Jim French Stepstool
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Everything posted by Jim French Stepstool
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Well, sure. Now that we've dealt Civale.........
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Still a long way to go & I'm sure they'll make moves, but when they were rolling I thought the only chance of someone challenging Chicago in the division was if their pitchers started leaking oil. Don't look now, but starting with our win there last week they've given up 8, 9, 7, 14, 8 & 8 runs. Stay tuned.
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I played & coached fastpitch softball for a lot of years & love the intricacies of that game. The bottom of the second inning, that was a fastpitch softball rally right there--not overswinging, staying on balls & going through the middle, fouling off tough pitches, going deep into counts (contrary to what Bill Schroeder was espousing), putting pressure on both Skenes & the Pirate defense. Lotsa fun. Lets hope Uribe can right his ship. IMO a little bump in the road for him lately. When Megill can locate that roundhouse-looking breaking ball, wow. Good luck, hitters.
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Ahhh, the good old days. An old GF of mine used to live on a block where the backyards abutted the west end of the VA cemetery. Hop the fence, stroll thru the VA grounds & you're there.
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This is part of the reason why I thought Haase was going to catch either Monday or Tuesday. Flip side is Contreras gets two days off assuming he isn't used today.
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@Underachiever has a valid point though, re the 'early on' part of the equation. He did miss some time then, but '84 through '87 (plus 1990) were probably more problematic in that regard--hardly 'early on'. From age 34 on he mostly DH'ed & was largely injury free AFA I remember. Back to Mitchell--I agree with those who don't see him being given up on any time soon. But a large part of his value is his ability to run (in the OF & on the bases) & throw better than most. Wear & tear stuff. He needs to figure out how to stay optimal. Or just get a little more luck on his side.
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I believe they said the last time Joey Bart threw out a runner was exactly one month ago. And he didn't actually 'throw out' anyone tonight, Durbin just didn't keep the bag. And with the LHH up that was a pretty good time to try it. I'm a little surprised Cameron didn't go during the Frelick AB.
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I like Turang higher up in the order, but I doubt you'll see that because you'll have three LHH in a row, or 3 out of four. He seems to be effective in the 5 or 7 hole so I don't expect that to change anytime soon. Chourio is an immense talent that, watching him at the plate, seems to be a living example of the cliches "Trying to do too much" & "Not letting the game come to him". It's rough to watch him sometimes chase, sometimes miss or foul off hittable pitches. He had the (IIRC) three-walk game in Minnesota, which to me was a great sign. But very little since then. I think he'll be allowed to figure it out while hitting in front of Yelich. Certainly been frustrating, but at his age probably impossible to avoid.
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Pittsburgh K'd sixteen times in the game. That leaves 11 outs. They had two on the bases, one on a batter-runner. So when they put the ball in play they made ten outs, and had fourteen hits--and one of those outs was ON a base hit. That's sort of ridiculous. It isn't enough to have Reynolds get it in gear every time we face them, not to mention Frazier who didn't play, but now it's "Hi, my name is Nick Gonzalez. I'm going to go five-for-five like it's a slowpitch softball game!!!" Very annoying team. Some of their young arms were pretty impressive though. Gotta feel for Durbin.
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Sure. The comp btwn the two was strictly related to the issues w/staying on the field early on, not production. Similar to @SeaBass's Buxton example. That's what makes this a tricky debate, the fact that while Mitchell has shown flashes when actually playing there isn't enough sample size to give him any kind of a letter grade. He would be an 'incomplete'.
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Agreed. AFA prospects go, I guess the closest would be Lara, who's in AA & is pretty young for that level. Unless Black somehow re-emerges (he's been playing OF for Nashville).
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That's what adds to the frustration of his being hurt so often. You see the 1st round talent poke thru sometimes when he's on the field, but the lack of contact makes it so hard to project exactly what we have here. Was really hoping 2025 was the year he compiled 400-500 PAs.
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Agreed. Another example (albeit another better player) is Paul Molitor, who 'always seemed to be hurt' earlier in his career but shook the injury bug later. For now we can be glad this organization is adept enough at finding replacement parts that his being MIA isn't crippling. Of course it would help if Perkins wasn't taking forever to heal.
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I expect Pittsburgh to be their usual pain in the arse. Fouling off tough pitches, lengthy ABs, putting the ball in play. Adam Frazier--upon seeing a Brewer uniform--closing his eyes, swinging, and finding a hole virtually every time. It's great to see the bottom 3 spots in the order doing so well. That's often the difference between scoring a few runs-or less-and putting up large numbers. That's the nicest thing about the road trip. A couple times where we didn't get the mound performance we're used to but still won the game. Haase has to catch either tonight or tomorrow, right?
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And reliever Matt Wise, cutting himself on the hand w/salad tongs. I remember the guy looking like he weighed about 170 lb; couldn't he have just had steak & potatoes?
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Welcome to the Wonderful World of Analytics. I think Ortiz has been for the most part pretty outstanding defensively, and I believe the odds pretty strongly favor them rolling with both him & Durbin on the left side as opposed to competing with other teams for whatever else is out there & overpaying. There was a plan here, and it did not include Boeve & Wilkin being derailed by injuries (there's at least a chance they'd both be in AAA by now & ready to help) and Black being plagued both by health issues and, frankly, by not being all that good when he was here last year. Someone mentioned Contreras possibly playing some 1B. That's questionable but even then, Quero would be the replacement at C and, once more, we're talking about a guy who missed a full year of development by getting hurt. There's a path to success--great success--for a team in Milwaukees' position. But that doesn't include people getting hurt, screwing up the timeline & then simply overcoming that by using prospect capital to buy replacement parts. And as others have mentioned, Durbin & Ortiz HAVE been better at the plate recently.
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Catchers have so very much on their plate so I've been an advocate for Dinges staying at Wisco this year, save for maybe a taste of AA at the tail end. But if they think the defense can translate, can absorb another promotion, I dunno. The kid just keeps hitting, and hitting, and............
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I like looking at a youngsters' overall numbers when he's had roughly a full seasons' worth of playing time (combined) in his career. That's where Bitonti is currently sitting. An .853 OPS, with 27 HRs & well over 100 driven in with 99 walks is a nice platform to build on. Only bugaboo I see is the Ks, which from a power hitter playing full-season ball at the age of 19 isn't catastrophic.
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It's really sweet to find a way to endure on the road when the home team is rallying & the HP umpire is, basically, following the script.
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Smells like the type of game where you try to hang on for five innings tied or at worst down a run or so, then bank on your pretty well-rested bullpen to outperform theirs.
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Sun. 5/15: Do It for Dad, Guys!
Jim French Stepstool replied to Jim Goulart's topic in Brewers Minor League Talk
Adams really fleshing out his #s. On a pace for his best year by far, while still only a couple months past his 21st birthday & in his first taste of AA. Good stuff. -
He actually had a cup of coffee with the A's earlier this season.
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Definitely, they've evolved over the years from where they were, esp if you go back to the Doug Melvin era. But especially over the last two games, that's too many Ks in my book when you look at who they were facing. Vs Pallante & Mikolas, that's way too much swing-and-miss. When you're built on speed & baserunning like they are, IMO they need to be better than middle of the pack contact-wise. Admittedly though, I would've thought they were further down than 14th.
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Not until we see if Yoph makes it to Cooperstown.
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Apologies if it's been mentioned, but after being snubbed for the roster spot Rosario has exercised his option & is no longer with the organization. I've always kinda liked him, but he has a few more years on him than Avans & they say Avans plays a pretty good CF. And as you said, most certainly faster. Almost caught the catcher w/his pants down on the tapper in front of the plate.
