Jim French Stepstool
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Everything posted by Jim French Stepstool
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I expected an inning or 2 from Koenig, then Blalock. But I'm not sure who isn't available tomorrow of the guys used other than Koenig (probably optioned) & White. Not saying they won't stay away from people, but I think Wednesday could be the big issue if tomorrow doesn't go well.
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WAAAAAY too deep for a RHH. I was as pissed as anyone when I saw him pull up. But he pulled up because he wasn't catching the ball.
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I agree with the opinion that he was waaaaay too deep for the game-tying hit. But yeah, if he flies out to the warning track no one says a peep. These last couple pages are a fullout attack with hindsight bombs. Other than the positioning mentioned above, the 2nd biggest legitimate complaint might be running a guy out there who threw 40 pitches yesterday rather than Blalock.
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He was awfully deep for both 9th inning hits. The first one was understandable. The second was a positioning mistake. I agree it would've taken a close-to-miraculous catch.
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Much of this was no doubt touched on, but a few thoughts: Overall, when you're both insufficient and unlucky the same night it's pretty tough to overcome. I'm probably in the minority but I was fine with the Yelich bunt in the 10th. The Ortiz bunt was more questionable but IMO not in the "Murphy is a moron" category. If you're going to be hesitant to bunt there then Adames should be hitting where he probably would be for most teams--7th or 8th. I thought the BP was managed really well given the impossible circumstances. I would've brought Peguero out for the 8th, but Hudson threw a scoreless frame anyway so no complaints. I'm sure there's consternation about the lineup but the people I suspect were complained about had 3 of the 4 hits. I'm saying that while admitting I would've played Turang. Kudos to Yelich for seeing that Willy was at the plate w/one out & deciding the best chance to score is to try to steal home.
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Brewers Bullpen (Quarter Season Assessment)
Jim French Stepstool replied to sveumrules's topic in Milwaukee Brewers Talk
That's been a hope of mine for years now, to have enough depth in the organization that come July we don't hear the organization roll out the same old template "We're hoping to add a bullpen arm or two". Looks like we may finally be approaching that. With the early work Koenig has turned in, unusual depth from the left side. And I have a good feeling Payamps, while maybe not at the 2023 level, will turn in good work from here on out. Icing on the cake for the shuttle if Bukauskas & Clarke get added to the mix. Even if he gets himself right, it'll take some kind of foresight regarding the schedule to figure out a way to promote Uribe while having him unavailable for 6 games. September, or 2025, looks more likely. -
They'd be scared to death to do that in-season after the clubhouse reaction to the Hader deal. Not that it doesn't make some sense on paper. But a team that might have use for Adames wouldn't be in position to deal a proven starter anyway.
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Whatever you do, don't bring up the offense. It'll force me to think about that 7-game outlier to start the season.
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Yeah, that's part of the reason why it isn't a slam dunk. But I would imagine they're considering it & will eventually pull the trigger. They seem to be reaching a sort of temporal crossroads coming up in early June, with the chance of a # of people returning or close to doing so, and when the smoke clears I think Vieira will be somewhere else then if not before. We'll see.
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What was funny to me today was looking at the batting order, it pretty much appeared to be "Let's make sure Contreras & Adames get the extra AB if need be". And here they score ten runs. Hopefully Frelick has found something. And it's nice to see Chourio remind everyone just how much he has in the toolbox. Rottino made a great point in postgame. Gasser made one heckuva terrific pitch to McCutchen w/2 on & 2 out. It was still a game at that point, to start him off w/the changeup AND put it in a perfect spot to get him on one pitch-----just a very impressive start to his Brewer career.
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You'd think that has to at least be entering their thought process.
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Happy for the win, great job by the pen and I guess it's good enough to only have one big inning when you string together THAT many good ABs in succession. But I can't help being really, really disappointed in Chourios' AB w/the runner on 3rd & one out. It's bad enough to get caught chasing like in his prior trip, but he had at least one & probably two decent pitches to hit, contact was imperative, and he kinda reminded me of a pitchers' AB from back in the stone age. Just ugly. Keep workin', kid. Too bad Ross went deep in the count so many times, otherwise felt like 6 innings, maybe a little more. Yelich probably cost him 9-10 pitches too w/the dropped fly.
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Not necessarily launch-angle related, but I feel he's attacking pitches at the top of the zone (or above) that he should be leaving alone. Way more swing-and-miss than what his skillset should allow for, and way more than what he displayed in the minors. And I think approach has more to do with that than the upgrade in pitching at this level. Hopefully as he matures that'll change.
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Amen to that. So many hitters followed the launch angle craze that shouldn't have. Makes me ill.
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Bingo. The recent inactive spell was pretty obviously a case of the organization believing that side work w/Timmons, Dawson & whatever vets were working with him, was going to be more productive than him spending a month or two hitting against AAAA pitchers & the occasional not-yet-ready prospect. I think his ABs the last few days haven't been overly impressive, but better. I'm good with giving him the 2-3 week window before Mitchell returns, provided that in the meantime we keep Mitchell away from batting cages, bases, anything sharp or protruding, anything not encased in bubble wrap..........
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I was thinking the same thing. While Chourio was sitting I was assuming there were specific aspects to his hit tool that were being worked on, and he'd eventually return to at least a semi-regular role. It looks like that happened a few games ago. What I'm seeing since then is better contact, but not a whole lot of balls on the barrel. Looks to me like a lot of swings you'd usually see if the count was 0-2 or 1-2, even when he isn't behind in the count. It appears the pitchers are always one step ahead of him regarding pitch selection & location, which shouldn't be surprising considering he's 20. He hasn't looked terrible but the confidence that comes with experience & smart anticipation just hasn't caught up with the ability yet. If Mitchell is ready to return on or around June 1 that's a reasonable target date.
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Yeah. And he played that damned Bauers again tonight.
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I sure hope Willy was going to 3rd b/c he was anticipating a throw home. It still would've been a terrible decision, but at least he'd have a bad excuse for being mentally vacant. It's getting kinda old for me, having Vieira here w/o being able to option him. I get it, he throws hard & is around the zone an acceptable amount of the time w/the fastball. But everything else is pretty severely lacking.
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They started swinging the bats a lot better on Saturday. They can get things done vs a righty, especially with Wilson struggling. Probably a good time to get them out of town. In an alternate universe w/no one injured & Miley or Hall having their turn come up today good chance we sweep.
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Romero is a LHP which makes it tougher to get a jump. It may have been a case of not reading him well enough & having to resort to guessing, which might've given him pause w/Contreras at the plate. Having said that, I wanted him running too. I think on the 1-1 pitch Contreras may have been giving him a chance to go.
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The StL bench was chirping from the get-go. Unless they got up early & cruised I really think part of their script today was to do some agitating & try to get each other fired up, which sometimes happens when a team looks dormant. They were just waiting for the opportunity. And it gave Turner Ward a chance to catch some rays out on the railing.
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What sucked the most to me today was getting Mikolas to 43 pitches, or whatever it was, after one inning then allowing him to get through innings 2-6 with just over the same amount. We've been doing a nice job of bunching 3-4 good ABs together in an inning & couldn't do it today after the 1st. Never thought Mikolas would put together an outing like that but he was real good after the 1st time through. Just one more even semi-lengthy inning early & we probably got 'em. Helsley having 100+ in his arsenal then coming in throwing sliders for strikes isn't exactly fair.
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Depends. Seems like one of those guys that would talk your ear off. Which I guess is OK if it keeps you from the honey-do list.😃
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Looks like this is an "acceptable" lineup today, so maybe people can traverse the IGT w/o having to wear their hip waders. Cards hit the ball a little bit yesterday, so this might be a good time to be getting them out of town. Even so, Mikolas has been, shall we say, vulnerable this year. You kinda figured Turang would be inserted in the leadoff spot at some point, it's terrific to see he's done it w/o skipping a beat. Coulda/shoulda had 2 hits yesterday.
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I mentioned that last night in the IGT. Pretty much the only explanation.
