Jim French Stepstool

Someone who actually grew up learning to score a game? You're in!!!! Welcome aboard, and thank you so much for your service.

If you'd have told me we would pitch a shutout today after the slowpitch softball game on Tuesday night.......Just an incredible job by Rea. He was a good interview afterwards too, talking about being cognizant of the bottom of the zone but other than that not really trying to change anything or let Coors get into his head. Too bad they didn't add on, but actually Lambert threw well & was a big part of the reason. It sucks when a team is basically down to one guy out there that can give you any kind of length, and he comes in & does so. The other part of the reason was, of course, our boy Willy. And then, the ejection. Imagine if we were down a run late,or tied. We have Monasterio & Capra in the lineup with no ability to hit for either unless you want to go total beer league with your defense. Mr Adames, if you're a leader you can't let that happen. Gave up a couple hard-hit balls, but I liked how the moment wasn't too big for Junis. Sweeper & changeup both on point.

Since we're on the eve of the day when we defied the British, I'll be just a little defiant. Yes, Yelich 3-1, with two outs, look to drive something. But Monasterio pissed me off. After the Bauers RBI single w/2 out, he got to 3-1. Take the dang pitch. If it's ball four, two on for Turang. If it's a strike, then it's 3-2 & Bauers can run on the next offering. And THAT one might be ball four, or you might hit one kinda in the gap, or a bloop down the line, that could score him. Plus, Hudson has walked a ton this year. It really depends.

The IGT is on its' second page & the game hasn't started yet. I figured either Chourio isn't starting, Frelick IS (at 3B), or we STILL haven't recalled Keston Huira.

If he's adequate defensively I have no problem with Frelick taking a few turns at 3B in the next 10 days. For a limited time I don't think his offensive profile not fitting at 3B is a big deal. Just make the routine plays & offensively, be yourself. For all we know Monasterio may get the bulk there anyway.

Exactly. I think Pratt was a big part of the reason they were comfortable with this. Perhaps someday Areinamo allows Turang to move to SS if need be. A Wilkin or Adams could do the same with Ortiz. And they're high enough on Di Turi to send him to Carolina at a very young age. Plus there are some middle INF on the rookie teams that have ranged from pretty good to almost unbelievable. If just one of them proves to be 'for real' and advances......... And Eric Brown has ample time to right his ship, since he's a 1st round pick. Hopefully it's just a case of the prior health issues stunting his development.

Overall, I like the move. I speculated about the depth of middle INF from high-A all the way down to rookie ball as being a source of strength to deal from. At one time Barrios seemed to be middling as a prospect but really saw his stock soar with a nice season so far, and we parlayed that 3 month "bull market" of a season into a ML-ready starter. Well done. You would think this certainly opens the door for a Pratt promotion & subsequent increased role for teenager Di Turi in Carolina. Count me among those hoping this leads to Wilson moving to the pen. That's up to Keuchel & whether his outing yesterday will be closer to the norm. Anxious to see what they have in store for Hall, too.

My initial thought re corresponding roster move was also a phantom IL move, and that the guy IL'ed will be whoever they feel could use a couple weeks. With Koenig out, I don't think it'll be Milner.

I've never seen it. I'm assuming your speculation is right, that Weeks carrying the glove & setting the defensive alignment was the reason. I looked at the writeup of the mound visit rule on MLB.com. It makes no mention one way or the other about multiple coaches visiting.🤷‍♂️

That's the word.

We were unlucky early. Enough baserunners to score a run in the 2nd, but 3 of the 1st 8 hitters lined out. Could've bunched together more. We were lucky late. Two infield hits, & Hoskins taking one for the team. But we at least partially made our breaks in that inning. I love hitters who battle, refuse to K, run the pitch count up. We don't always do that to satisfaction, but collectively we were exemplary in the top of the ninth. So far, so good for Mitchells' ABs. Congrats to Zastryzny. I'll bet Bud Black would love to lobby to play 7 innings tomorrow. Our BP is getting worn, but his is burnt toast.

Unless he's flat out horrible, falls behind & walks people in addition to being hit hard I would think he'd go at least once more. But who knows? FWIW Chad Patrick is kinda-sorta lined up with him in the Nashville rotation. He doesn't throw tonite but would be scheduled to tomorrow w/five days rest.

Nice post. I think the Bauers start IS more performance-related. At least it should be. The quality of his ABs has been really good the last week or two, and Hoskins has been in the lineup vs RHP before but isn't tonight. That said, I don't see Bauers getting starts vs lefties. If his good ABs continue, heck yeah, roll him out there vs righties. If it starts to look like a platoon, so be it. Yelich being in the lineup while getting off his feet is definitely a nice feature of the crowded house in the OF. Between the Yelich/DH option & the rest of the outfield there will probably be times when SOMEONE btwn Frelick & Mitchell has to swing it vs a lefty. I don't have a horse in that race, but you'd think Mitchell would at some point have a chance to prove he can do it. Maybe in a lineup like tonights' we'd eventually see Perkins hit for Frelick, rather than Mitchell? Right now it's anybody's guess.

It didn't mention anything about the Prodigal Son returning, did it? Because I really don't want Crai................Nevermind.

That's exactly what I was thinking. IF he can keep the ball down w/sufficient movement & without walking folks, we have the inf defense to make that work. If, if, if.............

Apologies if this has been touched on & I missed it, but does anyone have anything recent on Coleman Crow? Is he on any kind of a throwing program yet post Tommy John?

Agree. And that's quite disappointing. In last nights' Nashville game, Black was charged with an error. I didn't see it, but it was described as a missed catch. A missed catch. From a first baseman.

With Adams & Wilkin around I might think about Boeve if tempted enough. MIGHT. Agree re Bitonti.

A starter would be a nice addition. But at what cost? I look at this sort of from the opposite direction: What would we be willing to part with? There's a LOT of middle INF talent at the A-ball level--Pratt, Areinamo, Barrios--with some very intriguing stuff coming up immediately behind them. On the corners there's Black, Boeve, Wilken & Luke Adams, with Bitonti in the wings. I think they'd be willing to deal from both of these subsets (although I wonder how much value Black now has after his glove pretty much relegates him to 1B). Add a Perkins or a Frelick (admittedly risky with Mitchells' history) & maybe one of the A-ball arms and there's a potential package. If you need to include a Misiorowski, Henderson, Knoth or Wichrowski then just say no. And if the above doesn't get you what you'd really want, then pare down accordingly & target one of the guys on Jay87s' list.

The home state ties IMO have been strained for awhile now, at a lot of schools. It started with the upper-level kids spending their summers traveling around playing other upper-level kids. Sure makes evaluating easier, but it really "shrinks the world" & makes going away to school seem much less daunting. Then as you said, might as well go the whole nine yards & spend the academic year where the academics are a byproduct of the basketball program, rather than the other way around. All Gard can do is try to establish relationships as early as he can & hope it sticks. It worked with Kinziger. It worked with Freitag, who was out-of-state. Keeping my fingers crossed on Karvala & Davis. FWIW, I also applaud the WIAA (on this at least).

I'm sure much more goes into it than looking at how other teams handle their elite young talent. Guys can be at the 'same level of prospect' & need much different paths. I suspect you're correct about the PH thing. I DO know Witt came aboard as a 22-yr-old (Chourio was 19 until just before the season started) & played regularly right off the bat for a team that lost 97 games. Henderson joined the O's for the last month or so of his 1st year at the age of 21. The O's finished something like 15-16 GB. Merrill IMO supports your argument the best. At the age of 21, he's playing regularly, & the Pads are in their perpetual "GO FOR IT!!!!!!" mode. I will point out that while Chourio could have a higher ceiling, I think Merrill is a more 'finished product' at this stage. He Ks about 16% of the time--very good for a young player with pop--and has the advantage of being oppo side (LH) for most pitchers. If he was hitting .210-220 most of the season & SD had a RHH or two on the bench they had confidence in I suspect he'd get pulled vs a LHP from time to time. The Brewers are handling this the way they see fit. I don't always agree with what they do--like when they pulled him tonite (and I was wrong). But more goes into this--from individual work, to film study, to matching pitchers' tendencies vs hitters strengths--than we could ever imagine. Maybe putting him--and others--in the best position to succeed will, in the long run, HELP his confidence. I think Mitchells' return will affect Perkins much more than Chourio. But we'll see. Hope you & your family have a wonderful 4th.

I'm sure they're counting the days until Williams makes it back. Herget will probably be here again. Bukauskas being out sucks; he was throwing the ball well & I'm sure they have their fingers crossed there. D L Hall should be back soon--in what role I have no idea. Craig Yoho is in Biloxi. I wouldn't be surprised if he is in Nashville sometime in the next month or so. It wouldn't shock me to see him in Milwaukee this year. If I had to guess I'd say Patrick is being looked at as a starter if needed. I mentioned more than once that I'd rather see Wilson come out of the pen, but circumstances prevented that. Maybe that's a move that can be made down the road.

In the month of June + this last game, they pinch hit for Jackson Chourio five times. And it didn't seem to hinder his effectiveness. The thing is, we're probably on the same page afa wanting to let him hit. Like I admitted, I wouldn't have pulled him back tonite. But I don't see the way he's being handled as being a hinderance. His last few weeks prove that.

You went from thinking that it'll destroy his confidence to not liking the move, I assume from a strategical standpoint. To me that's two different things, so I didn't see that as clear at all. The 'confidence part' was the only thing you brought up originally, so that's what I responded to. As to tonight, the guy they sent up to hit for him (as I admitted, I wouldn't have made the change, so I guess I was wrong) responded by reaching base twice. If he's going to be the next Acuna IMO nothing they're doing/not doing right now is going to alter that.

From what I've seen of him since the beginning of April I don't think it'll hurt at all. It helped (the team) today in a vacuum, as Frelick reached twice.