Tomorrow!

The Durham Bulls had a solid start to their season over in Memphis against the Cardinals’ franchise, the Redbirds. They took 5 out of 6 in this new style season where six-game sessions are going to be the norm. They come home tied with Gwinnett for first place in the Triple-A East— Southeast.

While in Memphis, the Bulls scored an impressive 49 runs and only allowed 23. The team OPS was .973, the second-best in the “Triple-A East” (the new name for teams mostly from the old International League). 

14 Bulls came to bat over the six games, hit 16 home runs, and gathered up 128 total bases.

The pitching crew did just fine as well. The team ERA is now 3.46, 5th best in the league. The WHIP was 1.079, the second-best. And a bunch of them saw action. Sixteen different Bulls were on the mound.

Tuesday night we’ll have our first home baseball since September 2019. It’s been a long, long dry spell. 

The Bulls’ opponents will be the Jacksonville (Florida) Jumbo Shrimp, which ranks right up there with the Gwinnett Stripers as a team name. They are the Miami Marlins AAA team that has roamed around the country in recent years (New Orleans and Wichita). This year they started the season at home and won 4 of 6 against the Norfolk Tides. They are in third place in the Southeast.

The DBAP has a ton of new rules for this season and they all seem to make sense. On the other hand, we can expect them to change as the COVID rules for North Carolina change. I’m gonna start with my mask on and see how it goes.