Jim French Stepstool

I was all set to say there was still more chasing than should be accepted, but the ABs overall were better; just not enough of them & not bunched. Enough good ones & bunching in the 9th, thank you very much. It was nice to see them bail out the run prevention side of things for a change. Two things could've been killers: The Contreras drop on the throw home & Drohan walking back-to-back w/one out & no one on in the sixth. Probably getting gassed a little, but you can't lose Edman there & if you don't, I think he's a little more aggressive & has a good chance of getting Freeman. I thought Senzatela looked terrific getting the K to start his outing. The Muncy AB, poor location but Muncy does that to soooo many people over the years. I think Senzatela is still going prove to be an asset. Even though he wasn't a part of the rally, I'm hoping this lifts something off Contreras' shoulders & we see better play from him. Just another ugly day for him. Hall, geez. If he can work from ahead in the count.............that's two nice appearances in a row. I can now tell people that I saw a major league baseball game where a team put Gary Sanchez at 1B & Andrew Vaughn at 3B and won.

People who have been better before, need to be better again. The guys the organization thought might be able to help this year--Pratt & Lara--started the year in AAA, which sort of gave away that thought process. Williams is hurt, Adams is hurt. Naylor will be here if a catcher goes down. I suppose if Burke mashes in Nashville like he did in AA & Yelich continues to struggle, they could suddenly find a ruptured rear axle or dismembered fender & IL Yelich. But in that event I think you'd see Frelick first.

That would've been lovely, and maybe the most heads-up play of the entire season.

Quite possibly. I don't know what the spray chart says for Cronenworth AFA shading him one way or the other as a second baseman. I'd like to know if Bauers was yelling 'home' to Ashby immediately after feeding him since doing things on the diamond other than pitching isn't exactly Ashby's strong suit. Of course, it had to be a 3-2 pitch which meant the runners were off. Otherwise Bauers has an easy flip to 2B for the force. It was that kinda day.

Not that Brian Anderson or Jeff Levering is in a hitters' ear during the game (thank goodness), but how often do you hear them say on a 2-0 or 3-1 count that it's a 'hitter's count'. That usually makes me cringe. Too often a count like that leads to over-aggressiveness, especially when there's a runner or two on. And yep, Mitchell has been a guilty party quite a bit lately. When they click, when there's a 4 or 5 run inning, you hear an awful lot about how they 'move the line', how they 'trust each other', etc. It needs to be pointed out, mostly to themselves, the times when they DON'T do that & how detrimental it is.

..............."It's how their approach appears to change when the pressure ramps up..............." You absolutely nailed it with that one statement, along with the 'pass the baton' line. In the inning in question, both Hamilton & Ortiz employed an approach they never would have taken had they been leading off the inning, or hitting with a runner on 1st base. Huge mistake. Ortiz drilled a bell to the LCF gap earlier in the game. It was caught but would've easily scored a runner from 3rd if one was available to tag up. Does anyone think he changed his normal approach in that AB? I doubt it. I don't know the % breakdown of the hitting coaches' responsibility relating to mechanics, scouting reports, etc. But consistency of approach in different situations HAS to be emphasized. Great job of graphing everything up, Jake.

Contreras, Chourio, Turang, Vaughn. Someone earlier asked about who you'd be confident having up w/a runner on 3rd & one out in the playoffs. Last year during the lions' share of the season many would've mentioned any of the above four. You need at least a couple of those four on a given day, you need Pratt to get back ASAP, and you need Lara to find whatever it is Pratt found that raised his confidence level. That at least surrounds Bauers with some help. It would also help if Mitchell's hot-cold act goes hot again. And some of the less-is-more approach I mentioned from hitters when there are runners on base, esp with less than two out. I'm not sure re the hitting coaches either. An awful lot of this IMO is mental. I DO think it's funny that Vogelbach gets so much poison on here, probably because folks don't know the names of the other two (Eric Theisen, Guillermo Martinez). Other than Lara who has no track record to speak of, none of the above things are pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking. But fans love to jump on bandwagons, and during times like these many like to jump down empty elevator shafts.

Agreed. And even when you win those games, the 'pen isn't as taxed when you go up by 3 or 4 runs. Still, that 8th was out of character. And even though it was a blowout, the shoddy play yesterday turned a scoreless frame into 5 runs. The offense needs to get much better, but it'll never cover for some of the stuff we've seen recently, either.

I thought Buehler located well last night, but I agree he certainly was not 'give up only one run' good.

The thing is, for all the failures w/runners on they still win the game if they play the level of baseball they've come to expect from themselves, and what we usually see. Ashby failing twice on the same play, three walks in the same inning, etc. But yeah, obviously you need to give yourself some breathing room. The most frustrating thing is seeing people go out of character in those situations. I'm convinced the only reason Hamilton & Ortiz K'd in the last inning was because there was a runner on 3rd w/less than two out & they changed their approach. Put up your normal AB. Clear your head. "Trying to get the run in" has now become "swing at pretty much anything". Even after Turang reached 3B early in the game. It was with two outs, but still.........Vaughn turned in an AB you seldom see from him. For the life of me, I don't know what causes the 'pass the baton' mindset to disappear in those ABs. I mean, I guess I do, but it's almost always harmful. They need to understand that.

I don't disagree. But the swings at pitches that are not strikes hurt just as much. Lotsa potential 2-1s turned into 1-2s, 3-1s turned into 2-2s, etc.

Only Ortiz can answer that one. And if asked, I'm sure he wouldn't ("I'll play wherever it helps the team win games"). But he WAS hitting better when playing 3B & often in baseball, you don't mess with that stuff. If you THINK you're hitting because you wear the same socks for 9 days, or eat chicken (or play 3B), then you ARE. Or maybe like @tmwiese55 said, it has to do with the sore neck. Everything equal, is he a better SS than Hamilton? For sure.

Awhile back I identified 5 people who I feel are important to the offense picking up. Thumb or not, Chourio has gotten much better in his quality of ABs & I feel like scratching him off the list provided he continues to be focusing on R-RC field. Mitchell--his last couple months have been a roller-coaster, but it's one you could never ride due to the steepness. Hot enough to where he actually was hanging in well vs LH, consistently nailing the SS-LCF gap. Now the last few weeks, it's more than a drop; it's like he's been pushed off a cliff. Not only the high FBs either; he's back to swinging through hittable pitches again, guessing, caught in-between. Needs to find the consistency key. Vaughn--hasn't been bad, but they miss the doubles & home runs he provided last year. He's parked a couple recently; can he re-capture more of that the further he gets from the hamate injury? Yelich--forget last decade; he looks light years away from even last season which was pretty good. That said, can he be more than a .230 hitter over the final 40 games with occasional pop to the opposite field? I honestly don't know. It's a low bar, one that needs to start by chasing less. What makes it tough is that he's always had some swing-and-miss in his game. When that's combined with not taking the walks when available & mostly hitting singles........ Contreras--I almost feel he needs to decide if he's looking to drive the ball oppo, or wait for something to pull because it looks to me like he gets caught in-between mindsets too often and tries to do A when the pitch should be handled like B, and vice versa. Maybe he's just around the corner, some hard-hit balls here & there. He's another one who needs to accept the walks when offered as he's being pitched pretty carefully. IMO the batting order stuff is over-blown. I don't see anyone whose struggles should be affected by who's hitting behind them. And I have no opinion one way or the other re the hitting coaches. I've called for a change in the past along with others; nothing happens & a month later they're scoring runs & all is forgotten. And I think some of the folks calling for Vogelbachs' hide are simply bringing him up because he's the only hitting coach whose name they know.

It probably shouldn't. But, yeah.

I wasn't including him because in that case I believe the other two would ace him out, but yes Adams too.

Realizing he's just a kid but damn, I hope that isn't his game face.

For all we know he was told "You're being DFA'd, but after we use Richardson once you'll be back so don't sit around eating Oreos all weekend. Unless that's, you know, part of your normal regimen."

This reminds me of some of the Yelich situations in the past. He sits for 2 or 3 days, then four. You play chicken with a short roster in the hopes he's another day or two away. Once you get to 5-6 days if he isn't back then you back-date an IL stint. I think that's where we are with Ortiz. He ran yesterday & apparently all was good; now on to more baseball-related stuff. I'm guessing that by LA he'll either be playing or IL'ed.

I wonder if some of these guys are shunning it because they're prioritizing leaving challenges for our catchers. If so I'm not advocating it. The non-challenge by Vaughn in the 9th was ridiculous. Just wondering if that has something to do with it.

I might do opening thoughts on the upcoming game in the first page or two, before the game starts. Then maybe after the game a comment or three on what I just saw, while scrolling back a page or two. Otherwise, no thanks.

If they ARE prioritizing load management re the pitchers-----and I think you're right about that------it's even more significant that they've still won more games than anyone up to this point. And if anyone wants to say "Well, sure, but what about the post-season?" Well, that's a large part of the reason FOR the load management. I agree, the complaints probably will continue. If the internet existed 100 years ago I'm sure some Yankee fans would complain about Miller Huggins' incompetence. I read a Cardinal fan board or two in past years, and until then I never realized how little Tony LaRussa knew. More good, more bad, more everything in a 6 month season. I suppose it comes down to what you're more inclined towards.

It's too early to say, but there might wind up being positional duplication w/Burke & Fischer, too.

This. People might disagree with the move, but it's not a Bae-Adams thing. That decision has already been made. This is all about Ortiz & whether or not he needs to be IL'ed. If he does THAT'S when things get interesting. If Adams sees 3B in Milwaukee, he might actually be OK fielding his position. It's when he takes the ball out of his glove & makes a throw that I get concerned.

Well said. And I didn't read the IGT last night, but I can just imagine. I relate it to, if someone is watching a game, something bad happens and you cuss up a storm or hoist the remote. Except here, you're having to take the time to cool down & actually type. So to me, it's sort of like seeing the bad thing, sitting there, taking a few deep breaths.........and THEN hoisting the remote. And I can respect the first examples you gave; I've said similar & probably worse. But when the emotions take over & lead to the exaggeration & hyperbole it sheds a bad light on who I'm sure are normally rational folks. You're right--we are a lucky fan base, and in some ways maybe a spoiled one. But then I've always had a special appreciation for doing more with less.

And both Shewmake & Bae are the type of guys most teams have on their AAA rosters who often are called on in case of injury. They just didn't happen to be in the Brewer organization when plucked.