Space City Saturday w Dan Mathews 8-17-2024 Astros under pressure

In this episode Dan rants on why the Astros lost the game. He goes all-in on the players. He's not alone, as the callers express themselves on the matter as well. If they don't hit we can't win. Comments on Hunter Brown, Dezenzo Chas McCormick, Bregman, Robert Flores, and CJ Strauss.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcomebore, Welcome to another Space City Saturday on Sports Talk
seven ninety Dad Matthews Live and local h Town breakdown
of the world that matters to you, the Houston sports world.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
All these great Houston fans here. We love you all.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
So finish up on that to do list, flute up
the cooler, because you can't drink in talk sports all
day if you don't start. Now bear me the eight.
This is Space City Saturday's fame. Here's seven nineties Dan Matthews.

Speaker 3 (00:48):
Well, I would say that probably the day drinking started
by necessity for a lot of you after last night's
Astros game. But of course it is to term are
to coin a term that AC brought up on the
A team a couple of weeks ago. It's diet game
day number three for the Texans. So preseason action happening

(01:12):
in a couple of hours, literally a couple of hours
from now. They'll be kicking off over at NRG Stadium
against the New York Giants. So we've got preseason football
today to look forward to.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
So nice little sports day around here.

Speaker 3 (01:25):
You get that where I know that probably going to
be paying attention to it for about the first quarter
or so maybe. I mean, we'll see how long Demiko
Ryans goes with the starters in this one. Getting some
of the healthy guys back on the field, I mean
earlier this week, getting Laramie Tunsel back in the fold,
getting Titus Howard as well, so that's good to see.

(01:46):
So we will at least be paying attention to the
early portions of the game. I mean later on, once
you see no offense, you know, case Keenum coming into
the game, and of course people wondering what's gonna happen
with Davis Mills all those things, then that's when probably
your attention at least goes to if nothing else, maybe
a little bit of it's on and if I happen

(02:10):
to peek an eye on it, I will. But aside
from that, not much. But of course you know what
we do here on Space City Saturday. By the way,
again you heard voice guys say it. Dan Matthews here
with you, Melvin Brown behind the scenes doing a great
job as always. But Astros losing last night five to four,
and the majority of our one is going to be

(02:32):
the Stros, so if you want to weigh in on them,
you can do so. Semone three two on two, five
seven to ninety. Once again, that's semone three two on
two five seven ninety. The good news I'll get to
in just a second, because I think you know what
the good news is with that, but we'll just start
with the top here.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
Just completely frustrating.

Speaker 3 (02:50):
I mean, the frustrating isst of all the frustrating points
is that you don't want to lose to a team
that has just thirty wins on the season. Now you
gave them their thirtieth last night, and it was all
pretty much Louis Robert. I mean that guy just absolutely
crushed this team, responsible for four of the five White

(03:10):
Sox runs last nights. And I mean not only that,
I mean you get to Spencer Arraghetti unable to hold
onto the ball at first base. If he gets that,
then you get out of that frame scoreless. So you know,
just kind of you know, the complexion of the game
where would have gone and it was one that did
not go the Astros ways. So frustrating, no doubt about it.

(03:34):
Frustrating Part number two, well, the swings and misses. That
was not fun to see last night, as the Astros
striking out sixteen times in this game last night. I
believe that's a new season high. I believe it is
as what was it. I think they had fourteen against
the Mariners earlier on this season, So that's definitely not

(03:56):
what you want to see. But all in all, I mean,
you don't have Alex Bragg in the lineup. We'll talk
about that here in just a second, Kyle Tucker, who
knows about him? I mean, at this point, I think
you know, especially too, with the video that we saw
of him the other day in Tampa, You're starting to
even kind of wonder if September is even a possibility
for him, because I mean, unless we see in the

(04:16):
next day or two or even early next week that
he's on the field running and doing things like that,
I just I can't count on the guy being there.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
And I know it's frustrating.

Speaker 3 (04:26):
I know it's annoying, and it's also too something we're
going to get into a little bit here in the
next segment. But it's also a lot of the Astros
doing in that regard. So, like I said, we'll talk
about that. But Alex Bregmanham, of course, we get the
news yesterday Bregman not going to be in the lineup.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
He's going to address the media at.

Speaker 3 (04:45):
Three o'clock and you're like, oh, great, this is not good,
swelling in the elbow. Oh that's even better, that's awesome.
That is absolutely what we want to hear for a
team that's won eight games in a row and trying
to stay ahead in the AO West race and also
to be able to get back to the postseason. That
is for sure, in the middle of August what we

(05:08):
want to hear. But he of course will let you
hear from him in the next segment saying now, not
too serious, just gonna be a couple of days. But
wherever heard that before? We'll have to just wait and
see on that. But all in all, last night, I
mean it's another thing as well. I harp on it
all the time, and it's frustrating. It's annoying, but you know,

(05:30):
I guess kind of the word of the day today
is frustrating, especially after last night's game. And I get
it too that there are some of you out there
who might say, come on, Dan, they won eight in
a row, like, don't be so hard on him. I
get all of that, but you also lost to a
team that had twenty nine wins this season.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
Like that, that should not happen. That cannot happen.

Speaker 3 (05:49):
So like you are, even without Bregman, even without Kyle Tucker,
still the better team on the field. And I mean,
losing that game last night, I'm sorry. I thought that
I was gonna wake up this morning and feel a
little bit better about it and just be like, oh whatever,
it's baseball, move on. But no, I mean I can
deal with losing to a team like the Angels, even
though I don't like it, or the A's, I mean,

(06:11):
who are not that much better than the White Sox,
but they're a little bit better than they are by
about seventeen or twenty games, So I mean there's that.
But I mean that's just the frustrating part of all
of this is that you had your opportunities to be
able to win that game last night, and against a
bad baseball team, when you are a good baseball team

(06:31):
that's ten games over five hundred and in first place
in their division, you win that ballgame. So I mean
it was incredibly frustrating to watch. Equally, it's frustrating again.
You know where I was going with this is the
top of the order just continues to be pedestrian at best,
and nice little stretch last weekend against the Red Sox.
That's awesome, that's fine and good, great, but four strikeouts

(06:55):
last night out of Yan R.

Speaker 2 (06:56):
Diaz in the.

Speaker 3 (06:57):
Three spots and he did not look good whatsoever. So Yeiner,
gonna need you to pick it up a little bit, buddy.
And also to Jose al Tuve, which I know what
the I know what the numbers are this year to
ninety seven seven eighty two, ohps, all of that, but
aside from some singles every once in a while, I mean,
let's call it what it is. Jose al Tuve has

(07:18):
been pretty pedestrian this season for this team. And when
you don't have Kyle Tucker around, when you don't have
when you don't have excuse me, Alex Bregman around, well
then he's got to pick it up. And he's got
to do what he did with his one hit last night.
I need extra bass hits out of you. I need
I need chances for you to be able to turn
the game around. Not trying to lay down a bunt

(07:39):
after the guy just got uh after two ky two
Sanchez hit the lead off batter of the inning and
then or excuse me, walk the lead off batter of
the inning and then hit Chas McCormick to flip it
over to you, like you're seriously going to possibly give
them an out after he just gave you two free
base runners. Like I get that you're feeling it at
the plate right now and not good way, but come on, man,

(08:02):
like you're better than that.

Speaker 2 (08:04):
You should be at least better than that.

Speaker 3 (08:07):
And I mean that was one last night that as
soon as that strikeout happened, I was just like, you
gotta be kidn me, man, like, we're back to doing
this again, Like, seriously, we're back to doing this again,
and you know everybody like I said it last night
on Twitter and again too hard on them maybe, but
still the point remains the same that more often and

(08:28):
not this season, it has not been the Astros offense
as a reason why they've won games.

Speaker 2 (08:32):
As a matter of.

Speaker 3 (08:33):
Fact, I would say more often than not this season
it's been the Astros offense for why they lost the game.
And again last night, you get the RBI single out
of yord On Alvarez. That's great, that's awesome. I need
extra base hits, I need doubles, I need home runs
out of you, yort On Alvarez. That's what I need,
and that's what the Astros have been sorely missing for

(08:54):
much of this season, is I mean, I've said it
that for the most part, this offense this year is
predicated on solo home runs and singles.

Speaker 2 (09:02):
You don't win a ton of ball games doing that.

Speaker 3 (09:05):
And in the past, we've seen this team be able
to come up with those huge base hits and being
able to clear the bases and being able to two
runners on you put one over the wall and that's
three runs right there, like that's what you need, and
especially two. The pressure is up on those two guys
right now, especially and you Heiner Diez. I want to
throw them in there as well because of what you've

(09:25):
shown this season, and you've been fantastic two ninety five,
seven to sixty five ops. He's been a really good
hitter this season, but zero for four with four strikeouts.
That ain't the way, man. And it's one of those
things too that you hope they can turn it around tonight,
I mean, because losing a series of the White Sox
would just be unreal in terms of just how frustrating

(09:47):
that could be. But again, the point still remains, you
didn't lose any ground last night. That's the good news,
because the Mariners lose to the Pirates five to three,
so that was nice to see. But also two as well,
We're not even gonna mention the Rangers anymore. There's no
need to mention them anymore. They're completely out of it.
And don't get drawn off sides on Twitter by the

(10:08):
Rangers fanatic or whatever that moron is on Twitter who
wants to jump into the mentions of Astros fans, Like, seriously, dude,
just change your name the Cowboys fanatic at this point
because your season's over. I mean, I see Evan Grant
last night pointing out that the Rangers are on pace
for seventy four wins, which I believe would be the
second least in terms of a defending World Series champion.

(10:29):
I think one of the years that the Marlins won
it the following year after they did their selloff, that's
when they completely fill off the maps, so you know,
you don't really have a leg to stand on it.
I even saw Mariners fans were jumping in last night,
and it's like, you just got swept by the Tigers,
and you also just lost to a team that had
lost ten straight games, so the moral high ground is

(10:50):
not on your side for this one. So anyway, Astro's
trying to bounce back tonight. Hunter Brown against Chris Flexen
is going to be the matchup over there at Minute
Made Park. Jose al too a bobblehead night, So hopefully
the bobblehead night is a good amount of karma for
Jose to be able to put some good barrels on
a baseball tonight and be able to turn things around

(11:12):
in that regard. And also too, it's gonna be a
six to ten first pitch from over there at Minute Made.
I'll be coming your way with Astros on deck at
five o'clock, hoping to be able to catch up with
a couple of the newest call ups for the Astros,
at least one of them in the Astros clubhouse before.
So you'll have to stick around for Astros on deck

(11:32):
a little bit later on to see indeed who I
am able to catch up with. But anyway, we'll get
in the Astros of course the majority of this hour,
as well as get in some of the Texans. Like
I said, they're preseason home opener today against the Giants
over at NRG stadium, and also too, I mean with

(11:54):
that one, we'll see how long we see the starters
on the field and what exactly we see from them,
because again offensively especially, you're not going to get much
in terms of what you're going to try to do
offensively this season. I mean, you don't want to show
anything in the preseason, so I don't expect very much
in that regard. But we'll see just indeed how long

(12:16):
we get of CJ. Strouds to Fon Diggs and crew
on the field tonight. So, like I said, heavy Astros
conversation here in this hour. End of the hour, we're
gonna have a chance to hear from Robert Flores of
MLB Network, So we'll catch up with him a little
bit later on, as he joined us earlier this week
on the A Team after he and the crew on

(12:39):
MLB Central did a nice little puff up piece about
the Astros recent hot run and you know, just reason
to believe in the Astros once again. So we will
hear from them a little bit later on. Tom and Cyprus,
I see you right there, Jimmy, I see you there
as well. If you want to join Tom and Jimmy
on the phone lines, do se one three two one

(13:01):
two five seven ninety. Once again, that's SEB one three
two one two five seven ninety coming your way on
the phone lines next, but also coming up next. It's
a trained response and you shouldn't feel bad for reacting
the way that you are. That's next right here on
Space City Saturday, Dan Matthews, you on your home of
the Astros and the Rockets Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 1 (13:22):
Welcome back to Space City Saturday. Fine Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 3 (13:29):
There you go, godfather, bring us in, show us the way.
I almost feel like Ron Simmons last night after that game.
For the wrestling fans out there. Damn that seriously is
how I felt watching that game last night.

Speaker 2 (13:44):
Huge crowd there at Minute Made Park.

Speaker 3 (13:46):
The vibes are high schools back, so you know, kids
are really excited to get into the weekend there and
you're thinking, hey, it's the White Sox. This will be fun.
Yeah it wasn't, but what are you gonna do. What's
done is done. Now It's time to move on and
try to get back to the winning way of things again.
Someone three two five seven nineties number.

Speaker 2 (14:06):
If you want to weigh in, let's throw it out
to Cyprus. So sorry. I saw Tom what's the way?
And Tom, what's up? Buddy?

Speaker 4 (14:12):
Hey?

Speaker 5 (14:13):
Dan, good to speak with you. As always. One of
the things I like about you, Dan is you're going
to hold this team when they need to be told
they stink. You know, you've got a team that won
twenty nine games and comes in and beats you. I'll
tip my hat to Robert. The guy's a good player.
It's not like he just got off the boat. He

(14:33):
gave him twenty six millions, So tip your hat. But
the first ball, fielding ball of the game was hit
to Dubon. Guys out there on the field, you've got
to cover your position. In the second inning, we had
another ground ball to Decenzo, a play he should make
that he doesn't make. Now, players are going to make errors.
I get that, but at this point in the season,

(14:56):
you know, as much as John Big John hasn't been
the type hitter we want him to be, he's never
going to be that hitter. But he's never hurt us
defensively late in the game. Get you on in the
game for defense. I want to see the Cenzo get
at bats, But at some point you've got to say
a team like the White Sox that comes in and

(15:17):
beats you. I hate saying this at this point in
the season, but every game is important. I don't believe
in must win games at this point, but between the
ears for this team right now, they need to win
this game tonight. They cannot lose the series to a
thirty win team. This is not a team that can

(15:39):
take this game for granted. It's almost as if I'm
looking at this game tonight as a playoff game.

Speaker 3 (15:46):
Who's going Hunter Brown tonight, Hunter Brown tonight against Chris Flexen.

Speaker 5 (15:50):
Well, we got we got Diesel on the mound and
he's been spectacular. He's going to have to be spectacular again.
Got to win this game tonight. It's almost like a
mini playoff game thanks to them, especially between the years.

Speaker 6 (16:03):
You know, I still believe in this team.

Speaker 5 (16:05):
I'm still going to root for him. But when they
lose games like you did last night, it just hurts.
You know, it hurts, especially at eight in a row.
That's all I got, Dan, But you keep you keep it,
keep it real with the Astros, because that's the best way.

Speaker 3 (16:17):
To be I try my best. I appreciate Tom. Thanks buddy.
I'm gonna start first tom with, uh, Descenzo, Decenzo is
gonna play. I mean the you know amount of time
that he was in the minor leagues. If they wanted
him to get every day at bats and it wasn't
going to be here at this level, well then he'd
be at the minor league levels. So I think the
edict from a high and Joe understands it, is you

(16:40):
got Descenzo here, play them. I mean, I know that
they gave him the day off the other day. They're
in the finale against the Tampa Bay Rays, but aside
from that, you want him on the field. It's gonna
be interesting to see it tonight with the lineup once
I get over to the ballpark, if maybe it's Descenzo
over at third base, which honestly, I mean to your point,
you got a riding on the mountain tonight, get him
over at third, get him some work over there. I mean,

(17:03):
some people wondering if he's the third basement of the future.
And also too, I understand what Joe spot has said
last night. Maybe we'll hear from him a little bit
later on about still his belief in Chas McCormick. But
I just know what it is right now, and right
now it's not good. So get Mauricio Dubond in left
field or right field, either of those places tonight, and

(17:23):
have to Jake Myers out in center. Maybe tonight's Jordan
Alvarez out in left game in that regard, and I
just you know, you're talking about Chaz working on things
with his swing and all those things. Well, I don't
need him working on it during the games. I need
that happening in spring training ideally, and being able to
work through those things then, because if you're trying to

(17:45):
make in season adjustments and you're up there paralysis by
analysis and you can see that a little bit. I mean,
he's swinging through strikes, all those things. I get all
of that. He's not chasing. That's fine, that's all fine
and good. But at the same time, though two a
mental side, once it starts to bleed over into just
going out there and playing, it's not something that's fixed

(18:06):
in season. That's something that you have to let the
season play out, work on it during the offseason, come
back at spring training, give it another shot next year.
So if that's the case, then I need other guys
to get those abs at this time so you know,
a guy batting one ninety six with a five to
fifty one ops. I mean, you know, to your point,
I mean probably see Singleton over at first tonight and

(18:28):
then defensively as well. I mean, yeah, I think you
probably thought that there was going to be a drop
off even with the gold Glover over at third base
last night. But you know, Alex Bregman's on the field,
you feel that much better about your defense, and you
know de Zenzo kind of, you know, getting his bearings
over there at first base. I mean, the fact of
the matter is right now, if you're not going to

(18:48):
play John Singleton at first base every day at this point,
you don't have an every day first baseman. You're just
kind of, you know, filling it up as it goes
at this point. And I know that's something that they
tried to address it the deadline. It sounds like it's
gonna have to be something that they're gonna have to
try and find a way to be able to get
some production out of that spot during the offseason. I
don't know if that's again where you tell Janer Diaz,

(19:11):
hey show up to West Palm Beach next year with
a first base glove in addition to your catcher's gear,
because you're getting a lot of work over at first base,
and maybe Ironer is your guy, but for now, I mean,
it's just got to kind of be a revolving door
over there. So we'll see how it all plays out.
Shay Appareland wants to weigh in here on Sports Talk
seven ninety Shay, what's up, buddy, Hey.

Speaker 7 (19:34):
Good morning.

Speaker 8 (19:34):
Man.

Speaker 9 (19:35):
Just wanted to chime in. And I know we've had
a few different guys going through some offensive woes. Du
Bond he seemed to have a decent game last night,
the extra base hit. We've had Chas McCormick struggle, struggling,
Jake Myers struggling the outfield as a whole outside of
your Don seems to really be going through it. But

(19:55):
Chaz has really just been kind of a blight in
the offense's He's been a solid glove on defense. We
know he can cover ground out there and he's a
plus size fielder. But you know that mishap in the
Rays game where he you know, pretty much loafed over
to the ball that was a hard hit right at

(20:16):
him and terrible throwback into second base and all with
two outs and that guy wound up coming around to score,
and thankfully we won that game. But I mean, oh
for four at the plate, seemingly every night with three k's,
four k's. It's been so hard to watch, and yet
he keeps getting the start. So it really pains me

(20:39):
to have seen, you know, some of our young guys
leave at the trade deadline. You know, Joey Lo Brafido
could have provided the exact same thing defensively and you know,
offensively maybe a little bit better. But it's just been
a real struggle lately to watch Chaz McCormick, and you
hit the nail on the head. It's it's in his
body language. It seems to be in his head. Every

(21:00):
time he strikes out, he's looking up or he's looking
down at his feet, shaking his head. It's it's been
so hard to watch him lately. And I wouldn't mind
getting your thoughts, but uh, yeah, I just wanted to
chime in on that, like making me scratch my head
as to why a guy still get the start. But
hope you have a good rest of your day. Thanks
for letting me, uh let me get in here and
taking the ball.

Speaker 3 (21:19):
Yeah for sure, say I appreciate the call. You know,
I'll start first. You know, in terms of the body
language part with Chaz, anybody that's ever played baseball, I
would say that the hitting struggles are the hardest part
of the game because you do carry it. You carry
it into the field, and I know that they tell
you once the game's over, hey put it behind you,

(21:39):
good or bad.

Speaker 2 (21:40):
Move on.

Speaker 3 (21:41):
I mean, you gotta have a short memory, all those
different types of things. But when you are feeling it
in a bad in just a really bad way, it'd
be it can kind of translate into everything else in
your game. I mean, it's a base running mistake because
you're trying to do too much because you're saying, hey,
with my speed here I can make and happen you
get thrown out at second base or it's like, you

(22:03):
know the point you brought up the play the other
night where he kind of just lobs the ball back
in and Jose Cavallero takes a second base against the
Rays and you're just kind of like, dude, what are
we doing here? Like a little bit of urgency on that.
And I think that's just the problem. And I think
that the issue that Joe runs into at this point,
is he's playing Chazz right now by necessity, is because

(22:26):
he doesn't really have any other viable option out there
in the field. And everything that they're saying about Chazz
right now, they're saying it with the caveat of well,
we hope because you don't know right now. And I
think what you know right now is that he is
incredibly bad at the plate. That's what we know. What
you hope is that he's able to run in the one.
And then he says, Okay, hey, you know that was good.

(22:48):
I'm feeling it a little bit. Hey there's another one,
all right, you know, and kind of get things going
by bunches.

Speaker 2 (22:53):
But I can't count on that being the case.

Speaker 3 (22:55):
I just when you have struggles like this again, the
mental side of it starts to creep in so badly
that it becomes something that really the only elixir for
it is to just go through the off season and
get off, you know, get off your feet for a
couple of weeks, and then get back at it and
get back into the cage, and you know, try to

(23:16):
work with your coaches or whoever it is out there
that can help you with your swing. And make the
fine tuning aspects of that during the off season. It's
not during the year. During the year, it's pretty much
you built, what you're going with. What you built, and
what brung you here and what's brung them here to
this point is a lot of swings and misses, a
lot of bad pitch recognition, whatever it might be, timing's off,

(23:38):
all of those things. I get all of that. It
just it doesn't just magically one night, clear up. I
just I have my serious doubts that that's the case.
And even if you have a good game or two,
I mean, it's one of those things that it's kind
of like an addiction, almost like even though you think
that you've kicked it.

Speaker 2 (23:56):
It never leaves you. It's it's there.

Speaker 3 (23:59):
And I understand that's a little bit of an extreme example,
but it's also too. I mean, there's a reason why
people have to constantly tell themselves, yeah, hey, I am
this way, or at least I can go back to
being that way if I'm not careful. So baseball's a
huge part of that. I mean, you know, ninety percent
of the game is half mental. Yogi Barro, that's what
he told us. Well, you're seeing that play out in

(24:19):
the huge way. Right now, let's go back out to Cyprus.
Randy once to weigh in here on Sports Talk seventy ninety. Randy,
what's upbody?

Speaker 10 (24:27):
Hey?

Speaker 7 (24:27):
What's up?

Speaker 8 (24:27):
Dan?

Speaker 11 (24:28):
Hey?

Speaker 12 (24:28):
Yeah, I just kind of wanted to weigh in on
this regnant injury thing. It's really kind of strange.

Speaker 8 (24:34):
You know.

Speaker 12 (24:34):
It's uh, you know, kudos to him for stepping up
and giving his you know, Chris conference yesterday on it,
and the astros are you know, kind of staying out
of it, it sounds like right now, but you know
how they are with injuries.

Speaker 7 (24:49):
You know, if he.

Speaker 12 (24:49):
Goes in already knowing this is a three day injury,
you know, instead of I'm gonna wake up in the morning,
We'll see what it feels like.

Speaker 7 (24:56):
You know, it's like, no, I'm not all we kids.

Speaker 12 (24:59):
You know, what's the chance did this thing turning into
an il thing on Monday? You know, because it's said
he had imaging and it was negative, but they also said,
you know, I guess told him to take three days
off or I kind of doubt if that was his
decision because he's you know, he wants to be out
there if he can. But it's just kind of strange,
you know, and he uses eye slept on it wrong.

(25:21):
I don't know if that was just kind of a
with this sense of gimer. I don't know if that's
kind of a thing that since Verlander and a Hobbier
had the same type thing, I slept on it wrong
and that might have just been kind of a general
excuse for the time. But I mean, what do you
think you don't.

Speaker 2 (25:39):
I mean, it's something that else gonna.

Speaker 12 (25:41):
Come out and have a yeah. I mean, well real quick, guy,
let you talk.

Speaker 7 (25:46):
I'm sorry.

Speaker 12 (25:47):
You know, he's then, you know, the hottest hitter in
the league, or one of them for sure. Finally he
came around to where he needs to be in bad
you know, if it was you know, April, May, June, Okay,
no big deal, but I mean he needs to be
in there. He could have been the difference in the
game last night. You know, But what do you think

(26:09):
about that?

Speaker 3 (26:10):
Yeah, Randy, you appreciate the call. I was gonna get
into it here in this segment. We'll actually do it
in the next segment. And that is the trained response.
I mean, let's call it what it is. We do
not trust the astros when it comes to injuries at
least I don't, and I think a lot of you
out there feel the same way right now because it's
gone even further back than last year. But just the
most recent example we have that started off kind of

(26:31):
this distrust of the astros with injuries is both Lance
McCullers and also Michael Brantley. I guess it was a
couple of years ago with Michael Brantley. But still I
mean where it's oh, hey, yeah, hey, they're gonna get
back out there, they're gonna start working, other shutdown.

Speaker 2 (26:46):
What like, how did we get to that point?

Speaker 3 (26:49):
And I mean the same deal here, I get you
bringing up the whole well slept on it wrong, you know,
thing that he said.

Speaker 2 (26:55):
I mean, I just I.

Speaker 3 (26:57):
Don't know, like if there's like a playbook in the
organization in terms of hey say it's this, Hey say
it's that. I mean, like it kind of is getting
to that point because to your point, Randy, I mean,
we heard the same thing about Christian Hobber, we heard
the same thing about Justin Verlander, and then two months later,
Justin Verlander still hasn't made it back from the neck

(27:17):
discomfort that was at the time thought to not be
that serious. Well it turned out to, I guess, be
a little bit more serious than they thought.

Speaker 2 (27:23):
But I mean, is there a little bit more than
we're being let on the believe? Maybe?

Speaker 3 (27:28):
And I think that there is a trained response with that,
like I said, because I mean, whoa, I guess find
out on Monday if Alex Bregman is indeed in the lineup.
But I've got my doubts, I mean for that very reason.
I mean, you know, it's the old saying I'll believe
it when I see it. Yeah, I'll believe it when
I see it. And I mean because we've heard this

(27:49):
numerous times. Oh there's gonna be out a couple of
days and then oh it's not progressing the way that
we like.

Speaker 2 (27:54):
Like it's just like, who are you kidding at this point?

Speaker 3 (27:56):
Like seriously, Like I understand, you know, in terms of
injuries and things can kind of take a certain turn,
all of those different things, soft tissue injuries, whatever it
might be.

Speaker 2 (28:08):
That's fine, But if you.

Speaker 3 (28:10):
Know right off the bat that is it is a
certain way, then just say it is that way, Like
we don't need to continue to do this, you know,
smoking mirrors show in terms of Oh, well, you know,
it's just a.

Speaker 2 (28:21):
Little bit of discomfort. They're gonna be fine.

Speaker 3 (28:23):
Like I'm sorry, Like, as far as I see it
right now, I'm not going to believe that it's not
that huge of a deal until you show me it's
not that huge of a deal. And like I said,
time will tell Monday. If Bregman's in the lineup, all right, fine,
But if he's not and this continues to be something
that's just a long drawn out process, well then it's

(28:45):
just gonna be another page in the letter. In terms
of the astros with injuries, and I don't blame you
for feeling that way, Randy. I mean I think it's
kind of the same deal too with Kyle Tucker. Oh
a bone bruise really at this point that's kept him
out for three months, and then we see the video
that he had the other day on the field in
Tampa where you're like, that guy's gonna be back soon.

(29:06):
I've got my serious doubts on that. So again, time
will tell. I guess we'll have to just wait and
see and take them at their word for right now.
But in terms of trusting that things are really quote
not that bad, well, I gotta be honest, I got
my serious doubts until you really show me again that
it's not that bad.

Speaker 7 (29:26):
Eddie.

Speaker 2 (29:26):
I see you right there.

Speaker 3 (29:26):
I'm gonna get to you on the other side, all right,
So we will continue it on the phone lines also
to get into a little bit more of the Astros conversation.
We'll pick up on the other side as well on
that because I want you to hear from Alex Bregman
as well as you know, talking a little bit about
another topic that was brought up on the phone lines
as well that I had in the show notes for today,

(29:47):
and that's Chas McCormick. We'll talk about both of those
things on the other side right here on your home
of the Astros Sports Talk seven to ninety.

Speaker 1 (29:56):
This is Space City Saturday on Sports Talks at night.

Speaker 2 (30:03):
It's Bowie.

Speaker 3 (30:05):
I'll start saying, stop collaborate and listen you'd be wrong.
And also too, when they're a lawsuit, they're between Vanilla
Ice and David Bowie. If I'm not mistaken, no, no, regardless,
but yeah, Astros feeling the pressure.

Speaker 2 (30:19):
It's what the time of the year is.

Speaker 3 (30:21):
I mean, you know, I understand that I've had my
opinions about last night's frustrating loss, and I get it again.
I mean, you just won eight games in a row.
That's all fine and good, but yeah, a team that
had won twenty nine games coming into that game last night,
and you look the way that you did against them,
So not what you want to see. I mean, there's
a reason why they lost twenty one games in a row.

(30:42):
They're not a good baseball team. They've got one good
player on their team and he lets said, one good
player beat you last night, So hopefully you don't repeat
history tonight in this one. Eddie wants to weigh in
here on Sports Talk seven ninety Eddie, what's up, Buddy?

Speaker 13 (31:00):
Timing a little bit on the chazz and uh the
inso stuff like I see. I mean, obviously Chats is
struggling really hard, and but also, uh, I feel like
this into is and he's doing okay at first base,
but I still feel like John Singleton has giving you more.
He's got more power things like he draws, he draws, walks,
and his glove is a lot better than the z inso.

(31:21):
So I don't know why the need to have to
play him at first base when you have shot I
see the thing with Chazz. I realized that we need
to know how I'll fill out there. But I mean,
we're trying to win this this this uh this uh
uh our division. You know, we can't just keep running
out a rookie's just the rookies just for the sake

(31:43):
of playing him and and the like that is hot
or anything. I don't think he's done.

Speaker 6 (31:47):
Much since he hit the home run in Boston.

Speaker 13 (31:51):
And maybe the new guy that they brought in. I
saw him last week and Sugar in he he swings
the bat really well. So put him in first base,
Dubon in third, and maybe Alborism left today. I don't know,
what do you think?

Speaker 3 (32:05):
Yeah, I mean that's something that I had brought up about,
you know, of being able to get John Singleton into
the game the nights over at first base, especially with
the righty flexen. But it's also too I mean, you
got to think about it from this perspective as well, Eddie.
I mean, what precipitated them to go away from John
Singleton as the everyday first baseman. He wasn't producing, and

(32:25):
that's what you need at that position. They're trying, by
hook or by crook to find somebody over there at
first base that can be able to give them some
sort of consistent enough offense to be able to warrant
keeping the spot. And with Desenzo, as I said earlier,
he's up here, you play him because where he is
in his career and where he is in his development.
If you didn't have designs of playing him every single day,

(32:48):
well then keep him at Corpus Christy and have or
excuse me, keep him at sugar Land and have them
right out in the string that way. But again tonight,
I mean, you know, we've talked about it with Chas McCormick.
I understand, you know what they've said, and you know,
of course, you know people are going to do the
back of the baseball card stuff, all of that stuff.

Speaker 2 (33:06):
Whatever. That's that's all fine and good.

Speaker 3 (33:08):
I think that a lot of the good things you've
gotten out of Chas McCormick have been a bonus personally.
And I mean, you know, he wasn't a huge prospect
coming up. He wasn't somebody that necessarily I think that
you believed could be an everyday, really good play, you know,
player for you. Otherwise he would have been in the past.
And I understand what people are going to say to

(33:29):
that as well.

Speaker 14 (33:30):
Well.

Speaker 3 (33:30):
Dusty, Well, eventually he became an everyday player and he
became a contributor for this team. And that's all fine
and good, but also though too, I mean the strikeouts
are high. That still remains the same, and I mean
he's a guy that probably at best in his career
is a two thirty two forty two fifty hitter, and
the two fifty would probably be the high side of
all of that. So again, if I'm making the lineup tonight,

(33:54):
to your point, I've got Singleton at first, I'll play
Descenzo over at third, and I'll put murraycio Do on
and right, put jord On out and left, and put
Jake Myers in center. And that way you can either,
you know, with Alrighty again, have Jiner be the DH,
or have you know, Victor Krattini be the DH and
be able to provide you with a little bit more

(34:15):
consistency in terms of production tonight. But that's how I
would go with things tonight and at times in the past,
at least this last week and a half that Joe
Spot has done that it seemed to have worked out.
So That's how I would play that out. One more
on the phone lines, Brandon wants to weigh in here
on Sports Talk seven ninety Brandon, what's.

Speaker 2 (34:32):
Up, Buddy?

Speaker 15 (34:33):
Good Mary, I'm good, buddy. How are you all right?
It's Saturday?

Speaker 2 (34:40):
Yeah, you know it?

Speaker 15 (34:43):
Thinking alright, I'm going to the game today.

Speaker 2 (34:48):
So you're gonna bring him a win, That's what I'm hearing.

Speaker 15 (34:51):
Yes, yes, I am. Okay, all right, you haven't man
to talk to Texans for a little bit for you, Brandon?

Speaker 2 (34:59):
Anything, Buddy, what do you got?

Speaker 15 (35:01):
I'm gonna watch the Texans too, okay, Network any any
pots for the Texans?

Speaker 3 (35:11):
I mean, just you know, how long are we gonna
see c J. Stroud playing the game? I mean, I
think that's probably what most people are wondering. And also too,
I mean, how much of the first team defense do
you see? I think Will Anderson is still down if
I'm not mistaken. I was out there last Sunday in
a saw Laramie tunsl back out, and then I know
that Titus Howard made his way back out as well.

(35:32):
So you have pretty much your entire starting offensive line.
But if I had to guess, probably Demiko plays the starters.
For about a quarter. That's that's about all I think
we need to see of those guys today.

Speaker 16 (35:43):
Okay, yeah, we need to get the way on. I'm
kind of move into the anywar season or pre season
of from de health you your season of.

Speaker 15 (35:59):
Chicago.

Speaker 2 (36:00):
Yeah all right, buddy, No, I get it. I appreciate it, Brandon.
Then have fun at the game to night.

Speaker 11 (36:05):
All right, buddy, all right, I have a good day.

Speaker 2 (36:07):
I'd see you buddy now.

Speaker 3 (36:09):
I mean, look, you know, preseason, in terms of results,
in terms of you know, oh hey we lost, I
would just say, hey, how the guys who are likely
going to make this roster. Look, that's all I care
about in this one. I mean, if the other team's
third teamers are able to beat you, all right, great,
a bunch of guys that are gonna be playing in

(36:30):
the UFL or the XFL. Those are the guys that
are better than our guys that are going to be
probably doing the same or maybe at best on a
practice squad somewhere. But in terms of everything else, I mean,
as I've said, what do you look like in terms
of your opportunities on the field, And also the most
important I think of all of them are are you healthy,

(36:50):
because you want to come out today healthy as possible.
The Texans, knock on Wood, have been able to for
the most part, avoid serious practice injuries, and we've seen
and heard of about them from other camps, and you
hope that that can continue as they'll play today. I believe.
I can't remember. Actually no, I think they do all
the cutdowns at the end. They used to do them

(37:11):
kind of periodically before the end of training camp, but
I think after this game that is the end of
quote unquote training camp. I could be wrong, but regardless,
Texans will play today and then they'll play next week
against the Rams after a joint practice with the Rams,
and then the regular season is ahead for them. So

(37:33):
that's all they have to look forward to for the
rest of the way.

Speaker 2 (37:37):
All right, Coming up next.

Speaker 3 (37:38):
Robert Florence had a chance to stop by and join
us on the A team this week. He had some
interesting thoughts about the Astros. Of course, had a chance
to catch up with them before the loss last night,
but also as well a lot of the things he
talked about with this Astros team definitely fit to the
conversation we have been having. So we'll hear from him

(37:58):
as we close out the eleventh hour here on your
Home of the Astros in the Rockets A Sports Talk
seven ninety.

Speaker 1 (38:06):
Stay City Saturday continues on Sports Talk seven ninety and
sanity at any point is never a good way to
live life.

Speaker 2 (38:15):
But virtual insanity it's even worse.

Speaker 3 (38:19):
Dan Matthews here with you on your Home of the
Astros in the Rockets a Sports Talk seven nine. You
got about another hour and fifteen minutes with you. Then
I'm gonna head over grab some lunch somewhere. Hopefully they
got a TV wherever. I'm going to grab some lunch
from and be able to catch a little bit of
the Texans game, and then head on over to Minute
May Park and be there for like I said, jose

(38:40):
Al Too a Bobblehead Night, part two of the two
thousand hit jose L two v Bobblehead series. So I
know a lot of you out there braving the elements
for it. My buddy Ben and his family gonna be
heading out there tonight, and he was asking me, you know, hey,
how early should I get there for the Bobbleheads? And
I was like, dude, I think people like start camping
out like right now. In terms of waiting in line

(39:04):
in order to get into the ballpark on these bibblehead days.
And I was like, I gotta be real with you.
When it's like one hundred plus degrees outside with all
that humidity, I don't think I'm gonna be living that life.
And he goes, yeah, I don't know if my wife
and kids would be down for that either. So I
was like, just to go enjoy the game, and he
was like, yeah, I think that's probably gonna be a
good idea. So anyway, Ben, everybody out there heading out

(39:25):
to the park tonight, enjoy the game. As for right now,
we're gonna enjoy a chance to hear from Robert Flores,
who joined us earlier this week on the A team.
He starts by talking about the hot run the Astros
have been on before last night, eight straight wins for
the Stros. Also, to keep in mind, at the end,
we talk about Alex Bregman. Now, of course this is
before the news came out yesterday, but I still think

(39:47):
it fits because of the overarching topic that is Bregman's
future with the Astros.

Speaker 8 (39:54):
Yeah, I think we put up the numbers this morning
that they since the All Star break have been I
think they have the fourth best winning percentage in the game,
So it's a It's been an unbelievable season. I think
for all those folks that wanted Joe Aspata fired or
Dana Brown to be run out of town, or Joe

(40:17):
Aspota wasn't ready, maybe we should kind of sit back
and wait before we make such proper proclamations. And hell,
I'm I'm, I'm I'm just as guilty. I thought that
they should have started to prepare to tear it down
at the deadline.

Speaker 2 (40:33):
But I'll be damn there.

Speaker 11 (40:35):
They're right in a hunt of things.

Speaker 8 (40:37):
And I'll say that the American League, I feel like
is is as wide open as it's been I would
say in the last three to five years.

Speaker 17 (40:44):
Yeah, they put this run together to have them in
the who could be the best team in the Ale
conversation firmly, But each of the teams, the Guardians, the Yankees,
the Orioles, who have significantly better records than they do.
I know the Royals and Twins also currently have a
better record, but only slightly. It doesn't seem like any
of them have truly set themselves apart, especially when you
watch what nearly all of them did at the break

(41:05):
themselves or at the trade deadline themselves trying to I
know I should be saying kind of blanket they're all
trying to get better, but it did actually seem like
they're all trying to make sure they have enough ammunition
to fight off the Astros.

Speaker 7 (41:18):
Well.

Speaker 2 (41:19):
I think what.

Speaker 8 (41:21):
Was interesting about the deadline is when you look at
the landscape of the American League, I think that the
Baltimore Orioles and there's a lot of familiar names that
are running that Orioles organization now familiar to Houston fans
as well, michae Elias, Sigmydal. I think that they let
an opportunity slip away. They should have gone They should

(41:43):
have gone hard for Trek Scooble. They should have really
put the pedal to the metal and really try to
get that big time ace. Because now you look at
Grayson Rodriguez, he's on the shelf. The Yankees have they
come back down under Earth. Look, there's a lot of
baseball to be played, we know that. But like I said,

(42:05):
I feel like this American League is it's it's wide open.
I mean, you could put a group of teams I
would say the Orioles the Yankees, the Astros. Who am
I missing? As who could come out of the American League?
Just off the top of my head, Who am I missing?

Speaker 2 (42:23):
Kansas City? Duh?

Speaker 8 (42:25):
And I mean you no, but the Cleveland Guardians. Who's
not to say that the Cleveland Guardians with that bullpen,
maybe they get some some contribution from their starting rotation.

Speaker 2 (42:36):
But yeah, so anything can happen.

Speaker 8 (42:39):
I mean, there is a group of teams and the
Astros are certainly among that team right now.

Speaker 14 (42:43):
Robert, when you look at the Kyle Tucker injury, are
you as perplexed as like everybody here in the city
at least? And I asked that because you're not the typical,
you know, national media type. You're from here, you follow
it a lot more closely than the average you know,
national coverage of MLB. But it's just like I was
talking to somebody in there, like it would actually do

(43:05):
Kyle a favor if they would be more forthcoming about
the actual injury, because nobody believes a bone bruise keeps
you out since the beginning of June.

Speaker 8 (43:14):
Well, I think that to your point, Yes, you know,
the Astros are from an organization philosophy, They.

Speaker 2 (43:25):
What's the term notorious.

Speaker 8 (43:27):
They're a little bit tight lipped when it comes to
injuries and things like that, and you know, hey, that's
their right, that's the way they want to run their organization.
That's fine, But you're right. I think it would do
Kyle a little bit of a of a of a
favor if someone came out and said, Okay, it is
a bone bruise, but that's you know. I think Chandler Rome.

(43:48):
I think it was chandeler Room of the Athletic, who
does a great job covering the astros, put out an
article and where they talked with some orthopedic surgeons or
people in the medical field, people that haven't treated Kyle Tucker,
but they gave a good explanation of what could be
going on there. My guess from reading that article is
that there was probably a fracture of the leg. So

(44:12):
you know that if there was a fracture of the leg,
maybe this timeline kind of tracks. And you know, I
always go back to Jermaine die. I think Germaine died
was with the White Sox maybe, or maybe he could
have been with the Royals, but he did something similar.
I don't think he had a shin guard on but
it ended his season. So when you smoke a ball

(44:35):
off your shin, I can't imagine how painful that is.
So my guess is that we're going to see him
in September. But the thing that I've been worried about
is your minor league season is coming to an end,
so the calendar is starting to catch up to Tucker
and the Astros. You'd love to be able to get

(44:55):
him some games, get some live pitching. I'm sure they would,
So it's going to be to see what happens there.
I think we're going to see him back probably in three.

Speaker 2 (45:04):
Weeks or so.

Speaker 17 (45:04):
If I had to guess, if the minor league season
does end, I'm sure we'll all take a quick double
take at the Astros release when they say, Kyle Tucker
has been sent to the Dominican League, but just to
get it back, just to get some work in, and
you should be back soon. Of course, Robert Flores joining
us here on the A team of MLB Network and
of course MLB Central. Last segment, we were just talking

(45:26):
about Jose Siri and how the game is supposed to
be fun.

Speaker 2 (45:29):
It's baseball.

Speaker 17 (45:30):
You guys employ that idea every day on MLB Central.
By the way, MLB Network available to stream as a
standalone product. If those you didn't know that, just hit
MLB network dot com for more info. Do you ever
wonder if you or d Row or Lauren is going
to be the one that has somebody just literally falling

(45:51):
out of your chair. You guys have more fun on
a daily talk show on television than just about anybody.

Speaker 8 (45:58):
Hey, you know, just a quick, quick story. So Ernie,
Ernie Johnson is UH is a fan of the show.
He has UH. Lauren does work for TVs and she's
gotten to know him through that, and he's, you know,
we exchange texts and stuff, and he's he's a fan
of the show, and I am the first to remind him, Ernie.

(46:19):
When I started working on this show, I wanted it
to be like your show. So I love inside the NBA,
just like most everyone else does. So that's kind of
the flavor and feel that we want to bring.

Speaker 4 (46:33):
You know.

Speaker 8 (46:34):
I enjoy d Row, I enjoyed Lauren, and I think
they would say the same about me. We've got a
nice chemistry and that's not something that you find UH
every day. So I'm I'm pleased that I get to
work with them on camera, and we've got such a
great group of people that work behind the camera and
behind the scenes. So it's a our show from my perspective,

(46:54):
is a total tip of the cap to inside the NBA,
and hopefully the people that watch it get the same
kind of vibe. And as he said, I mean, if
you go to mlbnetwork dot com, we are a standalone
streaming service. Now, I urge if you're a baseball fan
and you have not watched mL Network, I'm telling you don't.

Speaker 11 (47:10):
Don't worry about the ESPN.

Speaker 8 (47:12):
And I mean they barely cover baseball and when they do,
it's two teams that they talk about and show Heyo Tony,
which is great. That's fine, But we cover the whole,
the whole sport. So if you don't have MLB networker
you haven't tried it. I urge you guys to do that.

Speaker 2 (47:26):
Yeah, ESPN sucks.

Speaker 18 (47:27):
Plus, there's no way that MLB is going to MLB
network is going to lose a negotiation for TV rights
for MLB and then your show it the way you.

Speaker 2 (47:39):
Would think, you would think we're in a good spot.

Speaker 13 (47:41):
When that's as far as that's concerned.

Speaker 17 (47:43):
A couple of things you mentioned. We also agree Chandler
Rome is awesome. He will join us as he does
each week tomorrow at five o'clock rather than his usual
spot today. And one thing that your show does a
tremendous job of, especially with dro Sean Casey, you know,
you know, Chris Young and everybody who rolls through there,
but the analysis work. And one guy that's clearly been
focused probably every season for the last seven is, you know,

(48:04):
the swing mechanics and the success of whatever point in
time it is during the season of Alex Bregman. His
particular situation is one of the ones league wide that
probably is very fascinating because of his impending free agency,
because of the fact that he has now put himself
back in the I don't want to pitch to this guy.

Speaker 2 (48:22):
He's a winner.

Speaker 17 (48:23):
He's a huge part of the leadership group of this team,
as evidenced by his constant trips to the mound. We
got a lot of season left, We've got the postseason left,
then the offseason almost immediately hits. He's represented by Scott Borris.
What do you think might unfold this offseason from a
market standpoint?

Speaker 8 (48:42):
My gut feeling is and the people that I've talked with,
not necessarily connected with the team, but people around the league,
other insiders, some of our insiders as well. Is that
Alex Bregman is gone. He will be playing for a
new team in twenty twenty five. But it's August twenty two.
There's still a lot of baseball left. Things can happen,

(49:05):
things change. Who would have thought that Blake Snell would
have signed so late. Who would have thought that Jordan
Montgomery would have signed so late. So that's just my
gut feeling is that Alex Bregman is going to take
the highest bidder and he will be playing for that team.

(49:27):
I do not expect the Astros to be the highest.

Speaker 2 (49:31):
Bidder, but like I said.

Speaker 8 (49:33):
We've got a long time before that happens. I will
say that so far that you know, the Astros have
lost a lot of people over the handful of years, Springer, Correa, Cole,
and you know they've been been able to find a
way to keep the train going. But you're right, Bragman

(49:53):
is a big piece and he is locked in. And
I keep thinking in my gut and I could be
way off. And we've sorry been documented during the course
of this interview. I was way I was way off
and very wrong. I keep thinking about the New York
Yankees with Alex Bragman.

Speaker 3 (50:09):
That's a scary thought at least that last one. They're
from Row Flow. So appreciate Robert Floores a chance to
hop on, hop in and on with us on the
A team.

Speaker 2 (50:20):
All right, coming up.

Speaker 3 (50:21):
Next, one more Astros topic, because a huge honor. One
incredibly incredibly valid and the other one valid for another reason.

Speaker 2 (50:30):
We'll talk about that as.

Speaker 3 (50:31):
We continue along here on your home of the Astros
and the Rockets, Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 1 (50:44):
Welcomebore, Welcome to another space City Saturday on Sports Talk
seven ninety Dan Matthews Live and local h town breakdown
of the world that matters to you, the Houston sports world.

Speaker 2 (50:58):
All these great Houston fans here. We love y'all.

Speaker 1 (51:02):
So finish up on that to do list. Flute up
the cooler, because you can't drink in talk sports all
day if you don't start. Now bear me the eight.
This is face City Saturday.

Speaker 2 (51:15):
That's insane.

Speaker 11 (51:17):
Here's seven nineties Dan Matthews.

Speaker 3 (51:25):
Indeed is the case as some of the day drinking.
I know a lot of you that are over at
NRG Stadium right now.

Speaker 2 (51:33):
I saw that. The tailgate scene.

Speaker 3 (51:35):
It's one of those things that even though it's the preseason,
I feel like days like this, you're just yearning so
much to be able to get back out for the tailgate.
And there's a lot of effort that goes into that.
There's the tents, there's the grills, there's who's got the ice,
who's got the coolers, who has the more important stuff,
the heavy artillery, if you will, in this battle that

(51:59):
is a tailgate on game days and you want to
make sure that you have all that shirt up. And
you know, the preseason it's a good dry run to
be able to get that going, so the soft opening,
if you will, for tailgate season. But you know it's
also as well noon games. Oh you're drinking this early? Yeah,
it's game day? What's it to you? You know, I've
said a numerous times, there's there's different places where you know,

(52:22):
the day drinking commencing before noon is more than more
than okay, it is very much well with any rights
in that regard, and that is football game days, kegs
and eggs. You know, you get that going, especially college
football season, that's when it happens because you know, if
you maybe pregaming watching college game day at your house,

(52:42):
you got breakfast going, maybe you crack open a beer
or two, and you start the day because games are
going to be kicking off right now.

Speaker 2 (52:50):
Did you know we are.

Speaker 3 (52:51):
Two weeks away, two weeks away from right now when
I'm talking with you. College football season in earnest starts
were one week away from week zero firing up. And
we've got one decent enough game Georgia Tech and Florida State.
But aside from that, it's a lot of games that
you're watching and sing. That's football, and maybe you'll put
a little bit of scratch on it. Who knows. But

(53:13):
two weeks from now, that is when things get going.
So cannot wait. We're here, Melvin Brown. We're ready to go.
Football season is nigh. We are excited.

Speaker 8 (53:22):
Oh.

Speaker 3 (53:22):
The other one, by the way, is the airport. I said,
I've said it before that the airport, you get the
screwdrivers going, you get the mimosas going. I mean airport beers.
We've talked about it numerous times. The elite statuses of beers,
the after work five o'clock beer on Friday after you

(53:43):
get done mowing the lawn beer. That's a good one
as well. So there's many different ones out there, and
I'm sure that some of you want to awigh in
on that.

Speaker 2 (53:52):
What the hell for the final hour of the show.
We'll go with it. It's not gonna be in anything
goes final hour.

Speaker 3 (53:58):
But you want to do way in with the elite beers,
then let's weave that into the show. We can do
that as well. Again, Dan Matthews here with you on
your home of the Astros and the Rockets, a Sports
Talk seven to ninety. It's Hall of Fame weekend over
at Minute Made Park and the two inductees this year
won a posthumous honor for Ken Caminetti.

Speaker 2 (54:20):
Get to him here in just a second.

Speaker 3 (54:21):
But I want to start with Renee Cardenas, as he
is going in and for good reason. The Spanish language
broadcast for the Astros is in huge reason because of
Renee Cardenas, and also too, we know that the Astros
are also an organization that has a huge Hispanic fan

(54:42):
base population, and also too it is very much interwoven
into the fabric that is the organization, and for great
reason as well, and Renee Cardena is a huge reason
for that. Francisco Romero and also Alex Travino carry on
a very strong broad cast on the Spanish language side
for the Astros, and it is doing large part to

(55:06):
Renee and his work of not only doing work with
the Astros, but also with the Dodgers as well as
the Texas Rangers. So I'm really excited to see him
go in. And of course, you know, they announced the
inductees at FanFest and we had a chance to have
that happen earlier this year, and I remember Renee being
up on stage I think with Robert Ford and I

(55:27):
can't remember who else, Maybe it was Kevin Eschenfelder when
they made the announcement.

Speaker 2 (55:31):
I actually no, I think it was Brownie.

Speaker 3 (55:32):
I think Bill Brown was up there with him, and
of course two really good broadcasters in their own right.
Bill Brown had a chance last year, which, by the way,
too before we continue on, I remember Hall of Fame
weekend last year watching when TK stepped aside for a
second and said, Brownie, the booth is yours again, my man.
And how awesome was that last year to hear that

(55:54):
voice again. I mean, you know, you knew for years
when it was Brownie and JD calling games that were
going to get just a great broadcast. Brownie was a
pros pro and JD you knew kind of like what
Sparky does with Robert Ford on the radio side and
what Blumber does with TK. You know that in addition
to outstanding analysis, you're also going to get hey, can

(56:15):
I make my play by play guy laugh? And I
mean who could always you know, who could never forget
JD's one liners and just hearing the loud cackle from
Bill Brown after one of JD's lines. Like I remembered
a few years ago, they were playing against the Pirates
and they showed an elderly couple in the stands and

(56:35):
I think it was like the twelfth or thirteenth inning
of the game, and JD goes, yeah, they were in
their fifties when this game started. And another one too
was I think it was like bark at the Park
night and the guy was drinking a beer and the
dogs looking up at him and they just show it
and JD just right on the spot goes, no, you
cannot have any beer. I just that broadcast was always

(56:58):
my favorite. So now just a tremendous honor for Renee
really excited. I think that they're going to do the
Orange Jacket ceremony tonight, if not tomorrow, but anyway, a
lot of exciting things happening over at the ballpark. And
then of course Ken Caminetti. You know, I understand, you
know what Caminetti's lasting legacy is in many people's eyes,

(57:20):
and that's pretty unfortunate, because, I mean, the throes of
addiction is not pretty no matter what grips it has
on people. I mean, I think most of us in
life have had a family member or friend that it's
gone through it as well. And I mean, I understand
what the stigma is in terms of whenever you hear somebody,

(57:41):
you know, get into trouble either with it's with the
law or eventually with their health as well, that certain
people handle it a certain way. I think that if
nothing else, it's met with sadness because it's you know,
what could I have done to try to help them,
or also too, just sadness in terms of there was
nothing more than any of us could have done. I mean,

(58:02):
you know, it's just a certain thing that sometimes the
course playing out when it comes to the grips of addiction,
it's it's not fun to see. And I did love
how the Astros let Kim Camminetti's family know. I believe
it was his daughter's wedding this year, and Craig Biggio
Patti Bigio were there and they let her know at

(58:23):
the time that hey, guess what, your dad's going into
the Astros Hall of Fame. And Ken as a player
was every bit as important to this organization. In terms
of a player, I mean, you know, for years, who
did you think of you thought of Bigio Bagwell, King Caminetti.
I mean, it was one of the best hitting infields
in all of baseball during that time, and also too
and you know, I know that a lot of his

(58:45):
really productive years were away with the San Diego Padres,
but then he came back and had some really productive
years in the late nineties and early two thousands with
the Astros and there before this most recent run they've
been on, that was the success we knew as an
organization at the time. So I'm really excited to see
him go into the Hall of Fame tonight as well.

(59:05):
So kudos to both Renee Cardenas and also to Ken
Caminetti and going to be a neat to see the
Caminetti family there accepting the honor for him, but also
to going in to the Astros Hall of Fame, a
place that he rightfully belongs again, like I said, kind
of turning it into I guess, Matt Thomas, I'm sure

(59:26):
on Monday, we'll probably mention this in the a block
of the show that I ripped. Anything goes Friday, but
it's not a Friday, it's a Saturday. But I guess,
so we can kind of open it up here in
the second hour of you went to weigh in with
some things that you're thinking about, as long as it's
not too off the wall, Like I'm not going to
talk about how pictures were used in the eighties. I'm

(59:47):
not going to talk about grocery store chains paying players
or anything like that.

Speaker 9 (59:51):
Matt.

Speaker 3 (59:51):
Let's a shout out to you again Astros tenth Inning
show the other night. But you know, like I said,
I threw out to you know, what's the elite beer
anything like that in terms, So I'm not talking about
like brands of beer. I'm talking about, like, you know,
the setting for it, like wedding reception beer.

Speaker 2 (01:00:07):
That's a good one. I think that's a that's a
really good one.

Speaker 3 (01:00:11):
I mean the pregame beer in terms of even if
you're not at a tailgates. I mean, for example, I know,
I'm sure a lot of you today with the Texans
game happening, going to a head over to us somewhere
near a minute Made park and you know, catch up
on you know, a play to Wings or something over
at Big City Wings or anywhere over there in Edo

(01:00:32):
before heading over to the game and watch the Texans game.
I mean, I always think pregame beers are awesome. So anyway,
Roger on the northwest side wants to weigh in here
on Sports Talk seven ninety Roger, what's going on.

Speaker 19 (01:00:43):
Buddy, Good morning, Dan, A great show as always. I
like when you come on and fill in for some
of the guys in the morning.

Speaker 2 (01:00:50):
Thanks.

Speaker 20 (01:00:51):
So I suggested to Sean on his show yesterday, and
it might happen because but with this name, you have
to be really, really.

Speaker 19 (01:01:00):
Good because it comes from the boxing world.

Speaker 20 (01:01:02):
So today's nickname day after ballpark, right with all the
jerseys having their nickname on them.

Speaker 3 (01:01:08):
Well not on the field, but they do have their
jerseys in the team store.

Speaker 2 (01:01:13):
I do know that.

Speaker 19 (01:01:15):
Okay, Okay, Okay, well with that in mind.

Speaker 20 (01:01:17):
In that regard, I was thinking, if Shage Whitcombe comes
over here and just comes out of the gate, just
you know, just hitting Hinston, hitting rockets all over the field,
you know, doesn't have to be homeless. But he comes
and he you know, he does this thing like you
did in the in Triple A. You know, we've got
to put sugar in front of the front of his name.
Got to be sugarchhe Witcomb if it pans out. Also,

(01:01:39):
I have a scheduling option for Super Bowl Sunday. Okay,
I really think, I really think, I really think that,
you know, the United States is just not as safe
it's as it could be the following Monday after Super
Bowl because you get you're getting no production out of
pretty much eighty percent of your workforce. And I just
feel like we would be better so to put it
on Saturday, just for recovery reasons alone.

Speaker 19 (01:02:03):
And I'll just get your thoughts on it. Have a doing.

Speaker 3 (01:02:05):
Hey, I appreciate the call, Roger, I would say with
the super Bowl side of it, I mean, I understand
what Mondays usually are. It's probably one of the highest
call in sick days or call out sick days throughout
all of the working world out there. But you know,
the unfortunate truth is, with us in sports radio, you

(01:02:26):
probably don't have that option. So it's kind of a
little bit of what a buddy of mine Los once
said that his dad told him when he had his
first beer with him at twenty one. He gave him
his beer and he said, main enough to drink, main
enough to go to work tomorrow. So that's what I
think a lot of us have to do on the

(01:02:46):
Monday after Super Bowl Sunday. But I mean, I've heard
the Saturday option thrown out there numerous times. I know
that Joe Burrow had some thoughts about if they indeed
did go to an eighteen game schedule, two bye weeks,
and that would linthen out the sea enough where I
believe that President's Day could possibly be the next day
after the Super Bowl, which again still was sports radio.

(01:03:08):
We would still be working, but you all would still
get to enjoy the day. But I think in terms
of everything, I mean, look, the NFL's played on Sunday,
college Football's played on Saturdays, and I understand that the
college football National Championship Game is on a Monday. People
have throw that out with the CFP as well of
why not do it on a Saturday. I mean we're
doing you know, Monday nights where I get it it's

(01:03:29):
the only game out there, but also too as well.
I mean, you know, if you don't have the most
compelling matchup, which last year, for a lot of people,
unless you were a Michigan or Washington fan, you really
didn't care. Which in terms of college football's popularity, I
would say probably it was one of the lower rated games.
I haven't looked at what the ratings were for the game,
but you know the most popular areas are if there's

(01:03:52):
a team from the Southeast because of the way the
SEC has been well, then you get the cities there
in that part of the country watching the games, and
also too just all of the fan base and alumni
that's spread out throughout the country. So that's how you
get that part of it. But in terms of the
game moving, I'm fine, just grinning and bearing it on

(01:04:13):
that Monday, just going to bed a little bit earlier.
I don't need to watch whatever you know college basketball
game is on that night doesn't impress me.

Speaker 2 (01:04:21):
I don't need it.

Speaker 3 (01:04:22):
But anyway, thought on that in terms of Shay Whitcombe,
I mean, I've got to believe he's up here, He's
going to be in the lineup, So maybe tonight is
a possibility for him to find his way onto the field.
As we went through a little bit of lineup possibilities
a little bit earlier on in the show. But aside
from that, I mean, you've got him up here, you

(01:04:43):
might as well use them, because if not, then keep
them down in the minor leagues and have him getting
his at bats down there. But you know, we'll see
if indeed he does crack his way into the lineup tonight.
All right, Coming up next, we're about forty five minutes
away from kickoff. X's preseason game number three has ac
coined it Diet Game Day number three, so our third

(01:05:07):
diet game day of the preseason. We'll get into that
a little bit as we continue along here on your
home of the Astros and the Rockets Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 1 (01:05:17):
It's Space City Saturday one, Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 3 (01:05:21):
Especially with runners in scoring position, bases, loaded situations, all
those things, a little bit of help sometimes it's hard
to ask for it, but you know what, when you
receive it, it's always a good thing. Someone three two, one, two,
five seven ninety Again Astros coming your way tonight, six
' ten. First pitch from over at minute made Park

(01:05:44):
Astros on deck. Me bringing that to you at five o'clock.
Also from the ballpark tonight. So hopefully if you're heading
out there, we enjoy a good ball game tonight. We'll
see indeed how it all shakes out. James and Kline
wants to weigh in here on Sports Talks. Have a
ninety James, what's up, buddy?

Speaker 5 (01:06:02):
Yeah?

Speaker 21 (01:06:02):
I used to be a season ticket holder in twenty sixteen.
I used to sit in Cocko's corner and that was that.
We had a great time. The fans were great there.
Uh you know they have Chaz's Chop and King Tuck.
Is that all all that fan originated.

Speaker 2 (01:06:19):
In terms of like like fan sections and everything.

Speaker 21 (01:06:21):
Yeah, like fan sections and then the Astros have nothing
to do with that, correct.

Speaker 3 (01:06:25):
I mean yeah, as far as I know, I don't
think so. But I mean maybe it's one of those
that approached with it. Honestly, I don't know.

Speaker 21 (01:06:33):
Now if I was to get a banner and have
like Kokuchi's Kingdom and you think, you think I could
hang that up.

Speaker 3 (01:06:39):
Yeah, I mean it's almost strengthened numbers though, you know,
I mean, if you know, you want to be able
to make sure that everybody's on board with it kind
of deal. And look, if you got the strengthen numbers
and y'all are able to roll in a pack right there,
why not.

Speaker 21 (01:06:54):
I think that'd be a lot of fun. I think
that would you know, he'd welcome him, and maybe you know,
if he gets this kind of fan succord, he might
want to resign next year.

Speaker 2 (01:07:00):
I like that. No, I like that idea, James.

Speaker 3 (01:07:04):
You're you're being proactive, and proactivity usually leads to good results.
So I appreciate that, buddy, Okay, all right, thanks, thanks
bud uh Kakuchi's Kingdom.

Speaker 9 (01:07:14):
I like that.

Speaker 3 (01:07:16):
And in terms of everything, I mean, I heard Joey
Loperfdo mentioned earlier. I mean talk about where this team
would be right now if you didn't have you, say, Kakuchi.
And now you hope that you're going to get Justin
Verlander back, which again, I'll be there when Joe Aspata
speaks a little bit later today. I think tomorrow is
when JV is going to throw his bullpen and it
sounds like if everything goes well with that, that maybe

(01:07:38):
that Wednesday day game to close out the Red Sox
series could be when we see JV back on the mound.
But no, I mean it's you know, it's one of
those things that you want to show the players that
you care.

Speaker 2 (01:07:52):
And you know it's also too as well.

Speaker 3 (01:07:53):
I think that a lot of people take criticism to
mean that you're making it personal and that year going
after someone in the same vein, and I don't think so.
I think that a lot of times, you know, the
expectations that this organization has created for themselves, and some
people might say, oh, come on, don't be too spoiled,
don't you know, you know, be too hard on these guys.

(01:08:15):
But seven straight alcs's does not afford you saying, nah,
we just lost to a thirty one ball club last night,
that's fine. No, I mean, losing that game is embarrassing.
There's only been a handful of teams that have done
that all season, and now you're two of those thirty
losses this season, and both of them an incredibly frustrating fashion.
I mean, the first time you lost to them two

(01:08:36):
to nothing, you obviously could not get a hit to
be able to draw across a run, much less runs,
and last night, I mean numerous different times. I mean again,
that one inning, I believe it was the fifth inning,
was when you get the leadoff walk right there by
Mauricio Dubon Chas McCormick gets hit by the pitch, and
then the very first pitch of that at bat, you

(01:08:58):
have jose L Tuova to lay down a pushbunt to
try to get on base, and it's like, that's not
what we need from you, Like I understand, you know,
you load up the basses there for jord On you
might have an opportunity. And you know, I heard Brian
bogos Sevic bring it up to in terms of why
he didn't like it, because he was like, all right,
if you don't beat out the throat of first base

(01:09:19):
and the runners still get over to second and third,
well guess what's gonna happen at that point. You're gonna
see Jordan Alvarez get walked. I mean, as we've seen
numerous times, they got a free open bass right there.
Then yeah, absolutely, But then even with the double play
still in play right there, they decided, all right, we'll
still pitch to this guy and it worked out because
he hit one right up to the middle to Nicky

(01:09:39):
Lopez and he was able to turn the double play
and get out of the inning with no production out
of the Astros in that regard. So now, just you know,
frustrating all around last night, and I mean it's tough,
it's not what you want to see, but also too
at the same time, I mean, the beauty of baseball.

Speaker 2 (01:09:57):
You get to come back today and try to do
it all over again. And I know that.

Speaker 3 (01:10:00):
So what the Astros Joe Spoda and crew were seeing
last night that they would be trying to do.

Speaker 2 (01:10:06):
So we'll see if they are able to do that.

Speaker 3 (01:10:08):
Someone three two, one, two, five seven ninety is the
number Texans today. Just a real quick thought on that
game again. I mean two things that I care about
the most. The first and foremost is is everybody getting
out of this game healthy. I mean, I think that's
what we really care about when it's all said and done.
Is are the Astros or excuse me, are the Texans

(01:10:29):
having their most important players get out of this game unscathed?

Speaker 2 (01:10:33):
Are we seeing CJ.

Speaker 3 (01:10:34):
Stroud after he's done putting on the hat or you know,
putting in the ear piece whatever it is to signify
that he's done for the game and he's all good,
and you know, you kind of say to him, all right,
aside from the joint practice with the Rams, you're good
to go. We will talk to you the second week
of September when this season gets going. I think that's

(01:10:56):
everything that could still be in play at that point.
But also as well, I mean, you've got some guys
that are still banged up. Believe Willie Anderson Junior is
not going to go for this one today, so a
little short in terms of the edge rush for this game.
You're thin on the interior defensive line, so Mario Edwards

(01:11:16):
and the crew fully full of Cossi. You want to
see what they're able to do. Kurt Heinisch, that crew
right there, as well as the offensive line. How do
they look for this game today? And I think that
that's pretty much all you need to know after that.
And you know, there were you know, questions about Davis Mills.
I guess he was not running with the second team
for much of this week and people thought that might

(01:11:39):
mean that, you know, with the Minnesota Vikings having their
injury issues with JJ McCarthy that it was going to
signify that he might be a trade possibility, which who
knows he still might be as well. I mean, you know,
any team out there that maybe doesn't feel good about
their quarterback competition, is Davis Mills somebody that they're willing
to pony up on No. Fourth, fifth round, pick four

(01:12:02):
and be able to help you in that regard. And
also too, I mean that probably means that Tim Boyle
makes this team. I think that any of those elements
are still in play. We'll see how it all plays
out on the other side, Ronnie, I see you right there.
I'll get to you coming up next as well as
you know what we do bottom of hour two every

(01:12:22):
single week on Space City Saturday. Again, one topic for
this one, one topic for beyond the gray Hair. We'll
do that after I get to Ronnie coming up next
right here Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 2 (01:12:34):
There you go, Space any Saturday.

Speaker 3 (01:12:37):
Dan Matthews here with you for a little less than
thirty minutes. Beyond the Gray Hair coming up, But first
let's work in Ronnie. Who wants to shime in here
on Sports Talk seven ninety Ronnie, what's up.

Speaker 2 (01:12:48):
Buddy Born?

Speaker 4 (01:12:50):
Dan?

Speaker 22 (01:12:50):
Yeah, I'm continue to be amazed at all of these
people who think that Bregman is not going to be back.

Speaker 4 (01:12:57):
Now.

Speaker 22 (01:12:57):
I'm not saying he will, but all these media people
who think, oh, there's no way he's coming back. Bregman
and Tucker cannot be helping their cause by not being
able to play. Now, we don't know he Reregman may
come back Monday and get back in the lineup. But
I agree with what he said at the beginning. You know,
we don't know what the heck's going on with him

(01:13:18):
as far as you know, did he sleep on his elbow?

Speaker 7 (01:13:21):
Wrong?

Speaker 11 (01:13:21):
Is at whatever?

Speaker 22 (01:13:22):
But I just don't I can't see how the Astros
wouldn't be able to afford Bregman and Tucker because why
would other teams pay more if they don't know what
they're going to get, particularly with Bregman not being able
to show up the first half of the season offensively
every year, And also was the one question I want

(01:13:43):
to ask when do they release the starting lineup? Is
we know if Wickham's going to be playing tonight, do
they get his family down here in time to be
able to watch him play.

Speaker 11 (01:13:55):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (01:13:56):
I appreciate the call. Excuse me, I appreciate the call.
I'll start with the second part first. Usually the lineups
are posted in the clubhouse, and there's a reason why
if you follow Brian McTaggart or Chandler Rome or Matt Kalahara,
that you'll see as soon as the clubhouse doors open

(01:14:16):
just a little bit on six o'clock game days, it's
about four hours before first pitch is when the clubhouse opens,
and they'll have it up on a corkboard right outside
the clubhouse, and people will sell phone take a picture
of it and you can see the starting lineup that way,
and then about twenty thirty minutes later, that's when they
will post it up on Astro's Twitter and as well

(01:14:37):
as on your apps. You can see it there to
preview the game, do all those different types of things.
So time will tell if indeed he's going to be
in the lineup. In terms of Bregman, I mean, I
think just the thought process is he's going to go
to free agency, and if you go to free agency,
you have teams out there who look at him and
see his overall production, but not only what he gives

(01:14:58):
you with the bats, and we all know how he
is in the early part of the season. But at
the same time two as well, what he is during
this part of the year. I mean, you heard Joe
spottasay it the other day. August and September, that's when
Reggy usually shines the best. In addition to all of that,
it's how elite he is with the glove over at
third base. I mean, he's one of the best fielding

(01:15:20):
third basemen in all of baseball. And you have that
along with the hitting production. There's going to be teams
that probably would be willing to kick in more years
and more money than.

Speaker 2 (01:15:30):
Maybe the Astros would want to.

Speaker 3 (01:15:31):
I think the Astros probably in the vein of like
a five years, twenty five million per would probably be
something that they would be willing to go with. I
don't know if they'd be willing to go very much
higher than that, but I mean I think that probably
you run into the situations the team willing to give
him a sixth, seventh, eighth year possibly in that case,

(01:15:51):
and if they are, then you probably don't really feel
like you can live in that world. And it's also
too as well. Look at the successful organizations out there,
the Astros are one of them in terms of not
giving these huge contracts out that are albatross's that kind
of hamstering you in terms of being able to fill
out the rest of your roster. I mean, I've heard

(01:16:12):
a GM once say it before in terms of how
he does his contracts, as he says, I'd rather have
seven or eight really good players than one really good player.
And maybe you're able to find a guy or two
along with that. But aside from that, you've got to
get a lot more creative in terms of how you
build out your rosters. So I mean there's many different
trains of thought with it. I mean, you know, some

(01:16:33):
people have thrown out the Yankees as a possibility. The Yankees,
it sounds like they're gonna have to shill out some
serious money for Juan Soto. So if that's the case,
are they still gonna have enough to be able to
pay a third baseman who, to your point, can be
inconsistent with the bat and you know, you know what
you're gonna get with the glove. But aside from that,
that's what kind of comes into play. I mean, you know,
I've heard the diamondbackstone now as a possibility for Bregman.

Speaker 2 (01:16:56):
I do believe that he has.

Speaker 3 (01:16:58):
A home there in air, Arizona, if I'm not mistaken,
and also to being from New Mexico. I think just
kind of the proximity of it all is something that
could be a draw for him there. But you know,
time will tell. I mean again, you know it's also
as well, the Jim Crane factor in all of this
is usually when Jim Crane gets involved, the deal gets done.
So if he gets involved and says, I want Alex

(01:17:19):
pregnant to be a Houston astro, then chances are get done.

Speaker 2 (01:17:22):
So I think that's kind of the trump card in
all of this.

Speaker 3 (01:17:25):
When it is all said and done, we'll continue on
the phone lines. We'll do be on the Great Hair
to close out the show today. How about that, Alex
and Gardenoakes wants to weigh in here, Alex, what's up, buddy?

Speaker 6 (01:17:36):
Hey? Good Eppen, Well, good morning.

Speaker 9 (01:17:38):
Still.

Speaker 6 (01:17:38):
I guess you know, in baseball today, you've got analytics,
you've got metrics, and you've got game plan. But you
know there's a thing called common sense too. That's something
that goes way back to the beginning of baseball play
the hot hand to do things like that, Why does

(01:17:59):
the spot in system, putting a rookie at first base, okay, Desenko,
I think his name is Senzo Senzo, instead of putting
out there singletons who Okay, he's not hitting two fifty,
he's subpart a little bit, but he's been playing. He's
been really working at his game. He's been hitting. He's

(01:18:22):
got ten homers, he's got power. I don't get it. Well,
you know, if you want to give a young rookie experience,
why not bring him into the game in the seventeen
and you're winning six to one. Why do you have
to start him out there? The guy lets ball get
by him, two or three of them and he's not hitting.
I don't get it. Can you explain that to me?

(01:18:43):
Why I started in system doing it? It's not just there.
It's like it's like, for example, with our reliever, what's
his name, I can't even think of this. The setup man, the.

Speaker 2 (01:18:58):
Setup man, Yeah, Ryley Presley.

Speaker 6 (01:19:02):
Okay, he lets in runs four games straight. You know,
the guy needs a break. Bring him in when you're
winning six to one, not when you have a game
on the line. He's not handling the pressure. Use your head,
use common sense. It seems like a spot just wants
to follow the game plan, follow the metrics and the analytics.

(01:19:24):
He needs to start using some common sense in his
decision making. It's costing us games.

Speaker 3 (01:19:32):
Well, I mean, Alex, I'm not gonna let you go
because I want to start off first with Zach Decenzo.
I mean, I understand there was the play in the
third inning last night, but aside from that, I mean,
you've got to give me more concrete evidence about him
being a defensive liability over there at first base, because
I haven't seen it. As a matter of fact, I've
seen him actually make some pretty good plays over at
first base.

Speaker 6 (01:19:53):
Not like Singleton. Singleton'son really a good glove, man.

Speaker 3 (01:19:58):
Okay, I get all of that, but I mean it's
also too at the same time, I mean, you have
to kind of think of the big picture here of
what Zach Decenzo is. He's a guy that you think
can be a pretty good bat at this level. And again,
I mean, if you're going to have him up there
up here, you've got to play him. And on top
of it as well, kind of what you were just
talking about, I get having a glove over there at
first base. We lived that life for a good amount

(01:20:20):
of time with Julie Guriel. But I need production out
of that spot, and to a certain point, you're not
getting enough of it out of John Singleton.

Speaker 2 (01:20:28):
Otherwise he'd be there.

Speaker 6 (01:20:31):
Well, he's progressively been getting better, There's no doubt about it.
He's been hitting more. It used to being used to
whistle Dixie waiting for him to get a hit. He's
been getting hits much more than he was. That's why
his average is up and around two forty. At one
point he was at two forty five.

Speaker 13 (01:20:49):
I could see him.

Speaker 6 (01:20:49):
Hitting two fifty. You're throwing the man's timing. It's the
same thing with Dubond. You play for days, the man's
going to lose his timing. No wonder his average's diving
dive bomb. It's crazy. You gotta get You got to
play the hot hand. You got to play the hot Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:21:10):
No, I appreciate the call, Alex.

Speaker 3 (01:21:13):
I mean in terms of you know, not only that,
I mean, you know Singleton has been a guy that
has talked about better when I get regular at bats.
I mean last night you had the lefty crochet going tonight,
you're gonna have a righty flux and I wouldn't be
surprised if we do see there in that six spot,
five spots somewhere in the order that Singleton is in
there tonight, but also too as well. I mean, for

(01:21:35):
everything that I just laid out about him, with the
production or lack thereof at times, I think that's a
huge reason.

Speaker 2 (01:21:40):
But it's also two with de Zenzo.

Speaker 3 (01:21:42):
I mean, you know, you bring him up here and
you kind of do the Joey Loperfido thing with him, well,
then you might as well have had him down in
triple A. I just I don't think that there is
a significant enough drop off when it comes down to
filling out lineup cards. A lot of times, and especially
this plays out in the postseason, it's who gives me
the best opportunity to put up the most offense, because

(01:22:03):
I think it kind of comes down to it as
well of well, hey, wait a minute, you get that
guy out the lineup. You know that's that's a pretty
huge drop off with the glove. And if the drop
off is so precipitous as we saw at least in
certain cases of what Martin Maldonado meant to this team
the last couple of years, I mean defensively in terms
of throwing out runners and also too not giving up

(01:22:25):
pass balls. I mean, that was something that you looked
at with Martin Maldonado and I just couldn't ride with
anymore in terms of why you continue to play this
guy because he's not even giving you that defensively. I mean,
if you're going to be somebody that's known for the glove,
remember Adam Everett all these years, Well remember what we
always said about Adam Everett. Well, but think about how
many runs he saves you. All Right, that's all fine

(01:22:45):
and good, But the same time with those guys, and
that was the frustration I think with some of the
errors that we saw from jose Bray you is it's like,
why am I even using you at this point? Like, seriously,
if you're not even going to give me that part
of it, then I can't use you.

Speaker 2 (01:23:01):
And I think that's a lot of the frustration too.

Speaker 3 (01:23:03):
Again that people point to in that Tuesday night game
against the Rays of the play by Chas McCormick. And
I've told you my thoughts on what I think led
into that, but two at the same time, I mean,
you know, it kind of comes to a point where,
all right, if you're not helping me out in that
regard as well, then my hands are tied here, man,
what do you want me to do? So anyway, in

(01:23:25):
terms of Pressley, I'll give those thoughts on the other
side because I see Tony and Jim, you guys want
to weigh in, and I promise you will get beyond
the gray here here as we got less than fifteen
minutes to go here on this edition of Space City Saturday.

Speaker 1 (01:23:40):
We now return to Space City Saturday. Sports Talk seven
ninety September is a great time of the year.

Speaker 3 (01:23:47):
Football season fires up early part of the season. There's
a birthday in there. You know all those things. You
know the rules right as a guy, you never tell
someone who wins your birthday. I feel like you let
them find out. I remember I learned that lesson a
few years ago. So anyway, I guess, in a roundabout way,
I just let you all know that my birthday is
coming up.

Speaker 2 (01:24:07):
Yeah, there you go. All right, So I guess I
broke the rule. What am I gonna do?

Speaker 17 (01:24:10):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (01:24:11):
Jim and most City is gonna try to rescue me. Jim,
what's up, buddy?

Speaker 7 (01:24:14):
Yeah, let me help you out.

Speaker 10 (01:24:15):
So I've been listening off and on to the show today,
been in and out of the car, and uh just
got to comment on similar topics. But as far as
last night goes as frustrating as of the loss, it
was when you step back and look at it, Let's
be real, without Bregman in the lineup and no Tucker,
our first four hitters are playoff contender hitters five through nine.

Speaker 7 (01:24:39):
We could have.

Speaker 10 (01:24:39):
Traded five nine for the five behind of the White
Sox and it would have been the same result. I mean,
they're just they're they're not very good players outside of
the top four last night, So we're not fielding a
true Astros team right now.

Speaker 7 (01:24:53):
So that's the there's that.

Speaker 10 (01:24:54):
So this Bregman loss right now, on top of Tucker
has really put us behind the eight ball.

Speaker 7 (01:24:59):
I'm ready to cut losses with Jazz.

Speaker 10 (01:25:01):
I know a spot is wanting to see if he'll
figure it out, but we're one hundred and twenty something
games into the season and we need to kind of
like cut our losses and try something else.

Speaker 7 (01:25:13):
I'd rather just see leap.

Speaker 10 (01:25:14):
You know, if they call up pedro Leon, you're either
gonna play them or you're gonna send it back down
and find somebody else in the miners. And if there's
nobody else in the miners, that's an indictment of the
depth of our farm system and the lack of outfielders,
and that's gonna be another problem to address. So I'd
love to see and and Singleton last night before frustrated
about Singleton.

Speaker 7 (01:25:33):
It was a lefty pitching last night.

Speaker 10 (01:25:34):
You know, a spot is not gonna pay him against lefties,
and crochetes would have.

Speaker 7 (01:25:38):
Just eaten him up.

Speaker 10 (01:25:39):
So I would have rather obviously had him pitch hit earlier.

Speaker 7 (01:25:43):
But he's gonna be in there tonight. Sunday's a lefty.

Speaker 10 (01:25:46):
Maybe he'll go ahead and break his trend and put
Singleton against a.

Speaker 7 (01:25:50):
Lefty on Sunday. Stick the Senzo at third.

Speaker 10 (01:25:53):
I'd put Leon at right and see what he does
today and tomorrow. But no Chas And that's kind of
where my head's at for the weekend. But again, we
are not the Astros right now without Brightman Natucker. We
are just like a bunch of other teams, and that's
the Unfortunately, that's the reality right now.

Speaker 3 (01:26:10):
I appreciate the call Jim in terms of pedro Leone.
I mean, it's kind of similar to all the strikeouts
are an issue with him, and you know that was
something that I know was a little bit of a
concern with this team before he even got the call up.
But I mean while he's here, I mean, you know
you're talking about Chaz working on things, all right, well,
then let him work on those things off to the side.

(01:26:32):
And I mean in an ideal scenario, I think if
you had Kyle Tucker back right now and for everything
that you just threw out right there, I think if
I were the Astros, I'd have Chaz McCormick working these
things out in triple A because I mean you've got
to be able to try to find a way and
you know, trying to you know, build the planes you're
flying at this time of the year, that's not the way.

Speaker 2 (01:26:53):
So I get your frustration on that.

Speaker 3 (01:26:56):
But in terms of the rest of the Astros roster,
I mean, yeah, depth is not what it has been
in the past.

Speaker 2 (01:27:01):
I don't think there's any doubt about that.

Speaker 3 (01:27:03):
I think that the charge of this team at this
moment is that you hope that it's just a couple
of day thing with Alex Bregman and you know, the
swelling's gone and he's ready to go on Monday against
the Red Sox. That would be nice, but if not,
then you're gonna have to try to get creative in
a way that you get creative is number twenty seven.
Figuring things out at the plate. Let's call it what

(01:27:24):
it is. I mean, the numbers are.

Speaker 2 (01:27:26):
What they are.

Speaker 3 (01:27:27):
I see what they are with Jose Altuve, but I
also need huge hits out of Jose al Tuove. I
need huge base hits out of Jordan Alvarez. RBI singles
are nice, but you know what I need out of
forty four. I need one clinking off the right field wall.
I need one going way above the right field wall
into the second deck. That's what I need out of
that guy. And when you have an even thinner roster

(01:27:51):
with injuries like this, then the onus is on those
guys even more so. I understand a lot of times
it's you know, hey, you know, these guys can't get
it done every single night. We'll try doing it some nights,
because some nights are gonna be good enough to get
a win.

Speaker 2 (01:28:04):
And I mean, I understand.

Speaker 8 (01:28:06):
You know.

Speaker 3 (01:28:06):
We had Chandler Roma on the other day and he
talked about the way the Astros won their final two
games in Tampa that was not sustainable. It's not because
this pitching staff is good, but you're also asking this
pitching staff to pitch above what they've done this season,
and in terms of what you expected out of this
pitching staff injuries aside as a whole, they've gone way
above those expectations this season.

Speaker 2 (01:28:29):
So I'll continue to say it.

Speaker 3 (01:28:31):
The reason that the Astros have lost games at times
this season, for the most part, has not been because
of the pitching staff. It's been because the inability to
be able to get a base hit or be able
to have a productive at bat with runners in scoring position.
And it reared its head again last night. Tony and
Angleton wants to weigh in here on Sports Talk seven
ninety Tony, what's.

Speaker 11 (01:28:49):
Up, Dan?

Speaker 7 (01:28:51):
How you doing?

Speaker 4 (01:28:51):
Man? I just want to expand on a couple of
things that the previous callers said, But I'll circle back
to that. Listen, Bregman has been hot, but they've been
pitching to him. They've been pitching to him all year,
Okay with with he's hitting in front of Algarez and
he's finally he's getting the pitches to hit they're just
the All they're doing is pitching around Yordo and they're
pitching the throw with at him, throwing in in on

(01:29:12):
his hands, pitching it, pitching and pitching him away.

Speaker 11 (01:29:16):
So his production.

Speaker 4 (01:29:17):
You know, we don't have, like the guy said that
just called, we don't have the same ball club man.
You've got some holes at the back of that lineup.
As far as Singleton is concerned, John Singleton.

Speaker 11 (01:29:27):
I commend him. He's he's he's he's come back.

Speaker 4 (01:29:30):
And he's bust his but he keeps his mouth shut.
He's he's a consummate pro.

Speaker 11 (01:29:34):
But he's not the answer at first base, folks, He's not.

Speaker 4 (01:29:38):
You know, why did we play Decenzo at first base?
We played him at first base because we need hitting.
We need we need productivity at the first base position.
We're not getting it. People wanting Dubond to play. Dubon
is a great utility player. He won the Gold Glove.

Speaker 13 (01:29:50):
Is a utility player.

Speaker 11 (01:29:51):
That's exactly what he is.

Speaker 4 (01:29:53):
He's not a starter. Three more things. The young catcher
that we just drafted, Walter Yannick. The first six people
that tried to.

Speaker 11 (01:30:03):
Steal in the minus, he threw out three of them.

Speaker 4 (01:30:05):
Nobody else in our system is above twenty two percent
thrown out runners, and I know a lot of it
has to do with the pitchers. I'm looking forward to
seeing that guy come along. Shay Whitcombs should be in
the lineup tonight at third base, there's no doubt about it,
probably hitting around seventh. This this general manager is trying
to remake this ball club. It's there's a transfusion of

(01:30:26):
stuff going on right now. I don't expect to see,
you know, the Chazz, I don't expect to see him around.
He may make it through the end of the year,
but I don't think he's I think he's on his
way out of the organization. And you know, he had
a great not a great World Series, made one of
the best catches in our in our history.

Speaker 11 (01:30:46):
But it's a business, Dan, it's a business.

Speaker 4 (01:30:48):
You know that our pitching. I could not be more
proud of these young guys. And I think what they
finally realize is my stuff. I wouldn't be in the
big leagues if I didn't have good stuff and trusting
their attacking hitters, that's you know. So they're pitching around
our guns. The other guys have to step up. The
glass is half full, it's not half empty.

Speaker 11 (01:31:10):
Thanks for your time.

Speaker 2 (01:31:11):
I appreciate the call.

Speaker 3 (01:31:12):
I mean, in terms of Chaz, I think he's still
under club control for a couple of three more years,
so I don't think unless he has like a Jose
of Bray, you like, just fall off the planet, that
that's going to be the case. But he hasn't been
great this season. I don't think there's any doubt about that.
In terms of the rest of the lineup, I mean,
you know, I think that this is a team again

(01:31:34):
that goes as the top of the order goes. Jose
al two vaneyord On Alvarez aren't hitting. This team doesn't hit.
I mean that's really just pretty much been the twenty
twenty four Astros. By the way beyond the gray hair,
not gonna be able to get it to you this week.
So I've given my thoughts on what I was going
to talk about. It was the Hawk twur girl with
the Mets. So you know, if you want to get
at me a little bit more on that, find me
on Twitter at Dan Matthews Hou. But I mean that's

(01:31:57):
how we can close out this show, is that. I mean,
it's incumbent upon those guys. If they don't hit, then
it kind of you know, just festers with the rest
of the team and that's how things really break down.

Speaker 2 (01:32:09):
So we'll see if they're able to turn it around
the night.

Speaker 3 (01:32:12):
I mean, it was a frustrating one last night at
the Ballyard, but again hopefully tonight is much better. I
want to thank Melvin Brown as always behind the scenes.
He does a great job as always. Want to think
all of you out there as well for making this
edition of Space City Saturday what it was.

Speaker 2 (01:32:27):
I'm Dan Matthews.

Speaker 3 (01:32:29):
I will talk to you again at five o'clock for
Astros on Deck, getting you ready for the Astros and
the White Sox.

Speaker 2 (01:32:34):
Here on your home of the Astros Sports Talk seven
ninety