Jim French Stepstool

Chargois is starting tonights' game, and he was actually warming up last night at one point. That's a good illustration of the shape of the Miami staff right now. Let's avoid a situation like last week in Pittsburgh where they pulled the starter & the bats went silent. As a card-carrying member of the Run-Prevention Club, I was happy to see Monasterio, after so much time at 3B, flip over to 2nd & have a real nice game. I know he's played there before, but it's been awhile. Hope we can control Stallings at the bottom of the order. I know that sounds strange, but going back to his Pirate days he's always seemed to be a pain in the *** to us. So Wiemer stays on a pitch & drives it beautifully to the RC field gap last night----on an old-timers-game velocity pitch from the aforementioned Stallings. I really feel for how badly he's struggling at the plate. Rare combo of athleticism, strength & speed. Hope things get cleaned up for him in the off-season.

If he wasn't followed by three more RHH he might've been. Not that it wouldn't have been a good idea anyway. According to CC the only RHP available was Vieira, so he went with the vet. But yeah, certainly not a situation they acquired him for.

Referring to Donaldson as a mercenary was kinda cool, though.🗡️

So if nothing else, I've learned the definition of not imminent. It means "Very likely to happen, unless I can talk Matt Arnold out of it in the next 24 hours, or at least be assured Brian Anderson still has a roster spot".

I understand it, but I think taking a flyer on the guy w/no risk, just to see what he might bring is more than worth it. He's had a couple of ex-teammates who are with us now. I wonder if their brains were picked before signing him.

They want two LHs in the pen. Who from my list would you prefer? I have no great compulsion to defend him. Overall he's been a disappointment. But I also like to be accurate. In his last 3 outings before Sunday he's allowed a total of one hit & no runs. Saying he's failed in every situation is false. On paper, Gasser would be preferable to me. But if that happens it won't be until N'Ville is done.

From my increasingly distant memories of Brian Andersons' most recent ABs, I'd personally go with Miller as a PH. Agree to disagree, I guess. When Turang starts vs a lefty, he isn't getting 4 ABs vs that particular pitcher, is my point. And while in the lineup he's also playing defense & playing it much better at 2B than Monasterio or Miller would be. It's something they emphasize, and probably will continue to. I've been an Anderson fan this year. I love the defense he brings, and was looking forward to his return to the roster when he was out. But I can see why he's gotten buried.

Interesting. I never would've thought that. I knew it was a loyal, enthusiastic core though. They came to Madison several years ago for a non-con game & I was impressed with the # of folks that travelled.

Monasterio, after showing signs of slumping a little defensively, has righted that ship & actually been very good at 3B. That's as big a reason as any as to why Anderson has disappeared. No need to sub him in defensively, like they do with Wiemer. His biggest asset isn't needed. And any scraps to pick up like pinch-running or PHing vs LHP, you have Miller back on the roster. If a LHP is starting against us, frankly I'd rather roll with Turang for the couple ABs he'd be facing that guy, and have his glove on the field.

He was acquired to be a 2nd LHP in the bullpen. The other candidates: Justin Wilson came back from his injury, hurt himself warming up, and is gone for the year. Clayton Andrews has looked totally outmatched in his couple of outings. Claudio was up very briefly this spring ("He couldn't be any worse!!!!!!!"). Yeah, he could. Ashby doesn't appear close to being able to contribute. Sousa put up a 13.50 ERA in his two outings. They signed Abad. His most recent outing at Nashville, I think he faced like 5-6 hitters & retired no one. Gasser is worth debating, but it seems they want to keep him starting as opposed to coming up here & working maybe once a week. Maybe when N'Ville is done playing we'll see him. That's where they stand.

I'm sure they have a similar problem in Corvallis. It's sad. You look at the attendance at some of UCLAs' games in recent seasons, it's embarrassing. But being in the LA market trumps having a crappy, lethargic "studio audience". So we're creating a mini-NFL. As inevitable as that is, it simultaneously kills off the essence of what was IMO a much better product.

I would say 'devolving', but my point is that they turned that issue into a lot of energy that carried them, and it was fun to see. The stadium size is a valid point, but I think market size and income generation is a much bigger factor in the current climate. When expanding, the B10 didn't see USC, UCLA, Washington & Oregon. They see LA market, Seattle market & Nike money.

I wish WSU was playing some other B10 or SEC team the other night, because if they were I would've really gotten into the incredible amount of energy & enthusiasm they showed. After Washington & Oregon left the league & they were hung out to dry, that whole program, student body, fan base & community really bought into giving the big middle finger to all of this league-jumping, posturing & enticement of schools based on market size. They turned it into a crusade. Don't know exactly what it accomplishes but it was fun to see........that is, it would've been if they were playing Minnesota.

Other thoughts: I've seen a lot of games where a defense looks lost for the initial possession, then adjusts & recovers. Last night it took them about a quarter-and-a-half. That was actually a pretty tough team to guard, and to hold them from about midway through the 2nd quarter on to one touchdown was surprising. I didn't think it was much more than finally adjusting to their speed & tempo, although Tressel did dial up some nice pressure. And some of it actually came from the D-Line, which was gratifying. Turner had a very nice 2nd half. It's a pretty good to very good LB group. I think the secondary will prove that they can cover. Tackling might be something else. We'll see. Latu looked kinda lost again. Without people pulling out & no fullback, the run game looks........like something they don't spend much time on, frankly. Braelon Allen was excited to be running w/o the 8th man in the box. Is that mitigated by not having a lead blocker? Is it a positive tradeoff to be thrown to out in the flat, usually exposed? I just hope, moving forward, that there's the balance they speak of, because right now it's not all that convincing. If they underachieve, I'm pretty sure Mordecai won't be the reason. Still not sure of the progressions but I thought he was pretty good. Disappointing that they didn't get the safety call. I wasn't shocked they didn't, but then again I've seen PAC-12 refs before. Before that, there was the WSU possession where they started at the one. They had not one, but two ugly plays where the ball could've taken a funny bounce & wound up a safety or even a defensive TD. Neither happened either time. Also, the Kaden Johnson penalty on the punt return was untimely & incredibly dumb. Real nice bounceback for Atticus Bertrams.

A thousand times, yes. When someone coughs up the football, I guess you HAVE to put at least part of the blame on the fumbler. But on both plays he was blind-sided, and Jack Nelson was beaten badly. Your LT needs to be one of your most talented O-lineman, if not THE most talented. He cost us 7 points, and was lucky he didn't cost us more. A returning vet simply needs to be a lot better than that.

Donaldson not in the lineup on Sunday for Nashville. And I doubt he "needed a day" since he just sat a couple days ago. I'm also guessing we see him Monday.

Donaldson not in the lineup today for N'Ville. And he had a scheduled day off a couple days ago. So I'm guessing we see him tomorrow.

So Wilson wasn't even on the horizon. OK. Now I'm just down to b****ing about no bunt from Monasterio lol. Oh, and the plate discipline. It's been mostly real good, it wasn't today. Cole had a few walks in him on 3-2 pitches & we didn't extract any. Could've gotten in their pen an inning earlier, which may have made a difference in extras.

Pretty sure CC doesn't manage based on who would receive the least blame. I would rather have seen Wilson, everything being equal. It seldom is. Milner was what, the 5th guy out of the pen? Obviously they didn't want to use him unless they had to.

If he makes it up here, I think we'll see Monasterio move to 2B some days. I just don't expect it to be a constant, straight platoon.

Sveumrules brought up some numbers that illustrate it well. Compared to earlier this summer the offense is improved. Braves level? Of course not. Average? Depends on what day it is, I guess. I mean, there were many days in the last 4-5 weeks it was well-above average. In a playoff scenario, facing a top-flight pitcher, we'll join a long list of teams that have to scratch for runs. You're right about that. In that case they may be bitten not by "not being good enough" but by not recognizing the value of a single run. I hated not asking Monasterio to bunt. If I had the chance to talk to CC it would go something like "You value run prevention. I couldn't agree more. In some of these close-game situations, when we're hitting, act like it. If you're putting extra pressure on an aspect of the team, then put it on the aspect we're strong at, that you value so much".

I can get on board with him being brutal today. His plate discipline is usually light years better than Adames. Not today.

If we did that, this whole thread wouldn't be the clownshow I'm reading. They lost a tough game today. I didn't like some of the decisions made. We scored a lot of runs the last two days. We didn't today, against one of the games' best starters. Season as a whole? They're 16 games over .500 & in first place despite some flaws. I think that's a positive.

It wouldn't surprise me. But I don't expect a straight platoon with Monasterio sliding to 2B every time a lefty throws, either. It certainly lengthens your bench options if nothing else, whether Donaldson is in the lineup or not.

Again, there's a difference between "available" and "yeah, we can use him if the game goes 13 innings, but that's the only way". I'd have rather seen Wilson with the 3-1 lead. But they talk to everyone in the pen before a game, and we don't know what goes into that. If Wilson wasn't available for one inning, I'm not sure I know why, because I'm not there for those meetings. If he was fresh & ready to go, then yeah, It's a head-scratcher.