Roster Changes Aplenty

The end of the first week of May usually means roster changes for the Mo-Skitz and this year is no exception. A bad stretch of play for Montgomery tested the mettle of the team and raised the flag to the parent club as the good bullpen arms have been sent to triple-A, replaced with question marks in butter and blue.

Bulls newest RP

Departing for Durham is the aforementioned Jake Thompson and Jim Patterson, now we can add Braulio Lara to the list as the Rays continue to adjust rosters at the cost of Biscuit victories.


NEW GUYS

Gomez

New to wearing the Montgomery uni is starting pitcher Roberto Gomez, the Dominican native has been in the TB organization since 2010 and gets his first taste of baseball above A ball. His live arm has gotten him here, though not evident in his stats. This year and last he has an ERA over 4.50, allows more than a hit an inning and doesn't strike out many.

Matt Ramsey comes off the DL to join the bullpen, and offers hope at the tail end of games if he can get his strikeout pitch working like it was before the injury. Through three innings this year the Knoxville native has punched out six.

Brandt

Also we have Kevin Brandt, who was mentioned in the last post. KB had a tough outing tonight, surrendering a trio of tallies in a single frame via three hits and a base on balls.



KEEP HANGIN ON
While the Skitz still hold a share of the top spot in the South Division, tied with Mobile, its hard to see Montgomery holding on after the changes we have seen in the past ten days. While a hot April sent the team to the top, the team has just three wins in the last thirteen games, making that Friday rainout look like a mercy mission.

I wish I could predict good things for the Biscuits, but the next homestand vs the Huntsville Stars (24-12, 1st place North Division) and the Mississippi Braves (18-17, one game out of 1st in South Division) will be a huge test for a team that has seen its best hitter replaced with Jeremy Moore and its durable veteran bullpen reduced to relying on arms that have less than three years experience each. It could be a long month of May in Montgomery.

WHEN HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

One of my personal favorite oddities occurred this date in history for Montgomery. On the same week that the first Mothers Day was celebrated.

MAY 10 1908 
Montgomery and Shreveport play 15 innings to a tie, 3-3. Not unusual in the era before lighted fields but its what happens the following day that makes it special.

Your 1908 Montgomery Senators

MAY 11, 1908 
Montgomery and Shreveport AGAIN play 15 innings ending in a tie, 1-1. Thats right, 30 innings in two days and no victories or losses. Incredible!

See ya at the park!