Jim French Stepstool

But........but..........$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

Ideally, Bauers or Collins should be available if you need a PH late in the game as that's pretty much the best the bench has to offer. So yeah, flipping one for the other hamstrung them.

The more dicey reason is you already spent Monasterio. The reason it's dicey is Haase could play 1B & then you move Monasterio to SS. The better reason is you might have Ortiz' spot come up again, which it did. But Ortiz wasn't lifted THAT time either, so the bottom line is he liked Ortiz hitting more than Haase or Cameron.

I'm far from a big Murphy critic but I'll play today. The Monasterio for Hoskins PR move wasn't totally w/o merit but can be questioned. And please, if anyone hears the presser I'd love to know what led to Peralta not staying in for the Machado AB, and THEN getting lifted. Although Ortiz came up with a hit in the 9th, I'm a little surprised Haase wasn't sent up for him & told to be a modern-day Russell Branyan. This was a frustrating weekend. But if they continue to pitch at a level that holds a team like SD to six runs in three games I'll take my chances, with or without this offense. Obviously we needed much more the last few days from the people they need to count on regardless of anything else----Yelich, Chourio & Contreras.

Either/or, yeah (assuming Mitchell has options as well).

Just a little note here to show appreciation for Isaac Collins. I don't want it to sound like he's bereft of talent because he's obviously not, but guys who have been blessed with more natural ability have never come close to making a mark in MLB. He's shown remarkable plate discipline that's carried over to the highest level, and after the Padres got sick of seeing him walk all weekend, he got pitches to hit & came up with a couple of knocks, both critical to the win. And being a switch hitter doesn't hurt. We all talk about the crunch on the roster with all the pitching options and rightfully so, but If/when Perkins & Mitchell make it back and assuming health in the OF there will be some tough decisions forthcoming there, too.

Hah!! Well done. Now do everyone that took a strike & put up a successful AB.😁. It tied into my earlier point. He looked FB, got it & tomahawked it really well. If it was a breaking ball at the knees on the outer half (a strike) he probably misses it or hooks it on the ground to SS. Or, more likely, takes it. Terrific job getting on top of a pitch that was letter-to-shoulder high.

This sort of indirectly relates to another factor in this...........anticipating/guessing. If a hitter is guessing breaking ball & gets a FB, it isn't a good bet he'll do much with it even if it's down the middle, hence the take. Same thing in reverse, to a little lesser extent. Those are many of the pitches 'right down the middle' that get watched. @nate82 mentioned Chourios' lack of walks going back to his time in the minors, when he was a teenager. He's right about that, and it's largely an end product of chasing. If it doesn't improve over time he won't reach whatever his full potential is. Fortunately there have been positive, although sporadic, signs of improvement.

2-0 is a so-called 'hitters' count'. So is 2-1. I'd feel the same, confidence-wise, either way. I don't know what else to tell you. I'm sure you watch a lot of baseball. You see people take "hittable" pitches all the time, and not just Brewers' hitters. If you want Ortiz being aggressive in the above situation---and Isaac Collins swinging 3-0---all the time, every time then you're in for some disappointment.

Fair enough. I disagree. Collins has spent his professional career, in part, by reaching base a respectable amount of the time any way that he can. Employing your strategy 100% of the time, I'm very confident he would never have sniffed a roster spot.

What if it's 2-0, the opposing pitcher just walked the bases loaded, you're Joey Ortiz, there are two outs, and the on-deck hitter is working on a three-hit day? Look, I appreciate the #'s you posted. But there really is no such thing as 'this is what you should do' w/regards to something like this. There isn't enough bandwidth to discuss the myriad of situations that factor into this stuff.

IMO both sides of this argument are flawed unless you look at the entirety of each individual situation, instead of arguing for a "one size fits all" approach. With men on base & a sense of familiarity from previous ABs, ambushing early can be a great thing. I've seen countless times when we put ourselves in bad counts by being too passive. I've also seen games when the opposing BP was shot coming in, but we can't take advantage because the starter goes seven innings on 83 pitches due to over-anxiousness. And late in games, there are tons of hitters that want to see a first pitch from a new reliever. Again, this isn't a one size fits all thing. Did you want Isaac Collins swinging 3-0 tonite?

First of all, there is no team anywhere that's looking to win that wouldn't benefit from having Maldonado on their roster. Whether it's sharing the job, backing up, whatever. Kinda like a poor mans' Molina. You can just see the experience, the moxie dripping off the guy. Cronenworth saved the day for SD by keeping Yelichs' ball on the INF, as did Sheets by going off the bag to save the throw. Frustrating, but top-shelf baseball. Funny, but outside of one AB (the HR on a horrible 2-strike pitch) I think we might've swung the bats better collectively then they did. That's not to say we were good, obviously. Durbin was a killer in the 2nd inning; waaay too overanxious instead of letting the ball travel a bit. And as good as he's been, it's difficult to imagine offering at a pitch as far off the plate as Yelich did in his next-to-last AB. I'll take my chances every day if we get work like Patrick turned in. And Ashby was downright eye-opening.

I'm kind of a local history nerd so that's interesting to me. Never knew that. My first year following baseball was 1968, thanks in large part to an older sister taking me to games the White Sox occasionally played in Milwaukee. Now THAT was a bad team. In an attempt to keep the thread on track, I would actually be willing to listen to what the Rockies were thinking re McMahon. But I would not want to give up much of anything & certainly don't want to pay him for the next 2.5 years unless they kick in a very substantial amount. And I doubt they'd go for that. Plus, we'd be adding another LHH which wouldn't exactly thrill me.

During off-seasons in the 70s, it was Rudy May. And yes, I'm old.

Yep. What makes this work is not needing much of anything past Priester. In two such games they've used the BP (after him) for one inning total. Beautiful stuff if it continues to unfold that way.

Whoever had Monasterio, Cameron, Haase & Collins combining for 7 ribbies..........yahtzee. Some real vindication lately. Had he still had options I would've sent Priester to Nashville awhile ago. But he seems to be taking to the bulk role (or whatever you want to call it) that he's been put in on the road trip. And this is a pretty nice infield to be hitting multiple ground balls at. Also Cameron. To me his ABs looked horrible in his first 3-4 games. But he's staying on the ball & it's starting to jump off his bat. Four-thirty-seven is no joke; didn't know he had that in him. He certainly has earned the ABs vs LHP if not more. Maybe the last two innings were a case of us being ultra-familiar with Miley. But I'm thinking he's cooked. A terrific individual who would be an asset to any organization if he chooses to make baseball a career when he's done playing. Here's what I think they're going to do with Ortiz: Nothing. I believe he'll be at SS for the remainder of the year & if he doesn't hit, then he doesn't hit & they'll send up a batter for him if trailing late. Monasterio might get a little more run there than he would otherwise get. They'll be content to live with Ortiz saving runs--he did it again today. I suppose if there's a non-contender that has a SS in his last year that can defend well---not so-so, well---a deal could happen. But I have no idea if there's anyone out there like that. Some of you who scour rosters might know better. If I'm the opposition Chourio would scare the hell out of me. Such a tender age, plate discipline & pitch recognition extremely inconsistent, yet he's still productive enough to put up more than respectable numbers. Whatever his ceiling is, we're all fortunate to see him working towards it here.

Too lazy to look back, but I think Peralta is the one guy he's extended a little--maybe Quintana once. The roll of the dice there was Fraley. Get him & you can face the #9 RHH, then BP for the top of the order. He walked Fraley, which might've been the biggest AB that no one is talking about. Ashby starting the inning certainly was another way to go.

Some real impressive work from Peralta. At the same time, some ammunition for the "He's no ace" crowd. I loved him wanting--badly--to go out for the 7th. Then he goes out there & promptly walks Fraley. And in the 5th, it didn't cost him runs but w/the runner on 1st & 2 down he walks Lux, with De La Cruz on deck. You. Can't. Do that. But like I said, mostly impressive. Durbin at least in part caused that bad throw in the 9th with his hustle. Goes hitless but still reaches base twice. That's the type of player he is. There's value there. Would like to see a full day off tomorrow for Contreras.

With all of the potential starters in the system, over the years, that get considered for BP work it's refreshing to have a crop that really (to me, anyway) profile as starters. Meccage, Hardin, Letson, Birchard, Cornielle, Miz. Crow fits that sme profile. It's been a LONG wait to get him on the mound & the results so far have been exciting.

You may very well be correct; but Megill would be the one most likely to usurp that IMO. If he sat I certainly would be OK with it. The other two should absolutely take a day off.

It wouldn't shock me if he was available tomorrow as well. Pretty low-stress 9th tonite.

I thought the 6th & 7th were kinda the biggest keys to the game. Zastryzny had to deal with a couple RH PH & got the job done, & Koenig hasn't been pristine but got through the top 3rd of the order, although walking Lux & falling behind De La Cruz from the right side was a no-no. After that I thought we pretty much had 'em by the hairs as long as Uribe & Megill worked from ahead. No highlight plays at 3B but Monasterio had a solid game pretty much all-around. Contreras needs to take a breather either tomorrow or Wednesday. Seemed like a real opportunity to open things up a little bit, but a couple Cincy RHP's that have been vulnerable actually threw the ball well. Annoying.😐. So now Hall & Ashby should be next up vs a team that you really need LH bullpen availability against. Civale settling in after the 1st time through was also vital.

I agree with @CheezWizHed. I was happy when they acquired Crow, and Hunt has caught my attention. But especially with Crow having the long layoff I think they're both earmarked for AAA in '26, then go from there. No one knows what 5-6 people emerge from the starters' list. My main hope is that we can get to the point where we're getting 5.1, 5.2, 6 innings out of guys a little more consistently. Getting six from Priester & Patrick back-to-back was a beautiful thing; it led to Quintana only going five on Sunday being just fine. I guess that's my big hope for Woodruff---if he can settle in to going six & giving up 2 or 3 runs, maybe less as he gets more comfortable.

The roll they're on could become a verifiable hot stretch if they can win this one vs a lefty who's been pretty damned good. All of a sudden, the overworked pen has had at least two days off for everyone except Hall. That's a rare thing & very welcomed.