Jim French Stepstool
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Everything posted by Jim French Stepstool
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Wouldn't squeezing one of those rubber balls be more effective?
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Suarez is a hard thrower that has an excellent changeup. That's a tough combo, and Murphy felt like Frelick was a better choice there. I disagreed mildly; you disagree totally. Cool. As for using the change R vs R, you see that all the time. The splits for Suarez are interesting though. Effective either way, but interesting.
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I don't think I'd use the term "going dead" to describe a two-game stretch immediately after beating Christopher Sanchez & Gavin Williams within the previous three games. Of course you have Sale going tomorrow, so all isn't lost😉. Eleven hits tonite. The RISP is what failed them.
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I'll stand by the decision to hit him for Pratt there, but as I said IMO it wasn't a slam dunk either way. Big picture, you have a point; I wouldn't mind seeing Lara. But he's 7-42 in June & had a week or so of not playing when he signed the contract. And if none of that happened & he stayed hot it would've been Perkins getting demoted, not Frelick. Barring injury I just don't see anything happening with this OF until Lockridge makes it back.
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Agreed. And re the slide---when the throw comes to a catcher & the contact---in this case Chourios' knee---is almost simultaneous, the ball popping loose is pretty commonplace. Just a hell of a throw, hell of a tag. And without blocking the plate, either.
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Not one playing in his fourth game vs a change of that quality, IMO. Frelick worked himself into a great count, then had Suarez get a glove on a ball that might've otherwise made it through. As I said I'd have rolled with Prtatt, but it wasn't a slam dunk call. Lots of 3-1, 3-2 counts for hitters tonite that didn't end up in baserunners. Add that one to the list.
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I think the Suarez changeup was part of the reason for pulling Pratt back for Frelick. I'd have let Pratt hit, but there was enough reason behind the move to not have an aneurysm about it. Frelick wound up having a decent AB from the neck-up that ended unsuccessfully. Had a number of those. What really ticked me off was taking the bunt off w/Ortiz after Pratt stole 2nd. Don't care if he was already in scoring position, don't care if it was 2-0. Obviously needed the pitch to Dubon to be 6-8 inches higher. The way things went it's kinda fitting that Eli White, from 200 ft away, puts his throw in a spot where you couldn't walk it into the glove any better. Perfect peg.
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Good to have you here. The more even-handed, objective commentary, the better. Now, about that username..........😖. (just kidding).
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The Rengifo angst has to be transferred SOMEWHERE......... It IS getting a little annoying that it's taking as long as it is for Lockridge to head out on a rehab. But until he makes it back Perkins is basically filling the same role whether some like it or not. He was admittedly in a bad spot for quite awhile, from both sides of the plate as well as the so-called little things (couple popped up bunts, getting picked off 2B in Houston). But like you said he's been getting it done from the RH side lately.
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When Yelich swung at the 0-1 breaking ball and missed it by.........let's just say, a lot...........you kinda knew that AB wasn't ending well. The health issues I'm sure have taken a toll on him over the years; still the fluctuation from one game---or even one trip to the plate---to the next can be pretty frustrating, most of all to him I'm sure.
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Bases loaded a couple times late, but with 2 outs. Don't get me wrong, it's still an opportunity. But to me it's quite different from bases loaded or runners in scoring position w/less than two out, where you might score without finding a base hit. Certainly had such chances earlier but like you said, failed. The Vaughn groundout in the 7th was tough to take, even though he may have swung at ball four I thought he put up a pretty good AB.
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And from the standpoint of allowing 6 walks & a hit batsman in the last three innings, Cleveland was lucky they weren't swept.
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I don't know if there was any angst about Ortiz not being lifted for a PH in the 7th, but the way I saw it Cleveland still had to get nine outs. That's another time through the order. You had a possible PR situation for Sanchez, you're hitting for Perkins assuming a RHP is on the hill, and then Ortiz' spot again. My biggest complaint is Ortiz just needs to be smarter than to roll over on a ground ball on the first pitch. The three walks & HBP that inning underline it even more. And that's AFTER hitting a rocket to RF in his initial AB. Just a poor AB in a big spot. Starting around the 3rd-4th inning, this looked for all the world like a game where it was going to come down to a 5 or 6-out bridge from Drohan to Uribe-Megill, and could we get from point A to point B. We couldn't. They really seem to like Kuhnel, enough that he seems to have kinda replaced Andersons' role. They've earned the benefit of the doubt re pitchers so we'll see. And it's not like Anderson was any better today. Neither was Rom, but to me that's sort of an 'it is what it is' situation. Looking at the LH relievers that are out, and another couple that are starting because you need them to, Rom is like your 7th choice for a LH BP role. Yoho did a nice Doug Jones impersonation. I think the best thing he can do is convince himself that he doesn't need to change anything just because this isn't Nashville. Rough day behind the dish for Sanchez.
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I had a funny feeling that his 1st handful of ABs here were going to be similar to what Konnor Griffin did when Pittsburgh came here-----a heavy dose of balls to the right side (Griffin admittedly with more authority though). He sprayed the ball pretty much all over in AAA, and showed a great approach despite the modest numbers. Now we'll see when people come in on him, which hasn't happened much yet. Loved him in the postgame interview re the hit in the 8th. Don't remember the exact quote but it was along the lines of "I'm not striking out here."
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Cramp for Sproat as per postgame presser. Will not miss his next turn. 👍.
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Pretty certain there were no balls hit to him, or chances.
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I love momentum-turners, when they're in your favor. After the grand slam, Chourio basically put a choke collar on the Cleveland momentum, looked it in the eye, & said "Sit. Stay.'" Huge. After what he did in LV, I guess we went back to the traditional Sproat. Fantastic first three innings, then walks two of the next three. If changing the sequence or pitch selection because second time through, not particularly smart. But whatever, another building block. And welcome back Chad Patrick. That cutter combined w/96-97, wow. It's why I love him in the 'pen. Coupla nice knocks for Frelick.
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Defensively I'll take Sal over Bauers as a RF (and I agree Frelicks' defense hasn't been nearly as impactful this year). I've just seen warning flares from Bauers that concern me. Like I said, not nearly the same concern about him in LF. Maybe it's more of a push between the two than I think & nothing will rear its' ugly head. Sure hope so.
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That's my concern regarding all this Frelick/Vaughn/Bauers stuff. Nothing has happened to severely hurt us yet with Bauers in RF, but his being there concerns me. LF, that doesn't bother me nearly as much. He's made a couple throws from LF that were so-so, and once the footwork looked really skewed. I'm worried he'll have to make a throw from right on a tag-up, or to nail a slower man trying to score from 2nd on a base hit, or to keep someone from going 1st to 3rd, and it's not going to happen.
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"I want you to throw the next one at the mascot." "TRUST me."
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Could be. I certainly hope that's the case with Koenig; he's been suboptimal on the gun so far.
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IF there was less than two out and IF Vaughn has trouble making contact you might understand the thought process. But there wasn't, and he doesn't. I dunno🤔.
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He went over 80 pitches. That's a lot of up-downs so that's encouraging. I too am waiting to hear something on the velo.
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It's rare when someone has a lousy day at the plate & defensively. But yeah, poor on both ends.
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I give Gasser a C or C- command-wise (it got better as he went though), but an A+ for poise & confidence. And if that continues its huge. Same with Sproat his last time out. Too bad Ashby can't pass on the W & give it to Gasser; I'm sure he would. Cecconi had one of those games where he might as well be walking the ball up to the plate the way he was locating on the corners, up, down. I think that led to some chasing later on. His leaving, the game being tied & winning it vs their BP wasn't what the smart money would've called for. Just heard Mitchell is hitting over .350 in June with an OPS over 1.000. I knew he's been good lately but didn't realize the numbers were that hefty. Maybe we got somethin' here after all.
