Jim French Stepstool
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Everything posted by Jim French Stepstool
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I think it hurts either way. K w/runners on, or trying to start a rally? Years ago, Barry Bonds' dad Bobby was an immense talent, but had (for that era) a very high K rate. Often teams he played for settled on the idea of just letting him hit leadoff (he was fast) & do whatever damage he could do as opposed to him constantly coming up w/runners on and striking out. I guess it's sorta a chicken-egg thing.
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His mom IIRC. It was quite awhile ago, but you never know; we're all different in how stuff like that effects you.
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Mitchell has hurt them a # of times throughout his stretch here by not touching the ball w/a runner on 3rd, 2nd & 3rd, or 2nd w/zero or one out. It happened a time or two in the last homestand. So depending on the situation yeah, it can make a difference. He's a talent, and he seems to have developed a propensity to draw walks which helps alleviate the Ks somewhat. And the production he's shown in the face of a roster watered down by injuries has been important. But the swing-and-miss issues make what he's doing tough to sustain long-term IMO.
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Two big sequences today for me. Miz starts out his afternoon by walking a guy hitting .160, and two batters later Hamilton botches a grounder that looked like it came off the bat of a little league coach hitting pre-game ground balls. Statistically it was one earned run that inning but really those two things cost you all three. Then DL Hall enters in the 6th, starts out with a L vs L & walks the guy. Set the tone for that whole inning. Still, a nice weekend. The way they set up the rally in the 8th inning was typical of what's led to success, but Perez never let that happen in the first six innings by locating really well on both edges.
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It IS a pecking order, and as I said Perkins is ahead of both save for Matos doing enough in the coming games to give them hope for him being a RH bench/DH bat. So far he hasn't. But yeah, that doesn't mean Perkins will be on the team assuming they reach full strength.
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Seems that way. All things considered though, I still see Perkins as being ahead of both Jones & Matos once the roster shakes out & people return from injury. Surprised he hasn't found his way into the lineup in over a week. I suppose Matos has a chance of sticking as a RH bench bat if he can put something together in the next week or two.
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@OldSchoolSnapper---it's in my blood and I can't imagine not being a Badger hoops fan. That said, I agree with your points & don't blame anyone who wants to pull the plug. NIL & the portal go against the very essence that made many prefer the college game to the pros, and while some reform was probably needed what happened is akin to not just changing lanes, but crashing through the guardrail & flying right off the bridge. And as bad as this is I can't even fathom what it's like to be a fan of a mid-major program. I hate the thought of the feds having to get involved, but if it's necessary for reform I won't complain.
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Among all the reasons not to do it, this one stands tallest. A team that relies so heavily on run prevention is not going to weaken itself defensively at 3B AND RF, especially at the same time.
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THAT'S a nice addition. From all indications he plays hard on both ends. Can rebound, shoots it well from all levels and very nice size out on the wing. Has averaged 1 TO per game for his career, which also fits. The last three years, Greg Gard has grabbed someone from the portal who came in with a skill set that suggests a chance of being a 'go-to' type guy offensively. All three times that guy had his offensive numbers increase dramatically with UW. The unfortunate part of this whole deal now is that money talks, but I think a big part of securing Elmer was selling him on that very point. Well done. Davion Hannah of Milwaukee has also entered the portal. UW recruited him out of HS. They might make contact but unless Hannah has a desire to return close to home that supersedes going to the highest bidder, I don't think the Badgers are a match. Wouldn't mind being wrong though.
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Anderson was a rubber-armed guy last season. I wouldn't be surprised to see him in the game late. Ashby, maybe Hall (low pitch counts although it would be four out of five days)............unlike his last time out, if the opportunity presents itself this wouldn't be a bad day to extend Woodruff a touch.
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Also Zavier Zens of Wisconsin Lutheran signed with Illinois. UW was in his final 3 or 4 schools. And Eian Elmer, a 6'6" wing who started last season for Miami (O) is reportedly down to UW & Baylor. He would be a very, very nice fit
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Looking into Autry's numbers, he's a very high volume 3pt shooter---just over 78% of his shots last season were from beyond the arc. He hit around 39% of those looks. UW also just signed Victory Onuetu, a 6'11" post player who played at Hofstra last season. He's a rim protector who averaged almost 7 RPG while playing just under 18MPG. Limited offensively. A nice compliment/depth piece to Rapp & Winter. I didn't expect UW to sign a big as I thought Bieliauskas' chances of returning were a little better than 50-50, but since he left this isn't a bad replacement; you sacrifice some offensive potential for defense & rebounding which I'm OK with. Both Autry & Onuetu have one year eligibility remaining. EDIT...Redstick, you edged me out by a nose!!!!
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We'd all like to see those three show more offense, but I suspect the time when the team feels compelled to make some kind of move is much further off than most fans think. The flip side to this argument is that Yelich is out, Chourio is out, Vaughn is out, Eddys Leonard can't replace that & they need to lean on their run prevention strategy, which has mostly paid off. They scored 13 runs last Sunday & Tuesday & lost; if the pitching & defense didn't drop the ball those two days they'd be 13-6 right now. Any questions about this to Murphy or Arnold would be responded to by how Rengifo needs to get going, Hamilton puts great pressure on a defense when he makes consistent contact, etc etc. This just doesn't feel to me like a Capra/Dunn situation where they'd be quick to pull the trigger. And I see no chance of Frelick moving to 3B, nor IMO should he.
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- joey ortiz
- luis rengifo
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So Rodriguez is in the Mcgee role until Harrison makes his next start. The taxi squad that isn't, but sorta is. I've always been intrigued by Crow & loved the debut. He'll certainly be back.
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This is pretty much what happens IMO. Pratt or Williams will have to put up an eye-opening stretch of offense to force a change. And even through his struggles w/the bat last year, Ortiz' glove made the difference between winning & losing a number of close games. They didn't compromise that last year by thinking Monasterio would make enough of a difference with the bat, and the only reason he's sitting some now is they have a LHH option (Hamilton) who appears to be very solid w/the glove. I wouldn't be surprised if it settles into a mix n' match with those two. I think Rengifo will eventually get the lions' share at 3B & hit acceptably.
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........And some real nice versatility with the guys you mentioned, too. Pena as a CF is an intriguing idea.
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..........And Luis Lara doubles, his third hit of the game. He's now hitting .414. He's starting to remind me of when Sal Frelick was hitting four-something at AAA & the speculation was starting to heat up regarding him. It has to be tempered due to the earliness of the season & the tender age, but geez...........
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This is so typical of a stretch when you feel like you're never going to win another game. Scored 7 & 6 Sunday & Yesterday, couldn't get big outs or make plays, and lost both. Then get about as good an outing as you can expect from Patrick & can't score. Luck was involved in the 8th, but I'll take Hamilton putting the ball in that spot every time. And I'm not sure how much luckier it was than Uribes' inning Tuesday (in reverse) when the Jays scored a run highlighted by two high-school level fly balls that weren't hit well enough to carry out to Mitchell. Small victories. Contreras didn't hit the ball well in the 8th but the approach was beautiful, looking to go to RF the whole time. And Perkins actually had one of the best ABs of the night when he PH. Would definitely have him in vs the lefty tomorrow.
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Is the bigger jinx the new city connects (0-3) or Brian Anderson (0-4)?
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Time to return to the profile of run prevention. The lack of offense going back to last week understandably received a lot of attention, but even a moderately acceptable performance from the defense & staff and the last two games are wins. Fortunately the approach that did them well the first ten games seems to be returning--lengthier ABs, getting people on base. Really at a loss to explain Rengifo. His numbers wouldn't look nearly as putrid had some well-struck balls found holes but he still looks really lost; pressing. I've watched him a number of times with the Angels. Never seen him look this bad at the plate.
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Yeah all things considered their depth is OK, but not OK enough to lose the hitters they've lost & not be affected. A team like the Dodgers can lose their 2, 3, & 5 hitters, move up the people normally hitting 5, 7, & 8 and still look like most teams (or better) in the interim. Wherever he's placed in the order, Frelick needs to figure things out. And I'll maintain Rengifo has more in him than he's given so far. A big problem is going to be when a LHP appears late & you have Bauers, Hamilton & Mitchell looming. If Sanchez sees a lot of time at DH that eliminates an option.
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Totally agree. Hell, if it's a DH role they even could've rolled the dice with Ramon Rodriguez.
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He can fly, like a lot of the people in the organization. But he Ks quite a bit which I'm sure is a large part of the reason why he's only had two very brief cups of coffee in the bigs.
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Doug Jones
Jim French Stepstool replied to Michael Trzinski's topic in The Milwaukee Brewers Players Project
I never knew he learned the change from Willie Mueller. That's interesting because Mueller (from West Bend) was a big boy & hard thrower; hardly the type you'd think would have changeup moxie. 302 Saves after age 30, That's really something. -
First off, I seldom if ever have strong expectations, good or bad. Too much randomness in baseball for me to comfortably do that year to year. Obviously health issues are a big factor, made bigger if Yelich is out for any amount of time. And no one has been consistently hot enough with the bat to cover for that. Contreras has been OK, not red hot. Turang has been so-so, hopefully Sunday launches him into something better. Sanchez has been productive but isn't out there every day. Mitchell has been productive at tines but that's tempered by never knowing if he's going to even touch the ball. Frelick & Rengifo are people that can help pick up some slack; their career numbers prove it. But they've both been poor. I think the pitching will be, for the most part, fine. Part of what happened this weekend is attributable to Washington putting up a ridiculous number of smart, effective ABs at just the right time, helped along by uncharacteristically poor defense. Credit to them. And part of the issue is the farm. You have people in AA who are performing but most likely aren't 'there' yet, and the ones theoretically closer (Williams, Pratt) aren't hitting right now. Lara is as hot as can be but after only 13 games at the AAA level & age 21 it would take quite a leap of faith to call on him. I feel OK about their ability to weather the storm until they get healthier IF hitters reach their norm & we get back to the 'woodpecker' mentality, and pitch & field at a level we're more accustomed to.
