Jim French Stepstool

Pretty sure there were a lot of people who didn't care for the matchup the last time Rea took the hill, too. I'll keep beating the same drum. It ain't who they're playing, but HOW.

If all he can do at the tail-end of this season is pinch run, I doubt you'll see Mitchell activated. And even if he's further along than that, his K rate in his brief time with Milwaukee has been embarrassingly high with very little ability to draw walks. If he develops down the road into someone who does more to utilize his speed he could very well shoot past Wiemer. But I think he'd be of little to no help this year.

Do we read anything into Donaldson not being in the lineup? He hasn't done anything that screams "promote me", yet if they're still evaluating they'd like for him to continue to get ABs, no?

They played the B10 hoops tourney in NY, and that was before the entire landscape changed over the past year or two. So save for the southeast, I think anyplace could be on the list for the FB title game. Myself, I feel the geographic bloat the league is experiencing makes it imperative to be more centrally located. I'd like to see the BTT & football title game both stay in Indy, with maybe the BTT played in Chicago from time to time. Do I expect this? No.

That would be un Brewer-like. But if you're talking about teams bringing up a 19-yr-old in a pennant race I think that's pretty much un-everyone else-like, too. I'm sure you know, Yount wasn't brought up but made the team out of spring training. It was a somewhat courageous move even though that team wasn't ready to compete. But there's a big difference between throwing a 19-yr-old in a pennant race and someone proving over 4 weeks in Arizona that he's better than Tim Johnson.

I guess the short answer is, because they aren't "bums". If they were they wouldn't be 15 games over .500 or whatever they are. The AB quality, from the neck up, was considerably better in the last month or so. Now, for whatever reason, it's gone south again. The way Santana went about his last AB today, you wouldn't tolerate that decision from a rookie. And Yelichs' last AB was laughingly bad. Both came in potentially game-changing instances. It's consistency. CC brings it up. They need to do what they're fully capable of doing, just on a more consistent basis. This division, they're more than capable of winning. The alternative, yeah, that's possible too. And I really don't care that they're going into New York, or how well the Yankees are playing. I've always felt with this team, it's how they're performing, not who they're playing. After the last month I believe it even more now.

They have no plans for him now regarding the ML roster. But what's happened in 2023 neither proves nor disproves that they have no plans, period. He may be someone who has value (although when others had a chance to claim him, none did) but moving forward, doesn't fit the offensive profile they're transitioning to. Putting up a productive year in AAA may have reclaimed some of that value. It wouldn't shock me if he was on their roster next year. Or if he was dealt. But you don't just release a potential asset when some of that value might, potentially, be recouped. There are franchises that can afford to do that. Not this one.

I didn't know Ned Yost posted here.

You're welcome. It's like shooting fish in a barrel compared to trying to do so in an IGT.😄

I think Peguero hasn't pitched in the best of luck recently. But today, no, he wasn't good. Uribe certainly has good enough stuff for an increased role. And his ugly outing came immediately after we effectively put the game away with a big inning. Maybe a little mental shutdown, which happens to young'uns sometimes.

Except I think a lot of those walks we've drawn have been earned. That's almost always part of the mix when you have a big inning. As for the errors.......when we had the three-run error vs Philly, yeah, that was a huge gift. But it was preceded by a couple line drive hits, Santana drawing a walk, then Taylor showing discipline like I've never seen from him to draw a bases-loaded walk. If not for those ABs the error never occurs because you never get that far into the inning. Point is, this team put up a lot of great ABs to take advantage of & create situations. What happened in the two losses in Pitt was what Counsell usually talks about, not getting the "next hit".

A decent point made sour by the fact that there's nothing trashy about Holderman & Bednar. And those two innings probably had most of their good ABs, save for Santana & Yelich.

What I thought this hinged on was when Pitt tied the game in the sixth, Peralta gives up a one-out single to Reynolds. Big deal. But for the next two ABs I really thought he reverted back to May-June Fred. Didn't really go after Hayes, apparently because he homered off him in the 1st. Then falls behind Sowinski before the double. Had enough in the tank but sure didn't attack the way he had been. What also really hurt was the 8th. Holderman misses badly to go down 2-0. Santana then chooses to swing--down two leading off the inning--and tops a weak grounder. Next three batters get base hits. He's come up with some big ABs since coming here but that was a bad time to be a moron. Then Yelich does his best Adames-in-the-middle-of-a-slump impersonation in the 9th. Even when he's hitting the ball well, it's maddening to see someone intersperse so many clownshow at-bats into his workload. And it's not like he's trying to muscle up or anything. I was OK with Tellez hitting for Turang because, while I don't think Turangs' swing is getting long again, he IS back to chase mode a little bit. If he was putting up the ABs he was 2-3 weeks ago I certainly let him hit there.

I second this. I've followed the prospects for several years now, and part of me feels sorry for those who don't. Really helps you to see the big picture.

I suddenly had a flashback to pre-radio baseball. An important game. People gathering around outside the telegraph office. A large chalkboard set up with a diamond drawn on it to simulate the action. An employee receives an update & passes it on to a guy with a megaphone. "O'Conner!! single to left field!!!" A cheer emanates from the gathering. I've only HEARD of this. I was NOT around at the time.

IMO the first one was 1 & 4. The second one was 2. Just one more word re Mordecai. Yes, he had two picks. Let's also remember he goes 25-31 passing for around 250 yd if Skyler Bell catches a ball that was dropped right into his lap.

I don't expect him to roll out all that often. The time you gain by rolling out is, theoretically at least, mitigated by having dumpoffs to the backs available. I'm sure they have stuff in their playbook that calls for him to move but I suspect it's limited. I don't know how Bertrams' career will go during his next (potentially) 50 or so games. All I know is he has one game under his belt, and it didn't go well. Let's see how it goes from here. He was originally recruited/signed by USC, so bringing him in isn't some kind of reach. I understand he had knee surgery a year or two ago, hopefully that isn't hampering him.

There was some talk of Mellusi & Allen being in the backfield together. We'll see. They both seem willing/capable of blocking for each other so it's a possibility. Based on Saturdays' game, the D-line really misses Benton in the middle, and Isaiah Mullins. One isn't coming back. Hopefully Mullins will be soon. I think they may have been effected defensively (not scheme, but aggressiveness) when that little wheel route or whatever it was went for the big gainer in the 1st half. I think there's sufficient ability to, with experience, press up a lot defensively. But there has to be a better pass rush to compliment that. that's where Peterson, Pietrowski, & Chaney come in as I think that mainly has to come from the LBs & maybe Mullins. Darian Varner & T J Bollers may help there but didn't really see the field Saturday. Latu at S needs to play a lot better. Ashcraft looks like he totally belongs, one game into his career. That isn't easy for a TE. There may/may not be one "go to" guy at WR, but the overall group is IMO fine. I think Mordecai was a little over-anxious AFA going through progressions. Get more comfortable looking downfield & the shorter stuff will be much more effective.

The thing I like is that you now have Burnes-Woodruff-Peralta going in 6 of the next 8 games. Unless we dick around with a 6th starter in the next week, which is always possible. I hope Yelich is recharged from a couple days off. He's had a nice season, but sometimes goes in these stretches where he can make mediocre/average pitchers look pretty good due to the swing & miss. Hope Contreras carries this through to the end. Looks really good at the plate. Just missed hitting one out yesterday to put them up late.

Nadal has shown great plate discipline & contact rate, wreaks havoc on the bases and has even displayed some pop to go with the terrific OBP. But given the other kids in the organization at the position & versatility he's shown I doubt if he sticks at 3B much longer.

Does anyone know the lowest winning percentage (above zero) for a pitcher in a season? I see where Zack Greinke lost Sunday to run his record to 1-14.

I'm old enough to remember the early 70s Brewers so that helps me get some awfully rare matches. Don't remember the percentage but for a Brewers-Yankees match I used Frank Tepedino, who was I think 0.0-something. My kryptonite is the Rays. Have a heck of a time getting matches there. My strategy if stuck: Throw LaTroy Hawkins or Fernando Rodney out there & pray.

........and you forgot to mention that none of their off-season acquisitions moved the needle.😄

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.