Jim French Stepstool

Agreed. Having said that, I'm trying to give Longo & Fickell a pass re the offensive decisions & attribute it to trying to establish a new way of doing things. Because in the 2nd half they were gashing the defense running the ball, then took a 1st & 10 at their own 40 & It's like they suddenly thought "Oh yeah, I forgot. AIR RAID!!!!!" Then Mordecai throws the pick on 3rd and nine. As far as I'm concerned that whole possession & the ensuing Buffalo TD are on Longo (assuming he has the last word on plays). Made no sense. I'll also assume they were keeping a lot of stuff under wraps because there was really very little thrown downfield, and if you run effectively that's what should be available. And they were running effectively. But still they threw the little passes to the flat, as if they HAD to do that because they couldn't run. It was just weird. Before we pass judgement on what Mordecai is after one game, let me remind everyone Graham Mertz was 20-21 in his debut. Let's let this play out. Until they show some more stoutness in the interior, I miss Keanu Benton. But I think the LBs are a pretty good group (Jeff Pietrowski didn't make a lot of plays but looked very active), & the secondary will be in time. Tucker Ashcraft was very impressive. O-line should be good. The C from Cincy (Renfroe) is still out, when he's back Bortolini will supply pretty good depth at C-G. There was some noise about Mellusi & Allen playing together in the backfield. Don't know what that would look like but sounds intriguing. Might provide more problems than the 3 & 4 wides.

Mordecai threw down the field twice IIRC. Both very nice throws. The rest of the time was spent throwing the type of patterns you use if you can't run vs your opponent, which isn't really the case here. Throwing to set up the run (or in place of a run game) is a bad look when it's unnecessary. Let's not jump off a bridge. Not a powerhouse, but Buffalo isn't a typical "gimmie" opponent either. I was sorta skeptical of how easy this might be when we ran twice for 15 yards right off the bat, then started throwing, apparently "just because". Plenty of teams look subpar their first week, esp with a new staff & a lot of free agents thrown together. Let's see what happens coming out after halftime. Bulls have some momentum after the FG, so we're being challenged. In a way that's good.

A lot of people are all excited about the "air raid" stuff and, I expect, think we'll look like Purdue/Drew Brees era. I'm pretty sure there's going to be balance. As for today, it's their first time out & the receivers & QB(s) are mostly new to each other as well as new to the program. So I'm not expecting a well-oiled machine right off the bat AFA the passing game is concerned. Plus, While Buffalo isn't a power 5, they aren't exactly cupcake-level. What I most want to see is a win, then progress btwn weeks 1 & 2. Looking forward to seeing if Ashcraft contributes. TE isn't an easy spot for a true freshman. Also eager to watch the new specialists. PK Nathanial Vakos (transfer from Ohio U) is supposed to be terrific. P Atticus Bertrams is an aussie who gets his feet wet right away. Looks like a talented secondary. Ricardo Hallman has drawn raves. And I think my guy Hunter Wohler is gonna have a real nice season.

A sore spot of mine. Not saying it should still be forty. That was ridiculous. But cutting it all the way to 28.............I think 30 is a good number.

"Alex........Were you surprised when you butchered that ground ball in the eighth inning tonite, considering you're as good a third baseman as there is in the league?"

Hard to say. If he gets a break you have Uribe, Megill, & Milner to enter into the last 3 innings. But like I said, other than the walks he hasn't been bad. E-6 & a couple ground balls in the clutch Wednesday. Two big outs before being pulled today. I guess we'll see.

Yep, just like they were jumping for joy on the GW hit Wednesday that was a grounder to SS if it doesn't hit Payamps in the foot.

First off, a bad night for the boys behind the mic. Somewhere in the middle of the game BA says that it's hard to know who to pull for re the Reds & Chicago. He actually said that, with the mic turned on & everything. I guess that's what happens when you're around sporadically, although I don't know how that's even a good excuse. Then Rock talks about Bohm taking a 3-1 pitch leading off the eighth "right down the middle", like the guy's a moron. The next pitch misses for ball four. If he doesn't walk, the 4 run inning could very well be zero. I guess the Miller ball is payment for what happened in the eighth on Wednesday. Hell of a job by TT scoring all the way from first. Feel a little for Payamps. Two failures in a row w/o much being hit hard. Still, walks both days which is unlike him. Maybe the season is getting a little long for him, I dunno.

Personally I've never had much use for the "company man" (or in this case company woman) type announcers. But as far as I know all teams have them. From what I've seen from other broadcasts she's probably better than most at what she does. Just funnin'. 😉

If what I've heard about Donaldsons' personality is correct, I can't wait for him to win us a ballgame & afterward have to answer hard-hitting questions like "How awesome is it to contribute to your new team?"

IMO, that Fab Five team had some dog in them. Very good, but I wouldn't put them on the short list. In 70-71, Southern Cal had a team led by Paul Westphal that came a point or so from having 5 double-digit scorers in its' starting five & went 3 or 4 deep, pretty rare for the time. They lost twice, both to nat'l champ UCLA. Ineligible for the NCAAs as the tourney only took conference champs at that time.

Nola's a horse, and obviously capable of spinning a gem. But he hasn't gotten through the 6th in his last three starts. I'm hoping for at least a return of the quality/lengthy ABs we saw vs San Diego.

He's contributed, he's versatile, he ain't a bad guy to have on your team. But soon, maybe as early as next season, he'll be involved in a roster crunch unless a young OFer or 2 gets dealt. His ability to play all three OF spots at or above avg should keep his head above water AFA his career is concerned.

There's positive scenarios that can be raised, and negative ones. We all know who's compelled to raise the former, and obsessed to raise the latter. Me, I tend to have the attitude that the Cubs will lose enough games from here on out for us to win the division. It just depends on whether or not we take advantage. I remember in past seasons, when we'd be in 1st place, I'd always say that at some point we'd be challenged, and that's fine. It's how you respond to it. That's a cliche. It's also 100% accurate. Let's not be too quick to label the offense as "disappearing" again until we get past the current stretch from Wednesday through this weekend. I'd include Tuesday except that the conditions were much more effective that day than Steele was.

Oh yeah, very much so.

I mentioned in another thread that Teheran & Wilson played with him in ATL, so maybe they had some input. Assuming he doesn't want his career to be over it behooves him to play nice. I'll trust the FO that this is worth taking a chance on.

Wiemer has looked lost at the plate for awhile now, but I feel for him. After Ruiz was dealt, he was pretty clearly 3rd of the "big three" OF prospects knocking on the door. Had Mitchell & Taylor not gotten hurt, he may still be awaiting his MLB debut. It doesn't take long for pitchers to figure out how to attack you up here, & he's shown no ability to adjust. Hope he gets his head cleared (and the mechanics cleaned up) over the winter. That's one big, talented, athletic kid.

I've liked Devanney going back to last season. I'd certainly put him ahead of a guy like Patrick Dorrian, who rode a recent hot streak & got some love for it. You're right, he's a terrific defender & versatile. But I think Black put himself in good stead by showing a good glove since moving to AAA. In retrospect, I wonder if the organization regrets not promoting him to Nashville a week or two before they did. We'll find out soon, I guess.

Of all the waived players, I thought Clevinger would be the safest bet to be claimed--that is, until I saw the coin a new team would be on the hook for.

If anyone wants to inject an element of luck into their hot streak, that's the engine that fuels it. You can't get your share of luck on batted balls if they aren't batted. That, and the ability/willingness to go deep into the count & draw walks has been huge.

Yeah, color me with the same brush. Between this & the Donaldson rumors it looks like a hectic 12-24 hours coming.

Like I said earlier, if the FO feels it'll work, OK. Bryce Wilson & Julio Teheran were teammates in ATL. Maybe their brains were picked a little. If it doesn't happen, you'd think a Black callup becomes highly likely as this getting out isn't exactly a glowing endorsement for BA.

He does, but the small handful of guys we may be interested in probably get plucked before we can claim. This must make for a hectic day or two for front offices, with possible 9-1 callups factoring in as well.

My gut tells me he winds up in a corner a la Wilkin. But above & beyond that, yikes. Not pretty.

Let's remember, they expand to 28. As unpopular as this may be, they could add a Nashville bat & still keep Anderson (not advocating for that, just speculating). I think Black would be a decent fit (that's the direction I'd go). I could also see them giving him more regular ABs in Nashville & calling up Owen Miller. Bringing them both back & cutting Anderson would make sense, if they think the defensive work Blacks' done in AAA is sustainable. The more I think about Donaldson the less likely I feel that could happen. Dorrian has pop, but K's vs AAA pitching are a little too high for my taste. Personally I'd prefer Devanney over him, esp on the defensive side. And IMO there's no way you'll see Tellez, Santana and Hiura on the same roster.