Rock Cats manager Bobby Cuellar has pushed a lot of the right buttons thus far. One of them was deciding on veteran left-hander Ben Julianel as his closer out of training camp. On that decision, he had some help.“

(Minor league pitching coordinator) Rick Knapp kind of mentioned that,” Cuellar said. “He was the oldest guy we had (28). He’s had experience and he’s pitched at different levels.” Julianel spent most of last season with the Florida Marlins’ Triple-A club in Albuquerque, where he was 2-2 with a 6.23 ERA in 27 games with no saves. In fact, prior to this season, Julianel’s last save came in 2005 with the Yankees’ Double-A team, the Trenton Thunder.

So far this season, he has saved six games. In 13 appearances, he is 0-1 with a 2.70 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings. Throw out the first game of the season against Portland (1 inning, 3 hits, 2 runs) and his ERA is 1.72. “He didn’t start off very well but he’s gotten into the role a little bit,” Cuellar said.Cuellar, however, intends to use others in a closing role as the season goes on to determine where his young relievers’ future may be.“There will be situations where we’ll probably use somebody else to close but right now he’s doing a real good job,” Cuellar said. “When he comes in, he feels good about himself and people feel good about him.”

LEARNING ON THE RUN: Steve Tolleson, primarily a second baseman, started the game in center field Thursday.When he entered Wednesday night’s game in center after Luke Hughes fouled a ball off his foot, it was the first time in awhile that Tolleson frolicked in greener pastures.“I played right field when I was a freshman in college (University of South Carolina) because we had a senior shortstop,” Tolleson said. “To get me in the lineup, I had to play different positions.”When Cuellar asked and he told him about his lack of experience, the manager plugged him in anyway because he had little choice. Dustin Martin, who has played some center field, was already in the lineup at DH and Brandon Roberts remains sidelined.“I’m up for anything,” Tolleson said. “The type of player I am, I need to be versatile. I need to play both (middle) infield positions and if I can play an outfield position, that’s better for the team.” 

When the word is used among physicians or health department administrators, it usually means that something has gone terribly wrong.But when it comes to the “contagious” nature of the Rock Cats’ hitting, the only ones left ailing have been the opposition.Smoking hot third baseman Luke Hughes and outfielder Dustin Martin lit the fuse and virtually everybody in manager Bobby Cuellar’s lineup has joined in.“We struggled a little in Trenton but once we went to Binghamton we started swinging the bat really well,” right fielder David Winfree said.  “Everybody kind of started coming around. A walk here, a walk there and then it becomes contagious. Your pitcher throws well and gets you back in the dugout to hit, that’s all you could ask for.”

Heading into Wednesday’s game, the Rock Cats were batting .299 and had scored 34 runs in going 5-0 on the present homestand. Hughes, named EL Player of the Month Tuesday, is hitting .435 with six runs. Second baseman Steve Tolleson is 5-for-8 in the four games he’s played. Shortstop Trevor Plouffe is hitting .333 and left fielder Matt Moses .316. Winfield and Brock Peterson have six RBI each.

“Hitting is contagious and Luke Hughes really got us going the past couple weeks,” Tolleson said. “Everybody else is starting to really pick things up and once one guy gets going, it’s a lot easier for the rest of the team to get going, too.”Cuellar, who gives plenty of credit to New Britain hitting coach Floyd Rayford, said that hitters have worked the count effectively, putting pressure on the pitchers to throw strikes.

The other part of Cuellar’s successful equation is the brilliant work of the bullpen, which allowed just two runs in the last 31 2/3 frames with Wednesday’s game pending.