Jim French Stepstool
-
Posts
5,380 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
22
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Blogs
Events
News
2026 Milwaukee Brewers Top Prospects Ranking
Milwaukee Brewers Videos
2022 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Picks
Milwaukee Brewers Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits
Guides & Resources
2023 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Picks
2024 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Picks
The Milwaukee Brewers Players Project
2025 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Pick Tracker
2026 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Pick Tracker
Store
Downloads
Gallery
Everything posted by Jim French Stepstool
-
Black isn't the greatest fit for the roster since the only place you can semi-trust his glove is at 1B & you already have a LHH there in Bauers. He'll share DH with Sanchez, PR & maybe PH. I'm a little surprised Matos was removed. Not that they'll miss him terribly, but IMO he's a bit better fit than Jones at this time.
-
Pretty good call. Hopefully with fewer picks though😁. Maybe Sorgi can knock off Ohio State in the years to come & get revenge for the choke hold on his dad.
-
I understand his 40 time is 4.67, which is about avg for an NFL QB. And he's not small--6'4" & a little over 200lb. So ideally someone who can beat you with his arm & feet; pretty important in todays' game.
-
I like the bunting because A: They're pretty good at it and B: Forcing people to honor it creates some tougher angles for an INF. I think at times it's gotten into opponents' heads. Keep that up; keep going deep into counts. It's a different kind of pressure than what you can apply when you aren't down 3 bats. Do what you can. Nothing earth-shattering but I think some secondary bats are slowly returning to norm. Rengifo is 4 for his last 15 w/only one K. Frelick 5-14; Hamilton is 6 for his last 12. Even Matos is 3 for his last 11. And Perkins' ABs look much better.
-
The previous pitcher (Flores) was all over the place, and on at least two occasions a member of the training staff came out to check on a possible injury. He said he was OK, continued, kept falling behind hitters, then was finally removed with the 1-1 count after walking three. Injured? Or just allergic to the strike zone? Anyway yeah, Fowler was very impressive.
-
Apologies if you're referring to something else, but in the 8th Zerpa retired the first man he faced, then had two LHH scheduled. One was hitting over .300 for the season & the other had two hits earlier in the game. So maybe you want to go to a RHP to keep Jahmai Jones on the bench & keep Colt Keith in the game? In that case there are 30 managers in MLB who would love to borrow your crystal ball because I doubt anyone who wants to keep their job would do that. Like someone said in a game thread the other day, not everything has to be someones' fault. Or are you kvetching about something else?
-
Big picture, IMO Collins won't be missed much and if he's missed at all right now it's due to an OF who hasn't seen the field yet, and an OF-DH who hasn't played in about 10 days. Mears would be nice as another RHP for the 5th-6th-7th, but if you don't have Zerpa then Ashby's arm might REALLY fall off from overuse.
-
My point is, it turned out to be a non-factor today. Skubal had nothing to do with them losing the game. You got to the late innings with a lead, and at that point the mismatch re the two starting pitchers was officially a wash. A couple of failures from your bigger guns, but overall I applaud their approach vs a very tough customer. And I applaud Sproat for righting the ship after a rocky first 4-5 hitters. But sure, you'd always like to avoid an ace if you can.
-
.........And another addition. Isaac Riddle, an 18 year-old, 6'8" forward from---you guessed it---Australia. He's mostly played at the 16U & 17U level there, and some tape actually exists. What I've seen is he's got some athleticism & craftiness around the hoop, good feet & hands, can catch, pass & handle the ball pretty well, and has very nice court vision & ability to run the floor. I also saw a need for much more strength & good weight, and virtually all his points came from within 5-10 feet. That might mean he has no outside shot, but it could also mean he had no need to use it in games as the highlights I've seen were against not-so-good competition. Definitely a project, but one that I'm sure cost little to nothing. Worth it as a 5th big this coming year. One roster spot left (if they choose to fill it), and they'd love to use it for Davion Hannah, the Milwaukee kid who decided to leave Alabama.
-
I don't know about sending him w/a 3-0 count. I'm not saying it's a bad idea, but the downside is it's a strike but not in a spot Contreras is looking for, he takes it & you make the 2nd out w/the runner still at 3rd. Or a swing and miss, same result. Don't get me wrong. There's logic behind sending Turang. But with less than 2 outs & Contreras hitting I think they felt less reason to get 'cute'. Bottom line, you had Contreras at the plate with one out 1st & 3rd, and Turang with one out bases loaded & came up empty both times.
-
I missed much of the game, but one thing this dispels is the "Woe is me, Skubal & Skenes back-to-back" nonsense. The matchup today, if the baseball gods offer you a one run lead in the 8th you take it every time. And in many other matchups too for that matter. What you need to lean on right now, the run prevention, failed late. I guess you could say the randomness of baseball that sometimes rears its' head did so today. A 3 run rally fueled by hits from Rengifo, Matos, Perkins, Ortiz, & Hamilton, otherwise known to some as "The DFA Quintet". Then a chance to add on short-circuited by arguably your best hitter so far this season.
-
Wisconsin has added another HS recruit for the 26-27 season by getting a commitment from Josh Manchester of Mount Horeb HS. He's a 6'2"-6'3" off-guard who averaged over 30PPG his SR year playing against smaller school competition. Manchester received some attention but no offers from high-major schools. He had offers from UWGB, Siena, Northern Illinois & East Tennessee State. While he definitely can shoot the ball, the consensus from rectuitnicks is that he's, at best, a stretch to contribute at a level like the B10--release point, speed & overall athleticism are question marks. But he is one of these kids who bleeds cardinal & white and I think the hope is that he can learn to defend, show a work ethic & be the rarest of breeds nowadays---someone who may stick around and after 2 or 3 years actually be ready to contribute, while still being in the program. He's worth a shot, especially since they have (I think) two spots still available if someone else in the portal becomes a possibility.
-
That 1-6 is no joke. Not an organizational filler in the group, either.
-
I've done this before, and it's very rudimentary in this analytics-based world but I've found it fun: I'll look at a prospects' total numbers in pro ball after he's reached what amounts to more-or-less a full MLB season in games played/PAs. Luis Pena is now there. He's OPSing .857 with a .381 OBP. A total of 180 base hits including 35 doubles, 13 triples & 11 HRs. 107 RBI. Oh, and he's stolen 89 bases. Jesus Made is given much more prospect love & rightfully so. And I realize the #s include a healthy dose of rookie ball. But save for a blip when getting a taste of high-A last year Pena has been consistently remarkable. It looks like it'll be a challenge to get him a place at the table AFA promotion is concerned but at his age it isn't a catastrophe if he stays at Wisconsin for the foreseeable future.
-
Admittedly he became sort of an afterthought to me, too. I think the small stature & having to re-establish himself after the health issues tell a tale about the kid---he just seems to be one of these types that refuses to be derailed, refuses to be deterred. And it doesn't hurt to have talent, too😜. At the plate & on the bases, his 'feel' for the game is pretty astounding.
-
😠😠😠😠😠BUT WE PAID HIM ALL THIS MONEY!!!!!!!!😠😠😠😠😠 😄.
-
Woodford....C Rodriguez.....McGee......Maybe at some point Pannone...... you need a back-of-the-BP guy to save everyone else in games like this, and it needs to be a vet. No way do you put a developing pitcher in a spot where the work is so irregular. I'd rather Yoho get regular work. That said, Woodford has really gotten clocked his last couple times out. Wouldn't be surprised if he's simply cut loose at some point.
-
Leonard coming here could possibly happen at some point, if for no other reason than he has the versatility they crave and he MIGHT hit (I have no idea what his defensive abilities are; that's always going to be important to the braintrust & rightfully so). The problem with Black is redundancy. I don't see him playing in LF in Milwaukee, and at 1B he swings from the same side as Bauers. Perhaps a 3-man at 1B/DH with him, Bauers & Sanchez? But if you go matchups Sanchez might get the short end, and with the injuries I think they feel the need to get him somewhat regular swings. I suspect SOMETHING happens relatively soon because you really don't need six OFs and three of them are vulnerable for either a trip to AAA or outright release.
-
Nothing official, but there's a lot of smoke suggesting that John Blackwell is going to sign soon with Duke.
-
The rule of sitting out a year was beautiful in that it sort-of created a buffer against the competitive disadvantages of the low-to-mid majors. You MIGHT leave for a bigger school (funny you mentioned CMU as JJ Watt was there originally), but you need go through a full year of not playing & simply being a (GASP!!) college student. Many found that distasteful & stayed put. Now the smaller schools are farm teams. As I said earlier I have no idea how disheartening it must be to be a fan/alum of a school in that situation. Yes, UW is fortunate in being able to stay competitive due to the limited roster spots in BB combined with the sheer volume of kids available. But they've also proven in this new era to simply be damn good at personnel evaluation & putting together connected rosters year-to-year, on the fly. But I hate it too, as do I'm sure most coaches.
-
Here's a scenario: HS athlete is a once in a generation QB, 6'9" do-it-all forward, whatever. Clearly the top prep player in the nation in his sport. CEO of a nationally known insurance company (or auto maker, restaurant chain or widget manufacturer) believes it would be beneficial to lock this kid up in an ad campaign. Being a brand known coast-to-coast, this CEO also feels he'd get that much more bang for his buck if said athlete also wore a Duke (or UCLA, or Kentucky) uniform in the ads. The firm (or through accountant mumbo-jumbo, the CEO) donates $4 million to Dukes' NIL fund. By sheer coincidence, Duke proceeds to outbid the next highest offer by, oh, say 3.5 million & the kid signs. I don't see anything that prevents this.
-
A big part of the problem IMO. Student athletes should be allowed to market themselves to the hilt, but market THEMSELVES. No direct NIL payments from the school, and no reference to the school in any ads, be it verbally, wearing the school uniform, logos, nuthin'.
-
They'd have to both be self-sustaining; I'm sure there wouldn't be a regular caravan of fans heading up & down hwy 151. The organization would certainly conduct whatever studies are necessary as to the feasability. Having both A & AAA in a more challenging spring climate certainly could be a concern. Not to diminish the support the T-Rats have received because it's been terrific but personally, if you only had one affiliate in the state I'd much rather have the AAA team closer, whether it be Madison, the Lake Country or the Fox Valley.
-
Yeah, I've thought of that & they'd make my list as well. I guess I'd consider it more of a GB-App-Neenah-Menasha corridor though; including Fondy & Oshkosh spreads things out quite a bit. Appleton has a long history; used to be a White Sox affiliate. Green Bay was an affiliate city once upon a time too---Dodgers, I think?
-
I think you raise a solid point re UW. Places like ChampBana, Lincoln NE & Iowa City certainly have the population to support minor league baseball at some level but have never been a hotbed. The flip side is baseball would barely bump into UW's primary spectator sports seasons. Some of the ancillary stuff like softball, yeah. But we've spent time in Madison during BB season & the growth there just seems off the chain. Throw in places like Sunny P & Waunakee and I dunno, I feel it has potential. Columbus has existed for a long time as a AAA city with OSU there; of course that's a very large city. Not familiar with the footprint at Warner. Is it expandable?
