Brian Bogusevic: Astros Batting Lineup Is 'One of the Best In Baseball'

Brian Bogusevic, former Astros outfielder and Space City Home Network analyst, joins Next Up to preview the Houston Astros Opening Day matchup against the New York Yankees. Drawing on his own experience, Bogusevic says "there's that slow build up" in the offseason that leads to Opening Day, which is where "butterflies show up." However, the Astros should be confident as their offensive lineup is "one of the best in baseball." With injuries to starting pitching, the Astros looked in the free agent market and even offered Blake Snell who eventually signed with the San Francisco Giants. Free agent starting pitching is "always going to be intriguing," but "the need isn't long term," so "once healthy, [the Astros] will have plenty." Third baseman Alex Bregman will be a free agent following this season, and general manger Dana Brown has stated that they plan to give him an offer, but Bogusevic says contract extension talk won't distract Bregman from his play. "I don't think that's going to affect him at all" because "the better he performs, the better those negotiations are going to go." When the Astros take the field for the beginning of the 2024 season, Bogusevic says he expects shortstop Jeremy Pena to "take big steps forward" and outfielder Jake Meyers to bounce back from injury. Meyers' "confidence has taken a hit," but "there's plenty of talent there" and "regular playing time will go a long way." With the Astros a single win away from a World Series appearance last season, Bogusevic says the expectations for this season are the same. "This has been a World Series or bust team since 2015."

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
The best friend that I've never metin my life. Former astro. You
see them on Space City Home Networkas an analyst covering all things Strolls.
Brian Bogus seven to get us going, Opening day for the Strolls twenty twenty
four. Boge, good morning toyou, sir. Good morning guys.
How y'all feeling today? I'm feelinggood? All right? Bulge like,
get you get your equipment together?Tight No, we gotta get ready to

(00:21):
roll. I need you in regularseason form. Act like it's July.
Tight up, all right? Storylines? You know what before we do store
lines? Boga, you play thisgame? What's going through the mind of
the guys? Now? Put yourselfin the minds of I'm thinking about it.
Jeremy piny I mentioned Kyle Tucker,brago A, Chas McCormick. You're
one of the guys. You're gonnastart today. What's that process? Like

(00:45):
you're coming out of spring training?What are the emotions take us through it?
What excitement? Mostly the off seasonis long, The off season is
boring. The loss the off seasonis lonely. You know, all that
work, it's done by yourself,and it's all done in preparation for today
in the next six months. Sothere's that slow build up and now that

(01:08):
it's finally here, butterflies show up, even for guys who've been doing it
for a long time. You've gotto try to treat it like it's just
another game, but it's not,because you know, ever since the season
ended in October, everybody's been thinkingabout today one of the things. And

(01:29):
ross with here as well, Brian, just as far as things you're most
intrigued, we're kind of talking about, of course, of starting pitching,
middle relief, on your dias,handling the pitching staff. What are some
of the things First, like twoweeks of the season, you're going to
be keying in on this team toreally observe how they're playing out Well.
The first thing is, I thinkthe offense is potentially going to be one

(01:53):
of the best in baseball, oneof the best that we've seen in a
long time. I mean, youlook at the top four with bregmant and
Out as good as they've ever beenin Tucker and Jordan kind of just entering
their prime for two guys who've alreadybeen some of the best sitters in baseball.
I think that there's a chance forthis first couple months of the season,

(02:13):
when the pitching is trying to gethealthy, that this offense can just
be so good that we don't evenreally notice. And then the other thing
that I'm going to be looking atreally is fromber and Christian Javier. I
think a lot of a lot ofdetermining how good this team can be.
What the ceiling ceiling for this teamis is going to hinge on them.

(02:36):
If they're awesome, then this teamhas the potential to be a juggernaut.
Bogie. We spent a lot oftime on our station and most certainly Gordon
and I going back and forth onour show. I just want to get
your professional opinion. You know,you heard the names all all season,
just like we did. Blake's nail, Lorenz and Montgomery goes to Arizona.

(02:59):
Would you have felt better about theAstros making a strength stronger given how many
guys are starting on the il.Are we cool with the way that it
played out and they're just going leanon the guys that have been around for
all the while? I think anytimethere's guys who are as accomplished and as

(03:19):
good as who is sitting on thefree agent market. It's always going to
be intriguing, but you know,really, when you look at what the
need is for the Astros, it'snot as great as it feels, right
like, we feel like the pitchingstaff has stretched so thin and we've got
to go through this. But inreality, Justin Verlander could potentially be back
in a matter of weeks. JoseArchidi maybe a little bit further down the

(03:44):
line, but not all that faroff. So the need isn't long term.
The need isn't so great that youneed to spend that much money.
So I understand the intrigue, andjust adding any one of those guys to
any team makes that team better,But for the cost that it would have
been, I think this team isperfectly capable of writing it out, and

(04:09):
once healthy, they have plenty.Brian bogus Sevic with us here on Sports
Talk seven to ninety opening day coveragehere at Big City Wings. Brian,
you mentioned the offense, and you'regoing to be keyed in on that.
I was curious your thoughts of theback end of the lineup. Jake Myers.
There's been a lot of talk abouthim offensively. Jeremy Pania as well,

(04:30):
with the new stance. What inyour batter's mind did you see from
them last year that you think they'regoing to improve this year and hoping they
are as far as far as aswell as you've been observing in spring training.
Well so, I think Jeremy Painna, there's actually there's actually a lot
to take from last year that shouldbe encouraging about what he can do this

(04:55):
year. I know the power numberswere down, but one thing that he
did really improve on his swing decisions. His strikeout rate went way down,
his walk rate went way up,and for a young hitter to really tighten
that up, that is very predictiveof long term success. So now he's

(05:16):
in a stage where he's making someswing adjustments and really the bare bones of
executing it at bat is get agood pitch to hit, put a good
swing on it. He's really improvedin the get a good pitch to hit
aspect all throughout last season. Nowhe can get a little bit more consistent
with his swing, which is whatthat new stance and setup is meant to

(05:40):
do. I think he can reallytake big steps forward in being a more
consistent hitter this season. And JakeMyers, it's just a confidence thing.
I mean, we saw him comeup in twenty twenty one and be a
really complete player after injuries and alittle bit of underperformance. Probably because of
the those injuries, his confidence hastaken a hit, and because of that,

(06:03):
he's been really up and down inhis performance. I think a quote
of confidence from the coaching staff cominginto this season will go a long way,
and regular playing time will go along way, And those are two
things that he's going to be affordedbeginning this season. So as long as
Jake Myers is healthy and long ashe can stay on an even keel mentally,

(06:27):
I think there's plenty of talent there. So I think both those guys
in the eight nine spots that that'swhere they're going to be, can provide
a lot of value for a team. BO A couple more for you and
we'll get you out of here.I know you got things to do in
preparation for the game this afternoon,you know me, I like embrace the
elephant in the room. You know, nothing's too controversial, Stanfleet. That's

(06:50):
just how I roll this Bregman situation. How distracting could this or could not
this be? It sounds like He'sinstructed Boris to have communication and keep the
lines open during the season. Fromthe mind of a player that's dealing with

(07:10):
a situation that Bregman's in, whatdoes that do for you? Well,
yeah, it definitely adds another layer, right. I Mean, guys are
only human and they're going to thinkabout their future and they're going to think
about their finances. It's the wayit is where human beings. We're professionals,
and that's a huge part of it. There are players who in the

(07:36):
past have said, I will notnegotiate during the season because I don't want
that distraction. Alex feels like he'scomfortable doing that. Look, there's there's
nobody who's more equipped to compartmentalize thatand focus only on baseball. I mean,
everybody has the business side and mentality, but there's I've not seen many

(07:59):
players who can be as single mindedas Alice Pregnant when it comes to preparing
for baseball games and working on hiscraft. So the fact that that's going
on behind the scenes, I don'tthink that's going to affect him at all,
because I mean, if this doeshappen to be his last season here,
I don't think that he would valueanything more than winning a championship,

(08:22):
and the better he performs on thefield, the better those negotiations are going
to go anyway. So yes,it adds another layer, but I don't
think it's going to distract him onthe field whatsoever. And then lastly,
expectations, have you put a number? Are you doing the over under?
Are you saying World Series or Bus? Where are you at in terms of

(08:46):
your personal expectations for this twenty fourAstros team? Well, this team,
this has been a World Series orBus teams since two thousand and fifteen,
and anything else is going to feellike coming up short in this cluboff.
Now would you say that's unrealistic expectations? Well, yeah, but when you're

(09:11):
as good as the team has beenover the course of a decade, that's
just what it is. So Ithink that health will play a huge role
in that. But when you lookat this team, if they get to
one hundred percent, which is whichis what a team has to be to
compete, right, there's never beena World Series champion and who you know
did it shorthanded? So once thisteam gets to one hundred percent, how

(09:35):
do they stack up against you know, the other really good teams throughout baseball,
and they're just as good, maybeeven better than most. So yes,
this is this is once again.It's a world series or failure season.
All right. That's the voice ofBrian Bogasvik coming by for his weekly
starting this week every Thursday at tenthirty here on Next Up with Stand Northfleet

(09:58):
typically Chris go Ross Villy a niceenough to join in Gordi's absence. You
will see Brian Bogas say if youcan get more of his commentary courtesy of
the Space City Home Network. Bogey, we'll appreciate you man. Thanks again
for your contribution to the Astros twentyten to twenty twelve. We respect you
being a big leaguer. You're morethan welcome to come by anytime. Brother,
have a good time to this afternoon. I was gonna say tonight,

(10:20):
have a good time this afternoon.We'll talk next week, all right.
Thanks guys, talk you soon,all right. Peace to you, Bogey,