Jim French Stepstool

I hope he does too, But I don't see a scenario where Hoskins, Bauers & Vaughn are all on the active roster. Maybe, if they're good with Yelich playing some LF--he looked OK out there on Sunday--but even then you're still scary thin in CF & RF. Blake Perkins really needs to get his arse healthy & back up here.

Really pulling for Woodruff. Not just because of all he's had to endure, but he really strikes me as someone with a genuine soft spot for his teammates & for wanting to do well for this organization & fan base.

I credit their hitters. For sure he's had some games where he's labored, but today the single, the walk, everything they had that inning I thought was very well-earned. Fortunately he hadn't worked in awhile & never seemed to be running out of gas. Of course we probably won't see him the rest of the weekend.

Apologies. No more funny Priester posts from me. That was a horrible performance from him, reminiscent of his early outings when he didn't look long for the rotation. He needs to flush that ugliness right quick. The cynical side of me thinks Miami is going to face the Cubs down the road, be trailing in the 9th by one run, have the same hitters coming up, and they'll go down in order on something like seven pitches. Those were some incredibly good ABs vs Megill & he deserves all the credit in the world for getting through it. Uribe was much better tonight, and Ashby was particularly nasty. How can you not love Caleb Durbin?

Come all without; come all within. They'll just hit grounders off the Mighty Quinn. (Gimmie a break, I only do this like once a year. Happy Fourth to all!!)

With Pratt & Areinamo Doing well at their levels and Pena, Made & Adamczewski coming up behind them, you'd THINK at some point someone is part of a substantial trade. I just don't see it happening right now. Exploring Ramirez is a nice idea but I get the feeling we'll be riding with the guys we have at 3B. Very small sample but Seigler looked like he belongs here, at the plate anyway. I love the SP depth we've built, and don't really want to fork over what it would take to get Skenes.

That's the thing--bottom of the order. If these guys (Ortiz included) continue to even come close to what they've done in recent weeks, then it's on Chourio to figure out consistency & Yelich to stay productive. They'll have done their job IMO, power or not. Can't let this go w/o bringing up that my username was a backup catcher for the Washington Senators who stood about 5'6". A friend of mine once asked an old Senators' ballplayer how tall Jim French was, and he replied "I don't know, but he used to run around the clubhouse going 'BOSS!! DE PLANE!!! DE PLANE!!'" *** ***Won't be funny unless you're familiar with late 70s television.

Cameron is already gone. Seigler replaced him.

Yes. And 20 for position players, hence my assumption that Perkins' return is imminent, unless they just let him go which, like @markedman5 said I find hard to believe. Out of curiosity I looked up Seiglers' history of playing OF. He's been out there something like 2-3 times, nothing recently.

That's why they need Perkins back here. Yeah, Frelick can play CF but you're weakening yourself at one spot defensively, and arguably two. Perhaps Seigler stays & Monasterio goes, but then if they PH like they did tonite Turang goes to SS & I don't think they want to do that. I think Ollie Dunn just climbed over .200 at Nashville.😁

His rehab actually started on June 14th with the ACL club so if I understand it correctly, he comes back on July 4th. The 30-day rehab max is for pitchers.

Agreed. Perkins is THIS close (I assume) to coming back & then you can give any of your OFs a day off without having to put Yelich out there. He's healthy & all that, I just don't want to press it.

I'm assuming Perkins is very close to getting the call to Milwaukee as the Cameron DFA leaves them thin on the bench in the OF. I would guess they aren't crazy about putting Yelich out there & Bauers can do it, but........

Levering unpacks that one before every game. It's in his briefcase right under "Didn't have to be".

Maybe. If Miz & maybe Ashby get you through 7 innings you're into the late inning people who are all well rested, but if there's a spread I'd actually like to see him matched up with a Marte or Alonso. I think he could even confound Soto if he gets ahead & locates.

Game one can be dubbed the Joey Ortiz Bases-Loaded Redemption Tour. After 2-3 walks in a row, I can actually get on board with ambushing--you might get something awfully fat on the 1st pitch. But rolling over on a ground ball like he did screams over-anxiousness. Next time up, he got something to pull due to the plate discipline EARNING it. I was a little surprised after the previous AB that Ortiz didn't heavily think oppo & go after one of the pitches off the plate outside. Just really well done. Only one real ugly moment for Peralta, following the bases-loaded DP by going out & throwing four straight balls to Soto, then ignoring him on the SB. Overall though it's great to see the brain cramp moments for him become less & less. 25-pitch 1st inning, things could've unraveled for the next 51 outs we needed to get today but he got through six which was key. If I'm the opponent, Turang, Frelick, Durbin & now Collins are becoming the type of guys you just hate. I love having guys like that.

I missed Adamczewski, big time. I hope he's back with Carolina soon, w/o having to make a stopover at Primitive Skills Camp.

Agree. If you're lucky enough to hit gold on the recruiting trail & there's some redundancy, the ease of players bouncing from school to school allows a roster to sort itself out more organically than in the past. Also Gard seems to have developed a knack for putting an effective group on the floor with a more "positionless" look. In 2018 that was sort of a perfect storm, in the negative sense. What exacerbated it was Haliburton turning out to be better than most expected.

Yeah, it really seems to be. A lot of fans don't realize how many portal guys wind up not finding a home. So this late in the process, if you can find someone that you think might be able to help you can take a flyer w/little to no NIL money. Hopefully Gray slipping through the cracks works out well. They certainly could use a little experience off the bench in the frontcourt. The thing I like about both Gray & Braeden Carrington is they both (I would assume) know there's a very high probability they're coming off the bench, yet they still committed. If they buy into their roles the way McGee & Gilmore did that's some nice experience to be able to call on.

Thought I'd give some updates regarding the UW basketball program at the conclusion of their annual individual & team camp. Three class of '27 athletes were offered during/after the camp. Jack Kohnen (Slinger) is a 6'6" wing who has shown offensive chops, but also averaged over 12 rebounds a game as a sophomore. He's already received offers from Iowa & Iowa State & save for an early commitment I'm sure there will be more to come. Jalen Brown (Tosa West) is a 6'4" combo guard who opened a lot of eyes in the state tourney. Ranked a 3-4 star depending on who you follow, same as Kohnen. He's someone else who should add offers unless he commits early. Deuce McDuffie (Milwaukee King) is a little more under the radar but seems to be drawing attention quickly. 6'6", somewhat raw but with athleticism on both ends of the floor. Scored 42 pts in one game last season. I'm surprised he was offered so early, but you gotta trust this staff. His pop Otto played at UW & UWM. A couple other '27 campers are going to be national recruits & have held offers for a long time. Donovan Davis (Freedom) is listed at 6'7" & can probably play anywhere 1 through 4. Dooney Johnson (Milwaukee Juneau) is listed as 6'5" or 6'6". Both of these guys have no trouble putting the ball in the basket but what sets them apart is their ability & willingness to defend at a high level--especially Johnson, who I understand locked up some very talented kids over the weekend. I expect both of them to have blueblood offers & would be thrilled to get one of the two. So far they haven't offered him but the staff has shown an interest in Zavier Zens, a 6'7" forward from Wisconsin Lutheran. He holds some mid-major offers & may still be a fallback option depending on if other UW offers go elsewhere & he decides to slow-play the process. Vaughn Karvala (Oregon, WI HS) has left the state in favor of a prep school in Arizona. He's held an offer for quite some time but I get the inkling that there's some questions about his overall attention to some of the secondary aspects, particularly defense & overall strength. Still, a very electrifying talent. Also, UW has added a late portal addition. Elijah Gray is a 6'8", 235 LB forward who mostly came off the bench the last three years for Fordham & Temple. He averaged between 8-9 PPG in that role over the last two years, scoring mostly from the paint area. Only a 30% shooter from 3PT, but a decent FT shooter. He's supposed to be a so-so defender in the paint but sometimes makes plays by relying on athleticism (sounds a little like Xavier Amos). If he can acclimate to the B10 level he'll certainly be a welcome addition as right now the only other backup 'bigs' are Riccardo Greppi & incoming freshman Will Garlock. One other note: The NCAA has allowed schools to add a 32nd game to their schedules, and UW has responded by adding a December 30th home matchup with UWM. It'll be the first game between the schools since 2019.

Take a walk, and stick an elbow or shoulder out there at an opportune time😁. And he's now over the '1-4' line at .251. We all know that he's physically more suited to 2B. But that's what endears the kid to me, how he's taken a team need, conformed to it & done an acceptable job while playing virtually every day. As the roster evolves in the years to come I don't know if he'll be a part of it, get traded, or what. But he seems like one of these guys who doesn't just pay lip service to the term "I want to win", he lives it. I'd love to see him have a role here for a long time.

I don't know what his numbers are since the change, but major props for moving Turang to the 5-6-7 hole. I for one thought it was a head scratcher of a move but he's really taken to it, as has Frelick to the leadoff spot.

That guy was Bohm, provided we were willing to pony up whatever the cost would've been. I suspect he would've been a little rich for our blood AFA the prospect captial demanded, but we'll never know. Assuming a Wilkin (or someone else) moves him off his spot, I agree Durbin would look awfully good as an extra piece.

It looked to me like he made a commitment to go oppo, picked up a bagful of hits that way, and that led to him getting a couple of balls he could get the bat head out on and--boom--a 2 HR day. Not that he'll ever be more than a 10-12 HR guy, but I hope he keeps the same approach. His hang-in-there AB vs Skenes on Wednesday was a thing of beauty.

I said this once before---after watching Durbin for several weeks I see him as one of these guys who might hit .260 or so, but with an OBP about 100 pts higher. And there's value there. Plus the ball he hit out of the yard on Tuesday was an eye-opener. Really got on top of a pitch up in the zone & mashed it. Let someone else overpay for a McMahon (see Cubs; Chicago).