September 17, 2025 • 10 mins
Astros rookie Zach Cole joins The A-Team to discuss his recent call-up to the big leagues, and contributing on a team contending for the playoffs down the stretch of this season.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Astro's rookie outfield or Zach Cole joins us here on
the A Teamdyke and park his new home. He's christened
it already with a home run and his first opportunity,
although how that came about a little odd. But Zach,
we certainly appreciate the time. And I got a quick
question for you. I know you're from Ozark. Is that
where your parents your family still are?
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Yes, sir, we lived just outside of Springfield, Missouri, and
we've been there for my entire life.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Well, now I set that up so I can ask
you this, are Bob and Cassandra Now the most famous
people in Ozark.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
I don't know about that they are.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
We've always been kind of more quiet people and we
always kind of just more family oriented. So they're not
ones for the linlight very much, and not me either, honestly.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Well, clearly it has come upon both you and your parents.
That's who Bob and Cassandra are. Have been here for
this ride just starting there, the fact that you know,
got a little dance, noticed that this would be happening.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
We're able to get out to a lot of your.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Family, able to get out to Atlanta and then continue
to be a part of this rapid rise too, and
now arrival at the major league level. How awesome has
it been for you to have them here throughout the
extremely fast paced week.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Oh, it's been awesome.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
They've been a rock for me, and obviously they've been
there for every step of my baseball career and helped
me get to where I am. And I've said it
once before and I'll say it a million more times.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
You know, it's just as much.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Of a win for them and our family as it
is for me to have this opportunity and for them
to be there to watch it, be there for my
first game and all the.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Games since then. It's just been awesome for me and.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Kind of just just a little sense of calm for
me and all the hectic stuff that's been going on
this week.
Speaker 5 (01:48):
Well, Zach, I mean, you've probably had been asked this
question a million times already, but now it's our turn.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
First pitch.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
Really, you go over four hundred, Like that's got to
be the best feeling in the world.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
Were you a kid all over again? As on the basis, Oh,
one hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
That's that's the great part about this game is you
get to be a kid every day and just go
out here and have fun and to you know, have
an opportunity to do that.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Just just a blessing from God.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
And just a testament to all the you know, the
hard work that I put in, but also all the
people that have put in the hard work to help
develop me as a player, you know, coaches, grown up
and the Astro system. It was just a very cool
moment for everybody.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
Well, and you had a great entire game.
Speaker 5 (02:29):
It wasn't just the first pitch, although that went about
as well as it could have. And then you fast
forward to Monday night. I happen to actually be in
the building as a fan because I was sitting like
a few rows behind you, and I told my co
host and some others that was the loudest sound I
heard in the building all night when you connected on
that one.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
A little bit different when you do it at home.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Right, Yeah, The Astros fans are crazy, man. I love
them already.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
You know, it's still getting used to the noise inside Dyiking.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
But they're awesome. Man. We're very fortunate to have a
great fan.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Zach Cole joining us here on Sports Talk seven to ninety. Clearly,
this point in the season is of paramount importance to
the club. Your club, This is your team. You are
a Houston Astro and you have been a part of them,
putting some good offensive games together, putting some wins together,
and putting themselves in good position with ten more games
to go. I mean, how do you feel about just
that simplicity and what I say, Zach Cole is a
(03:22):
Major League baseball player, he's an astro.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Well, it doesn't sound horrible, I will be honest with you,
but you know, just being able to play for a
team that has such a winning tradition, a really competitive team,
and a close race here in the end, it's just
awesome to be able to play some really competitive baseball
against some of the best players in the world.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
And it's true for the little kid in me, and
I'm just very blessed for the opportunity.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
There's no doubt you've had already some meaningful conversations with
people in the organization, coaches, etc. But obviously your new teammates,
both as you prepare for games and clearly to everybody
that can see right there in the hut, are out
there in the field. Are there a couple of things
that you've been told or had gotten a little guidance
from from from a couple of teammates that stand out
here early in your career.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Like I said, there's a lot of veterans on this team,
a lot of veteran presence, a lot of guys that
have you know, been in league for a long time.
We got All Stars, We've got Gold Glovers, you know,
we got you know, and a lot of these guys
also have World Series rings. So I mean there's a
lot of experience on this team and for a guy.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Like me to come in and just be a sponge
and kind.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Of just you know, turn my ears on, just listen
to what they have to say, take as much advice
as I can.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
A main thing for my debut day was just beyond time.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Smile and breeze and everything's going to be all right.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
So that's that's the one thing I would say that's
stuck with me the most.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
It's five games in.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
It's only five games in.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Do you feel any differently at the ballpark today than
you did for Game one, or Game three or Game
five yesterday?
Speaker 2 (04:57):
I think the initial shock is starting to wear off
a little bit. Obviously, the first couple of days before
my debut, I couldn't really eat or sleep that much.
I had so much adrenaline racing through me. Since that point,
but since then obviously kind of settled it into the
you know, the big league routine of our schedule and
(05:17):
what it looks like, and every day I feel like
it's just a little bit easier, so slowly putting the
pieces together, but obviously still a kid, and still just
really getting used to playing in this atmosphere and playing
with a lot of great players.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
It's it's awesome.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
We're talking to Zach Cole here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (05:35):
They were talking about that on the television side of
the broadcast the other night. How you weren't able to eat?
What I mean, you're what twenty four to twenty five.
You can eat whatever you want and not have it
affect you. What's a what's a pregame meal? What's your
eating habits on a day game or are on a
day where you have a game that starts the traditional
seven o'clockish start time, Oh well, you know.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Getting to the field around you know, in between the
one and two o'clock hour, so you know, eat some
breakfast and then maybe grab a quick a small lunch
before you head to the field. And you know, they
obviously have you know, great cooks here, like a full
kitchen staff and everything. So I kind of just eat,
(06:17):
you know, after bat in practice whatever they make. But
they have great food here. I mean, it's it's awesome
the resources in the big leagues or no joke for sure.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Do you think anything's changed significantly for you offensively? Starting
the year in Corpus you had some success there obviously,
to the point that you got a promotion less than
a month ago of fifteen games with the in Houston
so to speak, with the Sheerland Space Cowboys, and things
really took off from there. You were just basically red
hot from moment one and then here it has seemingly
(06:47):
continued over the course of this season in those three places.
Has anything really changed for you or if you just
felt comfortable all year or things any different, you know,
the last month.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Or so, I don't know, if I don't know if
comfort is the word I used. You know, hitting is
really hard, and it's an up and down. It's an
up and down saying. Everybody who knows baseball knows how
difficult it is. And you know there are just certain
things you have to worry about and that you can control,
and a lot of the outcome of hitting is not
up to you. So I would say it's been a
(07:18):
lot of adjustments, you know, made mentally and physically. The
Astros have a great farm system with a lot of
great coaches that have you know, helped me make the
adjustments I needed to make, and it's a testament to them,
you know, for me to be here is it's a
win for them as well, just because it shows that
their farm system, you know, can help a guy who
might be struggling in double A to make some small
(07:40):
adjustments and start letting his game, in his.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Athleticism play on a more consistent basis.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
So I would say those adjustments that I made and
Corpus and in sugar Land are definitely helping me right now.
Speaker 5 (07:52):
Well, because there's been so many young contributors to this
twenty twenty five Astros campaign, and you're just the latest.
We've found ourselves asking this similar question. A lot you
know about the veterans in that clubhouse, but specifically, what's
it like when you walk in there and you and
you look across the way and you see Jose Altuve
and what not only what he's meant to this franchise,
(08:15):
but how he became what he is now and how
many conversations have you been able to have with him
in the brief time you've been up there about just
anything you know on the major league level related.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
You know, it's it's crazy.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
You know, you feel like a little kid every day
when you walk in there. I said it the other
night on on MLB Network, but it's, uh, you want
to go up there and you want to be a kid.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
You want to ask them for their autograph and tell
him how big of a fan you are.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
And the same thing. You know, when you get on
base and you're looking at Matt Olsen or an Ausie
Albi's or a Jake Berger last night and you get
to talk to those guys that you've been watching on
TV for years, it's just you want to be the
little kid comes out in you. You know, you idolize
those guys. You hoxton play, you learn from them, and
now you're you know, you're on base talking to him,
(09:03):
while you're you're in the clubhouse talking now to Bay
and you know they're great guys. They're all really approachable
for especially a young guy. That's all been very congratulatory
towards me, towards my promotion, wishing me health and success
in the future. And it's just an amazing experience to
be able to talk to them and learn from them.
And they're all great guys, great baseball players, so it's
(09:27):
a dream come true.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
What did Jake Berger say to you?
Speaker 2 (09:31):
So, Jake actually went to Missouri State and I would
actually watch him play while he was in college while
I was going to high school when I was in
high school in Missouri.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
So I actually talked to him a little bit about that.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
He said he noticed that I was from that area,
So we kind of talked a little bit about that
and a little bit about the area just for.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
A second last night.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Wasn't over there for too long, but just kind of
connecting about, you know, a commonplace we've had, you know,
in our baseball And he's a great dude, he really is.
Speaker 5 (10:02):
And are you or your parents or anybody in your
family big fans of the Ozark television show that was
on Netflix.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
I don't think any of us are any of us
have seen that, but we've heard and a lot of
the guys have definitely asked me about that if the
show is actually what it's like out there. We joke
around about it all the time, but I don't think
any of us are too big a fan of the show.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
No ye, it's pretty heavy the content there, So I'll
leave you that as a warning.
Speaker 5 (10:31):
Hey, Zach, we appreciate the time, good luck the rest
of the way, and go ahead and hit another one tonight.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Right, Thank you guys so much for having me on
the show. I appreciate it and God bless you guys.
Go Astros.
Speaker 4 (10:43):
Absolutely same to you, Zach.
Speaker 5 (10:44):
Cole here on Sports Talk seven ninety will react to
that more when we come back
Astro's rookie outfield or Zach Cole joins us here on
the A Teamdyke and park his new home. He's christened
it already with a home run and his first opportunity,
although how that came about a little odd. But Zach,
we certainly appreciate the time. And I got a quick
question for you. I know you're from Ozark. Is that
where your parents your family still are?
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Yes, sir, we lived just outside of Springfield, Missouri, and
we've been there for my entire life.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Well, now I set that up so I can ask
you this, are Bob and Cassandra Now the most famous
people in Ozark.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
I don't know about that they are.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
We've always been kind of more quiet people and we
always kind of just more family oriented. So they're not
ones for the linlight very much, and not me either, honestly.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Well, clearly it has come upon both you and your parents.
That's who Bob and Cassandra are. Have been here for
this ride just starting there, the fact that you know,
got a little dance, noticed that this would be happening.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
We're able to get out to a lot of your.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Family, able to get out to Atlanta and then continue
to be a part of this rapid rise too, and
now arrival at the major league level. How awesome has
it been for you to have them here throughout the
extremely fast paced week.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Oh, it's been awesome.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
They've been a rock for me, and obviously they've been
there for every step of my baseball career and helped
me get to where I am. And I've said it
once before and I'll say it a million more times.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
You know, it's just as much.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Of a win for them and our family as it
is for me to have this opportunity and for them
to be there to watch it, be there for my
first game and all the.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Games since then. It's just been awesome for me and.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Kind of just just a little sense of calm for
me and all the hectic stuff that's been going on
this week.
Speaker 5 (01:48):
Well, Zach, I mean, you've probably had been asked this
question a million times already, but now it's our turn.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
First pitch.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
Really, you go over four hundred, Like that's got to
be the best feeling in the world.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
Were you a kid all over again? As on the basis, Oh,
one hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
That's that's the great part about this game is you
get to be a kid every day and just go
out here and have fun and to you know, have
an opportunity to do that.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Just just a blessing from God.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
And just a testament to all the you know, the
hard work that I put in, but also all the
people that have put in the hard work to help
develop me as a player, you know, coaches, grown up
and the Astro system. It was just a very cool
moment for everybody.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
Well, and you had a great entire game.
Speaker 5 (02:29):
It wasn't just the first pitch, although that went about
as well as it could have. And then you fast
forward to Monday night. I happen to actually be in
the building as a fan because I was sitting like
a few rows behind you, and I told my co
host and some others that was the loudest sound I
heard in the building all night when you connected on
that one.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
A little bit different when you do it at home.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Right, Yeah, The Astros fans are crazy, man. I love
them already.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
You know, it's still getting used to the noise inside Dyiking.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
But they're awesome. Man. We're very fortunate to have a
great fan.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Zach Cole joining us here on Sports Talk seven to ninety. Clearly,
this point in the season is of paramount importance to
the club. Your club, This is your team. You are
a Houston Astro and you have been a part of them,
putting some good offensive games together, putting some wins together,
and putting themselves in good position with ten more games
to go. I mean, how do you feel about just
that simplicity and what I say, Zach Cole is a
(03:22):
Major League baseball player, he's an astro.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Well, it doesn't sound horrible, I will be honest with you,
but you know, just being able to play for a
team that has such a winning tradition, a really competitive team,
and a close race here in the end, it's just
awesome to be able to play some really competitive baseball
against some of the best players in the world.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
And it's true for the little kid in me, and
I'm just very blessed for the opportunity.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
There's no doubt you've had already some meaningful conversations with
people in the organization, coaches, etc. But obviously your new teammates,
both as you prepare for games and clearly to everybody
that can see right there in the hut, are out
there in the field. Are there a couple of things
that you've been told or had gotten a little guidance
from from from a couple of teammates that stand out
here early in your career.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Like I said, there's a lot of veterans on this team,
a lot of veteran presence, a lot of guys that
have you know, been in league for a long time.
We got All Stars, We've got Gold Glovers, you know,
we got you know, and a lot of these guys
also have World Series rings. So I mean there's a
lot of experience on this team and for a guy.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Like me to come in and just be a sponge
and kind.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Of just you know, turn my ears on, just listen
to what they have to say, take as much advice
as I can.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
A main thing for my debut day was just beyond time.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Smile and breeze and everything's going to be all right.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
So that's that's the one thing I would say that's
stuck with me the most.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
It's five games in.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
It's only five games in.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Do you feel any differently at the ballpark today than
you did for Game one, or Game three or Game
five yesterday?
Speaker 2 (04:57):
I think the initial shock is starting to wear off
a little bit. Obviously, the first couple of days before
my debut, I couldn't really eat or sleep that much.
I had so much adrenaline racing through me. Since that point,
but since then obviously kind of settled it into the
you know, the big league routine of our schedule and
(05:17):
what it looks like, and every day I feel like
it's just a little bit easier, so slowly putting the
pieces together, but obviously still a kid, and still just
really getting used to playing in this atmosphere and playing
with a lot of great players.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
It's it's awesome.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
We're talking to Zach Cole here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (05:35):
They were talking about that on the television side of
the broadcast the other night. How you weren't able to eat?
What I mean, you're what twenty four to twenty five.
You can eat whatever you want and not have it
affect you. What's a what's a pregame meal? What's your
eating habits on a day game or are on a
day where you have a game that starts the traditional
seven o'clockish start time, Oh well, you know.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Getting to the field around you know, in between the
one and two o'clock hour, so you know, eat some
breakfast and then maybe grab a quick a small lunch
before you head to the field. And you know, they
obviously have you know, great cooks here, like a full
kitchen staff and everything. So I kind of just eat,
(06:17):
you know, after bat in practice whatever they make. But
they have great food here. I mean, it's it's awesome
the resources in the big leagues or no joke for sure.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Do you think anything's changed significantly for you offensively? Starting
the year in Corpus you had some success there obviously,
to the point that you got a promotion less than
a month ago of fifteen games with the in Houston
so to speak, with the Sheerland Space Cowboys, and things
really took off from there. You were just basically red
hot from moment one and then here it has seemingly
(06:47):
continued over the course of this season in those three places.
Has anything really changed for you or if you just
felt comfortable all year or things any different, you know,
the last month.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Or so, I don't know, if I don't know if
comfort is the word I used. You know, hitting is
really hard, and it's an up and down. It's an
up and down saying. Everybody who knows baseball knows how
difficult it is. And you know there are just certain
things you have to worry about and that you can control,
and a lot of the outcome of hitting is not
up to you. So I would say it's been a
(07:18):
lot of adjustments, you know, made mentally and physically. The
Astros have a great farm system with a lot of
great coaches that have you know, helped me make the
adjustments I needed to make, and it's a testament to them,
you know, for me to be here is it's a
win for them as well, just because it shows that
their farm system, you know, can help a guy who
might be struggling in double A to make some small
(07:40):
adjustments and start letting his game, in his.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Athleticism play on a more consistent basis.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
So I would say those adjustments that I made and
Corpus and in sugar Land are definitely helping me right now.
Speaker 5 (07:52):
Well, because there's been so many young contributors to this
twenty twenty five Astros campaign, and you're just the latest.
We've found ourselves asking this similar question. A lot you
know about the veterans in that clubhouse, but specifically, what's
it like when you walk in there and you and
you look across the way and you see Jose Altuve
and what not only what he's meant to this franchise,
(08:15):
but how he became what he is now and how
many conversations have you been able to have with him
in the brief time you've been up there about just
anything you know on the major league level related.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
You know, it's it's crazy.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
You know, you feel like a little kid every day
when you walk in there. I said it the other
night on on MLB Network, but it's, uh, you want
to go up there and you want to be a kid.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
You want to ask them for their autograph and tell
him how big of a fan you are.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
And the same thing. You know, when you get on
base and you're looking at Matt Olsen or an Ausie
Albi's or a Jake Berger last night and you get
to talk to those guys that you've been watching on
TV for years, it's just you want to be the
little kid comes out in you. You know, you idolize
those guys. You hoxton play, you learn from them, and
now you're you know, you're on base talking to him,
(09:03):
while you're you're in the clubhouse talking now to Bay
and you know they're great guys. They're all really approachable
for especially a young guy. That's all been very congratulatory
towards me, towards my promotion, wishing me health and success
in the future. And it's just an amazing experience to
be able to talk to them and learn from them.
And they're all great guys, great baseball players, so it's
(09:27):
a dream come true.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
What did Jake Berger say to you?
Speaker 2 (09:31):
So, Jake actually went to Missouri State and I would
actually watch him play while he was in college while
I was going to high school when I was in
high school in Missouri.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
So I actually talked to him a little bit about that.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
He said he noticed that I was from that area,
So we kind of talked a little bit about that
and a little bit about the area just for.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
A second last night.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Wasn't over there for too long, but just kind of
connecting about, you know, a commonplace we've had, you know,
in our baseball And he's a great dude, he really is.
Speaker 5 (10:02):
And are you or your parents or anybody in your
family big fans of the Ozark television show that was
on Netflix.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
I don't think any of us are any of us
have seen that, but we've heard and a lot of
the guys have definitely asked me about that if the
show is actually what it's like out there. We joke
around about it all the time, but I don't think
any of us are too big a fan of the show.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
No ye, it's pretty heavy the content there, So I'll
leave you that as a warning.
Speaker 5 (10:31):
Hey, Zach, we appreciate the time, good luck the rest
of the way, and go ahead and hit another one tonight.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Right, Thank you guys so much for having me on
the show. I appreciate it and God bless you guys.
Go Astros.
Speaker 4 (10:43):
Absolutely same to you, Zach.
Speaker 5 (10:44):
Cole here on Sports Talk seven ninety will react to
that more when we come back
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I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
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