Jim French Stepstool

Josh Bell wouldn't have been a bad fit as a DH. But I don't know if we explored that, or if the PTBNL list Zona offered was richer than what we'd be willing to spend. Also, while he's been swinging it well for the D-Backs his OPS at the time of the trade was just below .700. So probably not much interest.

They did. If you don't sweep Philly, you need to uptick the level of play & hope Philly finds some losses. And right now the Phils are playing really well.

And throw in their performances vs Imanaga & Sale, when there were no position players pitching. They also pinned a loss on Helsley this season (the hilarious part of that game was the winning pitcher, with two strikeouts in the final inning to strand the ghost runner, was Hoby Milner). This isn't to point out some sort of invincibility of the offense, just to counter the negative vibes. They're talented but extremely inconsistent with the bats. Many rookies & young vets, and the more experienced hitters have a lot of swing-and-miss to their game.

In baseball. Exactly. When I read comments, sometimes I feel like some of these good people would be better off just following the NFL, where you can lose three in a row & it might actually fracture your season. In baseball that's silly. Their most recent 3 losses are mostly centered around not scoring a runner from 3B with no or one outs. I don't know if that'll get better, but I know it isn't woe-is-me uncorrectable.

I feel that 'they suck' or 'so-and-so's a moron' or stuff similar to that comes out of everyones' mouth when watching a team that they live & die with, when things aren't going well. What I've never been able to understand is actually typing that stuff in the moment, rather than wanting to think about it & weigh your thoughts first. But I guess that's the nature of the IGT beast, and why I seldom if ever post while the game is going on. Not for me, but those who enjoy it, God bless ya.

We recently had the 5-game winning streak vs LA & Cleveland, both division-leading teams. Check out some of the posts in the two games prior to that.

I wish I remember who it was, but there was a poster on here that mentioned how many of these in-game decisions are like 55-45 or 60-40 type deals AFA regarding what the 'right' move is. And the point about being able to pick on moves of other teams if you watched them every day is 100% spot-on. I'm convinced that if the internet was invented 100 years ago we'd have been seeing message boards from '27 Yankee fans complaining about what a moron Miller Huggins was. In the previous decade there were many STL fans that ripped on LaRussa. Yeah, there's definitely a lot of randomness to baseball. I think maybe the biggest plus to having Murphy in charge of this group is the relative youth in the position-player group & how he handles young'uns. Given the outlook this winter w/no Burnes & no Woodruff, I think that's a large part of the reason he got the job.

I'm defending what Milner did last night AFA his pitch selection, location to a pull hitter, and getting a ground ball. In this ONE game. It has nothing to do with April, May, or any other month of the '24 season in which Milner participated. His lousy season prior to last might-which doesn't sound like a defense to me- had nothing to do with what he turned in yesterday. Calling the correct pitch (as per the conference beforehand) & putting it where you want isn't always going to get you the result you want. You know, baseball. It was a frustrating loss, I get it. And I've been critical at times of Murphy, too. Understanding the hows & whys of a particular instance & defending it doesn't mean people defend a player or manager 100% of the time. And I'm pretty sure no one wants an early exit from the playoffs (but given the youth of the position-player group, if they perform well in the playoffs but simply get outplayed I'm not going to dump all over them simply because I'm frustrated).

Didn't think it was hit that well. OK. I'll still stand by my point about what they were trying to do to Baker & how they executed it. The right side was playing him to pull, he's a pull hitter, and he was being pitched soft. Given that Baker was able to wait, I guess Milner should've gone even softer.

Then I'm convinced that you weren't paying attention to the AB last night, just looking at the result. His work AFA location & pitch selection was nothing like what he'd been doing earlier this year. Nothing. Again, find a manager that wouldn't take their chances with soft ground ball contact there. Calling the negative result beforehand is kinda significant. Did you predict the ball wouldn't be pulled by a pull hitter & just sneak past Adames to his left, or was it just "It's Milner, he's giving up a hit"?

We'll agree to disagree, I suppose. Milner hasn't been good this season. What he did last night AFA location & pitch selection had nothing to do with his work this year, and everything to do with what he did prior to this season. You can initiate soft to moderate contact, but you can't dictate where the ball is going to go. Unless you have eight or nine guys in your BP that all throw in the upper 90s, sometimes **** happens. I think Milner WAS pretty precise vs Baker. Changeups outside edge to a pull hitter. With all due respect I think this is more about not liking the result than watching the process. I didn't like it either. But he got moderate to soft contact on the ground to a pull hitter w/power. Find any manager in MLB that wouldn't take his chances with that.

Experience. Maturity. Avoiding bad habits, and when they occur recognizing & correcting them ASAP. This is Contreras' 3rd full season in the bigs. Among the 'major players' in the position-player group, the only ones with more experience are Bauers & Hoskins (their struggles are well-documented), Adames, and Sanchez. Offensively, the lack of whiskers on the rest probably has a lot to do with it.

No, very little velo. And he's been effective w/o it in the past. You know how? By pretty much locating the exact same way he did tonite. I guess I'm separating his season before tonite (which everyone agrees hasn't been good) with the way he worked one hitter in this game (actually two as he K'd the next man). His work turned in tonite was, to me, reminiscent of what he did last year & the year before. Whether he's suddenly going to become last years' Milner, I dunno. Probably not. But in a one-game vacuum IMO he was. And the way to beat Baker IMO isn't with velocity unless you get 0-2 or 1-2 & can get a chase.

I mean, yeah, I'll always take a strikeout w/runners on because you never have to make a play. But well over half the time you have to defend. The hitter put it in a perfect spot. Payamps gave up a screamer to Goldschmidt, which was caught. Baseball.

I said a while ago this isn't a bad offensive team, but a very inconsistent one. The numbers, which suggest something better than inconsistent, bear that out. It IS difficult on here when a 2 or 3 game stretch of bad offense occurs because you'd think from some of the comments it's 9 or 10 games. At 1B, Hoskins & Bauers, that's it folks. Any other options died when Tyler Black showed that his offensive game doesn't translate to this level, at least not yet. Offensively, they've hit 34 HRs between them & when they're seeing the ball well--which neither currently are--they'll draw some walks. Usually Chourio has Contreras behind him. Bauers hitting 3 or 4 has more to do with the people following him in the order than the ones preceding. If it doesn't result in him getting better, I doubt you'll see it in the post-season. They've had games where they've put up solid ABs vs pretty good pitchers.

Like I said, he hasn't been good this year. But his velocity is pretty much the same as previous years, when he's been mostly very good. Velo doesn't have much to do with whether he's effective or not. Like I said, I think he worked Baker textbook, re what to throw & where to put it. If Baker pulls it on the ground to Adames--and he's largely a pull hitter--he's suddenly not a bum. And he also located well to get the K in the following AB, although understandably most weren't paying as close attention at that point. Whether that continues I don't know, but IMO he deserved a better fate tonite.

As for Milner, it's because Hudson isn't here right now & with the heavy BP usage they need 3 LHP in the pen (I know Hall is a fourth, but the way I suspect he's going to be used he often won't be a late-inning option). Peguero hasn't been good at all, no arguments there. Milner faced a dead pull hitter, kept the ball away & gave up a ground ball that snuck through the non-pull side of the SS. I know he's had a subpar year, but where did you think Milner fell short tonight regarding pitch selection & location?

I loved Bill Schroeder feigning surprise that the Cards were walking a rookie (Chourio) to get to a veteran (Hoskins). At least I assumed he was feigning as I don't think he's senile. I think the strike zone was terrible for both teams, but we let it get into our heads while StL really didn't. I've heard a lot of wailing on here about taking strike threes, but for my money chasing out of the zone hurts at least as much if not more, and it certainly did tonite. It didn't help that Gray seems to be one of those guys that recognizes indecision, over-agressiveness, whatever you want to call it & plays it like a Stradivarius against you. I know he hit a couple balls hard, but rather than focusing in & stepping up Mitchell really shrinks in big situations. The large amount of ABs he's missed since being drafted really rears its' ugly head with him at times. For all the failures offensively I put the biggest onus on the Contreras AB. He can't touch the ball when that might've been all it takes, but Ox Baker or whatever his name is can actually sneak one through for a hit after looking none too good dealing with changeups (for all his struggles this year I thought Milner worked him just about perfectly). Maybe Rae thought it was a 7:10 start?

I think the most appropriate format is either one WC team from each league, or two WCs & have them play each other in a best-of-three. But doing things appropriately is always going to take a backseat to $$$$$$$$$$.

I agree. Pallante didn't do much to warrant getting his last inning, but went out there & got through it very easily. I think it was a good time to ask Peralta to get it done. He didn't. With Hall here, we might be seeing starters getting extra days from here on out, too.

The large difference btwn the BA & OBP illustrate how, when he's seeing the ball well--and he has stretches where he does that--he takes his walks. And he's actually a pretty decent baserunner. Going through MLB, you see a sprinkling of guys that are in the high 100s-low 200s that get playing time. Like Hoskins, he provides enough to see the field. Just wish the bad stretches weren't SO bad. Having said that, if Black came up here & hit .300 w/a .380 OBP while not letting ground balls hit him in the shins, it would've made for some interesting decisions.

Outside of one swing, it looked like a typically crummy day at the plate for Hoskins. I guess that's the point with him though. Whether it's rust after a year off or whatever & for all the empty swings he turns in, it just takes one. The man has had a disappointing year & still is going to probably wind up with 25-30 home runs. Look at the HR swing today. Three-quarters. The man is very, very strong. They've been more than willing to ride through some disappointing numbers for the occasional lightning, and I get it. That was never really going to change. Just hope he goes through an extended period of seeing the ball well & combining the power with some walks. Peralta was sort of a microcosm today of why 'staff ace' never really was a good moniker for him. Fairly solid, easily good enough to be someone you want in your rotation. But as much as announcers like to call just about every pitch that goes for a HR a mistake, both of the Pages HRs were really bad pitches. Then you try to get one more inning out of him & he falls behind the first man in the 6th 3-0. Eventually retired Arenado but still........ If anyone told me Hudson would have to deal with a couple of baserunners due to walking two batters--both to LHH--I'd never believe it. Found a way to wriggle through a very ugly frame. I don't know what will happen in the post season, but whatever occurs let's count our blessings. Chourio will almost certainly someday be talked about in the same breath As Yount, Molitor, Braun, Yelich, etc. regarding Brewer greats. And he's twenty. And he's locked in for ten years. Enjoy the moments, and the ones to come.

That's a pretty good order. I mentioned the other day that I'm still a believer in Turang being an effective leadoff hitter, but he's in a bad place right now w/the chasing & not going effectively deep into his ABs plus there are now other options that weren't really standing out before. Perkins or Frelick are both reasonable possibilities. It looks like Murph has settled on Chourio leading off vs LHP, which I don't care for.

From what I understand, WAAAAAY back in the day Northwestern played some of their home basketball games at Evanston HS. This may rival that. Might have to enact measures to keep the crowds down, like extended hours for the campus libraries.

I would think there's some sort of safety ordinance prohibiting setting off fireworks while rowing a boat.😁