Jim French Stepstool
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Everything posted by Jim French Stepstool
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It might call for a lot of antacids, but if we make a run in the post-season the last two wins are what I think it's going to have to look like. Starter "good enough" for 4 or 5 innings, BP stepping up, and one or two guys running into a HR---we have enough people that can do that---and hopefully when the HR happens someone, or a couple someones, find a way to reach ahead of it, be it a bunt, walk, whatever. I won't get too critical of Chourio leading off even though I hate it, since the alternatives seem a little paltry. But Mitchell hitting 2nd vs a LHP is asinine. If Chourio is going to hit leadoff you might as well just go total bar league & hit Contreras 2 & Adames 3. Ton of credit to Frelick for going up there for the 1st time all night & having to face a lefty. Put a good swing on the ball. Bauers deserved better, too. Mitchell getting picked off 1st, with a runner ahead of him, is high school stuff. Also, Garrett, I realize you don't make out the batting order & it isn't your fault you're hitting 2nd tonight, but realize who you are, who you're facing & what the situation is in the 1st inning & just lay one down. Kinda felt it might be our night when Megill got Pederson to start the 8th. Assuming they hit for him if Koenig started the inning? Serious pen work vs a hot team. And kudos to Freddy for working through some of the same chronic problems but not imploding.
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FWIW, I think they could've easily had 3 or 4 more hits each of the last two nights. Swinging the bats a little better from what I've seen. Of course you're facing a LHP with mediocre numbers tonite, so flip a coin.
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What, you don't want us to defend better than them?😁
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All season long teams would've given their right arm to play LA & have them pitch & defend as poorly as they have the last two nights. Really astounding how bad they've been. The loaded bases in the 9th came via three walks.
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That's a pretty good breakdown. What I sensed was that Williams & Contreras didn't relish facing Canha & were quite careful there, and put a lot of stock in Fitzgerald never having faced Williams before. Not ideal since the walk moved the runner up to 2nd but that's how it appeared to me anyway.
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I get the impression they had high hopes for John Pius on the outside but so far that hasn't come to fruition. Witt certainly could be a factor if he can stay on the field.
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Pretty sure the only way you see JL back in Madison is if he has success in the NFL & Fickell is deemed a failed hire after another couple years. Even then, there's the question of his relationship with Macintosh & vice versa. So pretty slim. I'd like to say the two DL look is a byproduct of a lack of depth there, but it isn't. I'll feel better about it if they can keep Alabama from gashing btwn the tackles on Saturday, but there won't be much keeping their O-Line from getting a hat on our LBs, and while there's some talent there ( I wonder if both Curtis & Alliegro will be ahead of Jake Chaney in a few weeks) I just don't see much ability to fight off blocks & be physical. This is what they're selling: speed, quickness, athletes on defense. OK, but if that doesn't result in a marked improvement in sacks, TFLs & turnovers I think it spells trouble. I hope I'm wrong but this game looks like a bad matchup for smallish receivers like Kekahuna & Pauling.
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They could slow-play Hudsons' return, leave him in Nashville until the last 5-10 days of the regular season and then, if they still think Milner is worth keeping around as insurance, let him stay & remove Peguero. All that would really say, is they think there's a 3% chance of Hoby helping them in October, with Peguero at something like 0.5%. Just spitballing. A DFA or return to the IL is also very, very possible.
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In the post season I assume they'll want 3 LHP they can go to from around the 5th inning on. They can use DL Hall in this role as well but I get the feeling they're viewing him more as an early inning go-to, perhaps even a starter. So Koenig, Ashby & Hudson. Milner is here while Hudson "refreshes" in Nashville, and would only be around in October in the event something happens with one of the other lefties--and after his outing on Sunday, maybe not even then.
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Thinking more along the lines of a Koenig facing Nimmo & turning Lindor around, although I see Lindor has been pretty potent both ways. So never mind. And no real advantage in doing it vs ATL. He just seldom seems able to take advantage when ahead in the count, is my issue. And his bad misses seem to over-compensate into delivering a hittable pitch--and there doesn't seem to be a pattern, it can be FB, slider, even the changeup. And I mentioned yesterday about the back-to-back walks to the 8 & 9 hitters, forcing him to face Blackmon w/the bases loaded. Whatever the reason(s), there's just too much all-over-the-map stuff from someone in his what, seventh season?
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- freddy peralta
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Has Peralta ever started in the second or third inning, behind an opener?
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I've seen this from time to time last year & saw it again yesterday in a 2nd half drive--it's as if we're suddenly reminded that there might be some QB or wideouts watching on TV that we're recruiting, so we better start throwing the ball again. Sometimes down & distance dictate it, sometimes not. Just odd. I'm sure there are fans who think South Dakota, FCS team, & feel it's a failure if you don't win 45-7. Truth is, the top 20 or so FCS programs are pretty much on a par with a large # of the average-or-below FBS teams. So not a rousing success, but not an embarrassment. I'm just concerned about how un-physical this group is. Especially on defense, Save for Wohler & Hills. 'Bama, if we can be assignment sure, might be kept from running the ball at will, and if UW can force them into throwing more than they'd like, that's IMO the best chance we have to hang around. But their combination of quickness & physical play on defense leads me to believe we need to hope for some breakdowns to get scores. And we haven't shown much propensity, so far, to turn people over so I have trouble seeing where the points will come from.
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Collins selected…….Hicklen optioned
Jim French Stepstool replied to markedman5's topic in Milwaukee Brewers Talk
I was a proponent of Collins over Charles Hicklen all along, even though you knew Hicklen would get 1st crack when he was added to the 40. The versatility, close splits & combining a nice OBP w/a little pop is what does it for me. And as you mentioned, Hicklen was mostly coming here cold. -
Collins selected…….Hicklen optioned
Jim French Stepstool replied to markedman5's topic in Milwaukee Brewers Talk
They like a bench guy that can play SS, even though Turang & Ortiz can slide over. That's what keeps Mona here, and what brought Capra here when they were short-handed. Collins still would have a shot due to keeping fewer pitchers in the post-season, which I believe is still a thing. -
What sucked about the top of the 5th was Murphy was sort of put in a box there. The situation screamed for a LH out of the BP & the only other option was going to DL Hall w/ three days rest after pitching four innings Wednesday. Obviously they didn't want to do that. Otherwise it's roll with Peralta, who was facing guys for the 3rd time & in the inning had faced four men-----three base hits & a fly to the warning track in CF. If anything, Murphy should be jumped on for using Koenig for two innings on Saturday, therefore putting him down today. This was a different animal for Milner than vs STL as he actually got to face the LH as opposed to a RH PH. No excuses. Another clear illustration as to why Freddy is no ace, Brian Anderson babbling notwithstanding. With the runner on 3rd & two outs he loses the 8 & 9-hole hitters on walks & has to face Blackmon. He got him, but that whole sequence just speaks volumes.
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South Dakota......an FCS program, but a pretty good one. Air Raid, shotgun, throw the ball down field, behind your back or between your legs, whatever. What I most want to see is UW control the line of scrimmage today, on both sides of the ball. If anything keeps them from winning some of the 'gettable' games down the road, it would be failing in that regard.
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So hard to 'splain that. It suggests resiliency, along with the obvious talent that you can't be 21 games over .500 without, regardless of how you got there. I'll beat the same drum I always have.....inconsistency. Given the youth of the player position group it should be expected, I guess. One thing I hoped they'd settle into is the knack of making pitchers work hard for their outs. It eventually makes a starter crack & has served us well earlier in the year, but due to the inconsistency of youth it often disappears. We were entertaining yesterday so I didn't get to watch as closely as I usually do, but I noticed Feltner was around 46 pitches through 2 innings, and after that it drastically changed. IMO that's where the Turangs, Frelicks, Ortizes, Perkins & Mitchells come in. When the tough extended ABs aren't there it seems to become an epidemic.
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On a sports message board, I'd give that a silver medal. I still give a slight edge to 'cromulent'.
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I think someone said he's played there once in his career. And I don't want to disparage what he's done since being brought up, but there's a lot of swing & miss in his game & if he played more regularly I believe that would catch up to him.
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Josh Bell wouldn't have been a bad fit as a DH. But I don't know if we explored that, or if the PTBNL list Zona offered was richer than what we'd be willing to spend. Also, while he's been swinging it well for the D-Backs his OPS at the time of the trade was just below .700. So probably not much interest.
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They did. If you don't sweep Philly, you need to uptick the level of play & hope Philly finds some losses. And right now the Phils are playing really well.
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And throw in their performances vs Imanaga & Sale, when there were no position players pitching. They also pinned a loss on Helsley this season (the hilarious part of that game was the winning pitcher, with two strikeouts in the final inning to strand the ghost runner, was Hoby Milner). This isn't to point out some sort of invincibility of the offense, just to counter the negative vibes. They're talented but extremely inconsistent with the bats. Many rookies & young vets, and the more experienced hitters have a lot of swing-and-miss to their game.
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In baseball. Exactly. When I read comments, sometimes I feel like some of these good people would be better off just following the NFL, where you can lose three in a row & it might actually fracture your season. In baseball that's silly. Their most recent 3 losses are mostly centered around not scoring a runner from 3B with no or one outs. I don't know if that'll get better, but I know it isn't woe-is-me uncorrectable.
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I feel that 'they suck' or 'so-and-so's a moron' or stuff similar to that comes out of everyones' mouth when watching a team that they live & die with, when things aren't going well. What I've never been able to understand is actually typing that stuff in the moment, rather than wanting to think about it & weigh your thoughts first. But I guess that's the nature of the IGT beast, and why I seldom if ever post while the game is going on. Not for me, but those who enjoy it, God bless ya.
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We recently had the 5-game winning streak vs LA & Cleveland, both division-leading teams. Check out some of the posts in the two games prior to that.
