Jim French Stepstool
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Everything posted by Jim French Stepstool
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I guess the next question to be answered down the road is this: Does the post-op Ashby do better working 80-100 pitches w/4-5 days between, or 15-35 w/a day or 2 between? Right now it looks like the latter, which is great because with their heavy BP reliance the pen felt kinda naked w/o the 3rd LHP. His recent work at AAA combined with the way he located Sunday is a Godsend. Combined with Misiorowski, Yoho & Paredes doing good things at Nashville, it's nice to have fresh options this late in the season.
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Sent here by a friend ... 1980s Brewers Info
Jim French Stepstool replied to Really4Rob's topic in Milwaukee Brewers Talk
Apologies to the poster, this is only slightly related but I can't help but pass this on. A former GF of mine grew up near County Stadium in the early years of the franchise & went to many games as a kid. In helping her pack up & move, I came across an old autographed ball. Knowing the era she grew up in, I wasn't surprised to find a bunch of signatures of nondescript Brewers from the first couple years the team was in Milwaukee. Then, there it was among the Kubiaks, Krausses & Roofs: Ted Williams (He managed the Washington Senators at the time). She told me that all she remembered was running around by the players' exit with the ball, not knowing who was who, and asking "Are you anybody?" Williams could be a little surly so I assume Washington won that day, because a loss followed by a teenager asking him if he was anybody might've resulted in the ball being hoisted onto the VA grounds. -
Sent here by a friend ... 1980s Brewers Info
Jim French Stepstool replied to Really4Rob's topic in Milwaukee Brewers Talk
IIRC, teams would sometimes take the batboys along on a roadtrip after school let out for the summer as a special treat. -
2024 - 25 Wisconsin Basketball Thread
Jim French Stepstool replied to Jim French Stepstool's topic in Other Sports
Vukovic definitely NOT coming to Madison, and it appears visa issues have nothing to do with it because he just committed to Oklahoma State. The latest rumor has him not being able to get past the admissions dept at UW. Win some, lose some. They just received a commitment from Latrevion Fenderson of Racine, who they've been after for quite some time. He's reclassifying to class of '26 & is (for now at least) playing at something called DME Academy in Daytona Beach. Athletic 6'5-ish wing, strong penetrator w/a pretty comfortable mid-range jumper in traffic, shows a lot of energy on defense. Shot does not reach out to the 3-point line on any consistent basis at this point. Averaged about 21 ppg w/11 rebounds last season. Iowa State was his other high major offer. Think John Blackwell w/ more of a physical nature but not as good of a shot from beyond about 17 ft. -
Very good piece. First off, I think the defensive chops this team has shown might play into this somewhat, leaning more towards wanting the ball put into play as opposed to 'fooling' a hitter. Not defending Contreras, just wondering if this plays into his thinking. I also don't believe we have a staff full of guys obstinate enough to do a lot of shaking off. Viewing the info provided, that can be a problem when you pair Contreras with a young pitcher less inclined to shake off whose #1 clearly isn't the fastball (Hudson). I don't know if it happens here, but historically in baseball there's often an "Oh, what the hell, if that's what he wants, OK I'll throw it" attitude from pitchers, then you make the pitch, but without conviction. These guys go over hitters on a regular basis. Looks like something that needs to be cleaned up. Given the teams' nature it probably has to be diplomatic, but still addressed. As an aside, if Yoho makes it up here & Contreras calls mostly for the 92-93 MPH fastball, a ritual human sacrifice may be in order.
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- william contreras
- frankie montas
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Memo to Adames, Willy...........
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Technically, a catcher gets a putout for a strikeout, so whoever caught Sheets in his 18 K game.
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When you're going to explode all over someone offensively, it's nice to save it for a game where it's really timely. Civale was pretty ugly tonight. The leadoff HR & back-to-back hits in the 4th really seemed to put him in nibbling, non-aggressive mode with the hitters immediately following. Especially in the 4th, vs their 7 & 8 hitters you'd think the runner on 3rd was the winning run instead of a meh runner in a 7-1 game. That's the only bad thing in this one, getting 11 runs & still having to use your pen for 5 innings. Frelick was a smorgasboard of defensive excellence tonight. That throw to 3rd, he didn't even plant & throw with momentum, instead turning to his right & then planting. Fundamentally wrong, but still got a ton on the throw. I've always felt his throwing arm was unfairly panned, but what he uncorked there was better than even I would've expected from him. Plus two hits, one vs a lefty. Just a great day. Terrific job going with the pitch by Sanchez.
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Not surprising given Mitchells' optics vs LHP recently. Perkins 2nd, that's a square I definitely didn't plunk anything down on.
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One of Mitchell/Frelick has to play vs a LH starter, interested in seeing who sits. I'm guessing Mitchell.
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They say Yohos' FB is 93-94. The way his other stuff moves, it would be cool if there was a way to measure how fast it LOOKS to hitters when he chooses to use it. I'm guessing there will be some sort of celestial crossroads in the space-time continuum shortly after 9-1, where decisions will be made about the above two.
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They've especially missed him vs LHP. You had to play both Mitchell & Frelick together vs lefties which ain't gonna work. Throw in the defense, and it's obvious Perkins should see time. My guess is he'll form an OF with Frelick & Chourio vs LHP, and be out there maybe half the time vs RHP.
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His biggest problem before this year (IMO) was way too much chasing outside the zone. He's somewhat corrected that, but yeah at times it's gone too far the other way. He's had ABs in similar situations lately where he actually swings early at fairly good pitches to hit & fouls them off. Did it again today in the 1st inning. Then he's put in more-or-less a self-imposed protect mode, which he isn't good at. Confidence & the relaxation that comes from it. We've seen what it's done for Chourio. No, Mitchell isn't at the same level, but he tightens up sometimes & winds up fighting himself.
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There can be head scratchers--there always are when you play 162--but It's pretty obvious why they ran out the batting order today that they did. It didn't work, so yeah, maybe they should've put all the guys who made soft contact today & showed little plate discipline in a different order. THAT'S the ticket. Thing is, most of this revolves around Yelich in the 3-hole not being there.
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He was hit pretty hard in the 7th, you'd have to say he failed. But he also didn't catch a break to save his life. I mentioned how we chased today at the plate. Contrast that to the Contreras AB w/the bases loaded. Mears got ahead 0-2 & IMO threw at least 2, maybe 3 pitches you could easily get a swing on on a different day. He laid off every one. Throw in the soft single to center & the apparent new rule that you aren't allowed to get two calls overturned in the same game. Needs to locate a little better & maybe mix the slider in more, but it's clear to me what they see in him.
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Sometimes you can generate enough offense to squeeze out a win w/o looking real impressive doing it. But chasing & soft contact is a bad combination & tough to overcome. The last decent shot was in the 8th. Ortiz is always good at extracting a walk, and did so as Romero wasn't real sharp. First & second w/no outs, except it wasn't because Sanchez decided to chase ball four. Mitchells' last AB was significant in a diagnosis sort of way. He looks horrible in the 1st inning--this time with the platoon advantage--with runners on the corners & one out. Second AB, pretty much just as bad. In the ninth, no one on, one out, down three runs, very low pressure. And he smokes 100MPH for a solid base hit against a very good closer. You can see why they stick with him. Holes in his swing, especially up top, but improved plate discipline & not devoid of talent. But the bigger moments, how he tightens up compared to the other ABs, it's just so incredibly obvious it's painful. How they parse up the PT in CF & RF now that there are three for the two spots will be interesting.
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As long as he doesn't get pitched around w/Mitchell behind him. That's my concern in a close game, esp if a LHP is warming or already in the game. At least now they can PH as they actually have another OF available.
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I'd always felt he looked better at the plate from the left side, actually. But he swung it well hitting RH before hitting the IL & I hope that continues because yeah, we really need it vs lefties.
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I think what he's doing there, is trying to construct something where Mitchell doesn't have to face a LHP later in the game. Putting him between Contreras & Adames might accomplish that, as well as separating him an extra spot from Turang. But I agree, it looks strange.
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They were both poor last night, which I pointed out earlier. But at least Mitchell has improved his plate discipline, and has had some decent ABs vs RHP recently. The problem with both is they really shouldn't be out there vs LHP, and while Perkins was gone Mitchell HAD to be. That's why Perkins coming back is important as long as he hits righties, which he was doing before going down. I don't include Frelick in this because, while him facing a LHP is far from ideal, the quality of his ABs & chances of success are IMO far better than Mitchell or Black.
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Scratch DE James Thompson from the above list. Injured & reportedly out for the season. Tough loss in an area of questionable depth.
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So, everyone knows there was little for Murphy to complain about re the ball/strike calls in the home 9th. Except there kinda was. I don't know how the NBA operates, but anyone who's seen a college hoops game sees sequences where the refs start to swallow the whistles late, if the game isn't close. That's kinda what we saw tonight. Williams was flat-out poor, but what should've fueled Murphys' ire was the "get the game over with" strike zone in the sequence before that, particularly the strike three call to Sanchez. Now, a hit batsman, a base hit from a guy hitting .130, golly gee, I better start umpiring the game seriously again. If Murphy wants to get pissed, THAT'S what he should've been pissed at. No hits, but I thought Hoskins put up some real impressive at-bats laying off the breaking balls after falling behind in the count. Too bad he saved his worst one for last. In extras, leaving the ghost at 2B after the 1st out of the inning. I hate that with a passion. Funny how one thing can turn events. The 10-pitch AB & walk to Arenado, I thought Myers wasn't himself from that point on. Same with Williams after he hit Contreras. Probably the worst thing about tonite, even more than losing, was seeing Mitchell & Black appear to be way, way too small for the moment in about 4 ABs between the two. Perkins as an option will be quite welcome.
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That's some really good data, thanks. If you compile this stuff while at work, I want your job.😁
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Found out after the game Carpenter was hitting something like .100 on breaking pitches this year. So yeah, on 0-1 maybe you go neck high with the FB, then breaking stuff, or visa versa. Still, he got on top of a pitch I didn't think he could hit out.
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If baseball was poker, I guess a "We're walking someone to get to Goldschmidt w/the tying & winning runs on base" beats a "We're letting Mears in to face Carpenter with Koenig ready". Actually, if the baseball gods let me see where the ball Carpenter hit out was located BEFORE he hit it, I'd have been fine with it. Just got on top of the sucker, something LHH don't do real often. Love, love, love Montas establishing 96-98 & working off it. That's his best path to success IMO. Three RBI day for Hoskins on another day. Hang with 'em. Devin Williams, in keeping with the poker theme, really has a pair.
