Jim French Stepstool

Usually, I just like to look at the pictures.

Priester was terrific. It just took him a few innings to get there. Honestly the two runs early could've easily been three or four. From the 4th on, really really good. Kind of a mixed bag offensively. They were handed the run late, and some less-than-stellar ABs w/the runner on 2nd & no outs and 3rd w/one out. But pretty good pressure AB to AB, and in all fairness Vaughn was robbed of 2 RBI on the liner to RF. To me that was one of their best ABs of the game. What I wouldn't give for our opponents to consist solely of LHH. Koenig is throwing the ball great, Ashby is on a pretty good roll, & Zastryzny has located pretty well his last 2-3 times out. And of course love the quick 9th. Bauers---when he's at his best, he hits the FB well, draws walks & manages to lay off breaking balls off the plate. I just don't know if he'll have enough ABs to get into a groove this late. Missed a lot of time. But a couple well struck balls in game 1 vs Philly, and a couple tonight. What I'd love to know is, if he & Vaughn are in the lineup together I have no clue why Bauers would be the one DHing. Vaughn has been pretty solid there but Bauers has the edge defensively. Vaughn might just be one of those guys who can't get comfortable unless he's playing both ends.

It's false to say they didn't do anything. You could say they didn't do enough in your eyes, which is fine. We all have our opinions, and this is a great venue to express them. Shelby Miller was turning in quality work for Arizona (1.98 ERA). He was on the IL. People come back from the IL all the time & perform well. Unfortunately he was hurt again. IMO holding the FO up for scrutiny for not knowing he'd blow out his elbow is unfair. It's also important to point out he cost them nothing in prospect capital. Lockridge was the type of guy you pick up at minimal cost when you have someone down for a few weeks, or a month. If you want them trading for a a guy like Bader when you know the hole in CF is temporary, I think you're living in a world where everyone is the Dodgers & Yankees and you can throw prospects---and money---around willy-nilly. And BTW, at the deadline Blake Perkins was hitting .281. I'm not going to defend the work Jansen has turned in. Like you pointed out in an earlier post, not only the failed AB w/the 2nd & 3rd with one out but he had a horrible bunt attempt. Should've gone towards 3B. But I'm confident you won't find one GM anywhere that would take Haase over him, or wouldn't consider him an upgrade. Whether or not fans on a message board were clamoring for a change is irrelevant. In Nashville, Haase is currently hitting .194.

Sounds good. But who are we talking about, and what would the cost have been? No one ever seems to be able to answer that question, because of course they can't. None of us are on the phones or in the office on deadline day. And really that's the only way to ascertain if they should make a deal, otherwise it's just a bunch of "MOVE THE NEEDLE!!!!" noise with no substance or point of reference. I'll admit, I get disappointed too when the team may not be improved to the extent I hoped it would. But we just don't know the whole story, and the prospect capital is more important to us than most other teams. It has to be. I remember in '08, being excited about the chance to grab Sabathia, being happy with the deal, but wishing like hell we'd have been able to pull it off w/o including Mike Brantley. I'm more concerned about the overall health of the pitching staff, to be honest. In the last six games, all vs playoff teams, we've scored 7, 4, 4, 8, & 6 runs.....and today we get shutout by a guy who's had a terrific year & had a wide zone to boot, and reading some of these posts you'd think we've scored 3 runs all week. Get Chourio & Yelich healthy, Get Megill & Anderson back, figure out roles moving forward for Miz, Gasser, Patrick, and they'll be fine. Keep posting!!!!!

Santana & IKF were DFA'd for a reason, too. And they were both snapped up. And there have been others. I tried to point out to you, Urias has an OBP at the league average. We're talking about a bench guy here, right? Lots of bench guys around MLB are below that. Jansen hasn't been good since coming here, true. But you're engaging in hindsight. At the time, he was considered a clear upgrade over Haase & probably still is, as Haase being waived through baseball not once but twice proves. Jansen has 85 HRs in his career, with 13 sac flies. He CAN'T hit a sac fly? How about 'he's been a disappointment w/the bat so far'. Wouldn't that be just a little more accurate? You're wrong about Bader. He was acquired for Hendry Mendez, a 21 year old OF who used to be in the Brewers' system. He's at the AA level & hitting just under .300 w/an OBP of .384. Also included was a 16-yr-old pitcher from Venezuela. That package is nothing like a 'bag of balls'. You know, Philadelphia signed Harper, Schwarber, Castellanos to hefty FA contracts. That bumps some pretty good talent to the bench, and in the Phillies' world you can pay THEM, too. And since you can simply throw money at your holes on the roster you can deal prospects w/o giving it a second thought. Milwaukee has to be smarter. As in Isaac Collins. As in seeing something in Durbin, or Monasterio, or Vaughn. Or yes, Perkins, who has won them games over the years. Or Megill, Koenig, Priester, Zastryzny, Colin Rae for a couple years. These people (except Durbin) cost little or nothing in player capital..........but I guess your response to all that is you need to be mistake-free at the deadline, too. They've done more with less than anyone else out there. Because they HAVE to. They deserve more than to be scrutinized every time they're hit by an injury bug, or someone underperforms.

If you reach full strength health-wise----which is what they're trying to do----come playoff time either Hoskins or Vaughn will be on the bench. Perkins, an elite defender, will be on the bench. Monasterio, who is now hitting almost .300, will be on the bench. Jansen, who despite your hating on him because he's done nothing since coming here but has 11 HRs on the year, will be on the bench. Luis Urias, who had modest numbers at Oakland but has a season OBP of .315-----the MLB average is .316-------is at Nashville & may quite possibly be on the bench. Yelich may very well not see LF for the remainder of the year, but if he does either Collins or Frelick is on the bench. For all the wailing (from some) about the trade deadline, contenders have picked up pieces since then that have been put on waivers. Due to our W-L record, other teams have gotten first crack at these people, while we've had to sit at the back of the line. Again, I'd be happy to give my opinion as to who we should've traded for, provided I know what it would've taken.

Suarez went six not seven. Peralta has a problem with bad misses at times w/2 strikes, that more than anything else keeps him from going deeper. I already said what I think re Frelick in CF, and apparently they agree. Trust me, they aren't going to dick around with the run prevention because of so-called 'automatic outs'. Look at it this way; If you're having trouble scoring runs, do you really want to mess with your best defensive lineup? And how much of an issue has it been, really? They scored 8 in the opener of this series, and then 6. In Toronto they scored 7, 4, and 4. Today Suarez who's been excellent, has the added advantage of a wide zone today (as did Peralta) and the guy shut us down. He's done that to folks before. Another snippet re the defensive side of the ball: he wasn't out there today, but maybe Frelick catches the ball in RF that went for the triple? I'm not surprised he wasn't in the lineup. Just illustrating something most folks overlook. At the end of the day, I wouldn't be surprised if Chourio is in CF this weekend.

I was wondering the same thing re Perkins. Who knows? I know everyone glosses over this, but defensively he's been as good as he's ever been, and that alone has won them games over the years. Lockridge did some impressive things but IMO it would have to be a pretty overwhelming issue for them to make that move. AFA the baseball part of it is concerned missing spring training didn't help.

I'll just repeat what I told @adambr2, they're obviously being cautious with him. LF is a lot less challenging than CF. If he's 100% & confident he can go all out he'd be playing CF. The fact he's in LF pretty much answers the question. The confidence to burst from a standstill position might be the biggest issue. Remember, he's never been hurt until now. The bottom 3rd of the order can be a problem. But right now that's secondary to getting everyone where they need to be.

Until he's closer to 100%. How do I know he isn't? Because he isn't in CF, and I'm pretty sure they aren't trying to throw games by not putting him there. I think it might be a case of him trusting himself more than anything. He missed a month. Outside of 1B, LF is the least challenging spot on the diamond. They're being cautious.

CAN'T? No I'm not saying he can't. I'm saying it isn't a good idea since he felt that little tug or whatever it was the other day. Since then he hasn't played CF. Playing LF is easily the least challenging OF spot physically. I think he'll be back in CF eventually

This is the second time recently he's had a day off & came back hitting the ball hard. It's almost as if, with some guys, getting a day off is a good thing.

He has an ERA in AAA of just under 1.00, and his WHIP is just a little over 1. In 90 minor league games his career ERA is 1.22. He was lousy when he was here, but made some adjustments that have apparently helped with command. His jury is still out, but being as good as he's been in his Mi League career can't be ignored. If someone as talented as Corbin Burnes can struggle like he did in '19, certainly he's susceptible too.

Agree with you there. I'd have gone with Yoho. What it 'reveals' is not trusting Yoho in a 1-0 game, and believing Payamps would be more likely to throw strikes vs the bottom part of their order. Which he probably was. There are always reasons for these decisions, and many times we don't understand what they are, or aren't privy to them. But yeah, I'd have gone with Yoho too.

Chourio is NOT going to play CF at this point nor should he. And if Frelick plays CF that weakens you defensively at two spots (I know no one likes to think of that side of the ball, but it's vastly important). Thus Perkins. The other two don't even come close to playing every night.

Tell me who was available & what it would've taken to get that player, and I'll have an opinion. The problem is, you can't. Perhaps they could've done more but w/o knowing the above it's just a bunch of 😫MOVE THE NEEDLE!!!!!😫 hot air. Miller was on the IL at the time of the trade, yes. Guys go off the IL with no recurring problems all the time. Sucks when you're a GM & your crystal ball is on the fritz.

We can't complain about the large zone today since it was there for both sides. But Suarez did a much better job of maximizing it. Not that Peralta wasn't excellent, but the handful of uncompetitive pitches is always going to make the difference in him getting those extra 3-4 outs that the BP now has to pick up. As for Suarez, he should shut down anyone when the zone is this large. He played it really well. No complaints about the process of the two ABs w/the runners on 2nd & 3rd w/less than two out, even if the results weren't there. Durbin settled into looking to go to RF--which you had to do VS Suarez--got the pitch, and hit it right at the 2B. Even Jansen took a good approach trying to lift, just got too much underneath it. Even so, if it's me I send Contreras. With his setup & arm, Bader probably throws him out. But to me that's a better risk then hoping for the 2-out hit. It's too bad because both those ABs were better than some of the ones we put up vs their pen. You could make a real solid argument that the pitches Myers threw in the Turner AB where he drove in the run were some of the best he made his entire outing. Problem was, it was Turner. Zastryzny looked terrific. The lineup today was what I anticipated except I thought Turang would play. All you have to do is see what Suarez does vs LHH & factor in the strike zone today, to know that there weren't going to be any easy answers.

Throughout this organization you hear so many cases of an adjustment, a tweak, a subtle change re pitchers. And it almost always seems to result in improvement. The change in his setup on the rubber, the 'baby sweeper'-------glad to hear he's adjusting & constantly working to get better.

You new here??😛. It's normal to speculate about this stuff, actually. But when debating it, you gotta look at the 40-man, look at where you are in the pecking order regarding waiver pickups..........the options are a little more complicated than saying 😫ANYBODY BUT😫.............!!!!! Like you, I'm not president of Bauers' fan club or anything. And if Black was showing more consistency I think he'd get some consideration. And maybe he still might. He'd certainly be a decent PR option. It is what it is.

Bauers doesn't need to be run for. He's not a burner but not slow, & is a pretty good baserunner. The other two? Good point. They're GOING to have a LHH on the bench. Would you rather have Seigler, or Black?

He doesn't really need to be all that versatile on a playoff roster. Unless we're worried about having a 3rd catcher (which I doubt) they'll be covered defensively. And if he's on the roster he'll be their best defensive 1B & it won't be close. I'm not saying that gets him on the field, but with a lead late in a game it just might. They'll want a LHH on the bench, and he's a better option than Seigler. The only other option I see would be Black, who isn't exactly tearing it up in AAA. It's not so much a glowing endorsement of him, you just go with what you have to choose from. Carlos Santana might be here instead, but Chicago claimed him before he got to us.

You don't need 13 pitchers on a playoff roster so it probably isn't between Bauers & Hoskins. My guess is both of them, as well as Vaughn, will make it.

Makes sense with a tough LHP (Suarez) throwing.

What was going on there, in the 8th Philly had RHH due up that more than likely were NOT getting PH for, hence Uribe. For the 9th, they led off with two RHH that you would be more likely to hit for, and they had three LHH on the bench, Marsh, Kepler, & Stott. By using Koenig you kept them on the bench, and if you get to Schwarber & Harper, Koenig is the guy you want out there anyway.

And they're 4-5 in their last nine games. Sometimes you're made to feel they're being chased by some supreme juggernaut & we have no margin for error.