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Jim French Stepstool

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Everything posted by Jim French Stepstool

  1. Jim French Stepstool
    Don't get me wrong, I like what I've seen from Hamilton; he seems like a very nice fit. But I think sooner or later we'll see Rengifo as the regular 3B. He had an off year in '25 but pretty damn solid before that, and the baseball gods weren't exactly smiling on him today in his 1st three ABs despite a terrific approach. Plus a switch-hitter. Surviving w/o two of your better RH bats when you're kinda LH dominant already. That's where the consistency of approach really helps you. It's damned impressive. Sproats' 1st inning was painful, but a young guy making his 1st appearance with a new team---that's happened a million times before. His giving runs back after the Sanchez HR was almost worse, in my book. Never settled down. Better days ahead.
  2. Jim French Stepstool
    From the moment I learned Vaughn was lost & Quero was called up I assumed Bauers plays 1B, and when he doesn't it'll be Sanchez. Like @Snoebirdpointed out, Black is yet ANOTHER LHH which keeps him from being the choice. The other positional options are not on the 40-man & are just scratching the surface at AAA anyway. Insert "Gee, I wish we still had Ernesto Martinez!!!" comments here.
  3. Jim French Stepstool
    Sort of picking up from last year in that already this season a couple of embarrassingly bad swing choices, but he then hits a ball hard---sometimes in the same AB. Weird. But great to see him healthy, hitting & still running the bases extremely well.
  4. Jim French Stepstool
    Year after year, I just have to give Izzo so much credit. After the first 10 minutes of that game, I was convinced UConn was gonna pretty much cruise. Getting back in the game with toughness & defense, and some great play by bigs who weren't much when they got to East Lansing but have developed so much over their careers. (DEVELOPED--kind of a forgotten word in the NIL & portal era).
  5. Jim French Stepstool
    I think Sanchez will be starting at 1B vs LHP & quite possibly will PH for Bauers if a lefty enters & we're trailing. We'll see.
  6. Jim French Stepstool
    Yep. And pretty much the ONLY guy. This would've been a perfect situation for Jorge Alfaro if he was still in the organization. But you can't stash guys like you used to.
  7. Jim French Stepstool
    I had the Coogs, too. I also have St Johns & UConn tonite. Wonder what kind of odds someone could get on an all-B10 FF?
  8. Jim French Stepstool
    Boeve playing LF is interesting to me.
  9. Jim French Stepstool
    Illinois seemed to be hitting a rough patch--6-5 in their last eleven games--but four of those losses were in OT. That's one awfully good team when they guard, & they're sure guarding tonite vs Houston. Boswell making it back to take some heat off Wagler is pretty big.
  10. Jim French Stepstool
    IMO that was a pretty big surprise. Thought beating Florida would be an impressive capper to their season, but it would go no further. They guard & command pace well, but now Koch is giving them another shooting threat, and Folgueiras----I just never expected him to perform at the level he is. From Fran to McCollum is such a huge chasm of a difference.
  11. Jim French Stepstool
    There are so many kids in this organization that I feel good about so it's hard to go with one or two. But I'll highlight someone who I think can flat-out hit but has had health issues & needs to find a position. Mike Boeve, anyone? Also Coleman Crow, health permitting.
  12. Jim French Stepstool
    I knew it was baseball season when he threw out the first "Not even close".
  13. Jim French Stepstool
    Two guys who had "Yeah, they were good in spring training, but let's wait & see" type springs each picked up a couple hits. Nice to see. Now let's hope Lockridge hasn't cooled off🤢.
  14. Jim French Stepstool
    I loved Levering explaining to the TV audience why they weren't seeing the strike zone box on their screen, while I'm sitting there staring right at it🤔. Among all the positives, I was happy to see the game Hamilton turned in. Wasn't convinced about him getting heavy duty time at 3B but he looked solid & comfortable in the obvious small sample. Fits right in offensively if this is going to be his approach game-in, game out. Great day for Ortiz. The only times he seemed to be MAYBE coming out of his doldrums last year it involved a concerted effort to go to RF. Even though he jammed himself on the first hit, I think showing that approach in the first game is a terrific sign. Not a loud day at the plate but I loved Mitchell laying down the bunt vs the LHP. Hedge your bet, advance the runner & maybe the speed pays off with a hit if it's placed just a bit better. Frelicks' ABs were just beautiful all day. In total command.
  15. Jim French Stepstool
    I immediately thought of the '78 season, when the Orioles were buried by Milwaukee in a 3-gamer to start out. Baltimore was -29 for those first three games, then it went to -31 after four. So I guess last years' Crew takes the crown.🤢. Then they went on to win 97. Baseball........
  16. Jim French Stepstool
    Yeah, sign me up for Shelstad too. He'll be hotly pursued if he wants to shop, but the Zags make sense. He's an Oregon native & might want to stay in the area.
  17. Jim French Stepstool
    I don't know if he'll pitch effectively, but it sure sounds like I wouldn't mind him for a next-door neighbor.
  18. Jim French Stepstool
    Looks that way. From the minor league lineups I've seen this spring it looks like they're toggling him between 2B & SS. He's done very little in two years since being promoted to AA & is now 25, so it's definitely 'go time' for him. First-rounders often get a longer leash but yeah, there's a lot of folks ahead of him now.
  19. Jim French Stepstool
    Yep. As long as you're going to have to do it I think this new timeline is about right.
  20. Jim French Stepstool
    Reserve forward Jack Robison has announced he'll be entering the transfer portal. The 'official' window for entering the portal is April 7-21. I thought sometime around the beginning of that window I'd start a thread on some of the players that entered, who UW might be interested in, and throw in some recruiting updates. I imagine there'll be a lot of dormancy but some news should pop up from time to time.
  21. Jim French Stepstool
    Good piece. It's obvious that there's a lot of versatility among that group. As long as we're talking SS let's not forget Ebel.
  22. Jim French Stepstool
    Yeah, lol. Selling space on your appendages DOES seem pretty "Gottlieb-ish". The key would be if the assistants are decked out similarily🤷‍♂️.
  23. Jim French Stepstool
    This topic could fill an entire thread.......hell, an entire message board. I'm probably being naive but I'll still hold out hope for some sort of return to sanity. State farm is running the ad featuring the Boozer boys. To me, THIS should be what NIL is all about. The kids were in the ad in street clothes, no reference to their school, no Duke unis or logos. They're obviously more in the limelight than others; that's why they get the State Farm gig, while a Zach Kinziger gets a local spot from Piggly Wiggly or whatever. But the school should have NO input into these opportunities, in any way. If the player wants to work out a deal w/an agent on a % basis, fine. I was clueless enough to think that was the way it was going to work. I saw how wrong I was when State Farm first marched Kaitlin Clark out there in her Iowa jersey. I was really disillusioned & knew this was a bad, bad path. What's unfortunate is that the NCAA has taken a legal beating on most of this. Hopefully that changes.
  24. Jim French Stepstool
    I've seen that, but it's always worth a replay😄. Gottlieb had a presser after the 1st semester closed, which I found interesting. He had the academic performance numbers for men's basketball at the semester break. In D-1 there are 365 schools (four transitional). That might put you conservatively in the neighborhood of 4400-4500 scholarship athletes. The number of athletes that were academically ineligible was.....zero. Are academics being glossed over? Is it easier to job the system when you have a lot of online classes? Are certain classes being dumbed down, especially since it isn't good business to have your $600,000 power forward sitting out? Nah. I'm sure student-athletes are just much, much smarter nowadays🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣.
  25. Jim French Stepstool
    Iowa was a very connected team defensively; that had a lot to do with their success. McCollum had players following him around from NWMO to Drake to Iowa, which helped that connectivity. They probably wouldn't have liked their chances vs Florida if they knew Stirtz was going to shoot it so poorly, but when you can guard people & keep the pace under control then it gives you a fighting chance (and of course, have others step up. Some of the shots Koch & Folgueiras made reminded me a little of Rapp at Illinois or Bieliauskas at Michigan). The seeding, yeah, it is what it is. All things considered it's an extremely difficult task to seed some of these teams. And like you said, none of this stuff is revealed until after the fact. All you can do as a program is take everyone seriously & realize that your season can end if you don't. Or even if you DO. I really don't think UW took them lightly or wasn't ready to play. High Point, relative to their ceiling, played extremely well Thursday. That gives them a chance vs most teams, and the '12' after their name becomes immaterial. It's just a number the committee is forced to hang on everyone when you play a tournament.
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