Jim French Stepstool

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).

That was my first concern, but I've been pleasantly surprised. He certainly doesn't possess the arm strength you'd like a 3B to have for some of the tougher throws, but seems to have a knack for getting rid of the ball quickly & he's been accurate. For someone who 'profiles' as more of a 2B I don't see much to complain about re the glove work.

I once read an autobiography of Ryan, and recall reading an interview the day after he won his 300th game, which was in Milwaukee. The reporter caught up to him at one of the local health clubs. The guy was amazed at the intensity of Ryans' workout, considering his age & how this was the day after he pitched. He was incredibly dedicated to keeping his body tuned, especially his legs. He was one of those people that came from a high work ethic atmosphere, and combined with his natural ability was able to be a power arm into his mid-forties.

Well, sure. Now that we've dealt Civale.........

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.

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.

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.

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.

@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.

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.

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.

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.

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'.

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).

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.

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.

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?

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?

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.