Jim French Stepstool

Some of them had bad feet re pass blocking, but I found nothing boring about those lines. Keeping the ball away from an opponent for half a quarter or more while the clock burned was a beautiful thing to watch.

I'd like to know what he meant by 'too conservative', because they very seldom if ever threw deep last year. I like the idea of them mixing in some go routes, I'll just have to see it to believe it. Things did get clogged up more than you'd like to see. It didn't cause big issues because they were able to get the run game going btwn the tackles. Could that be an issue in the big ten? Absolutely. If ever there were games where they planned to keep things under wraps, this one & next week are it. We'll see, I guess. I suspect letting the TEs get their feet wet early was by design. I could be wrong but I don't see them catching more than a combined 3-4 balls a game on average. If they DO stretch the field more with the wides that might open them up a bit. Nowakowski was always a willing blocker who started as a FB and you're right, his hands seem more than good enough. I feel he's someone that they viewed as a blocking TE who's surprised them a bit. Not totally convinced re the LB corps, but as you said there's an awful lot on their plate due to the line being thin. The two FCS-level guys they brought in are gonna get every chance to make a difference. Hills actually made a play or two.

James Thompson was a huge loss.

Another positive. I don't blame WMU for going for it, but our O-line was starting to get some push & stopping them there was going to give us the ball at the 50 & put a real damper on their upset hopes, and we did it. Can't say I expected that. Curt Neal might be every bit as valuable as Van Dyke, AFA needing him to stay healthy.

Maybe the biggest positive I saw was in the second half, we actually started to wear them down a bit with the O-line. That might not seem like a big deal since it was WMU, but I don't know if we could've done that last year w/o having to wade through a bunch of false starts & holds. Having depth at RB is refreshing. Still, there was a play in the 1st half when we were in the red zone, 1st & ten and lined up in an empty backfield, which is nuts. Van Dyke needs to be better moving forward, but his combination of running ability & throwing is a step up from last season. I see people complaining about not throwing more deep, vertical routes. I kinda agree, but on the other hand they really don't have receivers built for that or an offensive philosophy that integrates it. I'd like to think part of it is holding back the playbook for B10 opponents, but they never really did it last year either. Maybe Vinny Anthony, as the year unfolds.......... They got good stuff from the TEs, and I liked the formation with both of them on the field. Helps to make up for no fullback, and as pass catchers they both fit the 3-7 yd flips out in the flat that Longo loves to throw. The front seven mostly didn't impress. But Neal plugged pretty well, and Pius & Hills made plays later on. Too soon to judge, but the depth could really be a problem. I was actually disappointed that the secondary didn't make more plays, but I saw they never threw at Hallman (which I didn't notice, embarrassingly) & there wasn't enough of a consistent pass rush to help them out. Need to find a way to get someone like Peterson on the edge because I remember one safety blitz, and the rotation to cover for the safety was non-existent. All in all, much stuff to clean up, and people like Barten & Neal HAVE to stay healthy. But after one week, saying they're "this" or "that" is IMO a fools' errand.

I was thinking after the game, how impressive Williams was today. He threw a lot of pitches but the Reds were pretty much doing that to everybody, fouling balls off & going deep into the count. They did some things that'll make a pitcher crack, and he didn't. And considering France never faced him before AND fell behind 0-2, that was a hell of an impressive AB to end the game.

The best chances of someone else throwing would probably be Koenig or Megill, but I agree I doubt they'd want to do that. None of the Cincy relievers threw many pitches in game one but I don't know if they're comfortable bringing any of them back.

I think his being on base less has something to do with it, plus earlier in the season he has Contreras in the 2-hole who was hitting to the right side really well then, and is probably more likely to take pitches for Turang & still put up a good AB. With Chourio hitting 2nd, perhaps you're best off just letting him concentrate on getting a good pitch to hit w/o worrying about letting Turang run. The numbers you posted tell another tale about Turang. A little better than 1:2 strikeout to walk ratio in the 1st half. Now almost 1:3. He can be an effective hitter, but it'll be hard for him if he isn't closer to the 1st half ratio. A little too much chasing.

Seems like a nice addition, but the timing of it strikes me as weird. It sounds like he'll be the college FB equivalent of a bench coach. The only connection I see is in 1997, when he was strength & conditioning coach for the Saints & Fickell was on their injured reserve list

That's the ticket. Let him get further & further away from surgery, then see what's best for him. If it's 2-3 effective innings a couple times a week, that has value. Especially compared to where we were at most of this season, which was totally writing him off.

Or DL Hall. He last threw on Saturday.

This is what they envisioned when they got Civale. Six or seven innings of old-man ball, staying one step ahead of the hitters, commanding all of his multiple pitches. Kinda resembled a RH Kershaw today. I've heard the great things about Ashby in recent weeks from the minor-league guys, but unfortunately wasn't able to see him work in Oakland on Sunday. I'll tell you what---the locating he did today, the velo, that was some eye-opening stuff. Even with the generous strike zone in the 9th, those were 2-strike pitches. He put both of those right where you would want him to. Exciting to see. You know how you blow up a balloon as a kid, get it real big, then let the air out? PLPLPLPLPLPLPLLLLLLL! That's Hoskins ABs recently. From the neck up, he's actually doing some good things to get back in the count, or get ahead in the count. Then he gets a pitch to hit, and PLPLPLPLLLLLL!!! Frustrating.

Tough to watch when he was hitting w/the bases loaded. Got ahead 2-1 vs a pitcher that walks a lot of people. Nowhere to put him, you KNEW he was getting something pretty straight to hit, got it, and fouled it off. Inning deflated from that point. He's gotten much better at not chasing like earlier in the season, but the strikes he gets usually aren't getting barreled. Felt for him on Tuesday though. Hit one on the screws w/men on vs Rogers but didn't find a gap.

Maybe the defense keeping the bases clean has played a large part in a lot of the HRs being solos & 2-runners? It also seems to me like we pitch much more carefully when facing multiple baserunners--everyone does of course, but even more so than most. Not a great example because he hasn't been here all season, but Civale seemed way too passive, trying to get chases & make the perfect pitch last week in Oakland w/runners on even though he had a 6-run lead.

Damn, on the interstate that could've easily been a REAL tragedy. Glad to hear damage was limited to the vehicle, which is a blessing.

Ross & Wilsons' roles are kinda redundant, plus Ashby & Hudson can go two innings, so I wouldn't be surprised if one of them leaves the building at some point. Agreed, Ross appears the safer of the two right now.

This was a frustrating yet goofy game to me. It reminded me a little of some of the games the Dodgers play. "Oh, we're tied now? We're trailing? OK, we'll just pull one of our HR cards out of the deck & play it here. What? The HR was robbed? OK, we have another one in the deck. Yeah, here it is." Otherwise they did very little offensively. Of course you can say the same thing about their opponents tonight too. Probably needed to look to steal a little more in the late innings. As well as we ran up the pitch count & made Webb work, I thought he had a horseshoe stuck in his arse a little bit. Two or three 'almost' infield hits in clutch spots, and Bauers smoked one in the 1st inning that easily could've gone for an RBI hit. Ballet lessons for Myers in the off-season.

I dunno. Coming into todays' game Payamps has allowed two hits the entire month. Hudson seems to have settled back in after a rough stretch. Megill had a bad outing his first time back from the IL, but was solid in Oakland. There might be tweaking of the personnel coming up but it's still a group more than capable IMO. My biggest concern is fans jumping off a bridge when Hobie Milner is the pitcher that gets added on 9-1. Not predicting it but it wouldn't surprise me.

A little, I guess. That July was one Baaaaad month, wow. Still, athleticism w/some pop, I like that combination. I gotta admit though, the other guy we gave up (Sanchez) is having the better year (albeit at a quite lower rung).

If you look at Bauers' career numbers..........no he isn't the 2nd coming of Eric Thames, but I suspect he's given the organization pretty much what they expected. He's filled a role, and I think we'd be in quite a different spot right now if our 1B options all season were Hoskins, Black & Sanchez. And when he's seeing the ball well & being selective--which I'll admit hasn't happened every time he's come to the plate--he's capable of putting up a decent AB, especially off the bench. I'm confident they have no intention of replacing him. I just wish they could've picked him up w/o including Jace Avina.

I think one could make an argument for Collins, but he isn't on the 40 so............ If it's between Hicklin & Black I'd lean towards Hicklin, but not all that enthusiastically. He's been pretty cold for his last fifteen games or so & hasn't homered in almost six weeks. They COULD have a waiver pickup fall into their laps but it's certainly not something you can hang your hat on.

I guess the next question to be answered down the road is this: Does the post-op Ashby do better working 80-100 pitches w/4-5 days between, or 15-35 w/a day or 2 between? Right now it looks like the latter, which is great because with their heavy BP reliance the pen felt kinda naked w/o the 3rd LHP. His recent work at AAA combined with the way he located Sunday is a Godsend. Combined with Misiorowski, Yoho & Paredes doing good things at Nashville, it's nice to have fresh options this late in the season.

Apologies to the poster, this is only slightly related but I can't help but pass this on. A former GF of mine grew up near County Stadium in the early years of the franchise & went to many games as a kid. In helping her pack up & move, I came across an old autographed ball. Knowing the era she grew up in, I wasn't surprised to find a bunch of signatures of nondescript Brewers from the first couple years the team was in Milwaukee. Then, there it was among the Kubiaks, Krausses & Roofs: Ted Williams (He managed the Washington Senators at the time). She told me that all she remembered was running around by the players' exit with the ball, not knowing who was who, and asking "Are you anybody?" Williams could be a little surly so I assume Washington won that day, because a loss followed by a teenager asking him if he was anybody might've resulted in the ball being hoisted onto the VA grounds.

IIRC, teams would sometimes take the batboys along on a roadtrip after school let out for the summer as a special treat.

Vukovic definitely NOT coming to Madison, and it appears visa issues have nothing to do with it because he just committed to Oklahoma State. The latest rumor has him not being able to get past the admissions dept at UW. Win some, lose some. They just received a commitment from Latrevion Fenderson of Racine, who they've been after for quite some time. He's reclassifying to class of '26 & is (for now at least) playing at something called DME Academy in Daytona Beach. Athletic 6'5-ish wing, strong penetrator w/a pretty comfortable mid-range jumper in traffic, shows a lot of energy on defense. Shot does not reach out to the 3-point line on any consistent basis at this point. Averaged about 21 ppg w/11 rebounds last season. Iowa State was his other high major offer. Think John Blackwell w/ more of a physical nature but not as good of a shot from beyond about 17 ft.