Jim French Stepstool

Yep. I've always thought the 'day after' effects of these celebrations is overblown. What we see in the locker rooms is a lot of exhilaration & blowing off steam. Now, if this was one of the late 70s-early 80s teams.........🤔.

I wouldn't mind seeing Misiorowski start on Sunday & skip Philly. His pitch count was kept tidy last night so it's doable. Maybe even give him the 60-70 pitches & out treatment.

I get that. Vaughn is having a terrific season, great vs LHP & more than acceptable vs righties. Rather than think Murphy is trying to throw games by sitting him I try to ascertain the thought process, which I think is something like this: He has settled into Lara & Frelick in RF because they're both much better OF gloves than Bauers, plus he's trying to keep Bauers healthy. That leaves the DH spot, and he still believes Yelich (at least vs RHP) is going to pay off. Has Yelichs' ABs been improving? I'd say yes; moderately. And when he reaches base he fits the baserunning pressure profile they love much more than Vaughn does. I think he also likes the idea of being able to bring Vaughn off the bench w/runners on base. Thing is, he needs to pull Yelich for Vaughn in certain situations & I don't know if that'll ever happen. IMO his use of Vaughn makes sense up to a point, but I too would like to find more trips to the plate for him.

They've lost quite a bit of their season tix base. It's been over 30 years since they've really had to hustle to any great extent to market themselves to the general public & it shows. Eichorst hasn't been there long enough to get TOO much blame at this point but the next 9-12 months will be interesting.

Chourio & Turang were the next two hitters due up in the 8th & it was a L vs L AB for Frelick so the bunt there was a no-brainer. In the 9th, the bunt (if there was one) would've been Hamilton hitting for Sanchez. That's a good argument. But the flip side is Sanchez has good numbers vs Pagan. I would've sent Hamilton up to bunt, but IMO it wasn't some kind of "this is 100% what you should do" type call.

De La Cruz getting an out on the ball that clanked off his glove in the 9th was really fortunate for him. I wonder how much longer before he's a CF or RF. I don't know how his instincts would play in right, but the arm certainly would.

What needs to be remembered is when you follow a team---any team---every day over six months you can attach the bolded to their manager---any manager--- at times. I don't know what the complaints were today, but I wondered about getting Patrick up & then using Senzatela. Those thoughts had nothing to do with "Senzatela sucks!!!!" They're going to need both. Apparently Patrick was going to "close for the starter" today & that's it. I think Senzatela needs to do more to establish the FB early, and use it at or above the zone w/two strikes. And Uribe put an 0-2 pitch to Stewart in a pretty good spot, but a hitter who is much better than his experience should allow just pulled the hands in & beat him. That kid is awfully impressive. Reds tried to cough it up late w/a couple of horrible defensive plays. You can see how that stuff has cost them games. But today picks by Stewart & Brito really bailed them out.

Absolutely. Or, take out all the times they score one run or get shut out😀. Bottom line, I think this group has proven they're a better offensive team than what a lot of us thought. Are they susceptible to a well-pitched game? Like most teams, yes.

It would be weird to open w/a LHP and then follow with another lefty, no? Although I could see Murphy wanting both to throw before the off day.

At this time of the year it's great to see all those zeroes in the RP chart. Kudos to May for two nice outings in a row (I thought he looked mostly solid in the rain-shortened game in Cincinnati) & to Stallings for allowing the BP to go one & out yesterday. And to Pat Murphy for NOT sending Gary Sanchez to the hill😛.

My favorite was they were going to be four games BEHIND going into their series in Chicago last week. Interesting dynamics from here on out. Off day yesterday, with two more before the reg season ends. But a couple of six-games-in-a-row stretches, so I expect the extra rest day for the starters to continue. Stallings back, with Wilson & Anderson both waiting in the wings on the IL. Interesting decisions to be hashed out. And, does Naylor have a shot at being here in October?

Yep. But the automatic eligibility for transfers also plays a part. Both of those go hand-in-hand.

Actually in college FB it's probably easier to do that now than it's ever been. Not that I'm predicting it will happen in Madison.

Totally agree. There have been so many people over the years that added wins that maybe weren't obvious to some fans. Erik Kratz & Manny Pina were unsung heroes in '18 (although Pina actually hit a little bit that year).

Mounds should be made entirely of some sort of composite material, front to back. Something that behaves just like regular dirt but doesn't have the 'give' that's caused him some concerns. MLB will announce that they're switching over to this approximately 15 minutes after Misiorowskis' contract expires & he signs with the Yankees or Dodgers.