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Jim French Stepstool

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Everything posted by Jim French Stepstool

  1. Jim French Stepstool
    There's an old adage about if your opponent is hanging himself, don't cut the rope. We haven't been getting our share of breaks, but that happens to everyone over the course of a season. What you need to do is take advantage of the potential breaks that DO present themselves; that helps the luck change. In the ninth. KC was stuck with Chris Stratton trying to close the game. Ten walks in fourteen innings. And he walked the 1st & 3rd men he faced. In between, Adames got ahead 2-0 & then swung at ball three. The next pitch he chased out of the zone as well. That changed the whole feel of the inning for me. I can't begin to remember the number of times we'd have a pitcher struggling to throw strikes in the late innings & the opponents wouldn't even think of chasing. Willie has had a pretty nice season, but today he cut the rope. Koenig giving up a HR to a LH hitting middle INF, that's so ridiculous you almost expect it the way things have been going. The HBP & walk w/one out probably hurt more. Then you need a grounder. The next two batters hit grounders; of course neither is hit at an INF. There are some bad breaks in there but not taking advantage of situations is much more prevalent. Much more.
  2. Jim French Stepstool
    I'd feel better if Miz had 2-3 more starts in AA similar to his last. But your throwing the ABS factor in there, I dunno.......... makes you think a little bit. They ARE pretty aggressive in promoting pitchers in '24. Sounds more & more like Gasser gets a start in KC. Looking forward to it.
  3. Jim French Stepstool
    Brown back in action, Wilkin rehabbing........maybe things are starting to turn a little after the ridiculous amount of injuries. Of course keeping fingers crossed on Carlos D. who was really starting to heat up. Metzinger to Nashville, certainly didn't see that one coming. But if they needed another INF body better that than, say, jumping Boeve again so quickly. I think Tayden Hall is ready to get a taste of the Midwest.
  4. Jim French Stepstool
    Given his performance & the likelihood of the OF becoming crowded if the team finally gets some better luck injury-wise, Perkins MIGHT fetch something worthwhile as part of a package. Turang can fall short of sustaining his present performance & still be very, very valuable. No dice. And trading any primary reliever now isn't a good idea. You're right. This certainly is an early-May overreaction.
  5. Jim French Stepstool
    I think what they're trying to "find out" about him is can he be good enough to be a placeholder. Maybe share the job with Ortiz until an Adames exit moves Ortiz to SS, and by then perhaps Wilkin or maybe even Boeve can emit a serious challenge. I agree with most/all on here that Ortiz should be getting the lions' share of PT. We all know how much they value glovework though, and Dunn has really surprised me there. Is there something wonky about Ortiz' shoulder/elbow that's allowing him to play, but affecting the throws?
  6. Jim French Stepstool
    Yeah, because all you have to do is decide who you want, and it's done. Because everybody knows that all MLB teams have exactly the same finances. Janson Junk was brought up to eat innings in case of a game such as this one, same as Martin a couple days ago. He's similar to the guys many teams promote for exactly the same situations. He's not the answer to their "needing pitching" and was never purported to be. Through his first 2-3 starts Peralta was pretty much just as unhittable as the "Asian guy". The rotation needs to improve, I think everybody knows that. Maybe we should let the paltry 129 games that remain, play out.
  7. Jim French Stepstool
    Two things stuck out to me today (other than we didn't put up enough good ABs, which will happen again, and to most teams, during the next five months. Fortunately the opposite will happen, too): Peralta pitched as if the wind was blowing out, is the best way I can describe his outing. Then a couple bad things happen, and he (and Contreras) just lose it completely. HBP to the #9 hitter w/ two strikes, that isn't "staff ace" stuff. Top of the fifth, still 0-0, we get Perkins on to lead off the inning. Two outs later he's still perched at first. Not putting him in motion there was pretty inexcusable. I mean, on Friday vs Amaya Contreras picks up a SB. Bauers picks up a SB. Adames, who isn't fast, picks up a SB. And Amaya has thrown out 1 of 18 coming in. Ugly.
  8. Jim French Stepstool
    Add me in as wanting to see more of Ortiz. But I'd tap the brakes on any negativity re Hall. It's pretty obvious that even before the IL stint he wasn't right. I'm hearing his velo is starting to come back. Looking forward to seeing what he can give us down the road. I do have to give Dunn props for his defense at 3B. He probably saved us a run or 2 in Fridays' game. Maybe some sort of nagging thing w/Ortiz' arm or shoulder is holding him back from everyday duty. As you said, the throws have been so-so. The roster does look a little disjointed. Yelich hopefully back soon. Plugging him back into the 3-hole should flesh out the batting order somewhat. IMO lots of 6-7-8 type hitters hitting higher than they should right now. They might be trying to stay away from Sanchez for a few days, made easier by no LH starters this weekend.
  9. Jim French Stepstool
    Missed almost all of the game today. Saw Blacks' K in the 9th inning & it looked to me that the problem was more him 'coming out of himself' & trying a little too hard to make something happen than anything else. I expected a little better discipline from him there. His past work speaks for itself so it'll come. Not a big fan of exaggerated leg kicks, but I think the rest of his body is quiet enough & the hands are very quick.
  10. Jim French Stepstool
    I think we've pitched pretty well recently, but I need verification of that, and there's only one way to provide it. How many runs have the Yankees scored this week? Seriously, Myers throws too many strikes at times, but that's better than the alternative, which is an inexperienced guy coming up here & nibbling, constantly 2-0, 3-1. How often can he throw his secondary stuff for strikes, and how well he can mix the other stuff in, is vital.
  11. Jim French Stepstool
    UW is looking at Noah Boyed, a 7-footer from St Lucia in the Carribean. He played the last two seasons at a JC in Nebraska. The speculation from some circles is that he may choose Kentucky, as he previously committed to Baylor & the assistant that was involved in his recruitment there is the guy that replaced Calipari at KU. But Gard has gotten him to visit UW, so maybe a chance? Around 11 PPG in JC with 8 RPG, but no doubt he had a big size advantage at that level..
  12. Jim French Stepstool
    Funny thing is, the one time in the last 75 years they reached their precious World Series it was done via re-stocking the farm, being patient & letting those kids ripen, then reaping the benefits-----just like a small or mid-market team. It would be nice if they returned to their earlier "Look at us, we're just like the Yankees!!!!" strategy. THAT was fun.
  13. Jim French Stepstool
    Dang it, that's what I get for multitasking. Makes sense.
  14. Jim French Stepstool
    Both starters were very good today, but probably not quite as good as their lines show due to the wind. Still, a real step forward for Ross. Other pitches played off an excellent slider all day. Could've been 6 scoreless. 0-2 to Morel, then went to 3-2 throwing a couple pitches that historically you'd easily get a chase from him. Took both, so good on him, I guess. Let's remember, Chourio was available to PH for Frelick in a very unconventional spot (vs a RHP) & Weeks pushed the right button. THAT was surprising to me, and very impressive. If Chourio is in the lineup Frelick probably hits for himself there. I don't always agree w/the lineups or batting orders, but his availability there was huge. Someone mentioned Perkins. We've had 2 OFs down, one hasn't played at all yet, and Wiemer was pretty much ticketed for Nashville from the get-go. If there were such thing as under-the-radar MVP, he's it. Bauers looks very comfortable in LF. With the current makeup, that's important. Yelich on his way back, & maybe Mitchell sometime next month, will make for some interesting decisions. If Wiemer is ILed I'd have no problem with Hicklen OR Collins. But something tells me it'll be the Fredonia Flash. Don't shoot the messenger.
  15. Jim French Stepstool
    This is one of those games where we need to get a leadoff man on base, then utilize the bunt and/or steal game. Alas, 0-6 on first batters of an inning.
  16. Jim French Stepstool
    Nice to see Herrera & Russ Smith both continue their solid work tonite. After a so-so start to his season, Carlos Rodriguez with nine😲 hits the last 2 days. Stay hot!!
  17. Jim French Stepstool
    I think Matt Wood has quietly had a very nice start to his pro career. Has taken sort of a center stage for me this year with Quero & Satch Norman both on the shelf.
  18. Jim French Stepstool
    So, what was the verdict on Helms? Asking for a friend.😛
  19. Jim French Stepstool
    Yep. It's time for him to at the very least be riding the shuttle btwn Milwaukee & Nashville, only now you need to do some dancing around the schedule & availability of others if you DO bring him back. He certainly shouldn't be option #1 to come back if you need an arm, even if there wasn't a suspension involved.
  20. Jim French Stepstool
    All three of the targets on my speculative post above have now been officially added as Tonje committed this morning. It'll be an interesting exercise to try to comp the three added to Storr, Hepburn & Wahl. Lots of similarities btwn Hunter & Hepburn that I can see. A big jump in athleticism, perimeter shooting & rim protection w/Amos over Wahl, but Tyler was a strong if not flashy presence when healthy. We'll have to see if Amos can hold up physically in the lane in the B10. Tonje can shoot it a little, & both he & Hunter show a propensity to take the ball to the hoop w/some authority. Both are more than physical enough. Gard is toying with adding 1 more, if he does it'll probably be a big man that's either a project or someone willing to play backup minutes a la Chris Vogt.
  21. Jim French Stepstool
    Ahhhh. Just saw the announcement on a crawl re him being added. Hope he at least took advantage of meal money. Is that still a thing?
  22. Jim French Stepstool
    Caleb Boushley, our one-day hero from late last season, has been brought up by the Twins.
  23. Jim French Stepstool
    During the Brewers-Rays game they talked about Sanchez briefly. It sounds like they rolled the dice today & are waiting to see how Sanchez feels after the off day Thursday. I'm sure Haase has his toothbrush packed.
  24. Jim French Stepstool
    Agree with those who say it's time for Uribe to go straighten out at AAA. His suspension means you can't replace him, so he's put his team in a little bit of a bind. Growing up......we've all had to do it. I was half listening so I don't know who said it but someone during the telecast made a Joey Votto comparison to Black. He obviously isn't as power-driven (at least right now) & his speed is at a totally different level than Votto, but the way he conducts his ABs looks very similar to me. He's K'd once so far, and that was a result of falling behind 0-2 on two borderline strikes. So far so good with the bat, just hope the glove can be adequate. All things considered we go into the weekend w/the bullpen in OK shape.
  25. Jim French Stepstool
    At the MLB level it goes something like: Make whatever call you think might be right. If it's challenged, just let it fall in the hands of someone 1200 miles away. And if someone in the stands fifteen feet behind the aggrieved manager yells at you, throw the manager out. If none of that works, lean on your union.
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