Bulls roster starting to materialize

It might be weeks before the Durham Bulls open their season on April 9, but spring training is in full swing and the Tampa Bay Rays, trimming 12 players, assigned three to Durham, a Bulls press release said Monday.

It also appears Tampa Bay will send lefty Carlos Hernandez, who has a shot at being the Rays' No. 5 starter at some point, to the Bulls, according to Marc Topkin, the Rays' beat writer for The St. Pete Times. Read more here.

The three assigned to Durham all donned Bulls’ uniforms last season: Wade Davis, Mitch Talbot and Dale Thayer.

Davis, at 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, saw action in nine Bulls games last season and impressed with a 2.72 ERA and a 4-2 record. In 53 innings of work, Davis, 23, threw 55 strikeouts but walked 24 batters.

Talbot, who’s been in Durham for a few years, was 13-9 in 28 starts. The righty had a 3.86 ERA, had a complete game and threw 141 strikeouts in 161 innings. He walked 35.

Talbot, 25, did appear in three games for the Rays last season, but it didn’t go well. In 9.7 innings, he had an 11.17 ERA.

Thayer, another righty pitcher, played 52 games for the Bulls last season and had a 2.77 ERA in 68.1 innings.

Also, it looks like Fernando Perez, who had a chance of starting in center field for the Rays with B.J. Upton nursing an injury, will be with the Bulls at some point. First, he’ll have to heal his dislocated left wrist, injured while diving for a ball. His glove caught on the turf. The injury is expected to take three months to mend.

Perez, 25, played in 129 games for the Bulls last season. In Durham he hit .288 with five homers, 36 RBI and 43 stolen bags in 60 at-bats. He helped the Rays in the playoffs, scoring the winning run in the Game 2 of the ALCS.