ·
9 May 2009, 2:09 AM ·
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Adam Kennedy was traded to Oakland yesterday
The Durham Bulls fell meekly to the Gwinnett Braves tonight,
7-1. Since starting the year 6-0, the Bulls have gone 10-12. They remain 1/2 game behind Norfolk in the International League Southern Division.
Wade Davis took the loss (his first of the season) for Durham, giving up three runs on four hits and three walks in five innings. Sidearming lefthander Randy Choate (who has appeared in half the Bulls’ games), Dewon Day and Jason Isringhausen relieved. Isringhausen gave up his first runs of the season in a three-run eighth. He allowed two doubles that apparently just eluded Matt Joyce in center field. Joyce isn’t known for his fielding, so perhaps a stronger outfielder (we miss you, Fernando Perez!) might have made those plays — although it should be said that Joyce has so far been the Bulls’ best hitter. His .958 OPS leads the team by a wide margin, and puts him 10th in the league; he’s third in the league in on-base percentage at .433.
The Bulls will need him to keep swinging a solid bat, because they lost one of their better hitters today. Adam Kennedy was traded to Oakland for a player to be named later. The A’s recently lost their starting second baseman, Mark Ellis, to a calf injury, and Kennedy will surely become Oakland’s starter at the keystone sack immediately. He’ll be reunited with shortstop Orlando Cabrera, his double-play partner with the Los Anaheim Angels of Angeles (or whatever) in 2005-06.
There will surely be a compensating Bulls’ roster move of some sort, but yesterday the depleted team was without not only Kennedy but also injured utility man Elliot Johnson, so Ray Olmedo started at second base. John Jaso returned to his catching duties (and had a passed ball); it turns out he was hit in the knee by a pitch last weekend, which explains his having missed a few games behind the plate. Light-hitting backup catcher Alex Jamieson started at DH. Justin Ruggiano would have been a natural choice for that role, but he did not play. Was that because a) it was his turn for a day off, b) he’s hurt, or c) manager Charlie Montoyo is trying to find a way to snap Ruggiano out of his month-long slump to start the season? Ruggiano’s line to date is a dismal .200/.283/.337/.620, and his 30 strikeouts (in just 95 at-bats) are tied for second-most in the league. With the recently-acquired Joyce hitting well for Durham, and Jon Weber turning in decent numbers, Ruggiano, who has seen a little time in Tampa, needs to start performing or he’ll find himself moving to the back of the pack of minor-league outfielders in the Tampa system — especially with hot outfield prospect Desmond Jennings turning heads down in Double-A Montgomery.
Speaking of Bulls who need to start performing, Carlos Hernandez is tomorrow night’s starter against Gwinnett — a suburb of Atlanta, by the way.
Baseball, Durham Bulls Adam Kennedy, Alex Jamieson, Carlos Hernandez, Desmond Jennings, Dewon Day, Elliot johnson, Fernando Perez, Gwinnett Braves, Jason Isringhausen, John Jaso, Jon Weber, Justin Ruggiano, Matt Joyce, Randy Choate, Ray Olmedo, Wade Davis
Adam Sobsey ·
6 May 2009, 3:35 AM ·
1 Comment
DBAP/ DURHAM—It was already misting at gametime this afternoon, sprinkling in the third inning, and by the seventh-inning stretch it was pouring. Finally, the sky began to get higher and the downpour subsided an inning before the Bulls finished off their 7-2 win over Charlotte, earning a split of the series and the homestand.
It was nice to see the Bulls’ bats wake up a bit, although they continued to scuffle with runners in scoring position. They hit three home runs today (Brignac, Richard, Ruggiano), which accounted for six of their seven runs, but still managed to strand 11 baserunners. They had a man on third with one out in the second inning and then again in the third and failed to plate him both times, and they left the bases loaded in the seventh and eighth; in the seventh, they had the sacks F.O.B. (Full of Bulls) with no outs but went cold after a pitching change that brought in Knights’ reliever Jon Link. The Bulls are currently limp-RISPed.
The statistical oddity of the day was that the Bulls flew out to left field eight times. The major-league record for a nine-inning game is eleven, so the Bulls were within shouting distance.
On the other end of things, the Bulls executed what is becoming their idea of a typical pitching effort: The starter, in this case James Houser (mid-80s fastball, 67-mph curve), went five serviceable innings, allowing seven hits and two runs, and then the bullpen made it stand up with four scoreless frames. Rehabbing reliever Jason Isringhausen made his second appearance as a Bull, and this time was even more mercenary than the first. He threw just ten pitches (six strikes) to record three outs, a performance even more remarkable considering that he also gave up two hits.
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Baseball, Durham Bulls Andy Phillips, Charlotte Knights, Dale Thayer, Daryle Ward, F.O.B., Gary Ward, Gookie Dawkins, James Houser, Jason Isringhausen, Josh Kroeger, Lubbock, Michael Restovich, Reid Brignac, Runners In Scoring Position
Adam Sobsey ·
3 May 2009, 9:45 PM ·
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DBAP / DURHAM—After a pair of disastrous, er, colonizations at the hands of Columbus on Friday and Saturday, Durham rebounded with a crisp 4-2 win today. The game took just 2:11 to play. The Bulls relief corps was back to its April form, throwing four scoreless, one-hit innings in relief of winner Wade Davis.
(n.b. If you check the box score, don’t believe Davis’ pitch count of 73. In fact he threw many more — 91 by my count, 50 for strikes. The guy manning Dave Levine’s play-by-play computer today got tied up trying to untangle and then record the synopsis of the Bulls’ complicated three-run second inning ex post facto, and he wasn’t able to record most of Davis’ pitches in the third. I don’t know if Levine is gone for the summer — classes at Duke have ended — but if not, come back soon!)
Anyway, one of those scoreless relief innings came courtesy of Jason Isringhausen, making his first appearance in a Bulls uniform.
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Baseball, Durham Bulls Columbus Clippers, Jason Isringhausen, Kirk Saarloos, Wade Davis
Ryan Campbell ·
1 May 2009, 8:00 AM ·
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Bull star of the game, John Jaso
DBAP/ DURHAM—In the young season, on of the main storylines out of Durham has been the Bulls’ silent bats. In 19 games the Bulls have averaged 3.74 runs, relying on solid but brief starting pitching and a workhorse bullpen to win games.
On Thursday, the Bulls’ offense awoke as they tallied 10 hits, six walks and a total of 18 baserunners. However, the Bulls discovered that while getting runners on base is one thing, scoring runs is another.
The Clippers struck first, in the top of the first, as Bulls pitcher James Houser allowed a leadoff double to center fielder Michael Brantley. Brantley was sacrificed to third on a ground ball and home on a fly ball. Continue reading »
Baseball, Durham Bulls Jack Cassel, James Houser, Jason Isringhausen, John Jaso, Jon Weber, Matt LaPorta, Ray Sadler, Winston Abreu
Adam Sobsey ·
23 Apr 2009, 9:22 AM ·
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Craig Albernaz
At a game during the Bulls’ first homestand, I was talking to Ken Tanner, who at one point was the Bulls’ radio broadcaster and now seems to have something like emeritus status. Tanner pointed out to me a new feature the Bulls have added to the nightly press pack: a rundown of recent transactions involving all of the teams in the International League. As we scanned that night’s sheet, Tanner mentioned that the teams with the most transactions tended to be affiliated with the worst major-league franchises (e.g. Indianapolis/Pittsburgh). The Bulls had made, to that point, just one roster change: Michel Hernandez to Tampa, which was the result of injury rather than front-office equivocation or impatience. The Rays seem to have a very clear sense of what they’re doing with their personnel these days, and if there’s one obstacle common to nearly every Bull, it’s that there doesn’t seem to be much room for most of them at the Trop: good-to-great young players are currently holding down nearly every position.
So there’s every reason to think that the Rays have a master plan behind two recent moves to and from Durham. Continue reading »
Baseball, Durham Bulls Alex Jamieson, Bulls on the Move, Craig Albernaz, James Houser, Jason Cromer, Jason Isringhausen
Adam Sobsey ·
23 Feb 2009, 1:38 PM ·
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Even with UNC’s unsightly stumble at Maryland on Saturday (the Heels squandered an easy win via one of the worst endgames I’ve seen a supposedly elite team play), the ACC regular season title is still theirs to win. They can even lose another game as long as it isn’t at home on Senior Day against Duke, and will still finish first via tiebreakers. Barring a total Tar Heel meltdown over the next couple of weeks, at this point we’re reduced to watching the rabble play musical chairs with slots 2-6 (more or less) and waiting it out until sweaty-palmed tournament season arrives.
Which is to say: It’s a great time for Durham Bulls notes!
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Baseball, Durham Bulls Baseball, David Price, Durham Bulls, Jason Hammel, Jason Isringhausen, Jeff Niemann, Tampa Bay Rays
