Down Blue In Toronto, Up High In Houston with Texans Hitting Reset?

Wex and AC react to a stunning blown loss to the Blue Jays in the great white north, the Texans' moves in free agency and more! Plus, Eddie Nunez joins the boys in the 4pm hour after Jayden Murray secures a spot in the seat on Hour 1

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
The two lifelong Houston sports guys named Adham.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Raised my girl.

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Nolan volted by the magnificent roller coaster ride that is
there is Houston sports chill age down for the only
home grown afternoon team is talking. Your teams Adam Clinton

(00:30):
and Adam Wexler are the A team.

Speaker 3 (00:35):
All the one one and that is lined in the
left center field for a Bashi that'll score a Henament
Clement around third and coming home.

Speaker 4 (00:48):
The photo to play by bubon on a hope it
gets past the catcher Diaz. Clement slides in safely. Runners
go to second and third and the Blue Jays have
tied it at three one. Two takes off balls grounded
right side, diving stop by Walker.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
Throw a home not nearly in time.

Speaker 4 (01:05):
Strass slides in and the Blue Jays win at four
to three. In ten, Tyler Heineman mob to the right
of second base RBI fielder's choice wins it. Blue Jays
score two in the ninth to tie it and then

(01:26):
win it in the tenth. Astros suffer their seventh loss
in their last ten games.

Speaker 5 (01:33):
Wanted to give you every single moment of the final
moments of last night's lost by the Astros to the
Blue Jays, two run lead, three batters into the game,
two run lead into the bottom of the ninth inning.
Brian Abreu has had a very very bad habit which
has been talked about here on the show from the
moment his season began.

Speaker 6 (01:54):
He likes to walk the lead off hitter.

Speaker 5 (01:55):
He likes to walk the first batter he faces at
almost two times as high array as any other batter
he faces at any moment in any game he's pitched
the entire season. Well, that's one of the runners that
came home to score. The single he gave up to
Clement provided the other runner that came home to score
in the ninth inning, and Craig Kimberrel in a ridiculously
tough position in the tenth inning, allows three batters to

(02:18):
get the ball out of the infield zero times, but
there's already a runner on second. The Astros don't make
a play on one of them. And that's all she wrote.
Both of the teams chasing the Astros, as you know
by now, we're winners last night. One of them is
already playing. That's the Texas Rangers. They haven't scored yet.
And the other team they're playing has so they're losing currently,

(02:40):
but very early in that game. As the Astros go
into play this evening, giving the ball to Jason Alexander.
With a one game lead in the American League West
over the Mariners, a two and a half game lead
over the Texas Rangers, it would take both of those teams,
or one of those teams plus somebody else in American
League Wild card race to passed the Astros to keep

(03:03):
the Astros from making the postseason, and one of those
other teams could be a couple of other teams. Both
Kansas City and Cleveland, like Texas, are in the midst
of a winning streak and rising closer to the Astros
or anybody else in this postseason chase. Seventeen games remaining,
and the Astros continue to play a long, long stretch

(03:24):
of this season, now more than a third of a
Major League Baseball season as a team way below five hundred,
one of the worst teams in baseball if you go
by record over the last fifty five games, which is
more than one third of a baseball season. That's why
they are where they are as we begin our discussion today.

Speaker 7 (03:42):
And you didn't even talk about the worst part of
the night last night.

Speaker 6 (03:45):
You would think that would be it.

Speaker 5 (03:47):
I mean, individually speaking, that was worse than anything that
happened to the team. But I don't consider I mean,
maybe I'm heartless, but I just don't think that impacts
the team in the way the game went.

Speaker 6 (04:00):
How many games you're gonna win?

Speaker 5 (04:01):
I don't know.

Speaker 6 (04:01):
Ten, okay, twenty, Well, those are the games you have
to win.

Speaker 5 (04:05):
They didn't. Well, that's Luis Scarci is gonna pitch four
more times, three more times.

Speaker 6 (04:10):
Do you think he is? No, if he doesn't get hurt,
he's hurt.

Speaker 8 (04:14):
Not.

Speaker 5 (04:15):
The biggest story of the game for me is what
I'm saying, Well, he's gonna contribute three more times this
year if he's healthy.

Speaker 6 (04:22):
Right.

Speaker 5 (04:22):
So, while it's personally awful and a gut punch to
the team and more of the same for this ridiculously
injury riddled season and sad for Luis bigger picture for
the final seventeen games, the heartless cold Wexler says, losing
the game is worse.

Speaker 7 (04:40):
Yeah, my bigger picture is looking beyond this season, because
this season's done. I mean, seriously, they could make the playoffs,
they could even win the division. Still, I don't think
this team's doing anything. And even if they were gonna
do something, they're gonna have to cobble it together because
if he's, if he's as hurt as it looks like
he is, who is your rotation? And I get it,

(05:01):
it's short series and all that kind of stuff in
the postseason, But like said, that guy, of all the
guys that have come back from that injury, was pitching
the best in his brief time.

Speaker 6 (05:13):
That's the crazy part, right, And to me, who's your rotation?

Speaker 5 (05:16):
We talk about it all the time and I keep
saying the same thing, and yesterday's injury doesn't change it.
It doesn't matter. It's the same guys. Who do you
not trust? All Right, we'll give him the ball, doesn't matter.
We don't have anybody else. Yeah, they don't have anybody
whoever gets the ball in whatever games that aren't pitched
by from ber Valdez and Hunter Brown as somebody you
don't trust. That's okay, that's who they have. Jason Alexander

(05:36):
in a playoff game. He can continue doing what he's
been doing all regular season long. I'm not gonna say, sweet,
Jason Alexander is starting in our playoff game. Same thing
with Javier, same thing with Ragetty, had he not gotten
hurt for the rest of the year, Same thing with
Luis Garcia, had he not gotten hurt for the rest
of the year.

Speaker 6 (05:50):
I mean, maybe it's getting worse.

Speaker 5 (05:51):
And worse the more names I give you, because at
some point you're getting to somebody, wouldn't I mean, aj
Blueball is in line potentially to start a playoff game
for the Astros. I mean, for real, a JJ is
in line to start a playoff game for the Astros
if he can help get them there, and that's what
it's all about. I'm never ever gonna call for what
many many others are. I do see who they are.

(06:12):
I do see how they lose. I do see the
deficients that they have, the efficiencies that they have. They're
not the other teams in the playoffs. Most likely, the
way that the Astras have played this year, they're probably
the worst team in the playoffs based on how they've
been playing, Based on the roster they're going to take
to the playoffs, should they be one of the twelve,
not just the six in the American League. If they're

(06:34):
one of the twelve, I think you would probably argue
they're the worst outfit at the time the playoffs begin
with who's not available for them and how they've been
playing baseball. And again, I can't help but look at
this ridiculous comeback from one hundred games of absence that
Jordan Alvarez has put together. He had another three hit game,
and it could not have impacted how they scored and

(06:55):
played any less. It just has not impacted this team
and the way you would expect it to. When someone
batting near the top of your order is constantly. Nobody
in baseball gets on base half of the time. He's
gotten on base more than half of the time in
the thirteen games he has played, He's sitting well over
four hundred. In the thirteen games he's played, his average

(07:18):
went up again. And in order to get your average
to go up, you have to have a multi hit game.
When you're batting four to ten going into the game.
He keeps doing that. They're just not finding enough other
players to do that, and every other team knows it.

Speaker 7 (07:32):
Are you of the opinion because I kind of, I mean,
you can call it extreme, but there's seventeen games left
and it's it's as much about it and I know
this is gonna sound crazy to me. It's as much
about Seattle as it is about the Astros, because even
though I'm saying this as they just got done not
being able to take advantage of a huge stretch in

(07:53):
which the Astros were doing what they always do, which
is play with their food. This season, they're the time
is running out for the Astros to just kind of
stave them off and hope they lose on the nights
the Astros win, or hope they also lose whenever the
Astros inevitably can't get it done for whatever reason. Last
night was excruciating because of the manner in which it happened,

(08:15):
But it's not all dissimilar from what the Astros have
done this entire time, not score enough runs to where
it's not even an issue in a bray you. I
think that might be the only thing that kind of
stands out, because a bray You has been pretty nails
for most of this year, regardless of the role. And
I know he's in a different role now than he
was before Josh Hater got hurt.

Speaker 6 (08:35):
But the Astros.

Speaker 7 (08:36):
Offense is what made what happened even possible, because even
though they scored three runs, Like, would.

Speaker 5 (08:43):
You say the same thing if he blew a two
run lead and it was nine to seven.

Speaker 6 (08:47):
H No, And here's why. But you should win a game, I.

Speaker 7 (08:51):
Know, from the standpoint of the amount of run differential.

Speaker 6 (08:55):
But if you score, to do is protected, you know,
to run.

Speaker 7 (08:59):
But if the Astros have ward seven runs that night,
there's a there's a million other different reasons why they
lost to even get to that point in my opinion,
I mean, I know what you're saying, and it's it's
mathematically accurate, but that's just different to me than all right,
it's three to one, let's see if they can hang
onto this. All right, they've tied it up. That's not great,
but come on, no, now you're gonna lose this game too.

Speaker 5 (09:20):
Yeah, it's you know, the blame game, can be sure
it is, but how they're losing, they it's a trickle
down effect, much more so from a pitching standpoint now
than it's ever been at any point this season from
an injury. When you're looking at it at injuries they've had,
I would say their foremost productive hitters all missed significant
time this year, at least a month each. Perettis Alvarez

(09:41):
Pana Myers. As the twenty twenty four season twenty five
season took place, those are to me their foremost productive hitters,
even though al Tuve over the course of the year
could argue he might fit in there, maybe over Jake,
But they've missed so much time and you're still sitting
where you are. Your offense was back with them, Your
offense is bad without them. Your offense waste opportunities with them.

(10:03):
They waste opportunities without them. This I just don't see
much of a difference when they're out there, even though
there should be a dramatic difference when they're out there.
And again, having them all mixed bits and pieces of
the season certainly clouds what you're trying to say, what
I'm trying to say. But when Josh Hater got hurt,
that was different. You had all these other starting pitchers
get hurt, and they found a way, and you had

(10:25):
enough depth to get your terrible court Colton Gordon's out
there and give aj blueball the ball, and find Brandon
Walter and find Jason Alexander, and then you found a
way to get you through the season to the point
where you were in first place. The entire time, and
then Bennett Sussa also got hurt. You spent about one
hundred and fifteen games with four healthy, trustworthy back end,

(10:49):
high leverage relievers, King Susa, Abreu Hater. They were healthy
most of the entire season, and then two of the
four fifty percent of the guy you want to give
the ball to in a pocket in the seventh and
a pocket in the eighth to close the game out
in the ninth, to have one of them still available
in the tenth or the eleventh because you haven't used
all four, and you cut that in half, And not

(11:11):
only do you cut down the quantity of quality pictures
you have at the end, you have to change the
role for those pitchers at the end. The moment Hater
went down, well, Susa might get an opportunity, and you
could pitch a brave here. It wasn't even automatic that
a brave he's getting every single closing opportunity. And then
Susa went down, and it was and it should be.
Of course, he deserves these opportunities. The more he fails,

(11:32):
the more you have to consider, do we have to
rethink this? And he has failed pretty dramatically overall. When
he pitches in the ninth inning. He's a totally different pitcher.
I can't ignore the numbers. I wish it weren't the case,
but it absolutely is. This season. He's given up multiple
runs in and outing six times this year, and five
of them have come when he's come into a game

(11:52):
in the ninth inning. One of them has come when
he started in any other inning the eighth to seventh whatever,
one time in fifty games, five times in the other
fourteen games. That's that's just a little bit too beyond coincidental,
and it's unfortunate. And that's why I point to last
night's game specifically. I don't really care how you got there.
I don't care that you only got five outs from

(12:13):
your starter. I don't care if you took blue ball
out too early. I don't care if Enniel de los
Santos finally didn't have it in a game. It's three
to one in the bottom of the ninth and one
of the best stuff hardest to hit relievers is on
the mound for you. That cannot be a loss.

Speaker 6 (12:30):
Yeah, I was talking.

Speaker 7 (12:30):
I was texting somebody last night and it's like a
three to one lead in the ninth inning with one out,
by the way, should be enough to win the game.

Speaker 5 (12:39):
And I was told correct after he did. He didn't
get an out before anybody. He walked the first batter,
He had two runners on with nobody out.

Speaker 7 (12:47):
Yeah, it was not The whole thing was not ideal,
especially when you're trying to fight off not one, but
two teams.

Speaker 6 (12:53):
So, yeah, it's not great.

Speaker 7 (12:56):
I don't even even some of the things we were
talking about yesterday, I don't don't even feel as good
about because I just this team has just shown that
that's what it is this season. They find ways to
lose games they shouldn't lose, and then they don't win
enough of the games, especially against lesser competition, especially lately,
that they just have to win in order to do

(13:17):
what we're talking about, which is stave off a team that's.

Speaker 6 (13:20):
I don't even I don't want to call them red hot.

Speaker 7 (13:22):
I don't even know how to refer to the Mariners
because it's not like they've been on this scalding hot
streak they just have.

Speaker 5 (13:27):
They're not red hot at all. Yeah, they're winning a
little bit more often than Houston does. They lose a
lot on the road and they win a lot at home,
and they have eleven of their seventeen games remaining at home,
and the Astros have eleven of their seventeen games remaining
not at home.

Speaker 6 (13:43):
Not ideal, but they.

Speaker 7 (13:44):
Do play each other, and it's here if you want
some sort of slight silver lining. So that will be
a huge topic obviously, the Texans will as well, and
a whole lot more on a Wednesday edition of the program.

Speaker 1 (13:58):
The A Team on Sports seven ninety.

Speaker 7 (14:13):
It is the eight team Sports Sox seven ninety Wednesday
edition of the program. Astros lose in excruciating fashion last night.
As Wex mentioned, the Arrangers are playing right now. They
have cut the lead in half. It's now two to
one Milwaukee, as the Brewers in Arlington looking to I
don't even know, help out the Astros is the way,

(14:35):
like the Mariners are the more pressing situation seeing us
out after last night's whole thing went down. The Mariners
are now within one game of the Astros.

Speaker 6 (14:46):
You mentioned the juxtapost schedules.

Speaker 7 (14:49):
Where the Mariners are going to play eleven of their
final seventeen at home, where they're actually a I would say,
if not elite, very good team, and they're just they
can't win on the road, like to save their lives.
But the fact that that series here in Houston is
in Houston towards the end of the season or at
least in the next coming days, where the Astros could

(15:10):
like make a direct hit on this, you know, team
that's trying to hunt them down, doesn't give me a
lot of confidence because just because the narratives match up
and the Mariners aren't as good on the road and
they're gonna be on the road in Houston, what about
this season has gone any way as far as predictability
The Astros way like none of it has. The injuries

(15:32):
that's like its own category, and we saw another one
last night, But nothing has really gone according to plan
in like fifty different directions you want to point when
it comes to the twenty twenty five Houston Astros.

Speaker 5 (15:43):
Astros should have dominated the season series with Seattle, but
what happened yesterday in the Blue Jays game has happened
a couple of times in games against the Mariners, and
that's why we really where we are. Where we are
with the Mariners specifically, you could have a three or
four game lead if that series season series have just
gone the way that the first eight or seven and
a half for nine innings, it looked like they were
going to go for Houston. It just didn't work out

(16:03):
that way.

Speaker 9 (16:04):
Bray.

Speaker 5 (16:04):
It was at fault for multiple of those games that
they were in position seemingly to win and just simply
couldn't do it. They had the five to nothing lead
in one of them, and then a six to four
lead after they gave four runs back to the Mariners.
Just didn't weren't able to put those away. The Mariners
and Rangers are both really good at home, both better
than Houston at home. Obviously, that means they're both worse

(16:26):
than Houston on the road, but it's also a little
bit of how they're playing. The Rangers have had a
reasonable share of injuries most of the season. It's not
like they've been unbelievably healthy, but I don't think they
were hit hard by injuries until recently. You got one
of the five best starting pitchers in the American League
who's out for the season, has missed his last couple
of starts because of it, Native Aldi. You got both

(16:47):
Corey Seeger and Marcus Simeon their billion dollar infield sitting
on the sidelines. Also on the al and Adolas Garcia
is also with them, and yet mister Nobody, followed by
John Nobody who's batting behind also Nobody.

Speaker 6 (17:01):
They just keep finding a way to win.

Speaker 5 (17:02):
You get grand slammed from a guy who's batting for
the first time ever as a major leaguer with the
bases loaded, he hits one over the fence. You know,
Freeman and Hellman and a bunch of other players that
just really weren't a part of what the Rangers have
done this year, but now they have to be because
nobody else is available and they're finding a way to
stay in this race six games over five hundred now
because they're pitching has continued to be very, very good,

(17:25):
and their hitting is what they weren't doing at the
beginning of the season, which was not nearly enough. Now
they're doing just enough, and in the Mariner's case, it
just seemed like a matter of time with some of
the moves they've made that they would find a way.
They're very much like the Yankees if you hadn't noticed.
They hit home runs, and a lot of them, and
it's how they score a lot of their runs. You
got a three run homer from a Rose Arena. Last night,
you got another home run from Josh Naylor. They obviously

(17:47):
got Anio Suarez back because all he does is hit
home runs. And clearly they got a guy with fifty
plus big dumper. So there are nights where it looks
like they're doing absolutely positively nothing. But they got four
guys that are gona hit the ball over the fence.
The Astros have one, they have yor Don Alvarez. Maybe
they just don't have enough of that punch. And too

(18:09):
many times it's not even that the guys are up
there and not getting it done, it's the manner in
which they're not getting it done. You know, the non
productive outs have plagued this team, I think as much
as the just simply not getting hits, and they're batting averagers,
runners in scoring position. If you're up with less than
two outs, stop striking out on pitches out of the zone.
If you're you know there's runners on base less than

(18:31):
two outs, well hit behind the runner, just make contact,
don't go back to the dugout after a pop up.
I mean the amount of times they have done that,
and it's been documented on Walker and Diaz's case more
than any other. I was pointing this out to somebody
on the social media, going a little bit back and forth,
because well, I still want to push back at those
who think, man, when this season's over, they got to

(18:52):
move on from they got to move on from the
strength of performance group check, they got to move on
from their hitting coaches. I don't know they got to
move on from Joe Spota. He just not it. And
I very very much push back on that. Here's who's
been healthy all year, your least productive, streakiest hitters. He's
been hurt all ye who's been hurt all year? You're
good hitters. What is he supposed to do? This is

(19:14):
who Dana has provided him. This is who he and
Dana have decided to outfit the twenty six or twenty
eight man roster. And that's who he has to put
in his lineup every day, a bunch of guys who
unexpectedly might come through or more than likely will not
come through, because that's who he has. It is disposal.

Speaker 6 (19:31):
You can't.

Speaker 7 (19:31):
I mean, if you want to like start quibbling about
x's and o's and strategy and all that with regards
to Joe Aspata, then pick a different season.

Speaker 6 (19:38):
Because I just if you want.

Speaker 5 (19:39):
To call you mean his other season, the only other season.
He just isn't it after two years you already know this.

Speaker 7 (19:45):
Well, that's what I'm saying, Like, you got to move
on from this one and see how it goes if
you if you want to truly judge him on that
kind of stuff, because you can't. You can't even get
to that conversation. With the amount, the sheer amount of
injuries that the Astros have dealt with, It's not like, oh,
they've had They've had.

Speaker 6 (20:02):
An inordinate amount of injuries. It's been insane.

Speaker 7 (20:04):
I don't know that there's ever been an Astro season
in the history of the team that's had this many
injuries to key players.

Speaker 5 (20:09):
Yeah, sants research, I rubber stamp that. I've been saying
it for a while.

Speaker 6 (20:13):
It's take one. There's no way They're just there's just
simply is no way.

Speaker 7 (20:16):
Like I'd be willing to almost bet without looking that's
how bad it's been.

Speaker 5 (20:19):
I don't remember any season and I've been following the
Astros for more than a couple more than I have,
more than most people around, and seeing as I've been
here further nearly their entire existence, I don't think I
ever went through an exercise as a youth or as
a member of the working media, saying, man, I think
how good the Astros injured team would be this year

(20:42):
and have no problem filling out.

Speaker 6 (20:43):
The entire one.

Speaker 5 (20:45):
Yeah, and entire, not just a starting rotation or a bullpen,
an entire pitching staff and an entire offense that, while
it would, you would not. I couldn't use Altou the
he's been healthy all year. I couldn't use this player.
I couldn't use Christian Walker, I couldn't use yinrd H,
couldn't use Christian Walker, yin er ds. We hate not
to be able to use them. And all this being said,

(21:07):
it's probably worthwhile. The other little mistakes that continue to
get made, well, they get magnified when you get to
this point the season and the lead is shrunk to
where it is, and the margin for aeron any given
game is where it is. So I'll have a little
time to spend on that. We will hear from Dana Brown.
He made his weekly visit on the station earlier. This
morning's weekly visit on the Sean Salisbury Show nine thirty

(21:27):
on Wednesdays, we'll give some of that interview to you
at three o'clock. Eddie Nounyez, the vice president of athletics
over at the University of Houston, will join us on
the phone at four o'clock in advance of their big
Friday night matchup with the Colorado Buffalo's inside the Big twelve.
And right after this break, we're gonna be joined by
Astro's pitcher Jaden Murray, part of a push to get

(21:51):
this team to the postseason. He joins us on the
phones next.

Speaker 1 (21:56):
The aged on Sports Talk seven ninety in his.

Speaker 7 (22:12):
The A Team Sports Sox seven to ninety. We'll be
on Space City Home Network at the top of the hour.
Adam Clanton here, Adam Wesler over there and has promised
joined by Astro's pitcher Jaden Murray, who it's a limited resume, admittedly,
but in a season like this, Jaden, it hardly surprises
me that you've already been able to contribute to the team.

(22:34):
Have you ever we were just talking about this last segment.
Have you ever seen anything like the amount of injuries
both pitchers and otherwise to a team like the Astros
here in twenty twenty five.

Speaker 10 (22:45):
Man, I have not, But I mean wish the best
lots of these guys to get healthy and back on
the field and have a fast recovery.

Speaker 6 (22:54):
Does it feel like it's like that every day?

Speaker 7 (22:55):
I mean last night Luis Garcia the latest example, and
and obviously the way things went down last night not
a way you would want to lose a game, not
that there's any good way to lose a game, but
what was the clubhouse like following his departure.

Speaker 10 (23:12):
We wish the best of luck for Garcia and stuff.
It was tough to see him come out of there.
I mean when I was down to Srreland, he came
down and was rehabing down there, and he was looking great,
you know, and just to see that happen just it
was not something we wanted to see. Maroleser high for
him and we're just wishing the best of luck and
past recovery.

Speaker 5 (23:29):
You mentioned something right there, Jaden, down in sugar Land.
This is your first major league call up, and you
come into a clubhouse during the season, seemingly with plenty
of people you've played with over the course of time,
and those guys have been up and down you've been
now with your opportunity here, was there a little comfort
coming into this clubhouse at the major league level in

(23:50):
season just a little over a week ago for you,
just that you knew some people there.

Speaker 10 (23:56):
Yeah, it was good to see some some familiar faces.
That's good friends down here and made the transition a
little easier. But I mean, all these guys are great
and they both deal with open arms, and I just
couldn't think of them.

Speaker 5 (24:08):
Enough when you kind of look at your path to
arriving with the Astros, a little bit of a split
here in the minor league system with the Astros and
obviously where you were initially upon being drafted. Was there
much of a difference with how the teams you've been
with have worked with you and your arsenal and trying
to get the best from you.

Speaker 10 (24:30):
It's been about the same everywhere. The Astros have helped
me a lot this last year forst year being a
reliever and stuff like that. Coaching has been great with me,
helping me, you know, get into the routine of being
a reliever, and it's just been a good transition.

Speaker 5 (24:45):
It's always going to be exciting when you you know,
you work your whole life to get to the major
league level and it happens more exciting when your family's there.
I imagine tell me about you, your first appearance and
all the everything that went into it, and having the
ability to get everyone out there to come see you.

Speaker 10 (25:00):
Yeah, it was. It was a rush to get everybody
out there. I mean from a small town in Utah.
So travel isn't easy. They had to book a flight
last second. But I was glad they could make it
out there, and to see them in the stands, it
was a surreal filling But yeah it was. It was
good travel for them, and I'm glad they made it.

Speaker 5 (25:18):
So when you say small town, I guess the question
I have to ask is how small.

Speaker 10 (25:24):
Oh we're out in the middle of northeast corner of Utah,
Vernal about ten thousand populations, so pretty small.

Speaker 6 (25:34):
So is this like Saint George, Utah.

Speaker 10 (25:37):
Nope, Vernal, Utah, Utah upright corner of Utah. Yeah, clear
across the state.

Speaker 6 (25:42):
So one stop light or two?

Speaker 10 (25:45):
Oh, we got a few. We got a few, right,
not small enough to have one?

Speaker 8 (25:49):
Right? Right?

Speaker 7 (25:50):
You came from a place that used to be called
Dixie State and now it's called Utah Tech. I can't
imagine a ton of scouts. We're out there. So how
are you discovered.

Speaker 10 (26:04):
There were scouts here and there? Talk to a couple,
but they definitely helped me our head coach down there
in the Utah Tech. You know, just going day to time,
just pitching and enjoying time. Senior year. You know, I
thought that was my last year ball, but everything worked out.
That could have been more grateful.

Speaker 5 (26:24):
How did you kind of lock in on on your opportunity? Uh,
it just happens to come against the Yankees. It obviously
comes in a a in a situation not long after
you've gotten the call up here. This team you're on
is trying to win games, and you, I mean from afar,
he looked cool as a cucumber firing bbi's at Aaron
Judge and Cody Bellinger, I mean at the zone while

(26:46):
they were at the plate, not literally at them, But
you seemed relaxed and locked in on what you were doing.
How did you feel like you were doing out there?

Speaker 10 (26:55):
Seems so good? Talk to Mr from the bullpen and
you know he told me just go to and I
stuck with that plan, just focused on the catcher and
just went out there and you know, attacked them. Just
trusted my stuff and and everything worked out, And yeah,
I mean turn around and seeing the defensive players that
have behind me, you know, al To Apainia, Krea Myers

(27:17):
and Center. I mean, it was just it was a
good feeling to have those guys behind me and defending everything,
and it makes it tough not to just go out
there and battle and compete.

Speaker 7 (27:27):
You rattled off some big names there, and obviously we
have had several young pitchers on the show over the
course of the season, and we asked them kind of
a similar question every single time. What is it like
not only coming into this year's clubhouse, but just that
Astros clubhouse, the reputation it probably had preceding your time
in it, and seeing some of those veterans that you've

(27:49):
probably seen from afar, what's it like being with them
every day and interacting and what have you learned from
maybe some of them?

Speaker 10 (27:55):
I mean, these guys are awesome, just some morale in
the locker room every day. It's been good, you know,
teaching me some stuff, talking to me, just keeping me
calm during the big day and and I mean I
can't think of enough. They've been awesome and just welcoming,
and yeah, it's been good.

Speaker 7 (28:15):
So as you got you know, seventeen games left. You know,
we talked about the fact that last night didn't go
the way you wanted it to. The best part about
baseball is there's usually a game the next day to
try and put that behind you. But is that is
that kind of the mood of the team or what
was the mood of the team after a loss last night,
especially the way it unfolded?

Speaker 10 (28:34):
Yeah, you just you you said the best. I mean,
Merril has been high. You know, you got to take
a day at the time. Loss wasn't easy, but we've
got a game today, focused on today's game and got
to move on.

Speaker 6 (28:46):
Yeah, Adam was asking you.

Speaker 5 (28:48):
We got Jake Murray here with us on Sports Talk
seven ninety Astros reliever. He was asking you about some
of the things as you you're you know, harnessing your
stuff and working your way to the majors. You are
part of the Rays organization the cod season, when the
Astros and Rays got together in the postseason and that
seven game ALCS just curious what was twenty twenty like
for you as a early in your professional career with

(29:10):
the season the way it was for a minor league
and secondarily I asked, were you at all paying attention
to your parent club playing against the Astros that deep
into the postseason.

Speaker 10 (29:21):
Yeah, cod Covid was tough.

Speaker 8 (29:23):
You know.

Speaker 10 (29:23):
That was my first would have been my first spring training.
We showed up and they pulled us all in and say, hey,
flying everybody home, it'll be a couple of weeks and
you'll be back. And obviously that didn't work out, you know,
and training from home, trying to stay locked in and
ready just in case. But yes, I did watch games,

(29:45):
tried to stay locked in as best as I could,
you know, how to work a little bit when I
was back home, and but it wasn't easy.

Speaker 6 (29:51):
It's a season.

Speaker 5 (29:52):
We've talked to so many guys who were here at
the time, and obviously it feels like from a pitching
standpoint more than any other, just stunted so many guys
professional growth, not being able to work with the team.
But you're here now, and you're talking about earlier being
in the in the bullpen, talking to Murph and obviously
having conversations with the coaches. Is there a guy or
two among the Astros bullpen arms you're out there with
every single day you've leaned on more than another.

Speaker 10 (30:15):
Oh yeah, fran Kean talked to him a lot. Steven
Oker talk to him a lot, you know, kind of
go for them for advice and everything like that, and
they've been super helpful. And then my roommate AJ and Blueball,
you know, we've been with him all year, sugar line
and stuff. He's been up and down and it's good
to get to experience this with him. And but yeah,

(30:37):
they've been very helpful.

Speaker 5 (30:39):
So your two major league appearances maybe up against AJ's
appearance yesterday, are you going to him and say, man,
your stuff looks really good, and he's going up to
you and say, no, no, man, your stuff, your stuff looks
very good.

Speaker 10 (30:50):
I mean, he's been doing it. He's a good guy,
you know, and we've got along since day one, and
it's just it's good to have him up here.

Speaker 8 (30:58):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (30:59):
I think we had him on last week.

Speaker 7 (31:00):
If not, it was two weeks ago, I'm not sure exactly,
but he he seemed to have the same kind of
he's a great guy. I mean, he feels like he's
one of the more positive guys to be around. Is
that kind of your take on him, since you guys
seem to be close.

Speaker 10 (31:14):
Oh, Yeah, best guy ever, I mean, super down to earth.
He's just positive guy. And Steve be around and talk
to and yeah it's good.

Speaker 5 (31:23):
Yeah, Dixie State product and you dub Milwaukee product throwing
baseballs for the first place team in the American League West.
Everybody knew that would be the case, Jadeen. We certainly
appreciate the time, look forward to seeing you. I have
a feeling we might even see you in a few
hours there in Toronto with how the bullpen was used yesterday.
So best of luck to you the rest of the way,
and certainly appreciate the time.

Speaker 2 (31:44):
Well, thank you, guys, appreciate it.

Speaker 8 (31:45):
Thanks for having me.

Speaker 6 (31:46):
You got it, Piers.

Speaker 5 (31:48):
Maybe things are getting up a little more exciting there
in the Astros clubhouse. They get a little bit closer
to you know, first pitch. But certainly appreciate Jayden's time here.
It's just those two appearances obviously, the first one there
at home in Houston against the Yankees. Mentioned some of
the foes he was up against there, and it's been
the same story in both of his two appearances. And

(32:09):
it's what it's the number one job. It seems so easy.
It's certainly easy for an outsider like myself to say so,
and I know social media says it louder than anybody.
You got a pump strikes when you are coming out
of the bullpen, and he has done.

Speaker 7 (32:22):
That, sending Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger in succession back
to the dugout as your astro's debut can't hurt either.
I'm sure he's a little bit of a fan favorite
after doing that. Good to catch up with Jaden Murray.
And it's not the only Astros member of the organization
we'll be hearing from. We'll replay a little bit of
what Dana Brown had to say earlier on the station

(32:42):
that's coming up at the top of next hour. In
the meantime, plenty more to get to here as we
continue on a Wednesday edition of the A Team The.

Speaker 2 (32:52):
AE on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 5 (32:56):
So am I extill lating full of this well too.

Speaker 7 (33:01):
Thanks again to Jaden Murray for joining us as the
Astros will try to bounce back and then some in
Toronto tonight. Just a rotten, rotten Tuesday night and rotten
ending to the way the Astros kind of I mean,
there's no other way to put it. Choked away that game,
by the way, eleven more runners left on base.

Speaker 5 (33:24):
If I'm not mistaken, I lose track because they kind
of all run together. Yeah, I was no different than
the team they played though, that's true. I mean they
basically both did the same thing. The Blue Jays were
one for nine with runners in scoring position until the
final pitch of the game.

Speaker 7 (33:38):
Then they were two for ten. That's the most baseball
thing ever. But yeah, it's funny. We talked we're talking
to Jaden Murray and then we're mentioning about aj blue Ball,
who he's close with, And these are just names you
didn't think you would be talking about this year.

Speaker 5 (33:53):
Yeah, Murray, I definitely would not have expected. For those
that don't recall, he was part of the Trey Mancini
trade a couple of seasons ago. A couple of teams involved,
through Tampa to Houston, and you know, I had pretty
good stuff. I actually thought he might have found his
way to the big league club a little bit sooner.
He's a twenty eight year old player, But as this
season unfolded, I wasn't sure he would be someone they
called on it all this year. They ultimately have and

(34:13):
he's with the team currently in blue Bos's case. I
said this throughout the year. I don't understand why he
wasn't here, not only earlier, but more especially the more
we saw of Colton Gordon. And I know blue Ball
wasn't blowing through the Triple A competition. He did not
have good numbers. I really didn't care, and I didn't

(34:34):
know why the Astros cared. And maybe there's some other
reason for it. It's pretty obvious. I've watched enough of
Gordon at the major league level in twenty twenty five.
I've watched enough of blue Ball at the major league
level in twenty twenty five. Guess which one has better stuff.
It's as simple as that. I just cannot believe how
many times they gave the ball to Gordon versus having
Bluebaugh take all of those starts. And I think moving forward,

(34:56):
the likelihood is we'll hear from the Astros either today
or tomorrow that the unfortu news with Luis Garcia at
the bare minimum is he's not going to pitch for
the team again this year. Not often is it seen
where this happens, a setback from a Tommy John related
injury and a comeback. But he was on the mount
in a major league game. When it happened and he
threw the pitch which was nowhere near the strike zone,

(35:17):
immediately gesture for the athletic training staff to come out
appeared to be pointing towards his elbow, like this is
what is the problem right now, And they didn't have
a conversation when they got out there. They took the
ball from him and they all walked off the mound.
They knew this was the end of his day. And
again he was reluctant to not speak with the media,
but he did not, I think because he was not
certain of exactly what he would say, not knowing the

(35:37):
exact diagnosis. But the likely it is he'll be unavailable
and that spot presumably is going to be filled by
aj Bluebod, and I think that will very likely be
the case. I mean, they could certainly go about it
a different way if they wanted to fiddle with the
other team's line up those days and have blue Bob
be a bolt guy and start a lefty for an

(35:59):
inning like they did earlier this year, if they really
think that's some sort of strategic advantage. But the Astros
haven't really shown the desire to go out and do that.
So I would imagine when they need to go to
the next guy in line because they're running out of
next guys in line. If AJ Blueball is here, and
especially if JP Frantz is here and he is currently here,
you may be losing a bolt guy if you send

(36:19):
blue Ball into the rotation, but at least you would
have one, if not two, because Lance mccullor's junior is
still here, and I would hope at this point in
the season you're not turning to Lance mccullor's junior to
fill a spot in the rotation anymore.

Speaker 7 (36:32):
No, because at this point, or at least the last
time we saw him, I didn't really feel comfortable turning
to him for a second inning.

Speaker 5 (36:40):
Right It's a very difficult situation for him personally, and
clearly when you're on the roster and you're on the team,
it's hurting the team by being there and not pitching
almost as much as it's hurting the team by pitching.
So it's a very tough spot for him, and the
tough spot for the pitching coaches and obviously for the manager.

Speaker 6 (36:56):
And it gets back to what would you like him
to do?

Speaker 5 (36:58):
And yesterday's game, for instance, there was some discussion I
think both on the bench in the dugout during the game,
is there another inning of work we should try to
get out of aj blueball. Any outs we get from,
whether it's the starter or in his case, a bulk reliever,
it's usually helps out the bullpen a great deal. He
ends up getting them into or through the first five innings,

(37:19):
so he got some ten outs, he goes three and
a third. He does it in such spectacularly efficient fashion.
He's only thrown forty pitches, and you could see him
talking with Miller, and I'm sure the discussion was I
don't think it was all one sided. I think it
was more about we need to make sure we're doing
the right thing for the individual and obviously for the team.
But then you turn the ball over to your bullpen,

(37:40):
and even if he gets you the three more outs,
so you need nine more outs instead of twelve more
outs to get you through the final innings, you're probably
going to give the ball to Okurt instead of del
Santos if you get to that next inning, which was
the plan already. Well, Dela Santos didn't do his job
as he normally asked, so you had to go to
Okurt a little earlier. You had to get five outs

(38:01):
out of Brian King. I don't really know that that's
related to taking blue ball out early. It's definitely not
related to needing thirty pitches from Brian A Bray. Who
that's a Brian a bra You problem. That's not a
you took the blue ball out of the game too early.
It looks awful because five more relievers were used after
blue Ball. Well, if you get one more inning out
of him, you're taking one person off that list, and

(38:22):
most likely it's De Lo Santo's. He only threw eight pitches.
He's available today, presumably. I don't think you lost anybody's
availability today because he didn't give blue ball an extra inning.
You lost a Braves availability today because he couldn't get
any outs. It's not when you took other guys out.
That's not relevant to it.

Speaker 7 (38:41):
Can I make another attempt to make Astro's fans feel
a little bit better?

Speaker 5 (38:45):
Well, I'm just trying to explain away some of the
get rid of Joe Aspota. He took blue ball out
to early on Defina exactly. It's an obvious one way
to do it, or the other. I'm just explaining the
way he did it is not in my opinion there down.

Speaker 7 (38:57):
I was just going to point to another team's dumpster
five as a means of trying to make Astros.

Speaker 6 (39:01):
Fans's who's dumpster well? I mean the Astros.

Speaker 7 (39:04):
That was clearly a choke job last night, and it
came in the most important inning considering what ended up
happening and all that, because it's the last inning. Even
though it wasn't as insane as this. I mean, at
least the Astros didn't give up nine runs in a
twelve to two loss in the seventh inning like the

(39:26):
Yankees did.

Speaker 5 (39:27):
So take those nine runs away. What's the final score?
They lose three to two?

Speaker 6 (39:31):
Yeah, yeah, I was just trying.

Speaker 5 (39:34):
I'm trying to me, Oh, let's see the meme. I
saw something about what you sa I'll find it and
we'll relay it to the people. Next second, something about
what do you say to the Yankees bullpen? It's oh,
it's from the Hockey movie with Adam Sandler, the first one.

Speaker 6 (39:50):
Oh, Happy Gilmour, the Hockey Movie.

Speaker 5 (39:52):
There you go. We will get you into a little
bit of what Dana Brown had to say earlier This
morning and into the second hour of our program hour
from now Eddie noon. He is the athletic director over
at the University of Houston. Will join us here on
the eighteen.

Speaker 2 (40:06):
The a team on Sports Talk seven.

Speaker 1 (40:09):
Ninety two lifelong Houston sports guys named at him talking
your team, Adam Clinton and Adam Wexler.

Speaker 2 (40:23):
Paul the aighteen.

Speaker 7 (40:29):
Three o'clock hour underway here on a Wednesday edition of
the program. It's Sports Talk seven to ninety It is
Space City Home Network. As we begin our simulcast, wex
over there ac right here. Cole Thompson is our producer.
And yeah, it was a rough night at the office
north of the Border for the Astros last night.

Speaker 6 (40:48):
The Blue Jays able to complete the comeback ninth inning style.
Brian A.

Speaker 7 (40:53):
Bray, you usually very reliable, although he's had his issues.
Everybody has seemingly of late, and this all coming on
the heels of Luis Garcia exiting the game.

Speaker 6 (41:03):
Was no doubt about it.

Speaker 7 (41:04):
Waving over to the dugout, hey, something's not right, pulled
himself and the next thing you knew was aj blue
Baugh and the Astros trying to hang on to a
three to one lead.

Speaker 6 (41:14):
They couldn't do that.

Speaker 7 (41:16):
The Seattle Mariners are now within a game, and it's
more of the same.

Speaker 5 (41:20):
Yeah, and again, back to the conversation, we closed out
the hour with it was five outs into the game.
You had to go to your bullpen, and they went
to their bullpen, and for the next six and a
third they kept the Blue Jays from scoring all but
one time, and that was to the best hitter in
baseball currently. George Springer hit a four hundred and fifty

(41:40):
foot home run in the midst of visit bat with
Enniel de Los Santos, who was behind in the count
and grooved a fastball that George was ready for and destroyed.
They got him to the ninth inning in a three
to one game. Bullpen as a whole, well, I don't
know what more you could ask for. It could have
been three nothing, I guess that's what more you could
ask for. But every guy that went out out there
again Delo Santos only faced three batteris. He gave up

(42:02):
three line drives, one of them was caught, but Okert
got him out of trouble, and King relieved Okurt making
sure there was no trouble. He finished his second inning
of work with no trouble, and unfortunately that on days
like that, to me, there is a math to it.

Speaker 6 (42:15):
You are playing a numbers game.

Speaker 5 (42:16):
No matter how good your bullpen is or how poor
they are, it's kind of throw it out the window.
How many guys are gonna have it? When you have
to use that many guys, the odds keep working against you.
If I get through the first eighteen outs and I
only need nine outs, I only need three guys, Well,
I only need three guys. Let's do the math on that.
One out of three, two out of three, three out
of three. Well, yesterday you needed six out of six

(42:37):
in a low scoring game. You got five out of six.
You could argue since none of the other ones gave
up runs. But Annio de los Santos, maybe you could
tell me it was four out of six because clearly
De loo Santos was not good, but did not give
up the lead, did give up one home run and
there were no more runs scored that in It was
just a brave Bray didn't have it yesterday because he
wasn't throwing strikes, and unfortunately he has allowed himself to

(42:57):
probably to gain confidence in what he's done this season.
He walks the first batter too much, make them earn it.
You're like one of the hardest pitchers to hit. And
I know it's again it's throwing strikes, throwing balls. I'm
not more on on X saying come on, dude, it's
not hard. Just throw a strike. It is hard. That's
why these guys are elite, or everybody would be doing it.
But the pitch selection maybe when this isn't working or

(43:19):
that isn't working. If they're gonna take your heater out
of the yard or your sinker out of the yard,
I'll make him. And he hung one to kinder Fileffa. Unfortunately,
clearly he wasn't all in on some of his pitches yesterday,
and that's where it leaves things. But I think they
more than obviously if the other side of it is
you're talking about an offense that had two runs on
the board one out into the game, and then they

(43:40):
scored one more time the rest of the day. They
hit Bieber well enough to score more, they hit their
bullpen well enough to score more.

Speaker 6 (43:46):
They just simply didn't.

Speaker 5 (43:47):
And it left you with a Instead of a four
or five or six to one lead, it was a
three to one lead which you were unable to protect.
Dana Brown made his weekly visit to the Sean Salisbury Show.
We like to present you with a portion of that
interview and guide you to Sports Talk seven ninety dot
com for the interview in its.

Speaker 6 (44:02):
Entirety, or via the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 5 (44:05):
The initial part of the discussion with Sean and Dana
here is what he had at the time this morning.

Speaker 6 (44:11):
If any on an update on Luis Garcia.

Speaker 8 (44:14):
Yeah, I'm gonna wait for the doctor. He's gonna go
in today and get some imaging and we'll take a
look and see what's going on. And it's definitely, you know,
tough to watch. I mean, you see a guy battle back,
you know, from an injury from April twenty twenty three,
and you know, he finally gets a few starts in
the big leagues and you know, all of a sudden
he goes back down and so you know, we're gonna

(44:36):
wait for the doctor to get more clarity on this injury.
But for sure, definitely disappointing.

Speaker 11 (44:43):
Yeah, and Dana with that was there going into that.
There was no signs of any other discomfort at all
before this start, right this This was one of those
it happened last night.

Speaker 12 (44:53):
Correct, Yeah, Look think about it. His last start, he
was pretty good, really good, very competitive and through his
size in between starts, no issues. Uh, you know, went
out there, was looking good for the first couple of
innings and then all of a sudden, you know, you know,
we see him signal to the dugout and and so

(45:16):
right away we're like, oh, what's going on? And so
now we know that, uh, you know, we've.

Speaker 10 (45:22):
Got to get looked at.

Speaker 8 (45:23):
But thank god blue Ball came in and threw the
ball well and kind of continue it.

Speaker 11 (45:28):
He's really good, Dana blue Balls. Impressive right, got his mentality,
he attacks the hitters. You I would imagine you're pretty
impressed with what you've seen from him. And uh, is
he here to stay at least this year? And will
it be in a starting roller in the bullpen or
does it really matter right now for you guys?

Speaker 8 (45:46):
Yeah, I mean we're gonna take that. We're going to
evaluate that there is a chance that he could end
up in a rotation, you know, especially the other way
he's been throwing the ball. You know, you talk about
a guy pitching, you know, you could see him add
some add track with the fastball. You know, he was
like ninety three, ninety four and then all of a sudden,
he'll go up to ninety seven to get a strikeout,

(46:06):
and so you know, he was really really pitching him.
So he's been throwing the ball very well. You know,
over his last few appearances, he's been really good. Eight innings,
ten strikeouts and those last four appearances, so he's really
making a push.

Speaker 10 (46:20):
Well.

Speaker 11 (46:20):
When it comes to the injury evaluation, is there a
checklist you guys go through for each and every individual
or each and every situation.

Speaker 8 (46:28):
Yeah, Look, our doctors are very in tune with each
of our players, and it's every individual is different and
so now that's kind of like how we handle it.
And you know, when a guy goes down, we have
certain protocols that we follow and you know, we try
to get him back as soon as possible. But we

(46:49):
you know, along with the doctors and the imaging and
you know, we do a lot of different things when
it comes to evaluating you know, the turn of players
and so, as I mentioned, each guy is only individual,
so it's it's person related and so you know, we
definitely have a checklist of you know, what we go

(47:11):
through is so it's unfortunate that this year we've we've
suffered so many injuries and you know, look the big
pictures were still a game up and we control our
own fate, and you know, we just simply need to
get hot and we need to start swinging the bats.

Speaker 11 (47:29):
Well, we see Josh Hater in twenty twenty five.

Speaker 8 (47:31):
I think there's a chance that we see Josh Hater.
More likely it would be a postseason, uh, you know,
but he's grinding to try to get back. But I
think it's more like the postseason, do you because we're
at a time we've got to we have seventeen seventeen
games last and you know, when you sit out for

(47:53):
a certain amount of time, it takes time to build
back up.

Speaker 10 (47:56):
Yep.

Speaker 8 (47:56):
And so yeah, it's gonna take a little while get
him back.

Speaker 11 (48:01):
We know how electrical braid you is, Dana. Do you
think from your expertise he's comfortable in the closer role
right now?

Speaker 8 (48:07):
Yeah? I mean think about a brave man. He's nasty. Yeah,
two four nine earn ren average has got over one
hundred strikeouts. You know, he's closed out four of the
five staves since you know, Hater went down and so look,
it's it's definitely a punch to lose a game like
that Las Night, But you know, a Brad's been really

(48:30):
good for us, and so you know, one of the
things we you know, we just have to stay focused
on is you can't put give out free taxes. You
cannot walk guys late in the game. And I think
the walks came back to haunt us, and so that
makes it very difficult to put a team away, you
know late, you got to go right after him.

Speaker 5 (48:52):
Brought that up earlier and Dana did as well. That
first batter you face coming out of the bullpen seventh, eighth,
ninth inning.

Speaker 6 (48:58):
Wherever it might be, it is often costly.

Speaker 5 (49:02):
It has not proven it as costly for a braw because,
as Sean said, his stuff is nasty. But of course
went through the numbers, two hundred and eight batters faced
that were not the first batter he faced, two hundred
and eight batters whatever point in his appearance after that,
he's walked less than eight point seven percent of those batters.
He's obviously faced the first batter in each one of

(49:24):
his appearances now sixty four times, he's walked eleven of
those batters. That's a seventeen point one percent walk rate there.
That is twice as high as every other batter he's
faced in every other appearance that he has made the
entire season, and coming in not sharp has been a
problem for him. Getting away with it more often than

(49:44):
not hasn't made it more pronounced.

Speaker 7 (49:46):
This won't be the first time this term has been
brought up on the show this week, but in a
very different setting. Do you think overall guys like him,
and I'm not just talking about I mean, I guess
it applies more when you're talking about pitching. I mean,
because it's September, because we're heading down the stretch.

Speaker 6 (50:04):
Is gassed an.

Speaker 7 (50:07):
Appropriate term for some of these guys, especially guys like
him that really have not they haven't been on the
shelf at all for any reason this season.

Speaker 5 (50:14):
In his case, he's a tough one to discuss because
it's overwhelming how much Brian Obray, who has pitched the
last several seasons. Yeah, not just this year, every year
he's out there. It started in twenty twenty two. He
threw sixty innings fifty five appearances his first full season
with the Astros, and he was unreal. And then he
was better the next year, Yeah, and he made more

(50:34):
appearances and he threw more innings. Last year wasn't quite
as sharp when he made more appearances and through more innings,
And this year he's on pace to fall somewhere in
that range. Of the last two years he threw seventy
two or seventy eight appearances, then he's got sixty four
with seventeen games to go this year, and going into
yesterday's game, he was probably having at least a good

(50:55):
as good of a season as any of the ones
he's previously had. The walks have been a problem, but
pitching himself out of trouble had not, And just watching
him last night, I didn't think there was any lack
of stuff. I don't know that he was nearly getting
to one hundred, which he has at times this season,
and maybe that's not the greatest indicator, but an indicator
of maybe how things are going for him at any

(51:15):
given time. I think his stuff is still fine, but
I can't deny the fact that we're in the final
month of another long season where he's been on the
mound for all. I don't want to say he's been
healthy for all of it, but he's been able to
take the ball for all of it. And we're talking
about a guy who's made two hundred and seventy five
appearances in four seasons.

Speaker 7 (51:33):
If you're if you've been healthy for the majority of
the twenty twenty five Astro season, you might just be
a freak. We will have tonight's lineup for you, and
I'm gonna have a gut feeling, no hesitation. You just
give me the answer question for WEX when we come back.
It's Wednesday edition of the eight team Sports Talk seven ninety,
Space City home network, the.

Speaker 1 (51:54):
Eighteen on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 5 (52:01):
Can I open with a couple of questions for you? First,
I knew you t's that you were gonna quiz me.
Are they got feeling questions or regular questions? Their regular
math questions? You're going to hate them?

Speaker 6 (52:09):
Oh good?

Speaker 5 (52:11):
How many consecutive starts as today's starter had today's starter
for the Milwaukee Brewers, who's facing the Rangers today? How
many consecutive starts had he made going into today's game
without allowing even a single run or even allowing more
than three hits?

Speaker 6 (52:28):
Feels like a trick question, like I should say zero.

Speaker 5 (52:30):
You can say zero.

Speaker 6 (52:31):
If you like, okay zero, it's.

Speaker 5 (52:33):
Five five straight starts without allowing any runs at all.
My guess was really like three. Your second question is
how many times in his twenty nine starts before today
has he allowed as many as five runs in a start?

Speaker 6 (52:49):
All of them? No, he's one of the best pitchers
in baseball, so go the other direction. None of them,
one of them.

Speaker 5 (52:56):
Okay, one time in twenty nine starts he had allowed
five runs in an outing. One of his previous five
starts had his five different opponents, two of them division
leaders even scored on him. He's pitching against the Rangers today.
Through five he's given up five runs, including two home
runs to Jake Berger, and the Rangers lead the Brewers,
the best team in baseball, in the top of the

(53:16):
sixth inning by a five to two score.

Speaker 7 (53:19):
Well, I hated Jake Berger before last weekend series with
the Astros.

Speaker 6 (53:23):
Now I really do.

Speaker 5 (53:25):
It took a long time, like deep into September for
something I said during the offseason. It actually not looks
so dumb, and I really like the Rangers acquisition of
Jake Berger. He's probably gonna hit like twenty five homers
for him and driving a bunch of runs, and he
couldn't have been more awful to start the year. They
sent him down during the season, but it's the thing

(53:46):
they did that with His ops is up to seven
twenty seven.

Speaker 6 (53:48):
Yeah, they did it with Josh. Josh. He has not
recovered well. Neverson still stinks. He's also fatter than he was. Yeah,
he's not even as fat as Jake. Well, that's true.
Berger's at seven to twenty seven with his ops.

Speaker 5 (53:58):
He's driven in three other runs today and he hit
a homers fifteen and sixteen this afternoon.

Speaker 6 (54:03):
When you don't have Garcia, and.

Speaker 5 (54:04):
You don't have Seger, and you don't have Simeon, somebody
else has to hit the ball. And that's what he's
doing for this team who lead their game today.

Speaker 7 (54:12):
And I think when you look at what's going on
with the Astros, one of the most excruciating parts not
just of last night, but just overall. They've gotten a
lot of the guys back in their lineup, the guys
that were missing from their lineup, that were on the shelf,
They've gotten him back. Nothing has changed.

Speaker 6 (54:31):
I mean, at least a.

Speaker 7 (54:32):
Lot of the guys that missed a ton of time.
Jake Myers, Jordan Alvarez, like, and.

Speaker 6 (54:36):
You meet Jeremy gar Yeah, Jeremy Payne.

Speaker 5 (54:38):
You came back and he's been fine, but he hasn't
been nearly as sharp as before he got hurt. Jord
On Alvarez has been crushing baseballs left and right, getting
walked around, pitched around. But being on base is usually
a good thing for your team, and Jake Myers has
given them much more, even without doing much, but much
more than those who had replaced him. But the team

(54:58):
offense hasn't changed.

Speaker 6 (55:00):
I mean that I guess.

Speaker 7 (55:03):
I mean, I know it's not as easy as just
all right, people are back now, they can go back
to the way they were.

Speaker 6 (55:08):
We talked about this before. Either it's the problem.

Speaker 7 (55:12):
Well Pania and Myers were having the team correct, but
Penia and Meyers, the seasons they were having prior to
them getting hurt, that's what sucked the most about them
getting hurt. To me, well, yeah, you're missing out on
what they provide, but there's no guarantee that when they
come back they're going to keep providing it. That's the
worst part of injuries in baseball, especially for hitters. I
would argue it's a lot easier for pitchers coming back

(55:33):
from injuries to be what they were prior to it,
because I think it's a lot harder to hit a
baseball than it is to get a guy out.

Speaker 5 (55:42):
Yeah, Jeremy Payna about a well, I can tell you exactly.
It's pre and post All Star numbers would split it
since he came back after the break and left prior
to the break, and it's it's a pretty significant difference.
He's a seven forty seven player following the injury. He
was an eight sixty seven OPS player, hitting three twenty two,

(56:05):
then hitting two fifty nine now, and Myers had no
power before. He still has displayed no power here. He
can only hit it to the wall, so Dalton Varshow
can catch it just like everybody else yesterday. But he
gets on bases, have better at bats, he gets his singles.
It's what the guys weren't doing without him. What's the
gut feeling question you had for me here?

Speaker 6 (56:24):
Seventeen games left? Right?

Speaker 5 (56:25):
Yeap?

Speaker 6 (56:26):
Did the Astros win the division?

Speaker 5 (56:28):
I can't change my opinion now unless I've seen something
dramatically change with this team.

Speaker 6 (56:32):
I have not.

Speaker 5 (56:33):
This has kind of been who they've been all season.
Still feel like there's a chance for them to find
their way. Do not expect them to get hot. That's
not something I'll sit here and say. The general manager
said it, and I'm glad he believes it, and I
hope it happens.

Speaker 6 (56:44):
I don't believe that.

Speaker 5 (56:46):
I don't think this team is all of a sudden
going to go on a run scoring bitch. They haven't
done that this entire season. Anything that lasted longer than
two or three games seemed like out of the ordinary,
and that's why it hadn't happened very often. But enough
runs to win a few more times than often, getting
enough from both Fromber and Hunter Brown. They've got to
start winning those starts. By the way, this is the
most This I think is one of the most disheartening

(57:06):
things I could tell people, and I already put it
out on the X platform, so I might as well
bring it to the show here. The Astros in their
last thirty eight games, they're eighteen and twenty. In those
thirty eight games, every single time they've given the ball
to Jason Alexander, they have won. I'm telling you this
is disheartening, but I'm starting with the part that makes
you think it's not seven starts, seven wins. The team's

(57:30):
been under five hundred, even though they've won all seven
of his starts. He makes his eighth start in that
stretch tonight. Okay, so what are you trying to tell us?
What about the other games when Hunter Brown starts, when
fromber Valdez starts, and the rest of the rotation starts,
they're eleven and twenty.

Speaker 6 (57:48):
They're awful.

Speaker 5 (57:49):
Worst team in baseball type record When two of the
best pitchers in base thy percent of your.

Speaker 6 (57:56):
Starts are coming from Hunter Brown and fromber Valdez.

Speaker 7 (57:59):
It's because the biggest reason, now some of those have
been because they imploded or whatever.

Speaker 5 (58:03):
Pretty much know, in Hunter's case, he's been really, really awesome.
His last six or seven yard get run support, except
for the game where he gave up six, four of
them unearned.

Speaker 7 (58:11):
Right, That's why I said, pretty much they don't get
run support, especially Hunter Brown.

Speaker 5 (58:15):
Everybody it's Alexander gets beyond belief run support. He's the outlier,
and then the rest of the team is, oh, these
are the asters, We're going to give you the type
of run support we went unfortunately provide. Yeah, gut feeling,
I still think it does. I wish they had more
of a cushion, so it's not mandatory. They take a
minimum of two out of three from both the Rangers

(58:36):
and the Mariners when they come to town.

Speaker 6 (58:37):
It's almost getting.

Speaker 5 (58:38):
To the point where you have to sweep them to
even hope you can hold them off because they should
have had a cushion, so it was not required. They
haven't lost the season series to either one of them,
yet they will lose the season series to the Rangers
that they don't sweep them. They will lose the season
series to the Mariners if they don't win that series.
They're five and five against Seattle the four and six

(59:00):
against Texas, so even that much more importance because that's
basically a two win gap you're creating. If you have
the tiebreaker, well they have to be better that they
have to outplay you. Now their record has to be
better than yours at the end of the season, and
clearly vice versa.

Speaker 6 (59:15):
If you don't win the tiebreaker, it's massive.

Speaker 5 (59:18):
Astros have to figure out a way to get a
few more runs on the board on the road and
not leave it only up to those six games. Knowing that, Okay,
we did our job we did sweep them, we did
take five out of six.

Speaker 6 (59:28):
Great.

Speaker 5 (59:29):
Well, now they get to go back home for all
of their games if you're Seattle, for half of their games,
if you're Texas and none of your games are at
home the rest of the way. The final six games
of the season for the Mariners include three against Colorado
in Seattle. The final six games to the Astros come
against two teams that aren't good at seem to have
your number. Yeah, well, I'm the games against the Dodgers,

(59:49):
I'm that's a reasonable series. Three of those six games
on their final home stand against Colorado in Seattle. They
could lose those games.

Speaker 9 (59:58):
I know.

Speaker 6 (59:58):
The Astros lost to College you said, I misheard you.

Speaker 5 (01:00:03):
And then the Astros finished with two road series in
Oakland against Oakland they are good. Not in Oakland well,
and against the Angels. These teams are record wise not good.
If you watch the games they've played against them, the
first ten games they've played against those two teams, say
those series, don't they don't. They've fared Okay, I guess,
but these are teams they should have been able to handle.

(01:00:24):
They have not, And I wouldn't go into those games
expecting them to and all that also goes into what
could potentially uh be your downfall in the postseason. You
got to play all one sixty two just to get there.
It sure looks like whoever makes the postseason, and there
could be two teams out of this division that make
the postseason, it's likely going to take them at least
into the final weekend Game one sixty probably Game one

(01:00:46):
sixty one, and very likely Game one sixty two before
they even know they're in, maybe before they know their
fate of where they go, and that obviously impacts what
they do two days later when a wild card series
starts on Tuesday.

Speaker 7 (01:00:59):
Panya Alva as Correa are your first three hitters, Andjrdan's
gonna be playing left field tonight, Christian Walker's batting cleanup,
and then it's gonna be Jesus Sanchez in right field,
Jake Myers in centerfield, and Victor Karattini d hing Yiner
is gonna catch, and then Urius rounds out the lineup
and play second base as Jose al Tuve has the

(01:01:19):
night off.

Speaker 5 (01:01:20):
Well, since I have not heard from Joe Espada, can
did I say he benched him?

Speaker 6 (01:01:25):
If you want, if you want.

Speaker 5 (01:01:27):
Jose al Tuve for the fact he's in a massive slump,
even with a hit yesterday, and runs the least attended
smallest profit turning based running camp lord in the history
of base running camps. He was benched. Can I say
that it's not true. I'm making it up Joe's body.
Even if it is true, we'll definitely not say that
today when he meets with the media. It's not in

(01:01:50):
a Spata problem. By the way, in my opinion, I
don't think he's he's facing any derision inside the clubhouse
for how he's handled Jose Altuve and his base running
blunders the same way. It didn't undermine Dusty Baker or
aj Hinch or Bo Porter. This is an Altuve problem.
If someone's going to fix it, it's either going to
be Altuve or his twenty seven current teammates, not the manager.

(01:02:14):
They're gonna fix it. What is he going to be
a SoC party? I mean, fix it's pretty easy. Oh ball,
got hit to the right side, put your head down
and run. He did not do that. You might want
to consider getting a secondary lead. Also, we had a
couple of games I don't remember when it was. Christian
Walker got thrown out at home plate. Same problem, and
that is a that is actually a team gag on
the BA pas Hey.

Speaker 6 (01:02:34):
A secondary lead. Is this your first year in baseball?

Speaker 7 (01:02:37):
Come on, dudes, just a bad, bad, bad time in
Astroville right now.

Speaker 6 (01:02:42):
Chris Gordy coming up next.

Speaker 1 (01:02:45):
The A Team on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 6 (01:02:55):
All right, back at it here on the eight team.
It's a Wednesday edition of the program Sports.

Speaker 7 (01:02:58):
Talk seven ninety, Space City Network, wex AC and Chris
Gordie in studio.

Speaker 6 (01:03:04):
You want to get the bad stuff out of the way.

Speaker 7 (01:03:06):
You want to talk about the Astros first and uh
and then we can move on to greener pastures.

Speaker 6 (01:03:10):
That was rotten last night.

Speaker 13 (01:03:12):
It was Toronto was a really good team, so you know,
you got to put that in there. But it's a
game they should have won and they blew it. And
so now you know I said, coming in this there
is I said, just don't get swept. Win one, you know,
at minimum, so they could still do that. But yeah,
this thing is just getting It's getting a lot hairy

(01:03:32):
because Seattle and the Rangers are breathing right down your neck.

Speaker 7 (01:03:36):
In some senses, though this is not a silver lining
or a home or take. It's incredible they're in first
place still giving given everything that's happened and then what
may have happened again already last last night.

Speaker 6 (01:03:49):
To Luis Garcia, it is.

Speaker 13 (01:03:51):
I mean, you're good enough, you're good enough, like Stuart Smalley,
you're good enough, you're smart enough.

Speaker 6 (01:03:59):
Yeah they do, man, I just get the season over with.

Speaker 5 (01:04:02):
Even if they get.

Speaker 6 (01:04:05):
That's how I feel like, stay on board.

Speaker 13 (01:04:07):
Like you've got Jeremy Panya in his prime, Jordan Alva
is black healthy. But you know what starta towels guys
not gonna happen this year because I'm just not feeling
the vibe.

Speaker 6 (01:04:16):
So just quit, you know, we'll just turn page.

Speaker 13 (01:04:19):
Like, No, they still have a chance to do something
because as bleak as things look at the moment, they
still are a talented team that could get on a
here you never know it. So it's one about the
baseball postseason. Had somebody trying to tell me the other day,
I think it's.

Speaker 6 (01:04:30):
The Brewers year.

Speaker 13 (01:04:31):
I'm like, bro in the playoffs, it could be anybody's year. Somebody.

Speaker 6 (01:04:34):
It's about getting hot at the right time.

Speaker 5 (01:04:36):
I wish it was just the Brewers week and they
could take care of the Rangers. Yeah, they're not doing
again today, though they've closed the gap to five three
losing yesterday, and obviously that brings the Rangers to within
two and a half, the Mariners within one. Mariners have
a late first pitch tonight. Logan Gilbert's on the mound
for them. Astros obviously will get under way on the
East coast, so a little bit earlier for the on

(01:04:57):
deck show. We'll get that started for you at five o'clock.
Just last thing on the Astros on Luis Garcia. It
doesn't seem like they could have done much differently here
because this is like the longest rehab a stretch that
any pitcher they've ever had go on. They extended his
rehab multiple times. You know, when we say he's looked
good recently, it does go back to his rehab starts.

(01:05:17):
We're not talking about results, we're talking about health. He
has been healthy and pitching regularly for almost two months,
and then yesterday happens.

Speaker 6 (01:05:26):
Yeah, and he pitched.

Speaker 13 (01:05:27):
You know, he was pitching pretty well in the rehab starts,
and then the start against the Angels a week ago,
he really just said the one bad inning.

Speaker 5 (01:05:35):
You know, it was like he literally only had one
bad inning. It was fifteen up and fifteen down and
the other five.

Speaker 6 (01:05:39):
Everything else was great.

Speaker 13 (01:05:40):
And then last night even you know, he fell behind
to a hitter at one point it was three to one.
They thought it was ball four. He you know, no
strike two, and he comes back to strike him out
like it was just like he's starting to get in
new groove here and then whatever happens happens. So it's
it's unfortunate, but you're right. I mean they slow played
this thing as slow as you can with him and
getting him back. I mean, he had made so many

(01:06:02):
rehab starts. Dana Brown kIPS saying, yeah, I want to
see the velocity get up a little bit more more like, dude,
just bring him up. And so, yeah, it's it sucks,
and you start to look around that room, and to me,
it's not fair to look at the Elie Della Santos
and the Craig Kimberl's and those guys.

Speaker 6 (01:06:17):
Goes, you guys stink, What else do you want him
to do? This is who you got there.

Speaker 13 (01:06:22):
You're you're so injured, like this is the best you
can do right now, unless you want to bring up
a twenty two year old rookie who's never pitched at
this level.

Speaker 5 (01:06:30):
Before a little surprise, they haven't done that with you, Lola.
I thought at some point, because of all they have
had against them, they would have, but they haven't. I
don't really think that's a huge deal one way or
the other football side of things. Texans open up their
season with a very good defensive effort. A few more
plays made by them and a lot more plays made
by the offense, they easily could have returned home with

(01:06:50):
a one to zero record their own one is their
major concern about two things that an zero to two
start could send them in a very bad direction, very
very quick. Or is there already major concern about the
offense if play caller, quarterback, and line.

Speaker 13 (01:07:07):
I sat here with you guys a week ago and said,
I didn't think they were gonna win the game because
of the defensive front that the Rams had. And oh,
by the way, defensive front for the Rams did a
pretty good job.

Speaker 6 (01:07:16):
And so you know, it's you know, is it play calling,
is it execution?

Speaker 2 (01:07:20):
Is it?

Speaker 6 (01:07:20):
Whatever it is?

Speaker 13 (01:07:21):
Again, I'm not gonna completely bring them down after one
tough road loss you lost by one score or so
and unfortunate fumble in the final I mean, they don't fumble,
we felt pretty good about Maybe they're gonna go down
and get some points.

Speaker 6 (01:07:33):
Yeah, that's what I asked him.

Speaker 7 (01:07:34):
Do you think they finish off that drive if it
weren't for the fumble? And then is there enough or
not enough time left in the game for that defense
to salt away one?

Speaker 6 (01:07:44):
Only again, it's it's the NFL.

Speaker 13 (01:07:46):
It's tough to win on the road, this game of
the night at Rex's Day. To your point, if they
don't come out and the offense stinks on Monday, then
we're gonna have problems because Tampa's decent on defense. But
I wouldn't by any means be saying like this is
a team that should hold you to ten points or less. So, yeah,
if the offense looks bad there, but again, it's a
good Tampa team. Team's supposed to win the NFC South.

(01:08:07):
I'll be more even if they lose this one, Like
let's just say they lose it by one score. I'm
still not freaking out because of what's ahead Jacksonville and Tennessee.
Your next two games, you should look normal and good
against them.

Speaker 6 (01:08:19):
You should be two against those two teams.

Speaker 7 (01:08:21):
It's Jacksonville good though, because we got to see them
playing the two.

Speaker 5 (01:08:24):
No, they're not good.

Speaker 6 (01:08:25):
Man, he's pretty convicted already. I like it. I agree
they suck. I'm not ready to say that yet, but
division stinks. It does. But so's the one that the
Tampa Bay is supposed to win.

Speaker 13 (01:08:38):
Yeah, they do it, but they're a really good team,
like of the best teams in the NFC.

Speaker 6 (01:08:42):
The Bucks are up there.

Speaker 13 (01:08:43):
And I say that the Baker Mayfield redemption, that's been
incredible good for him.

Speaker 7 (01:08:48):
Well that's why I mean, I said this before the
season started. I'm far more worried about what Baker Mayfield
can do against this defense than I am about what
Matt Stafford can do. And you know, I Matthew Stafford
you can obviously point to and say he won that
game or it was a big reason why they won
that game. But put up fourteen points against the defense
as good as.

Speaker 6 (01:09:07):
Baker as though.

Speaker 13 (01:09:08):
Yeah, you're at home next on a Monday night football
primetime audience. That place should be rocking Monday and then
shows up that defense should be fine around Well, yeah,
you got to finish your drinks in the early start.

Speaker 5 (01:09:19):
Where do you think they're playing this game? It's going
to be rocking, Yeah, Monday night. You know, are they
taking this game to a college campus.

Speaker 13 (01:09:26):
It's the home opener, WEX home opener on Monday night football.

Speaker 6 (01:09:30):
That's it's gotta be a celloft.

Speaker 5 (01:09:31):
It's gonna be awesome right there at six o'clock for kickoff.
It's gonna be tremendous.

Speaker 6 (01:09:35):
In this city. But we can't.

Speaker 7 (01:09:37):
We can't get people to put their butts in their
seats for the start of Rockets games, even playoff games,
and on Monday night in rush hour traffic on the
on the South Loop, all the pipe in smart official
crowd noise.

Speaker 6 (01:09:50):
Oh, get fined by the league. Let's do that. I
don't know, but I am kind of with WEX on that.

Speaker 7 (01:09:56):
I look, does Houston have a home field advantage when
everybody's rare to go?

Speaker 6 (01:10:01):
Yes? But I just I and I don't know how
much Week one plays into this.

Speaker 7 (01:10:06):
But I just feel like people watched the opener, I know,
Monday night football.

Speaker 13 (01:10:10):
If you're if you can't get your butt off work
early and get over there, I don't I don't have
to tell you.

Speaker 7 (01:10:13):
I just feel like if this were a Week one game,
it would be different. I think people what I'm saying is,
and I'm not saying this is everybody that's a Texans fan,
But if you were watching Sunday and you saw how
that unfolded, and forget the end of the game, just
how the offense looked in general, you're saying to yourself
fair or not?

Speaker 6 (01:10:32):
Same old team. This is the same team as last year.

Speaker 13 (01:10:34):
You're a Texans fan and you're going to Monday night's game.
You are still the mindset that this is an awesome
team to mi go as.

Speaker 6 (01:10:42):
The glory days are here.

Speaker 7 (01:10:43):
It's awesome defense, let's go. That offensive line's trash and
it's her gotta deal with it. I don't have to
right now.

Speaker 5 (01:10:53):
So what do you want us to run out there
for your weekly visits here? Do you want because I
feel like battle Red Ross has already taken. Do you
want literally white Chris? I know I hate those. No
Liberty white Chris, Deep still blue, Gordy. Can we go
with that? I mean, you're very pro text and get
out out there and s you're on this very good
team and Demiko's got them clicking and a one in
one team coming out.

Speaker 6 (01:11:11):
Like you're you're all on board. I love it.

Speaker 5 (01:11:13):
Come on, Swarm, I like that. Well, appreciate you joining
us here on our program each and every week. We'll
do it again nextly, all right, Fellows.

Speaker 1 (01:11:21):
Six the Age on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 5 (01:11:32):
So a bunch of different things there as we usually
get into with Chris Gordy. One thing on the textan side,
we certainly should update you on as they made it
official earlier today and unfortunately it's going to be Cad
Stover missing a minimum of the next four games, kind
of what was expected. Tomiko Ryan's giving a little bit
of info on that yesterday. Just with the foot injury,
Aaron Wilson reporting that it was a broken foot and

(01:11:53):
so the ir placement gives them one active tight end
for about ten seconds.

Speaker 6 (01:11:58):
This was also obvious.

Speaker 5 (01:12:00):
Harrison Bryant assigned to the active roster from the practice squad,
so now they have two tight ends, one remaining on
the practice squad and Luke Lache, who they drafted this
year out of Iowa. They also replaced Bryant on the
practice squad with Jaylen Thomas, an offensive lineman who's spent
all of camp with the Texans. So just somebody who's
familiar with what they're doing. If their depth gets hurt

(01:12:20):
or hampered even more so than it's possible they could
look his way. They're most like, I mean, I keep
saying this, and I guess I'll have to stop at
some point. I don't go in I don't like going
into NFL games with two tight ends. Texans did that
last week. They currently might be pointing in that direction
for this week. Don't know if there's an activation for
Lache or looking around at other teams practice squads or

(01:12:42):
other teams active rosters that have possibly excess tight ends
to trade for. I don't know that that's gonna happen.
You already did that. You traded with the Eagles for
their excess tight end. It's Harrison Bryant. He's already on
your roster. Finding a second team that has an excess
tight end that's NFL caliber might be a little bit
of a difficult task. It's a light position to begin with.

(01:13:03):
Usually just carry three, maybe one on the practice squad,
and two of those three Art revn Jordan's season unfortunately
ended before it began, and now stover season for a
minimum puts them on the sidelines.

Speaker 6 (01:13:14):
For four games.

Speaker 5 (01:13:16):
It does coincide four games from now they will go
into their off week, so hopefully, even if it isn't
immediate that he could make his return, he actually gets
the extra week to get healthy before they play post
off week against the Baltimore Ravens. But matching up with
this Bucks team who did a pretty decent job against
Bijon Robinson and Tyler Algiers running the football, they did

(01:13:39):
an awful job of containing their passing game, and that
did include Bjon Robinson in the passing game, took a
pass behind the line of scrimmage for a half the
field touchdown in that game. Penix just kept throwing him
the ball over and over and over again. Looks pretty
good to start his season, and kind of looking at
what they were able to do offensively into what you'd

(01:13:59):
hope the Texans might be able to do offensively. Demiko
kind of joked about it, and I know what he's
trying to say, and it's a tough one to answer.
You didn't look at Nico Collins a whole lot in
this last game. He saw five targets. You weren't able
to send him down the.

Speaker 6 (01:14:14):
Field at all.

Speaker 5 (01:14:14):
You weren't really able to send anybody down the field
at all. They took no shots, There were no explosives
from their passing game. There really weren't any explosives period,
just because of the way they probably felt it was
going to go for their offensive line, and for the
most part, that's how it turned out to go for
their offensive line. You know, there's certain things I'll look
at when a game is over and some of the

(01:14:35):
ways that statistics get posted, especially on the game book,
it just lists all the largest offensive plays for each team.
You know, the Rams had six plays of twenty four
yards or more. The Texans had zero plays of twenty
four yards or more. They only had two plays of
sixteen yards or more than sixteen yards. They entire afternoon

(01:14:57):
twenty three Long had two twenty three yard plays and
that's it. Neither would a Nico Collins one is Zevi
or Hutchinson. That came during the field goal drive to
end the first half. Very good route, very good play,
very well executed, perfect thing to do, and it got
them going. The other came early in the game of
the opening quarter with Jaden Higgins to say they didn't

(01:15:20):
have a twenty yard play in the second half. They
didn't score any points in the second half. It's not
winning football.

Speaker 7 (01:15:25):
Well, you mentioned you're saying that they play Baltimore coming
out of their bye.

Speaker 5 (01:15:30):
If I have the schedule to memory correct, Yes.

Speaker 7 (01:15:33):
And again everything is contingent on This is one week
end of the seasons and nothing's set in stone.

Speaker 6 (01:15:38):
We don't know really what We.

Speaker 5 (01:15:40):
Played Baltimore in advance of the bye, and they play
Seattle out of the bye. So the much fame that
Stover misses will be the Baltimore game. He could miss more.
But those are the four games Tampa, Jacksonville, Tennessee, and
Baltimore he will definitively miss.

Speaker 7 (01:15:54):
And I know this is easy to say after they
played who they played those One of those defenses looked
great on Sunday night. But Baltimore is usually at least
just they'll wake up well, which they'll have a good defense.

Speaker 5 (01:16:07):
Would you go with the opposite of their defenses weren't
good and say the well, the offenses were just awesome.

Speaker 6 (01:16:15):
They were. Do you think Baltimore has a bad defense.
I don't know yet. Oh, well, I don't think they do.
I don't think they have a bad defense.

Speaker 5 (01:16:22):
No, I think I was saying it was one evening
of football against the second best, most explosive offense with
the most awesome quarterback that isn't yours, and it happened
to both teams. I don't think Baltimore's quite as good
DEFENSI live, but I also don't think they're giving up
forty points a week.

Speaker 6 (01:16:36):
No offense isn't going.

Speaker 5 (01:16:37):
To do that. Those offenses can do that. Other offenses
aren't going to do that to that team. The Texans
aren't going to do that to that team, nobody that
Baltimore plays the rest of the way. That was their
worst defensive game of the season to me because of
who they played.

Speaker 7 (01:16:50):
But to that point, Texans played both of those teams
last season, and it was Josh Allen's worst game of
his career, and it was one of Lamar Jackson's best
games of the season last year. It's just wild. I
know they're completely different quarterbacks, but they.

Speaker 5 (01:17:06):
Also played them at the beginning roughly beginning of the
season in Buffalo's case, and here and later in the
season now also here, but on a kind of a
not kind of Wednesday Christmas weird week of preparing for
the Baltimore Ravens. It was week seventeen. You played on Saturday,
but don't worry that your body's going to be just

(01:17:28):
fine after not playing football for three days, as they
had a lot of field time practicing, did a lot
of film study getting ready for leaving Saturday night's game
in Kansas City. Returning home to play Wednesday against Baltimore.
Offense was embarrassing and their defense looked embarrassing that day.
There were certain plays that Lamar and their offense ran

(01:17:51):
against the Texans that just they made them look stupid.

Speaker 6 (01:17:53):
Do you think they were gassed that day?

Speaker 5 (01:17:55):
No, they just got embarrassed. They weren't gassed well, having
played a game a few days prior. Well, guess who
else played a couple of days prior not Baltimore, Yes, Baltimore,
I'm not Baltimore.

Speaker 6 (01:18:06):
They looked like they had two weeks of rest.

Speaker 5 (01:18:08):
You're gonna look gassed if you're going against Lamar Jackson,
because I don't think the quarterback was, and so he
made them look that bad. Hell, Lamar played like that
all season. He barely he didn't even throw for two
hundred yards. I don't even think he ran for seventy
yards that day. But he had the long touchdown run
that Baltimore and Buffalo to me, are not like the
other thirty teams. I think they're special. On any given Sunday,

(01:18:30):
they can do what they did to any defense in
the NFL. It's not gonna happen every Sunday or whatever
day they play, but they're the most capable of doing
that on our fairly regular basis of just I mean,
just to the part of the game you're talking, Oh,
we held them in check. They've only got twenty five points,
we're up fifteen. Well, they just scored. Boom boom, boom.

Speaker 6 (01:18:48):
You lose.

Speaker 5 (01:18:50):
Other teams don't have even the Eagles don't do that.
They can overwhelm you, and they can punish you, and
they can physically dominate you. They can be explosive if
they're games this year where they actually throw the ball.
They didn't even have to throw the ball in their
win over the Cowboys, but they can. And yes, definitively,
Jalen Hurts is in the upper upper upper echelon of

(01:19:10):
quarterbacks and clearly the class of the NFC.

Speaker 7 (01:19:13):
And look to what you just said about Baltimore and
Buffalo being head and shoulders above the rest and again
this is all after week one.

Speaker 6 (01:19:20):
But I don't I don't have an arguab But where
did they come from? Three and four, two and three?

Speaker 7 (01:19:24):
Well, but the reason that they are in that position
and what you're talking about with those numbers. The Chiefs
play at home against the Eagles this week. I don't
I don't think they're winning that game, even though it's
at home. And then after going to New York to
play the Giants, which I think they should handily win
that game, they come back home for the Ravens.

Speaker 6 (01:19:46):
They could very easily start the year with three losses.

Speaker 5 (01:19:49):
And maybe people will be seduced by their poor record
into thinking they're not really good.

Speaker 7 (01:19:53):
Well, remember last year they had a great record and
they weren't really good.

Speaker 6 (01:19:56):
So some me is right.

Speaker 5 (01:19:58):
They've managed to win the conference again and then what happened?
They did not win the Super couldn't even win the
Super Bowl again. Losers.

Speaker 7 (01:20:06):
All right, four o'clock hour is coming up next, and
we will have Eddie Nunez on the phone lines talking
a little U of h football the a.

Speaker 2 (01:20:15):
Team on Sports Talk seven.

Speaker 1 (01:20:17):
Ninety two lifelong Houston sports guys named Adam talking your
team Adam Clinton and Adam Wexler, the EIGHTEAM.

Speaker 5 (01:20:36):
Eight team here with you four o'clock on Wednesday afternoon.
Another hour of us. We'll get you into the Astros
on deck show after that. So Adam Wexler and Adam
Clinton here with you, and a great pleasure to be
joined by the Vice President of Athletics for the University
of Houston Cougars, Eddie Nunez. Great to have you on
with us, Eddie, especially in advance of the Big one
coming up on Friday night with the Colorado Buffaloes in town,

(01:20:58):
Big twelve.

Speaker 6 (01:20:58):
Football over there at TDEU Stadium.

Speaker 5 (01:21:00):
You joined the Cougars in advance of last year's football season.
I think you could go a number of different ways
with this answer. How long does it feel like you've
been here with the University of Houston.

Speaker 9 (01:21:12):
A lot longer than one year. I will tell you
it's uh well, first of all, good afternoon, guys. Great
to be on here with you, guys. But it's it's
definitely more than a year. It has definitely felt getting around,
getting know the community, the the highs of what we
had to what we had seen, what we had fortunate

(01:21:32):
to experience with basketball, it's made this a great ride,
though it's been fun.

Speaker 5 (01:21:37):
Did you almost immediately go into what needs to be done,
even though quite clearly over the last decade plus a
lot has been done, there's always more to do in
the ever changing landscape of college athletics, especially financially speaking
and anil et cetera, with everybody involved. But did you
already have in mind these are the things and these
are the people that you know we need to move

(01:21:57):
forward with it and try to do even more than
then what's already on display.

Speaker 9 (01:22:02):
Yeah, that's that's just human nature. You get here, you
start looking at things, you start assessing them and saying, Okay,
how can we do things a little bit better, a
little differently, how can we expedite For me? One of
the first things that I recognized that I wanted to
continue to improve our game experience. And that's part of
the non tailgate I wanted to start with tailgating. Wanted
us to do more, allow more so working with parking

(01:22:25):
with campus to allow parking UH and people to come
out here earlier to tailgate. That was a big, big
target for me in the in the fall last year.
This year, no different, where we're trying to strive for
is improving the game experience, knowing that they've done some
great things over the last several years, but there's still
so much more to go. And you're right, this landscape
is changing, and it's changing fast. But the one thing

(01:22:47):
that's evident is we have to make sure that everything
we can do around our events at a high level.
And but look, we're not perfect, but we're going to
continue to grow and make it better every week. And
that's what I hope our fans are going to be
able to see.

Speaker 6 (01:23:02):
Maybe we just keep it right there real quick.

Speaker 5 (01:23:04):
Friday night and line of light of all those things
you said, tailgating at the atmosphere out there, it's a
six thirty kick on a Friday against Colorado.

Speaker 6 (01:23:11):
Great night football.

Speaker 5 (01:23:13):
I was out there for the opener a couple of
weeks ago as the season started with a shut out.

Speaker 6 (01:23:17):
What is in store? What's the layout?

Speaker 5 (01:23:19):
And in the evening for the fans who want to
get out there and get after it against the Buffaloes.

Speaker 9 (01:23:24):
Well, I appreciate it. Thank you for showing up. And
I think for us, the one thing left Thursday or
two thursdays ago that we experienced was Thursdays on campus
are hard, and we knew it was going to be
a little bit of a challenge, but we didn't there
were certain aspects that just weren't execute at the level
we wanted to. When it comes to traffic and parking,
getting individuals in and out of campus, we're a little

(01:23:46):
bit more daunting than we wanted it to be. Looking
at this week, we have really put an emphasis on
all those different traffic patterns, getting people in, getting them out,
how the parking garage is going to work. Feel like
we have a much better plan. Friday are a lot easier.
When it comes to school here, there's not as much
classes as on Thursday night, so that will also help.

(01:24:07):
But we're going to just continue to put an emphasis
on all those different aspects from getting here to leaving,
making it easy for our fans. We're working on much
more of an aspect with our concessionaires, providing more Houston
touch things that that actually make sense that our Houstonians
know that resonate with the food and then being Hispanic

(01:24:28):
Heritage Heritage Night and our celebration towards it. We want
You're going to see money more things outside and inside
of the venue that are going to be tied to
the Hispanic heritage celebrations that we're doing. So a lot
going on, but our emphasis is not going to change.
We're going to continue to try to make it easier
and better and hope that our fans experience is going

(01:24:49):
to be what they what they can expect, and then
let the team do what they do best and take
care of business on the field.

Speaker 7 (01:24:54):
Talking to Eddie Nunez here on Sports Talk seven ninety
U of Age Colorado this Friday night, and you know, well,
all of that is fantastic and well and good, and
I know you know that, but what comes down.

Speaker 6 (01:25:04):
To the actual product itself.

Speaker 7 (01:25:06):
And I gotta say I'm biased as a Sam Houston
State Bearcat. I've always been a huge fan of Willie Fritz.
But you already know about the x's and o's and
what he's trying to build here. He's just the character
of the guy himself. It's got to be he's got
to make your job a lot easier to work hand
in hand with a guy like that.

Speaker 9 (01:25:26):
You talk about one of the best, most genuine individuals
that you can be around, and what you see is
exactly what you get from him. He's authentic, He works hard,
high character, high integrity, and the kids that he wants
around the program and what he instills in them is
exactly that. So, you know, I didn't know Willy before

(01:25:47):
I arrived here, and I learned very quickly that what
he was doing in the culture that he was building,
and culture is a phrase where a lot of people
say it many times but don't really have a plan.
And what it means what he is doing and how
he's changing the course of this this this program and
those kids' lives is exactly what our fans and our

(01:26:09):
supporters should really watch because they're going to see a firsthand,
They're going to see the work ethic, They're going to
see what he's doing on and off the field very
very much and very similar to what Coach Sampson did
here when he arrived. And so I'm fortunate I have
two unbelievable coaches that believe in doing it the right way,
and it starts off with you know, high, high, high integrity,

(01:26:30):
people that work hard.

Speaker 7 (01:26:32):
You know, it's interesting you mentioned that because I think
of everything you're saying I agree with about Willie Fritz
just having been around him just a little bit. But
following his career and then on the opposite sideline, I
think you have a guy who has also, you know,
changed the culture where he's at. But I don't know
that there's any two different head coaches pitted against each
other in a game like this as Willie Fritz and

(01:26:53):
Dion Sanders.

Speaker 9 (01:26:55):
Yeah, they're they're they're a little bit different way they
approach what they do. The one thing that I and
I've had the ability to meet coach uh Sanders a
couple of times, and what the one thing is is
you know he is, he is true, he's gonna work hard,
and yes he does it differently. But the one thing
seven and from both of them is they're gonna they're

(01:27:16):
gonna bring a work ethic that's a that's that's gonna
show what their program is about. Now, the other side
of that is, you are one hundred percent correct, you
have two that the way they approach it is a
lot different. And for the for the great part of
this game, Deon Sanders has helped elevate what college football
has looked like. So what he's done has been great

(01:27:39):
for the University of Colorado. What Willy has done at
every program he has been has been astonishing and elevated
the standard everywhere and he's won. So from my perspective,
you've got a a great comparison between the two and
the two coaches that really do a phenomenal job in
their own way.

Speaker 6 (01:27:59):
Talka with that.

Speaker 5 (01:28:00):
Ddie Nunez, vice president of Collegiate's ATHLETICSILVER at the University
of Houston. One other interesting note, or maybe just interesting
to me. Had these two coaches met last year, advantage
to Dion and that he would have had two sons
working with him as opposed to one for Willie. But
now Willie has the advantage with Wes obviously still the
general manager, the player personnel director in house, and now

(01:28:22):
Dion has none. So that in and of itself, what
is it like for you knowing that all these programs
you're putting together and working with these coaches, especially on
the football side, these are positions that did not even exist,
maybe even in three years ago, certainly not five or
ten years ago. With the transfer portal with nil money.
There's a personnel director, there is a general manager. That

(01:28:42):
is what they do, same job to a certain degree
as NFL talent evaluators.

Speaker 6 (01:28:47):
Where's the talent?

Speaker 5 (01:28:48):
How do we get them here, and how do we
make sure they want to be here for the reasons
that NILE exists.

Speaker 9 (01:28:55):
So two part question I answer the first one is
really win toe to toe. He could have last year
he had his son in law on the team as
a coach, so we were two to two.

Speaker 5 (01:29:06):
Zack Catherrige did move on. Also, I shouldn't note that
now at Miami, but you're right.

Speaker 9 (01:29:11):
It did not. But to answer the question about the
player personnel and you know, the general managers and all
these positions that are now you're starting to see much
more in the world of college athletics. It's no different
than when it was, you know, five ten years ago,
when we start seeing recruiting coordinators and so the same
emphasis with evaluating talent, helping the coaches who are a

(01:29:32):
lot more on the field doing what needs to be done.
And this has become a three hundred and sixty five
day job, I mean, just the recruiting, evaluating talent. So
to have somebody that can do that and now help
with understanding how NIL, the revenue sharing and all those
pieces play into what compensation or what kind of NIL

(01:29:56):
deals are coming to each one of these kids. To
have a general manager, have a player personnel or someone
of that caliber or some basically it's just really someone
the coaches can trust. Really aids to having success in
this area.

Speaker 5 (01:30:11):
All right, Your favorite part of the new Memorial Herman
Football Operations Center is what.

Speaker 6 (01:30:20):
I think.

Speaker 9 (01:30:20):
There's a couple. I mean, if you think about it,
I'm gonna I'm gonna say a couple. First, there's if
you look at the workout facility and the ramp that
that you can run up, and as the cardio or
the steps, the plio steps that are there, those are
all pretty unique. That the pool, the walk, the coal
tank to start off is unique. But I'll take it

(01:30:41):
all the way back to the the relaxation room. You know,
part of this facility, working with Maurel Herman, was trying
to find out ways to have our kids be able
to to to recoup from practices, workouts and everything else
and to have a room that they have massage chairs, relaxations.
They can go from there straight into the training rooms.
And by first, I'm not going to tell you that's

(01:31:01):
not about I haven't taken advantage of it. I might
need to go there one of these days and just
sitting on one of these chairs, but with too many
things in me trying to get around the city as
much as I am, I haven't had time to be
able to go and enjoy it.

Speaker 5 (01:31:13):
Well, it's a.

Speaker 6 (01:31:13):
Pretty awesome place.

Speaker 5 (01:31:14):
Was there's a a TJ and everybody else was helping
make to make it happen. And obviously it's an enormous
recruiting tool, a big opportunity when you play on a
Friday night in front of an audience, obviously in front
of the fans of TDCU, I imagine you're expecting a
fantastic atmosphere on Friday night.

Speaker 9 (01:31:31):
We are sales right now over we would expect at
least at least thirty thousand, and tickets are really continuing
to go. We will do what we've continually done is
pushed as many tickets to our student body. You know,
last week's there the first home game, they showed up
with over eighty five hundred students, the highest ever. I

(01:31:51):
thought last year's sixty eight hundred. When they told me
that was the highest, I said, we got to continue
to grow this and so I'm going to try to
push it as much as we can and even grow
it even more than we had the first game, and
that's why we urge, we urge everybody come early, enjoy this.
Try to help us with traffic. I know it's Friday,
Fridays or any day in Houston. Getting around is not easy,

(01:32:13):
so try to come early and enjoy the opportunity to
be here. But that we're gonna We're gonna do everything
we can to get as many people if we can
have a sellout. We're doing everything we can today and
every day leading up to it to sell as many tickets.
There's still tickets available, so come on out. It's going
to be a great night, great weather, Friday night, national television,

(01:32:34):
and enjoy and showing America what Houston football, what the
Cougar football is all about.

Speaker 5 (01:32:40):
Opportunity to go three and oh to start the season.
I'll be on the trip with the Cougars to Oregon
State two weeks from Friday, and hopefully that's the record
they'll take with them to Oregon. Really appreciate the time, Eddie,
and I'm looking forward to Coog's Buffalo's Friday Night the TDCU.

Speaker 9 (01:32:56):
Gentlemen, I appreciate you as always, Thank you again and
look forward to seeing.

Speaker 5 (01:32:59):
You guys do sounds great, it's Eddie Nunyez, vice President
of Collegiate Athletics at the University of Houston.

Speaker 6 (01:33:05):
More here on the A team coming up.

Speaker 1 (01:33:07):
Next the A team on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 7 (01:33:27):
It is the eighteen Sports Talk seven ninety Space City
Home Network.

Speaker 6 (01:33:30):
Thanks again to Eddie Nunez. Gosh, he's a nice guy.

Speaker 8 (01:33:33):
He is.

Speaker 5 (01:33:33):
I've never met on but geez, he was in here
the other day a couple of weeks ago with Matt
and was on one of the Cougar trips with them
last year. Seen around the stadium in the complex the
university a couple of times. But uh, it's a it's
a great place to be. It's a great time for
him to be here. And like we were talking about,
they for anybody who's been around the University of Houston

(01:33:55):
athletic program for multiple decades, I'm it's it's like myself,
I can't believe what we're looking at, considering what it
once was and what it is now. And you know,
the Football Operations Center is just the latest addition to it.
The fact that it's right there and attached to the stadium,
it's right there for the team. It is a monster
recruiting tool. And obviously all the money that goes into
that and all the money that goes into the program,

(01:34:17):
the nil money that I think a lot more Cougar
fans and alums have been a part of helping to
continue to create and augment has helping them get where
they are. It's night and day. Obviously on the field
with their football product. Over the last couple of years,
they have struggled to find a quarterback that could both
run the offense but throw the football successfully. And it's

(01:34:39):
early in Connor Wigman's Cougar career, but I think that's
one of the things you'll see. I also think the
addition of Tanner Kazil the tight end is we talked
about it before the season it was going to be
a game changer, and it's been two games. It's an
absolute game changer. Would have been nice not to lose
one of what could have been a prominent player in
the backfield for the season, but Sanford Surger right before

(01:35:00):
the season started, did do that. The two games in
the Owls scored nine against them at Rice Stadium. Last
week the SFA crew scored none against them, and the
opening week on Thursday. We'll see what Colorado has offensively
up against what I do think is a very good
Cougar defense, and I would guess most would agree. Looking
at the first two weeks of college football from a

(01:35:24):
conference standpoint, there are a couple of teams that lined
up schedules that I think will help them be better
and maybe give you a better idea of kind of
the teams that they are to start a season in conference,
like Iowa State and Kansas State did clearly last week.
With Arizona State playing at Mississippi State, maybe you found
out a little bit of it. Baylor's start to the season,

(01:35:46):
with the quality of competition Auburn and then SMU and
two extremely exciting games, I think we do know a
little bit about this current league, and I didn't even
mention maybe the two most impressive teams even considering who
they've played, Texas Tech and Utah. Utah had what would
probably be described convincingly as a down year last year.

(01:36:09):
A preseason pick to win the conference, they were one
of the worst teams in the conference last year, and
under coach Whittington, that pretty much never happens and it
will not happen this year. Kind of wide open, but
Baylor Tech Utah, Iowa State, at least early on in
BYU with their defense, I think are among the many
teams that might be standing at the end. Remember last
year the Big Twelve was won by four teams. There

(01:36:32):
was a four team tie and in order to figure
out the two teams that went to the conference title
game and unfortunately was done via tiebreaker. And these large,
large conferences, that's going to be pretty normal where teams
decide via tiebreaker, not just head to head. Oh, you
won the game, you won the tiebreaker, you go to
the title game. Be nice if it worked out that way,

(01:36:54):
but don't know that it will for a second year
in a row. I also don't think you can roll
off Kansas entirely. They may have lost on some Yeah,
that was disappointing. I thought I'm with you up until
how that one went, and I think Missouri's very good,
but I actually thought Kansas would play them better. They Okay,
so if you take away the first quarter, it was
complete domination from Missou that game.

Speaker 6 (01:37:15):
I mean, just talked about them.

Speaker 5 (01:37:16):
They had no rushing attack, they weren't able to move
the ball efficiently. But the thing is is that in
the Big Twelve, especially after watching the double overtime game
with SMU and Baylor. If you have a quarterback, he
got a shot. And Jalen Daniels is night and day
different from how he looked a season ago, and that's everything.
Last year I thought something special was going to happen,
and maybe it will be this year.

Speaker 6 (01:37:35):
I totally agree.

Speaker 5 (01:37:36):
He is a special talent and does things that in
this conference. When you look at the quality of quarterbacks,
I think there are plenty of them, but he still
strikes me as a little bit different than most Cougar's
game on Friday night, we should mention final segment of
the show, which for us today will take us into
Astros on Deck in about twenty minutes. So four forty
five or so, we will have tickets to Trans Hiberian

(01:37:57):
Orchestra tickets to see the Tody's at House of Blues.
We will also have tickets to go see the Cougars
and Buffalo's on Friday Night over at TDECU Stadium six
point thirty kickoff for that. So several pairs of tickets
to those events still to give away this week. So
we'll ask you something about our conversation this hour and
you get answer it on the phone lines in that
final segment to the show and make your went out

(01:38:19):
to those events us.

Speaker 7 (01:38:21):
Yeah, no, that's a We're always trying to hook him up,
hook up the listeners with people, people, weird people people.
How much have you followed Jadaveon Clowney's career lately?

Speaker 5 (01:38:31):
So I was aware that, in an effort to booster
their pass rush, the other team in Texas was looking
to give Jadavian Clowney the opportunity to play for the
other team in Texas. He's obviously already played for the Texans,
so he was on his way to make a visit
to see how things looked, maybe putting Jadavian Clowney in
a Cowboys uniform. How to go?

Speaker 6 (01:38:53):
Well, he left and he didn't sign a deal.

Speaker 5 (01:38:55):
Oh man, you never want to let those guys get
out of the building without signing him. Oh wait, no,
that's the beginning of multimillion dollar free agency, not middle
of the season. He's still available free agency.

Speaker 7 (01:39:05):
Well, when you trade away Micah Parsons, I guess you
need all the help you can get from a pass
rushing standpoint.

Speaker 6 (01:39:10):
It's interesting.

Speaker 5 (01:39:11):
I mean, I'm sure at this point of his career
most teams will look at it this way. He's still
I'm not saying he's a poor pass rusher, but he's
better against the run in my mind. Unless something changed
dramatically last year, and that's not what I saw.

Speaker 6 (01:39:23):
It's not that he can't help them.

Speaker 5 (01:39:25):
I'm a little surprised they wouldn't have figured out a
way to make it work. If you're bringing him in,
that's usually how it works. So I don't know if
there was a reason, a physical reason maybe why it
didn't happen.

Speaker 7 (01:39:35):
Well, this is what Justina Anderson tweeted, and this was
about thirty minutes ago. I'm told Clowney has now left
the Cowboys facility without signing a contract. A plan was
for him to come to Dallas today for a visit
and a physical. Cowboys in the midst of preparing to
host the Giants in a few days. They'll keep in
contact with Clowney and we'll continue to monitor the situation.

(01:39:57):
So it's not to say he won't, but yes.

Speaker 6 (01:40:00):
It is. Well, I maybe change what's gonna change more injuries. No,
it just might decide. I don't know. I mean, the
stuff like that happens all the time. Well, it's tryout
players are different.

Speaker 5 (01:40:13):
You bring a bunch of players, seven eight players in
for a try out, maybe none of them sign, and
you know, maybe there's a roster switch and injury here,
and you bring one of them in and you're sign
into a practice squad. This is a veteran player that
you bring in, probably to gauge his health, gage's desire
to continue to play football. I mean, look at the
Amari Cooper situation. Mark Cooper signed a deal late, late
and late with the Raiders and then not long after

(01:40:35):
said I'm not here to play football anymore. And he
walked away from the game and they had to kind
of shuffle what they were doing, and a little bit
of his physical I think much more of it was
just deciding I don't want to play anymore. I would
assume Jadavian doesn't go on a visit if he doesn't
want to play anymore. I don't think he plans on
his career being now in the rearview mirror. But for
him to get in and out of town without signing,
it's not because they brought him there and then thought

(01:40:57):
he couldn't help them. Unless it's physical. Well, you bring
a veteran in for a visit. It's to finalize the deal,
isn't it.

Speaker 6 (01:41:05):
That's a fair sound argument. But again, is it the
fact that it's a Cowboys? Do you attach that to it?

Speaker 5 (01:41:11):
No?

Speaker 6 (01:41:11):
No, I really don't. There must, Like I said, I
don't know the reason, but there probably is one.

Speaker 5 (01:41:15):
And I don't know of any other veteran players from
an edge perspective that they are also considering, because clearly
the talent of those players at this point in any season,
you're during the season unless somebody was on the sidelines
for weeks not signing a contract knowing they weren't healthy
till X date, and that's not the case with Jadavian.
Then the players that are available, there's a reason they're available,

(01:41:36):
and it's not usually because they wanted too much money
and they just could never find a team. It's because
there weren't teams desiring their services.

Speaker 6 (01:41:42):
What is he? How old is he now? Thirty five?

Speaker 5 (01:41:45):
He's not quite that old.

Speaker 7 (01:41:46):
He's drafted in fourteen, number one overall by the Texans.
That's just wild that he's maybe two. Okay, he is
younger than I thought. It just seems like he's been
around forever. I feel like when guys shuffle from different
team to different team, it makes them seem like they're older.

Speaker 5 (01:42:03):
He played five seasons in Houston, and the only teams
he's played for since are Seattle, Tennessee, Cleveland, Baltimore in Carolina.

Speaker 6 (01:42:09):
That's why he feels like he's thirty five or thirty six.

Speaker 5 (01:42:12):
But it felt to me if you were reasonable with
your expectations for him in Carolina, I felt like he
gave them that. I know he gave Baltimore that the
year before. I don't there should be a team that
needs a fourth edge guy, a fifth edge guy, someone
to give you twenty to thirty snaps a game, And
I yes, the Cowboys seem like a place to go

(01:42:34):
for that, considering their most effective edge rusher is chasing
down Jared Goff in a Packers uniform.

Speaker 7 (01:42:39):
Now, I still can't believe they traded him to the
pack I mean I can because I thought it was
gonna happen.

Speaker 6 (01:42:45):
But it's just.

Speaker 7 (01:42:49):
Is there any way where that ages positively for the
Cowboys like those picks would have to be.

Speaker 5 (01:42:56):
It's not impossible to draft somebody at twenty three, four,
seven nine and have them.

Speaker 6 (01:43:01):
Be at all pro.

Speaker 5 (01:43:02):
It's not impossible, but the odds are working against you,
and they have two shots and you're in order to
win the trade. Is it fair to say the player
they draft at the back third of the first round
has to be better than Michaeh. Parsons and they got
two shots. I don't like their odds. God speaking, what's
a good player. I keep not wanting to dismiss that
he helped their run game defense. I thought in this game,

(01:43:24):
and I think he will continue to do that. I
just don't think they made their team better today or
their team better for the future. And I think most
would agree.

Speaker 2 (01:43:33):
The eighteen on Sports Talk seven Nike.

Speaker 1 (01:43:40):
A little help over the hump with some Wednesday BS, two.

Speaker 5 (01:43:44):
Adams and a whole lot of bit stealing MIT.

Speaker 1 (01:43:46):
Steeling with the Bitch Steelers better known as the eighteen.

Speaker 5 (01:43:52):
So we're early in the college football season. As we
get into our signature segment, it is Wednesday, so it
is Wednesday's BS. The in the s says you heard
from voice guys stand for bit stealing, but it stands
for what you think it does. Also, when sometimes we
go that route rather than stealing from Doug Cole Ross,
Matt Dan or Sean Doug getting top billings. I mean

(01:44:16):
you love usually gets his last on the.

Speaker 6 (01:44:18):
List on the least amount of time. I'm just messing.

Speaker 5 (01:44:22):
Absolutely, he's also here more than anybody else, including us,
that things could be changing. Absolutely, But we want to
get into the secondary form of what BS stands for.
So I bring up college football and Cale, I'll ask
you this question. You may or may not know the answer.
Ac I didn't know the answer. My assumption is you
did not either. Is it costly to win an important

(01:44:45):
game at home if you play in the SEC?

Speaker 6 (01:44:49):
Yes?

Speaker 9 (01:44:49):
Or no?

Speaker 5 (01:44:49):
Are you talking about like actual dollars and cents? I
am yes, it is.

Speaker 6 (01:44:53):
Why is that? And you ask, I'll answer.

Speaker 5 (01:44:57):
The SEC has fined Mississippi State five hundred thousand for
the field storm against Arizona State. Since it was a
non conference game, the money goes towards the conference's post
grad scholarship fund. So when you welcome in a non
conference team and as the perceived lesser team, which Mississippi

(01:45:18):
State was, you win the game and you storm the field.
Your fans are excited, they're on the field, but it's
going to earn the conference five hundred k to their
post grad scholarship fund. Now, help me out with my
memory here from just this past weekend. Where did they
have the field crew totally completely ready to have the

(01:45:43):
field goal posts walked off the field, they went on
to the field, they properly unscrewed them from their moorings,
lifted them off the ground, and the students were right
there to take them on their way. Where was that?
That was in Starkville, Mississippi? Okay, so it was this
senior school. I wasn't positive that it was there. Oh,
it's the greatest engineering program that we have seen. From
removing a goal post, they left no marker in the

(01:46:05):
ground whatsoever. So it's actually really funny. They don't have
to redo the field, they just have to add a
new goal post. Everything is and now was the goal
post they took away harmed in any way?

Speaker 8 (01:46:16):
Oh?

Speaker 6 (01:46:16):
That I don't know.

Speaker 5 (01:46:17):
I just know that didn't visit it intact. Right, it's created,
it's removed, it's offered to the fans in a way
that suggests to me, can we just get it back
from you and then we can put it right back
in place. Well, the problem is is that it depends
on where the goal post went.

Speaker 6 (01:46:32):
Now, they didn't end up in the water.

Speaker 5 (01:46:33):
Did they? I don't know, But like when Vandy beat
Alabama and ended up in the Cumberland River. When Tennessee Alabama,
it ended up in the Tennessee River and they had
to remove it in parts. So I don't know where
the goal post actually is. And they have a game
on Saturday against alcorn State. We're gonna be going for
it on fourth down every time and there will be
no two point or no one point conversions after touchdowns.

Speaker 6 (01:46:55):
Both teams ready go. I would be all for it.

Speaker 5 (01:46:58):
Sounds like a nice game of Madden to me, which
is the way it all should be. No offense to kickers.
I'd also prefer not to punt, no offense to punters either.
My other football related item with say what we came
out of the Texans game this past weekend and watching it,
it seemed like CJ. Stroud was under pressure a good bit.
Seemed similar to last year. We've all heard that phrase.

(01:47:18):
We've said it here already in the first couple shows
of the week, Same old Texans, same offensive issues. Didn't
score in the second app, didn't have any touchdowns, and
was able to reference a very specific pressure rate According
to PFF. That pressure rate was at forty one point
two percent in the days that have followed.

Speaker 6 (01:47:39):
I don't know what to believe.

Speaker 5 (01:47:40):
I don't want to chart it myself because I don't
know that I would match what any of these entities,
or more importantly, the teams themselves do. That's why all
these statistical analyzers, while I recognize them, we talk about them,
I want to respect them, and I want to give
them their proper due. Teams do their own statistical analysis
and ate their own stats, and you know, quarterback hits

(01:48:02):
and pressure rate. Think they'll have that all themselves. They
may subscribe to some of these, but just coming out
of this one game, and it does throw off your
sample size. Let's say you drop back twenty times and
somebody charts it that you were pressured twelve times.

Speaker 6 (01:48:16):
Well, it's a sixty percent pressure rate.

Speaker 5 (01:48:18):
Well if it was only eleven times, well now it's
fifty five percent of it was ten. The numbers can
get skewed by having so few opportunities. It was just
one game. PFF says CJ was pressured forty one point
two percent of the time. FTN says it was twenty
nine point four percent. Sports Info Solution says it was
thirty eight point two percent. This was posted on social media.

(01:48:39):
Friend Troy Overt, Texan's Cap grabbed it all and posted
it there, and thankful he did so I could get
some of the comments there and one of them was
dead solid perfect. It posted Houston, Cincinnati, and Washington. Houston
and Cincinnati are widely regarded as having two of the
worst offensive lines to the least protecting protective of their
quarterback C J.

Speaker 6 (01:49:00):
Stroud and Joe Burrow.

Speaker 5 (01:49:01):
Washington was also added just off of this week and
that The comment reads, you know, when the question is
here are the differences in pressure ratings from these data sources,
who do you trust? And at list Houston, Cincinnati, Washington
with all sorts of different numbers for pressure rate, and
the response was, I don't trust the Texans, Bengals and Commanders.

(01:49:21):
O line. That's how you come out of deciding whose
numbers to trust. Forget the numbers. I know what I'm seeing.
I don't trust those three offensive lines. Yeah, we know
what we're looking at, and I wish we these are
actually I think pressure rate, you know, it's just like
completion percentage and accuracy and yards after catch. When you

(01:49:42):
start realizing how much more there is to it than
just you through the football and he caught it. You're
one for one. That's one hundred percent. There's more to
where you put the ball. And you know they were
talking about it quite a bit in the Sunday Night
game or Monday night game because of Ben Johnson's work
with Goff and now Ben Johnson's work with the Lions.

(01:50:02):
Receivers are yactastic because of where the ball's going. Not
just you completed seventy percent of your passes, but you
put the ball into the receiver's hands without throwing a
hospital ball and by throwing him into the yak he
was about to get catch the ball on the move.
You're not coming back for the football. The ball doesn't
make you leave your feet, you're not going up over

(01:50:23):
your head to get it. You're catching it in stride
or it's taking you where the route wants you to go.

Speaker 6 (01:50:28):
So that's where the ball should go.

Speaker 5 (01:50:30):
Those things actually do matter, and we do have much
much much more data on that. There was data trying
to equalize the quarterback play from the weekend. Here's your
EPA based on things out of your control. Receiver route
running mistakes, drops, bring that up to point out Dak.
For those of you that were watching Thursday night, you
probably saw it. For those of you watched the box
score of Friday morning, you probably didn't see it. He

(01:50:52):
threw for one hundred and eighty eight yards, you didn't
have any touchdown passes, and he was absolutely awesome and
the reason they lost he was, I mean great might
be an understatement. He asked his receivers to make a
couple plays in traffic. Ferguson once in ced Lamb once
where the ball was put in exactly the right spot,
but there were two or three defenders there. You're not

(01:51:14):
necessarily gonna make that catch, but the ball was there,
and then the ball was there three other times to
see lamb On drops though not super easy throws, but
like the one that went off CD's helmet, he hit
him in between multiple defenders, which would have had him
catching the ball on the run and trying to make
a move to beat the one defender who he could
have beaten and maybe turned it into a touchdown, but

(01:51:34):
it went through his hands and hit him in the helmet.

Speaker 7 (01:51:36):
All right, we're not going to get to do football
at five today because the Astros on deck so in
that vein, I've got another football story. It is of
the pro variety coming up next, and I wish I
could say you're not gonna believe it, but I think
he will considering who it's about and what it's about.
We'll get to that when we return here on a
Wednesday edition of the program.

Speaker 1 (01:51:58):
The A Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 7 (01:52:08):
Before we get to what I wanted to get to
this segment real quickly, we didn't talk, I mean, as
much as we did talk about the fact that the
Bill's Ravens was the game of the weekend, we didn't
talk about what happened in the end zone with the
fan interaction.

Speaker 6 (01:52:24):
If you will, Yeah, I definitely need to get to that.
You're absolutely right.

Speaker 5 (01:52:27):
Let me quickly give our listeners a chance to walk
away with some tickets. Whether it's to go see The
Cougar's take on Colorado Big twelve opener, as Eddie Nunya
has joined us earlier, it's also Hispanish Heritage Night this
Friday night, September twelfth, over TDECU Stadium. You can find seats,
I believe still at Uhcugar's dot com slash tickets or
seven to one to three go Coog's. We got a

(01:52:48):
pair or two for you here. Should you know the
answer to this question? Similarly, you got a pair of
tickets to go see Trans Siberian Orchestra. They've got the
Ghost of Christmas Eve performance coming up at December.

Speaker 6 (01:52:58):
Nineteenth at Toyota Center.

Speaker 5 (01:53:00):
Tickets go on sale for that event this Friday at
ten am right there at toytocenter dot com. You can
also win a pair of tickets all separately to see
Tonyslve on.

Speaker 6 (01:53:09):
December twenty ninth. They're playing at the House of Blues.

Speaker 5 (01:53:12):
Tickets for that event also on sale Friday via ticketmaster
dot com. All you have to do is know the
answer to this simple question of something mentioned earlier on
the program today at seven one three two one two
five seven ninety.

Speaker 6 (01:53:22):
It actually took place.

Speaker 5 (01:53:23):
In our previous segment we discussed getting fined for enjoying football.
The fans at this particular university stormed the field and
made off with the goalposts, and it costs their school
five hundred thousand bucks, though it goes spack into the
conference's kitty for postgrad work, so everybody's happy. I suppose what.

Speaker 6 (01:53:45):
School are we talking about? Where did this happen.

Speaker 5 (01:53:47):
What teams field was stormed and it cost them five
hundred thousand dollars after their victory over Arizona State seven
one three two one two five seven ninety seven one
three two one two five seven ninety So we got
one more example of look at the hands and gloves

(01:54:07):
at the end of the arms for DeAndre Hopkins one
handed catch and he I can't believe ac kind of
I got mad at me in a playful kind of way.
Come on, man, the minutia you come up with for
the Twitter versus kind of alarming.

Speaker 6 (01:54:25):
Sometimes get mad at you. It's just very you.

Speaker 5 (01:54:27):
So DeAndre Hopkins got a touchdown pass and I know
you want to talk about the incident that happened, So
maybe we'll save my a minutia post for another day.
Caught a touchdown pass and he and his team began
to celebrate, and in Buffalo in this case, they went
along the back of the end zone and kind of
celebrated with each other. They weren't really interacting with the
fans men, many of whom were clearly Buffalo Bills fans,

(01:54:49):
but they were also walking along the back of the
end zone directly in front of them. On their way
back to their bench, DeAndre Hopkins in front, Lamar Jackson
right behind him, and a couple of others, and then
the incident, well, the fan first he tapped DeAndre Hopkins
on the on the helmet and he tapped him in
an unfriendly you shouldn't be doing that kind.

Speaker 7 (01:55:10):
Of way, and then he did the same thing to
Lamar Jackson, who was just right behind DeAndre. They were
just kind of walking almost caravan style, unintentionally.

Speaker 5 (01:55:20):
I mean, they were celebrating, but they were not shoving
it in their faces, but they were close enough to
them while they were celebrating that they probably took it
that way.

Speaker 7 (01:55:27):
Yeah, Lamar threw the pass, that's what he did wrong, apparently.

Speaker 5 (01:55:31):
So essentially DeAndre Hopkins had his helmet shoved and he
just went on like nothing, and Lamar Jackson, being behind him,
obviously saw it happen. And then when it happened to
him and the fans are reachable, Lamar Jackson just stood
up to the fan and two hands shoved him backwards
and then went about his business. And obviously much of

(01:55:51):
it was caught by the cameras. They showed it after
the fact. Lamar Jackson was asked about the game and saying,
you know, he was apologetic for his actions. I don't
think this this is something the NFL should step in
on it for the players, I think they absolutely should
attempt to do something to the fans to deter other
fans from doing this. This cannot well be a part

(01:56:13):
of what fans think is okay. The NFL has a
little bit of a buffer because of the stands usually
being a little bit higher than the field. But this
is not the first time a fan has reached out
to a player, and oftentimes it is when the fans
or the player jumps into the stands. There's virtually no
buffer in an NBA game, and we've seen way too

(01:56:33):
many incidents there. Baseball is pretty clean for the most part.
It's you're not up against the fans very often, and
if you are, you're jumping in and jumping right back out.

Speaker 13 (01:56:41):
But in the.

Speaker 5 (01:56:42):
NFL, this is a potential ongoing issue. So what did
the NFL say.

Speaker 7 (01:56:47):
Well, the NFL hasn't said anything yet, but Lamar Jackson
has apologized to the fans.

Speaker 5 (01:56:51):
That's why I said he apologized, which it stinks, it
really does. I think it stinks that he's apologizing again,
do we want from these human beings who are all
they're doing is going out there and playing football. If
Lamar Jackson was pointing his finger in this guy's face,
yelling at him, celebrating in a way that was, hey man,

(01:57:12):
what are you gonna do about it? He didn't do
any of those things. Neither did DeAndre Hopkins.

Speaker 6 (01:57:16):
He said, it just happened. I got pushed.

Speaker 7 (01:57:18):
I'm like, what, I wasn't even thinking about me being
out there on the field. My apologies to him. In
other words, he rea like anybody else was. This is
what he said after the game. Yeah and so but
so that the NFL or Jackson said he hadn't heard
from the league, but the fan has been indefinitely banned
both from Bills and NFL stadiums. I don't know if
he's going to be banned from the new one. He

(01:57:39):
probably gotta put that on a Ledger building.

Speaker 6 (01:57:41):
I mean, that's pretty simple.

Speaker 5 (01:57:43):
Just I mean, you can go to any NFL game
you want, and then when you ridiculously contact a player
twice two different players like you did, don't expect to
have the ability to come again.

Speaker 7 (01:57:54):
And he won't. That's perfectly fine today what he said
was just chill. Next time you can talk trash and
stuff your hands to yourself.

Speaker 6 (01:58:01):
It's so simple. Yeah, keep your hands to yourself.

Speaker 7 (01:58:03):
And what I was going to say about this before
we get to the other thing real quick, I like
the fact that, at least so far, the NFL has
not done anything about this, and I think they handled
the spitting incident as it should have been handled. In
other words, he was ejected before the game started, basically,
or before he could play the whole game. So that's
his suspension, and he gets his fine and let's move on.

(01:58:23):
Same here, Lamar Jackson. It's like the fan. Now he's lucky.
What if the fan fell I think he did and
hurt himself and then got litigious.

Speaker 5 (01:58:34):
Yeah, that would stink. I'm sure the league will will
rapidly rule on this. I mean, I guess if they're
looking into a potential suspension for Lamar Jacksons suspended for that, yeah,
I mean, but it would probably take probably three weeks
or so before they came to a decision, and then
maybe before the Ravens Texans game they'd hand it down.

Speaker 6 (01:58:53):
And then he would appeal and he would only be
suspended for a quarter.

Speaker 5 (01:58:55):
He got me man. You know, the wording of the
Jalen Carter punishment was almost like they're trying to get
you mad at them. They said, he is suspended and
fined for a game, and he was fined a game check,
and he was suspended for a game. And then in
their next sentence they say, and we feel the game
has been served from last week, like they're trying to

(01:59:18):
tell you, oh, we're not gonna do anything. They punished him,
but even in the way they wrote it, it made
some people.

Speaker 6 (01:59:23):
I think it was correct.

Speaker 5 (01:59:25):
It was. It wasn't a physical attack. It was a
disgusting attack. I mean, Joe Buck probably would have called
it a disgusting act.

Speaker 6 (01:59:31):
Is a disgusting act.

Speaker 5 (01:59:33):
But it shouldn't happen.

Speaker 6 (01:59:35):
We don't.

Speaker 5 (01:59:36):
We saw it a second time in six days. It
happened on the college football field. A Florida player did it.
Also ejected, I don't know that he's going to be
suspended an nil game check, but there will be punishment.
It's these are both of these incidents are kind of simple.
You're a fan. They didn't come into the stands, so
don't touch them. Keep your hands for yourselves. Your adult

(01:59:58):
men at the beginning of a non intense moment before
an NFL game, don't spit on the other guy.

Speaker 7 (02:00:05):
You're playing for the ultimate prize. Bill would have never
approved spitting not on somebody.

Speaker 6 (02:00:12):
I don't know. The NBA is different. That's why maybe
Hakeem was so upset.

Speaker 5 (02:00:15):
If we're gonna have their own hygiene problems, the mouthpiece
hygiene is not at the top of their list. It
needs to be.

Speaker 6 (02:00:21):
Yeah, especially for one guy.

Speaker 5 (02:00:22):
Well, there's a few mouthpiece chewers now in the league.

Speaker 7 (02:00:26):
Those people chew theirs. This guy keeps his outside of
his mouth.

Speaker 5 (02:00:29):
Nice chewing on part of it, and the other.

Speaker 6 (02:00:33):
One call go his way in the finals, of course,
I know I got twenty calls, but this one stinks.

Speaker 5 (02:00:38):
I can't stand that dude.

Speaker 7 (02:00:40):
All right, enough about that. I actually did have one
more thing, but I'll save it for tomorrow.

Speaker 6 (02:00:45):
It's that good. Oh the post eighteen performance at Carbock
that I mean Friday.

Speaker 7 (02:00:50):
Oh okay, I just realized when I said that we're
coming on late tomorrow. In the meantime, we're gonna get
you ready for Game two of this three game step
between the Astros and the Blue Jays.

Speaker 6 (02:00:59):
Astro on deck, straight Ahead.

Speaker 8 (02:01:03):
The A G.

Speaker 2 (02:01:04):
On Sports Talk seven ninety