Jim French Stepstool

It's good to see the defense get off to a nice start before being challenged more in the weeks to come. They'll have to most of the heavy lifting. I don't know how much of a difference Heywood would've made at tackle, but throwing Heinzen out there in week 1, him looking totally lost & then moving pretty much all the OL chairs around btwn weeks 1 & 2 is very disconcerting. Renfroe has to be out there, needless to say. WRs have looked good, and a couple of the young TEs have surprised. I'm just not optimistic there will be sufficient time to get them the ball except for the ineffective dink & dunk stuff we saw under Longo, and w/o a run game & facing better LBs, corners & safeties than we've seen the first two weeks it'll be tough to solve. O'Neil can tuck it & run some, and I believe Edwards is supposed to be able to do that as well. I just don't know how wise it is for that to be happening much.

Good points, although for the remainder of the season I don't see defenses NEEDING to load up on the run to stop it. I think the RB talent appears adequate but they'll need to be much more than that to generate any kind of a consistent threat behind this line. Obviously need Renfroe healthy, but even then..........

In the case of a bye I'm sure they'll do some live game simulation stuff, just without all of us nosy fans poking around. When the strike in '81 ended they actually did an intrasquad game at County Stadium as part of their startup. They opened the doors for it, I went & found it mildly entertaining. Coaches don't seem to like umpiring though.

Yes.

Agree with all of this, especially the first part.

Watching Latz, he reminded me a little of a LH Brandon Woodruff, when Woodruffs' been on point this season. Locating his breaking stuff & changeup pretty much exactly where he wants, keeping you not quite certain of what he's throwing & when, seldom behind in the count. And all that stuff makes 93-94 much more effective than you'd think. He was very good, as was Quintana for the vast majority of the game. The HR by their kid gave me a flashback to the Ortiz GS in New York----didn't try to do too much, just got a mistake & barreled it. Other than that the ball didn't seem to be carrying all that well for either side. Nice to get an entire day off for the 'pen as I'm guessing Rodriguez will be leaving. Unless a LHP is throwing in the series finale I think that would be a good day to tie Contreras to the water cooler & force him to take a day off, giving him two w/the team day Thursday. Just feels like a good idea to me.

Texas trots Pederson out there even vs LHP? I know they're down a few bats, but that surprises me if true.

Yoho looks like he's straightened things out. It would be wise for him to keep getting regular work, and I don't know if he'd get that in Milwaukee at this point. I was surprised to see Fedde throwing in the BP Sunday after working the day before as I doubt he's used to that kind of schedule, but I think Murphy likes that he's been through the wars & throws strikes. And now Anderson is back. Some unfortunate stuff would have to happen for Yoho to be on a PS roster anyway, and like @tmwiese55mentioned, he can come back sooner now if needed. Fedde, Payamps, Anderson.......Yoho has more upside than all of them. But rosters are seldom about who the best 26 guys are.

Background behind the OF seats second to none, with I guess the possible exception of the water behind RF in Frisco.

I was thinking the same thing. I believe they said it was Pitts' longest AB of the game. Right at the end of his outing. Murphys' Law.

I know how you feel. Maybe my favorite of all time was in 2019. They made the splashy deal to bring over Kimbrel, he comes in for the save, Braun greets him with a HR. Then a walk. Then Huira homers to end the game. I also get a particular joy out of the way the division wound up last year, and is about to wind up this year, after a certain managerial change they made.

He also changed his foot location on the rubber & scrapped one breaking pitch for another. There's a real nice piece on that somewhere on this site.

I was as surprised as anyone to see Misiorowski come out for the 7th. But a large part of what goes into that is the stress level as well as the pitch count, and his stress level was pretty much nonexistent after the walks to open the 1st. If he can start out ABs with curveballs for strikes like he did today, good luck. Very enjoyable to watch. A hidden nugget today-----Caleb Durbin rarely strikes out, and Ks three times while going 0-5 while playing his 4th game in a row. Is that a coincidence, or did his mental sharpness at the plate dwindle just a touch today in a four-game grind while going through his first major league season? Do the daily lineups actually get made out for good reasons that we aren't always privy too? Not a great day at the plate for Perkins, but a step forward. Good to see. And a terrific approach all day for Vaughn. Loved the way Yoho looked. But in fairness, holy cow Cruz looked like mentally he was already taking a shower. Impressive weekend.

The BP looks to be in great shape from the left side. It'll be interesting to see what's done when a RH is needed in the 6th-7th-8th.

I think one of the best stories in the organization in '25 is the way Burke has performed since advancing to AA, along with Made hitting the ground running w/the bat at Wisconsin.

1) It's important as things stand right now for Hoskins to get ABs, and for Bauers to not get totally buried because he may well be on the PS roster. One could certainly argue that Hoskins should be the one here, With Bauers getting the ABs in Nashville. It might be the fact that Hoskins & Vaughn have such a similar profile, while Bauers can provide the PR & better defense. Once the PS begins, you have more bench pieces & the redundancy btwn Hoskins & Vaughn isn't as drastic of a factor. 2) I don't think Seigler provides much of anything Bauers doesn't other than the ability to play 3B. I think the only way they're both on the PS roster is if for whatever reason they aren't impressed with Urias this week in N'ville. As for now I don't know, I assume they're more comfortable with two 2B-SS-3B on the bench. If so, that's certainly debatable. But Durbin has done more than anyone expected. Maybe, just maybe his not being run out there every day has something to do with it. IF Yelich gets IL'ed I'd be shocked if Hoskins doesn't immediately return. 3) I agree. They must feel he's getting sufficient ABs/work in AAA. I think the huge similarity btwn Hoskins & Vaughn is playing a role here. If Hoskins hit LH, had the baserunning acumen of Bauers & fielded like Todd Helton it would be an easy call. But it's tougher, and thus open to legitimate questions. Yours are good ones, as usual😉. One way or another, I agree Hoskins will return in a few days.

Great point. I wouldn't have a big problem with it being Uribe, but part of that equation would be Megill pitching the 8th, or 7th. It SHOULD'NT be an issue, but relievers can be strange birds. Megill HAS only given up one earnie in his last four games, with 7 Ks & one BB. Bring him back healthy, and it's a nice situation to have.

Well done. Another word to put on the BF mantel, next to 'cromulent'.

I'll try. Mind you, I'm looking at this through the prism of the organization. In the postseason you'll have Vaughn & Hoskins. They both need to be PR for if it's a late-inning important run. That will probably be Bauers because you may also want to hit for Ortiz & don't want to burn Monasterio. You could also use Siegler as the PR but I think they're far from certain he'll be on the PS roster. That's why they signed Urias. If Urias IS on the roster, he really isn't a good PR candidate from what I remember when he was here. Perkins can do it, but as tonite showed he may be a late-inning guy for Collins with Chourio moving to LF. Also, Bauers may be a defensive sub late, especially for Hoskins. He also might be a choice for a PH appearance. Not because he's any good, but just because Murphy wants to see how many Brewerfan members he can get to jump off a bridge. I'm not a huge Bauers fan, but I recognize situations where he might be beneficial, and with PS rosters being what they are you can carry someone like that. If Tyler Black was having a better season it would maybe be him. And if you needed to carry 13 pitchers in the PS Bauers' chances would be slim & none to be carried.

Usually, I just like to look at the pictures.

Priester was terrific. It just took him a few innings to get there. Honestly the two runs early could've easily been three or four. From the 4th on, really really good. Kind of a mixed bag offensively. They were handed the run late, and some less-than-stellar ABs w/the runner on 2nd & no outs and 3rd w/one out. But pretty good pressure AB to AB, and in all fairness Vaughn was robbed of 2 RBI on the liner to RF. To me that was one of their best ABs of the game. What I wouldn't give for our opponents to consist solely of LHH. Koenig is throwing the ball great, Ashby is on a pretty good roll, & Zastryzny has located pretty well his last 2-3 times out. And of course love the quick 9th. Bauers---when he's at his best, he hits the FB well, draws walks & manages to lay off breaking balls off the plate. I just don't know if he'll have enough ABs to get into a groove this late. Missed a lot of time. But a couple well struck balls in game 1 vs Philly, and a couple tonight. What I'd love to know is, if he & Vaughn are in the lineup together I have no clue why Bauers would be the one DHing. Vaughn has been pretty solid there but Bauers has the edge defensively. Vaughn might just be one of those guys who can't get comfortable unless he's playing both ends.

It's false to say they didn't do anything. You could say they didn't do enough in your eyes, which is fine. We all have our opinions, and this is a great venue to express them. Shelby Miller was turning in quality work for Arizona (1.98 ERA). He was on the IL. People come back from the IL all the time & perform well. Unfortunately he was hurt again. IMO holding the FO up for scrutiny for not knowing he'd blow out his elbow is unfair. It's also important to point out he cost them nothing in prospect capital. Lockridge was the type of guy you pick up at minimal cost when you have someone down for a few weeks, or a month. If you want them trading for a a guy like Bader when you know the hole in CF is temporary, I think you're living in a world where everyone is the Dodgers & Yankees and you can throw prospects---and money---around willy-nilly. And BTW, at the deadline Blake Perkins was hitting .281. I'm not going to defend the work Jansen has turned in. Like you pointed out in an earlier post, not only the failed AB w/the 2nd & 3rd with one out but he had a horrible bunt attempt. Should've gone towards 3B. But I'm confident you won't find one GM anywhere that would take Haase over him, or wouldn't consider him an upgrade. Whether or not fans on a message board were clamoring for a change is irrelevant. In Nashville, Haase is currently hitting .194.

Sounds good. But who are we talking about, and what would the cost have been? No one ever seems to be able to answer that question, because of course they can't. None of us are on the phones or in the office on deadline day. And really that's the only way to ascertain if they should make a deal, otherwise it's just a bunch of "MOVE THE NEEDLE!!!!" noise with no substance or point of reference. I'll admit, I get disappointed too when the team may not be improved to the extent I hoped it would. But we just don't know the whole story, and the prospect capital is more important to us than most other teams. It has to be. I remember in '08, being excited about the chance to grab Sabathia, being happy with the deal, but wishing like hell we'd have been able to pull it off w/o including Mike Brantley. I'm more concerned about the overall health of the pitching staff, to be honest. In the last six games, all vs playoff teams, we've scored 7, 4, 4, 8, & 6 runs.....and today we get shutout by a guy who's had a terrific year & had a wide zone to boot, and reading some of these posts you'd think we've scored 3 runs all week. Get Chourio & Yelich healthy, Get Megill & Anderson back, figure out roles moving forward for Miz, Gasser, Patrick, and they'll be fine. Keep posting!!!!!

Santana & IKF were DFA'd for a reason, too. And they were both snapped up. And there have been others. I tried to point out to you, Urias has an OBP at the league average. We're talking about a bench guy here, right? Lots of bench guys around MLB are below that. Jansen hasn't been good since coming here, true. But you're engaging in hindsight. At the time, he was considered a clear upgrade over Haase & probably still is, as Haase being waived through baseball not once but twice proves. Jansen has 85 HRs in his career, with 13 sac flies. He CAN'T hit a sac fly? How about 'he's been a disappointment w/the bat so far'. Wouldn't that be just a little more accurate? You're wrong about Bader. He was acquired for Hendry Mendez, a 21 year old OF who used to be in the Brewers' system. He's at the AA level & hitting just under .300 w/an OBP of .384. Also included was a 16-yr-old pitcher from Venezuela. That package is nothing like a 'bag of balls'. You know, Philadelphia signed Harper, Schwarber, Castellanos to hefty FA contracts. That bumps some pretty good talent to the bench, and in the Phillies' world you can pay THEM, too. And since you can simply throw money at your holes on the roster you can deal prospects w/o giving it a second thought. Milwaukee has to be smarter. As in Isaac Collins. As in seeing something in Durbin, or Monasterio, or Vaughn. Or yes, Perkins, who has won them games over the years. Or Megill, Koenig, Priester, Zastryzny, Colin Rae for a couple years. These people (except Durbin) cost little or nothing in player capital..........but I guess your response to all that is you need to be mistake-free at the deadline, too. They've done more with less than anyone else out there. Because they HAVE to. They deserve more than to be scrutinized every time they're hit by an injury bug, or someone underperforms.

If you reach full strength health-wise----which is what they're trying to do----come playoff time either Hoskins or Vaughn will be on the bench. Perkins, an elite defender, will be on the bench. Monasterio, who is now hitting almost .300, will be on the bench. Jansen, who despite your hating on him because he's done nothing since coming here but has 11 HRs on the year, will be on the bench. Luis Urias, who had modest numbers at Oakland but has a season OBP of .315-----the MLB average is .316-------is at Nashville & may quite possibly be on the bench. Yelich may very well not see LF for the remainder of the year, but if he does either Collins or Frelick is on the bench. For all the wailing (from some) about the trade deadline, contenders have picked up pieces since then that have been put on waivers. Due to our W-L record, other teams have gotten first crack at these people, while we've had to sit at the back of the line. Again, I'd be happy to give my opinion as to who we should've traded for, provided I know what it would've taken.