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Jim French Stepstool

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Everything posted by Jim French Stepstool

  1. Jim French Stepstool
    I'm not a big fan of Frelick hitting 5th either. But if we insist on the same top 3 then the options are limited. And for those who say "Ortiz", if they want to hit him in a more prominent spot then put Ortiz between Turang & Yelich and hit Contreras 4th & Adames 5th. I know Murphy remembers the early season, when the bottom 3rd of the order was helping create big innings, and I think that might have something to do with him liking Ortiz down there. But it's time to get him the extra AB. There would be another possible option if not for Black coming up here & hitting .185. Unless Rodriguez gives us some length I have a funny feeling Junis is following him today.
  2. Jim French Stepstool
    The back half of this game eerily reminded me of the series in Atlanta last year. Hard hit balls fell. Softly hit balls fell. Want a home run? OK, just tear one off your HR coupon book, good for whenever you want to use it. It's a shame too. Padres were poor defensively. Still, can't bring myself to shed any tears for Rae. I never thought I'd see a baseball game where the momentum would turn on a two out, no one on walk to Kyle Higashioka, but it happened. No excuse. I'll give the offense credit for putting up tough ABs & finally breaking through in the fifth despite Cease A) throwing really well and B) being rewarded with a ridiculous strike zone.
  3. Jim French Stepstool
    We'll never know, but it seemed to me Murphy bent over backwards to try to get through the sixth inning w/Rea because the only LHP they wanted to have to use tonight was Koenig & he wanted to save him for the next time the order flipped (of course he wound up having to use Milner too). Then the other decisions, which I agree weren't ideal, became unavoidable.
  4. Jim French Stepstool
    About a week ago I brought up the idea of Turang-Ortiz-Yelich at the top, that I don't expect it anytime soon but maybe later, or in 2025. Right now they just seem really happy with Contreras hitting ahead of Yelich.
  5. Jim French Stepstool
    You always have to be willing to deal from organizational depth. But right now I'd rather it not be a guy who projects to be a corner INF. That said there's Black, Wilkin, Adams so it's not like that cupboard would be bare. It's at least worth a mention b/c Boeve HAS been playing every day.
  6. Jim French Stepstool
    I have a good friend who is from Milwaukee & a longtime Brewer fan. He lives outside Chicago & works for one of the network affiliates there. Let's just say he's enjoying his job these days.
  7. Jim French Stepstool
    May have been you. Too lazy to scroll back😛. Yes, in a pinch I agree Black at one of those spots would be preferable to prying a Rowdy or a Vogelbach away from their potato chips.
  8. Jim French Stepstool
    As to the subject of this thread, It's a head-scratcher. More variables than you usually see when moving toward the trade deadline. Some random thoughts: Someone mentioned Black possibly becoming a versatile piece---2B, 3B, OF. This could solve a lot of issues, but IMO the chances of that are zero. He looked OK yesterday, but there isn't even sufficient evidence he can reasonably handle 1B. I think they're committed to Hoskins at 1B. Even if he heated up enough that someone would be interested there's no way they're finishing up the season w/two LHH 1B. And a team wanting him is contending & therefore not parting with a starter. I look at Frelick, Mitchell, Black & Perkins and think the team would LOVE for someone to have a particular interest in one of them, if it would help assemble a package for a starter w/more than rental status. As always (it seems) the key is Mitchell. His health issues probably hamstring his trade value, and if a trade leaves him w/a prominent role in the OF, can he stay on the field? I hate the idea of adding to the bullpen. I'd much rather rely on a Clarke, Herget, or Yoho, one of the current IL guys, or Williams coming back effectively then spending prospect capital on someone not all that better. And if an OF DOES get traded & you need to have someone move up in the pecking order to provide shuttle depth, get Isaac Collins on the 40-man. Switch-hitter, even splits, can play a little INF in a pinch. Might come in handy.
  9. Jim French Stepstool
    I saw it. It was horrendous. Someone said he was hitting poorly recently. He really hasn't been IMO. He's been finding base hits & is actually starting to barrel up some balls, something he wasn't doing earlier. Power? No. Able to play vs either hand pitcher? No. But a bit of a bum rap I think.
  10. Jim French Stepstool
    I've heard Mitchell has put on some added bulk. Good to see it hasn't affected his speed. I'll be honest, the thing that excited me most about tonights' N'ville box score was Mitchell coming to the plate six times w/o striking out. That (and health obviously) is the last piece to his puzzle--contact.
  11. Jim French Stepstool
    I see that so far this season King has hit 6 batters while only walking one. That's efficiency.😁
  12. Jim French Stepstool
    Down to the wire, but they kinda lost the game in the 1st. Bryce had one of his starts where his alarm was set 15 minutes later than everyone elses'. More telling than the HRs was missing on 4 straight to Arraez to open the game. Then it turns out Turang cost us big time on the momentary bobble. Rare for him. Then, I actually thought a 2 strike FB to fool Machado wasn't a bad idea, but you have to put it on his hands or a little off the plate. Unfortunately Wilson put it in the worst possible spot. After that, just a back N forth, frustrating, exhilarating, entertaining game. Didn't read the early pages of the IGT but I imagine the b****ing was curtailed somewhat by the two whipping boys coming up big in the ninth. Ortiz-----I don't remember the last time I saw a 3B throw a batter out from the OF grass. That kid is something.
  13. Jim French Stepstool
    Thanks for the info. I was aware of Rodriguez but never looked into him deeply enough. About 1 walk per 9-10 innings along with the length he's providing, at age 18, that's exciting.
  14. Jim French Stepstool
    I know Yoho is a relatively late bloomer as a pitcher, but my goodness, a $10,000 bonus---------when did we sign him, 1964?😄
  15. Jim French Stepstool
    Absolutely. I think you're using the word "chance" simply because the throw tonite went into CF. Think of how many pickoff attempts DON'T get thrown away. Now think of how many batters you see reach base w/two strikes. I'm sure the first number is much tinier than the second one. The runner was caught napping & was hung out to dry. With a runner in scoring position they'll "chance" a throw to 2nd in that instance every time, trust me. As would other teams.
  16. Jim French Stepstool
    Eleven pitches, then eighteen. Then a day off, and only five last night w/o warming up a long time since Payamps screwed up quickly. I thought he'd be called on tonight if needed. Not tomorrow though.
  17. Jim French Stepstool
    If you can get an out on the bases you take that every time whether ahead in the count, behind, whatever. That always beats needing to retire a hitter. And they had him dead at 2B with any kind of a decent throw.
  18. Jim French Stepstool
    U-rah-rah for the knuckle curve. Makes a HUGE difference when you can plant that in a hitters mind. I thought Peraltas' first 50 & last 50 pitches were a real interesting contrast. Typical Freddy of the last handful of starts followed by top-of-the-line Freddy. When he overcame the balk call & bad pickoff throw in the 6th to put up a zero, that arguably was the most important sequence of the game. Mayyyyyyybe Hoskins is starting to emerge. Couple of positive trips tonite. Beginning to wonder how many 2B-SS-3B glovemen there are out there, better than ours. Can't be many.
  19. Jim French Stepstool
    These highlights illustrate the biggest asset Frelick possesses, and that's the combination of athleticism & extreme, extreme toughness. The play he made in NY last year is another great example (not hard to imagine the guy playing hockey). The arm is subpar, yes. He provides little power, and it's hard to imagine him ever playing regularly vs LHP. But as much as his performance at the plate leaves people wanting, he still finds ways to pick up enough base hits that his numbers aren't terrible. Whether it's here or somewhere else, I think he'll have a career as a contributor. Just the type of kid I would be uncomfortable betting against.
  20. Jim French Stepstool
    Gotta forgive MLB Network for not having anything on O'Rae. He was from Canada & not projected to go to anyone in the northeast😉. Given the potential need in the rotation I think Woessner is a pretty good guess. O'Rae or even Brown could fill a brief utility role due to someones' IL stint but that would more likely be answered by someone of the 'AAAA' ilk already on the 40-man at that time. So I'd guess Woessner. I like Adams quite a bit. Maybe if he was a year further along...........
  21. Jim French Stepstool
    THAT makes sense. I thought it strange they'd add both O'Rae & Valerio to Biloxi. I absolutely love the type of game O'Rae brings to the table, but this'll be a very stern test for him. Never dreamt for a moment he'd be seeing AA this soon.
  22. Jim French Stepstool
    I actually thought it would be a 1-3 day stay on the roster, then see ya. Didn't expect him to be here this long. He certainly can't be used for the next couple days so this may be the swan song.
  23. Jim French Stepstool
    Just. Wow. I wonder what kind of history Hernandez has regarding working back-to-back days. Didn't look good, but he looked hittable yesterday too. Payamps really disappointed me. Regardless of a couple hard-hit balls there's zero excuse for walking Rengifo. Maybe Megill is losing a little steam. Maybe. But we're looking at 14 saves from someone who in his career had fourteen less than that in April. He's been a Godsend. But he can't forget about mixing in the breaking ball. Myers, 1 ER in his last 20.1 innings. Who saw that coming?
  24. Jim French Stepstool
    Chourio has been swinging the bat better, everyone can agree with that. But he played eight games in a row before sitting last night. I mean, he HAS been playing regularly. Let's see what Murphy does moving forward. You're right, it's tough to predict how this gets parsed out. Plus, I know he's been a whipping boy on here, and I think it's curious how he doesn't barrel up more balls, but Frelick is 9 for his last 30. Don't know where his ceiling lies as he's still figuring things out but as a bottom-third-of-the-order guy he hasn't been terrible.
  25. Jim French Stepstool
    A lot of people seem to be assuming Mitchell is definitely coming back to Milwaukee. I think there's a decent chance he does at some point, but I don't think it's imminent. And if he doesn't improve on the high K rate he ain't solving anything.
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