Jim French Stepstool

The time where we should all be appreciating this team, in light of all the obstacles they've had to endure, arrived a long time ago. It's easy for me because I've appreciated, for a long time, what they do to mitigate those obstacles & "work smarter". Fan message boards attract all types of fans, and their styles bump into one another & cause consternation, which is one of the things that feeds this media. The type that seem like they'd rather be right, than have the team be successful, have always been a little curious to me. Or the ones who open up with something like "They've played well & should be commended, but"...........and then proceed to write a book. I suspect I'm guilty now & again, on both ends. But if it's well thought out & not just a rant, it all has value. Problem is, with the many layers added on to baseball stats in recent decades you can attempt to make Keith Hernandez sound like Keith Osik & visa versa.

I think it's fortunate that Peguero still has the option left. Let's not forget 2023; he's capable of pitching at a high level & unless he's included in a trade I like the idea of having him with the team next spring camp. But for now it's certainly the right move. They do seem to like two bulk-innings guys in the BP but Ross seems vulnerable to me after the doubleheader. I think Hall stays, Ross goes and..........they also had an affinity for 3 one-inning LH types in the pen, but Milner might have little left in his 2024 tank & Zastryzny is a question mark. So Paredes seems to fit the timeline, unless by that time they just can't deny Yoho anymore or Misiorowski continues to throw strikes as a reliever.

You pretty much HAVE to check on the market for Williams and some of the other relievers. You don't give him away but he's an obvious asset & fills a role where we are particularly strong. I'm not so sure we look to add a starter. Might be prudent to look for maturity & efficiency from Peralta as he ages, continued consistency from Rea & Myers, and looking to the farm talent (including Hall), whatever level Woodruff comes back to, and the eventual return of Gasser to flesh things out. I feel the hole to fill will be at 3B as I agree Ortiz gets moved to SS. In his 1st full year as a pro, Wilkin had to deal with AA-level pitching after taking one off the face & having to hit for a stretch while wearing a mask. Let's let him & Boeve settle in & continue to develop with an eye towards '26 when both corners may be up for grabs. Would also like Ollie Dunn to get a AAA season under his belt. Black is a quandary moving forward because Hoskins is most likely back, Yelich almost certainly is the main DH, I just don't believe he can play 2B or 3B sufficiently and his trade value is up in the air. I haven't looked at the FA market but if there's a left-side INF they like that's willing to go for a one-year deal or one year w/player option, that could happen.

With the season less than 2 weeks away I thought I'd throw out some comments position-by-position, a synopsis of some of the stuff I've heard/read & my own observations. QB........Van Dyke, after a slow start seems to be more comfortable & eventually started separating himself from the others, which isn't surprising. It looks like he's settled in throwing the ball & supposedly runs w/the ball better than you'd think, since the optics suggest he'd be a statue in the pocket. His last work at Miami just kinda leaves me questioning how good he'll be. Hopefully there's a comfort level that will show through & allow him to be the best version of himself. Locke would be a good 'game manager' QB on many of the past UW teams. Under this system IMO he's adequate at best. The most talented kid is the freshman from Texas, Mettauer. But unless he grows by leaps & bounds in the next few months he's not a factor in '24. RB........Much better depth & talent than last year. Looks 'committee-ish' to me, with Mellusi (stay healthy, please) & Oklahoma transfer Tawee Walker leading the pack. Darrion Dupree & Dilin Jones are talented freshman, Dupree will play & Jones might. Yacamelli & Jackson Acker are journeymen & reliable. WR.....Will Pauling is very reliable in the short-to-medium pass game they employ. I'm a big fan of Trech Kekahuna & Vinny Anthony. They have hopes for others that haven't seemed to separate themselves--Bryson Green, CJ Williams, Chris Brooks & others. And no one seems to have established himself as a deep threat, I'm hoping Anthony might be that guy. TE.....Tucker Ashcraft can catch the ball. Riley Nowakowski, an over-achiever that a coach like Barry Alvarez would've loved, can block. They'll both play a lot. Rob Booker is a future hopeful, but TE isn't an easy position for a freshman. Jackson McGohan transferred in from LSU but hasn't made a depth chart move as yet. OL....Has to be better than the comedy of mental errors seen last year. Assuming he's past all that, Jack Nelson should make half of a good pair of bookend tackles w/Riley Mahlmann. The interior is bolstered as it appears C Jake Renfroe is finally healthy. Seems to be a battle btwn JP Benzschawel & Joe Brunner for a starting guard spot opposite Joe Huber. The bad news: whoever loses that battle might be the only experienced depth. Some freshmen might be in the two-deep. DL.....Definitely better. James Thompson has turned into a bit of a playmaker & Curt Neal seems to have alleviated concerns about NT. Ben Barton reminds me a little of CJ Goetz or Matt Henningsen, limited athlete but a tactician that gets the job done. They added 2 FCS-level guys for depth. Elijah Hills & Brandon Lane. I still hold out hopes for RS freshman Jamel Howard. LB....Just a case of sorting out roles, really. Jake Chaney returns on the inside, & Christian Alliegro can play at a pretty high level if he stays healthy. Jaheim Thomas is at his (I think) fourth different school but has had a great camp & should start. Tackett Curtis came from USC. He once started there but is coming off surgery. On the outside, good potential depth as well w/ Darryl Peterson, Aaron Witt (if he can maintain health), & transfers Leon Lowery (Syracuse) & John Pius (Wm & Mary). Thomas Heiberger is a true freshman that was one of the stars of camp & was going to definitely get on the field, but a leg injury has him on the shelf. More than enough edge rush here if this group stays intact. Secondary.....This could turn out to be one of the better groups in the B10. Hunter Wohler is outstanding & the other safeties (Preston Zachmann, Kamo'i Latu & Austin Brown) have experience. At corner, Ricardo Hallman was a dangerous ballhawk & Nyzier Fourqurean has had a great camp. If they stay assignment-sure these guys will make plays. Xavier Lucas is a true freshman who keeps making plays in camp. It looks like he can't be kept off the field.

Yeah, it's been that kind of year for him. But in this case I think for the most part you gotta tip your hat to Naylor.

It's been obvious for a long time the recipe for a playoff run for this team largely includes bullpen success from a number of people, probably 4 or even 5 innings many games. In that vein what we saw last night from Mears, tonite from Koenig & the re-emergence of Payamps is such great news. And, I'd love to hear from Cleveland folks that follow the team regularly, how often Ramirez & J Naylor have looked that hogtied in back-to-back ABs like they were in the 9th. Very impressive. Note to American League: You play the Guardians in the playoffs, don't be trailing after 6. Heck, maybe after 5. That's some kind of wicked pen talent/depth.

In a perfect world you'd like it a little higher, which is ironic cuz Freddie's been the King of the Uncompetitive Pitch w/2 Strikes all season. But yeah, Naylor getting on top of that was pretty impressive. Not a bad pitch at all.

I like that idea too, and I think there might be some of that going on these days. I just think it's one of those things that should evolve as part of the normal ebb and flow of the game of baseball, not legislated.

All I got re Black in the 3-hole, other than the L-R-L thing, is that with Yelich unavailable they feel really invested in him being able to fill the DH slot & think putting him in front of Contreras & Adames might get him more pitches to hit & increase the chances of him locking in. If that's the case then so far, so not-so-good.

If you look sideways, shade your eyes & squint, you can kinda, sorta understand what they saw in Mears........🤔 Geez, that was impressive. Hell, he's pitched more than an inning a bunch this year, I would've brought him back out. But it's good to see Payamps continue the upward trend. MORE good ABs from Mitchell. Maybe a corner is being turned. Damn, that's a deep BP Cleveland has.

This is......not a 'trap' series, but dangerous in that they just competed four games that may have been emotionally draining, and right back into the fire vs a very good squad. OTOH maybe the team receives an adrenal jolt from the last couple wins. Facing all RH starters this weekend is welcomed. As mentioned above this definitely isn't the team to go into the 7th or later trailing. Vogt seemed to like his time here. Would've been nice to keep him in the organization. Could be part of the braintrust, or if we wind up needing to add a fourth catcher.........

It wouldn't have anything to do with enjoying the taste of lutefisk, would it?

I'm over 30, and this wouldn't even be close to the version of the game I grew up with, because it would be forced. After implementing a pitch timer on a pitcher, THEN coming up with this? Sounds to me like people on rules committees trying to justify their existence.

That was my vastly larger point. Mistakes that have mostly been uncharacteristic this season & were still overcome. Throw in the stick-to-it-iveness Of Montas & Myers in the face of early troubles vs a lineup that can be overwhelming. Huge positives.

Beat me to it. I think that stat sorta goes hand-in-hand with @igor67's comments.

And as a couple of people pointed out, they did so while not at their best this week. Anyone watching this series saw some pretty egregious mistakes, physical & mental.

After watching this series I'm admittedly shocked by this, especially watching the first two games.

Nice snatch back. Just some thoughts, many of which were probably touched on....... The butcher boy by Frelick was a bunt call in which he has that option if the corners crash, as per Murphy. Hacking at the pitch was I thought a great decision by the perfect guy at the plate to do it. Just need to get it on the ground, obviously. I felt letting Turang hit in the 7th was a gray area. We all know he's not nearly as good vs LHP, but he's had two days of really good ABs. Turns out he put up another good one there up until the horrible swing decision at the end. We all know the story about Peguero & the inherited runners, and it bit him again. But I didn't have a big issue with bringing him in there because there were two out & it was the 9-hole hitter, and it's not like he smoked the ball, just steered one to the oppo side out of everyones' reach. Plus in the situation they're in, yeah you'd like to catch Philly or LA but you have a comfy lead in the division & they aren't real big on bringing one of the setup guys in two days in a row at this point. Given that, Peguero was the obvious choice. If anything, an argument could be made that maybe you let Myers try to finish the inning. For two days in a row now, we've had a starter stressed early & he hung in there, got outs w/runners on & gave us a chance. Today it was a rookie doing so. That's real "unsung hero" type stuff. I've been down recently on Mitchell & Black. Today Mitchells' last two trips to the plate were magnificent, especially the walk he worked in the 8th after being down in the count. Then Black puts a good swing on the ball & basically singles through the left side if not for a diving stop, driving in the go-ahead run. We just split with a very talented team while making mistakes all week. Would we be 'dogs to them or Philly in the post season? Of course. But what we saw this week isn't the best version of ourselves, either. I just think it's a helluva lot of fun watching this young group get stressed & see how they can react & grow. Three more big tests this weekend against more quality.

I didn't see the presser. I'm glad to hear he called out their approaches at the plate. he's right. The ABs by Frelick & Ortiz w/runners at 2nd & 3rd were horrible, and the one by Turang w/the 1st & 3rd. Their mental approach reminded me of eighth-graders on the sandlot being toyed with by a HS pitcher. And they've all been much, much better than that from the neck up, against much better pitchers, that's what's infuriating. My guess is they never intended for Murphy to have the job long-term. IMO he takes more heat than he deserves, but over an entire season yeah, there are always going to be moves we disagree with. I've had some. What I'd like to know right now is how much of a hand does he have in some of the roster decisions.

Yeah, and that's what's odd to me. I mentioned the other day that I have no idea what they're going to do, not only facing a LH starter but if they face a lefty reliever late. There are usually one or two PH options from the right side on the bench, but if you tie take the lead forget about strengthening your defense b/c now Bauers or Monasterio or Black or Haase has to go play OF the rest of the game if you hit for Mitchell or Frelick. The whole thing just looks disjointed to me.

A great point. The plate discipline LA showed the last two days in Milwaukee is a perfect example of that. People see the flashy highlights from Ohtani, Betts, Freeman & the like but the highlights never show the work & patience they exhibit to get to a favorable count & GET the pitch to drive. That needs to be hammered home sometimes with young power guys. Hopefully Wilken & Bitonti learn the lessons.

Yeah. Lots of good folks on here, some of whom aren't built for fandom over 162. Yes. We couldn't compete the last two days with a team that contains arguably the most potent top three of the order in decades, followed by a guy with 27 HRs & another guy with 16, and they all happen to be swinging the bats well. Let's tear it down.

There's no doubt in my mind a team in Milwaukees' position can reach a World Series. The problem is, you have to be close to perfect in your personnel decisions, you need to be more fortunate than most regarding injuries, the farm has to produce--and it also doesn't hurt if the ball bounces your way in the key moments. The randomness of this game compared to others certainly can't work against you. When you make a mistake in signing a player, a key guy gets injured or you simply have an off-season hole to fill you can't just throw money at the problem to solve it.

I don't know how to quantify the "Ass handed to you" stat, but their run differential--a stat that I admittedly think is kind of silly--is third best in all of baseball. Pretty sure we aren't in the "some" category.

This is so much more than "Me strong like bull, hit home run". Look back at the first 3-4 innings for Rea, how many pitches LA laid off of--pitches that missed, but were close. Pitches that were quality, IF you get a swing, and that he DID get swings on much of this season. Pretty much throughout the lineup, they take that stuff like it's missing by a foot-and-a-half. That puts an awful lot of pressure on a pitcher (the HR AB by Will Smith is an excellent example). That's what leads to a pitcher cracking. In the 5 run inning, Rea cracked. Contrast that with Frelicks' AB w/2nd & 3rd & one out. He's been panned this year, probably sometimes unfairly, but you need to know yourself. His approach went totally out the window there simply due to being overwhelmed by the situation. He fell into a IIRC 1-2 hole when he probably should've been up 3-1. Ortiz, same thing in the next AB. If LA had 2nd & 3rd w/one out & the pitcher started to nibble, pretty good chance the next three guys walk. They get good pitches to hit because their approach EARNS them. We did that somewhat in ATL, and at other times sporadically this year. We kinda made Sale & Morton crack. Couldn't do it tonite vs someone who's no better. It's every bit as harmful as taking pitches down the middle if not moreso. I thought this was a hallmark of Blacks' game, discipline, earning good pitches to hit. But in his first handful of games up here I don't see it.