August 9, 2024 • 42 mins
Former Astro turned Space City Home Network analyst, Geoff Blum, joins The A-Team for his weekly visit. He talks about the Astros being able to have a strong rebound to win the Rangers series in Arlington. He also talks about the Astros path to try and win another AL West. Also, what to expect from Zach Dezenzo.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You look at it, Look at it, look at it.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Oh yeah, this is radio.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You listen to it on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Astros broadcaster Jeff Blum on seven ninety is brought to
you by low T Center.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
And he joins us from Bean Town.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
It is the A team here on Sports Talk seven ninety,
straight up three o'clock. And yes, the Boston Red Sox
the next victim of your Houston Astros. We can set
on tap. You'll hear it right here on Sports Talk
seven ninety, but you can also watch it on Space
City Home Network tonight, where Jeff Blum our guest right now,
and of course Todd Kallith will be on the call.
(00:41):
Hey Blummer, How's how are the temperatures up there? First
of all, I always have to ask when you're in
a northernmost city, that's probably not as hot as it
is here.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
It's not as hot, but it's comparable. And I've got
to admit I'm a little moist.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
And we're off and running.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
On a scale of one to one hundred, one hundred
absolute torrential downpour, what number would you put on the
possibility of rain drops dropping into Fenway Park tonight?
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Oh, that's easy, He's right on it.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
That literally is the forecast for this evening neighborhood of
forty percent chance of rain, probably later in the game,
when both teams are into their bullpen, then earlier about
seventy nine eighty degrees for a first pitch.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Well, they've already postponed the other team from Texas going
to the Yankees Stadium, which is just basically around the corner,
because you forget just how close everything is up there.
So I wonder if you know it, it has to
be the same collective activity. But yeah, I'm hoping if
there is some sort of delay that it's not of
the three hour variety the next time or the like
(01:44):
the last time you were in that neck of the woods.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
If you will no, Yeah, those are cuss words, and
i'd appreciate you stop pussing on air because that is
something that we definitely don't want to deal with, because
I might pull the plug on the truck after about
two hours of a delay. But it looks like it's
kind of it's riding a little bit north and it's
just that remnants of Hurricane Debbies, So I think that
we might be okay untill like maybe about ten thirty
(02:08):
eleven o'clock. But it would be prudent for the Astros
to go out there and try and score early against
ten or howck and kind of establish a lead if
that rain does come, so we can shut this thing down,
take the w and go home.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Well, it's interesting because you know, the Astros just got
done playing a third place team in their own division,
and now, I mean the exact amount of games back
of another division that's in a dead heat, the Orioles
and the Yankees duking it out for first place in
the Al East. And then you got the Red Sox
five and a half back, which is exactly where the
(02:41):
Rangers are to the Astros and the Mariners. Dumbest walk
off ever last night is the reason the Astros aren't
in sole possession of first place. I hate. I don't
even know who that was in right field last night.
I didn't even I saw it on Twitter and I
got irrationally angry, and then I threw my phone down
and just logged off of social for us to night.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Yeah, I was trying to you know, we're all trying
to track and see what's going on. You know, obviously
this time of year, it's kind of fun to score,
you know, storeboard, watch and see what's going on, and
with the Astros getting done as soon as they did,
and you know, traveling and having that day off, you're
kind of looking around and you're watching some of that
game because you realize you had a chance to maybe
gain another half game on the Seattle Mariners, and all
(03:24):
of a sudden, you know, the Detroit pitchers couldn't get
a guy out with two out, two strikes on him,
and then Mitch Hanitor HiT's just kind of that low
line drive to right field, and I don't know what
I think his name's Vallatti. I can't. I don't even
know how to pronounce his name. But I had to
watch the replay, much like you, because if you were
watching it on game day, you're going, why did that
ball land where it did and end up scoring two runs?
(03:48):
And then you watch the replan and you're like, oh,
dear god, Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, he just whiffed.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Kind of a tough one.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
Three runs on the board on a single turned into
a triple table. Yeah, it's just an up fortunate way
for that to end. Obviously, the night before, a very
fortunate way for it to end. With the detroit making
the play defensively in the bottom of the eighth, I
need to keep two runs off the board. That's exactly
what Scott Servis said, the manager of the Mariners, after
the game. He said, it kind of felt like it
(04:14):
was about to happen again. But one night they make
the play, one night they don't make the play, and
they are able to avoid the sweep, avoid falling a
full game behind. The Houston Astros still have those two
games in hand, both teams four games over five hundred
as the weekend begins. As ac laid out, these games
are meaning full to both the Red Sox and the
Astros as they attempt to make their way into the postseason.
(04:35):
The Red Sox are the first team out of the
wildcard race, trailing the leader in the East and the
two teams from the NL Central not ahead of the Guardians.
The Astros are right behind the Red Sox and the
wildcard chase and obviously in a dead heat for their
own division. Take you back to probably the most fun moments,
or among several fun moments from the last series. How
(04:57):
did you handle the drama of what was unfolding all
the way into looking for out number twenty seven for
Fromber Valdez, how do you recount that night when he
nearly or another no hitter?
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Well, I mean doing it in that ballpark would have
been special against that team would have been that much
more special. So I think it was. It was a
lot of fun and it was kind of interesting. I
feel like every time that we have an opportunity with
Fromber who matches up well against the team, it's always
the anticipation of which Romber are we going to get?
Or we're going to get the guy that just kind of,
you know, kind of massages his way through the through
(05:33):
the game, or are you going to get the guy
that goes out there and absolutely shoves. And we got
the guy that shoved the other day. And I was
kind of excited there for you know, twenty six of
those outs because you know the last two outs, you know,
maybe that twenty fifth and twenty six outs. He was
kind of a ratic a little bit with the location.
But you know, why does it always have to be
Corey Seegers what I want to know? But you know,
(05:54):
walking Josh Smith, I think you know that kind of
hurt it a little bit. And then you also have
Josh hater out there in the bullpen getting red hot
just in case. But who knew that jord On scud
in the right center field was going to end up
being the defining swing in that game after Secier hit
that two run home run. But for twenty six outs,
it looked like Valdez was well on his way to
(06:15):
picking up that second no hitter, which I think TK
said thirty two pitchers have only gotten multiple no hitters,
and that would have been a nice elite group for
Fromber to be in, but it just wasn't meant to
be that night.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
Yeah, and in short order, would have been less than
a full calendar year or just above I should say
a full calendar year between the two no nos. Obviously
he still sits on one. We have this discussion all
the time, and I know it gets brought up on
the TV broadcast from time to time, and you just
brought it up again here the idea that Fromber Valdez's
first name is not Fromber, but rather it's good. I'm
(06:49):
not one of whom believes that that is in place.
I'm pretty adamant about it. I don't think Fromber is
quite the cy young candidate that he clearly has been
at earlier points in his career the unbeatable postseason pitcher
that he was prior to twenty twenty three. So I'm
fully on board with that's not who he is, clearly,
(07:09):
but I'm hesitant to ever wonder which guy they're gonna get.
What would it take for him to maybe erase that
for you not having poor innings, which oftentimes still take place.
I mean the start before that, he had the one
inning where he just couldn't seem to get out of it,
and then he was almost perfect in the other five. Clearly,
this game was very, very good. Is that kind of
(07:30):
what he's maybe not what he once was.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
No, I think that's exactly what it is for fromber Valdez.
And you know, you hate to harp on these things
because his stuff is so good and you feel like
he can kind of he can kind of go out
there and just throw fastball, curveball, and get away with
a lot of pitches because there's so much drastic movement
on both of those pitches to be able to put
guys away. But at the same time, you know, opposing
hitters they go to school a little bit and they
(07:55):
take advantage of mistakes, and I think that's the biggest thing,
is that for Promber not to hit, you know, not
to pitch without conviction. I think if he was able
to kind of take each inning as a game in itself,
I think that he would actually be hyper successful throughout
the course of a season. But that takes a lot
of focus, it takes a lot of energy, and throughout
(08:16):
the course of thirty to thirty two starts that can
be exhausting a little bit. And he's human, and we
know that. You know there's going to be moments where
you're not as locked in as you are normally, just
because that's how the nature of baseball is when you're
playing one hundred and sixty two games. But you know,
just watching Prober, when he pitches with conviction, when he
is dialed in and working well with whether it's Karatini
(08:39):
or janr. Diez, if he is in agreement with the
pitch and he wants to put his head down and
make the pitch and execute it the way he knows how,
he's virtually unhittable. And that's what's exciting about Promber is
because start to start, he's the guy that can go
out there and actually give you the potential to go
out there and get that no hitter because he has
the strikeout stuff. He can go to the wipeout curve
(09:00):
to get the swing and miss, but he also can
be efficient by pitching the contact and using that infield
defense with a sixty plus you know percentage as far
as ground ball rate. So that's where it's kind of
interesting for Promer and I think, you know, if he
finds that group early, he can settle in and focus
on making those pitches. That's what makes it exciting when
he's out there.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
Well, a it's been an up and down season in
a lot of different ways, but as it pertains to
the pitching, you know Fromber has had his peaks and valleys,
but it's I would say it's definitely an improvement over
last year. But the guy that's starting tonight is the
one that's really going to be interesting to keep an
eye on because he's just as dominant as he was
to start the year. Maybe it's a little tapering off,
(09:39):
maybe it's fatigue. Where do you assess the current state
of affairs for one Ronell Blanco, No.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
I think it's kind of that ladder. I think it's
kind of you know, he's exceeded as innings pitch. This
is his first full season as a starting pitcher, so
you've got to kind of I mean, it's it's overused
maybe as you know, monitoring the innings or managing the workload.
You know, that's just that I don't know, I don't
like the term. I think if you're just going to
protect a guy, you've got a protected guy. But it's
(10:08):
only natural to be able to have that fatigue. And
being a starting pitcher in the big leagues asks a lot,
especially when you're an astro starting pitcher, because it's not
five and five like most of these guys around the league.
It's six innings. If you can't, you know, at the minimum,
and then throw close to one hundred pitches every time
we're out there. So it's a little exhausting, it's daunting.
And I know that Renel he's a big body, so
(10:30):
he should be able to handle the workload. But at
the same time, he's learning how to pitch late in
the season, you know, every five days, and I think
that's where you might see, you know, towards the end
of the season, you might see some little lapses in velocity.
You might see lapses in command, and that's just because
fatigue actually is setting in and he's trying to train
his body to pitch deeper in a season. But who's
(10:51):
to say he's not going to catch that second win
and finish the season strong. And I kind of hope
that's where Renelle is because when we get to the
end of October, end of August, hopefully the end of October,
but the end of August, you know, that's where you
can go to a six man rotation and you can
add that extra day of rest, and that might really
benefit a guy like Brinell. But that's the only thing
I see is him trying to work through, you know,
(11:12):
managing his innings the way he wants to be able
to maintain his stuff, because when he starts to lose
a little bit of velocity, then you start to rely
on your slider and your change up a little bit,
and sometimes it's not as effective as when you're using
your fastball to set up the secondary pitches.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
As Jeff Blum here on Sports Talk seven ninety plenty
more with him as we continue here in hour number
one of a Friday edition of the program, The A Team,
I want to tell you guys about something that Blum
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(11:48):
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(12:09):
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Speaker 2 (12:25):
Back to Adam Clinton and Adam Wexler the eighteen.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
It's the eighteam here on Sports Talk seven ninety Friday
edition of the program. A little bit shorter version of it,
as the Astros are in Boston tonight for the opener
of a three game set, and we'll have that for
you here on your home for Astros Baseball Sports Talks
seven ninety. But right now we have Jeff Blum, who
will be doing the television side of the broadcast tonight
live from Boston. He joins us for his weekly visit
(12:58):
here on the program. And you when you're talking about
Ronel Blanco before the break, talking a little bit about
fromber the anticipation starting to build around the clubhouse or
with the team for the return of Justin Verlander, or
is it kind of business as usual. We're trying to
just make every win game count until we get reinforcements,
and then after that, I'll ask you about the other
(13:19):
obvious one that everybody talks about.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Yeah, I think all of the additions I think they're
looking forward to. I know, it was kind of interesting
to watch the ball club around that trade deadline. How
you know, they kind of went into a little bit
of a mini funk after that trade deadline. I'm not
sure what was what they were expecting in that clubhouse,
but for whatever reason, after that deadline kind of passed,
things got kind of flat in that clubhouse. But it
(13:43):
looks like they've kind of rebounded a little bit and
readjusted their focus and said, you know what, we still
have a shot at this thing to go out and
win this division with as poorly as you know, Seattle
won't run away with it, and they continue to push
down the Texas Rangers. But I think that understanding that
if they can through this month of August, they pretty
much have a real opportunity to go run away with
(14:04):
that American League West. And the way that you do
that is going out there and having Justin Verlander, you know,
be the addition to that. I know it means a
lot to the guys who are on offense and go
out there and put up a lot of numbers and
want to be able to win ballgames when they put
four to five six runs on the scoreboard and have
their pitching shut it down. And I think that the
pitching staff is also looking forward to having a guy
(14:26):
like Justin around, even if it's you know, fifty sixty
pitches to start things out. When he comes back from
his rehab assignment, it would be nice to be able
to have him go out there and kind of create
that buffer in the rotation to give these guys that
extra day that I was talking about in that previous segment,
But think about the lift of just having a guy
like that in the clubhouse as well. He's a leader
on the field, he's a leader in the clubhouse. He's
(14:48):
been through everything in this game. And if this happens
to be the last moments we see Justin Erlander on
a mountain, what better place to have them than an
Ashros uniform competing with these guys down the stretch. I
think it would really give.
Speaker 4 (14:59):
Them a lit It certainly is a possibility. We kind
of brought that up earlier this week, that you know,
either his time with the Astros might come to an
end at the end of twenty twenty four in the postseason.
I don't think he's planning on retiring unless his return
this year is extremely disappointing from either the success front
or the injury front. Seems like he is still intending
(15:21):
on having his agent get to work for him this
offseason and finding a deal for him somewhere, And we
know he has a great relationship with ownership here in Houston,
so I wouldn't necessarily say it's not impossible, But he's
not under contract for next year and won't reach the
innings needed to vest his way into a contract. So
that's one thing to note, And just to kind of
wrap our heads around all of the pitching that we've seen,
(15:42):
we need to get thoughts on both of the other
two very successful guys beyond Hunter Brown. Hunter does what
Hunter does. We had not seen, you say, Kakuchi, but
now have twice in the last six games, both of
his starts Astros victories. But I want to start with
Spencer the strutter six innings, one run, owing people away,
shutting him down, sending him back to the dugout, cruising
(16:03):
around the mound, letting the let us flow. He's begging
for all of us to watch him succeed because when
he does, it's so fun to watch.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Yeah, And you know what's kind of surprising about Spaghetti
is the fact that when he's on, he's kind of
lights out. And you know that's kind of the fun
part about Spencer starts is you know, he's just like
we talked about with Fromber, you know what guy are
we going to get? Because if Spencer goes out there
and attacks his zone and kind of gets that little
vicious strut to his game a little bit where he's
kind of hunting strikeouts. I think he's a lot of
(16:34):
fun to watch and kind of proven that he does
kind of have the stuff to go out there and
get it. He's got about six different pitches. He can
create movement, the velocity's there when he's right and sets
up the curveball, the cutter of the slider, sweeper, amongst
other pitches. So he can be kind of fun to watch.
But I think he's kind of coming into his own
a little bit and maybe becoming a little more consistent.
And I think for Spencer, it's adapting to kind of
(16:58):
that big league life and what you do in between
your starts, how you prepare yourself in the next start,
not just physically but also mentally. You know, he's admitted
to the fact that he's an analytic guy, which you
have to enjoy as a as a pitcher because there's
so many numbers that they can use to make themselves better.
But at the same time, he's also learning how to
use scouting reports to benefit himself. So he's using those
(17:20):
scouting reports to kind of adapt his game plan, and
of course he's got other guys to watch inside that
rotation to kind of see how they work. Too, so
it looks like he's kind of growing up right in
front of our eyes.
Speaker 4 (17:30):
Well, your crew is awesome at what they do, so
I'm sure you and TK and Julie and everybody over
there would know this as a needed number for tomorrow night.
Spencer Arraghetty start, he starts tomorrow, as does Paul Skeens,
that guy, that rookie guy from the Pirates. Last four
starts for each of these two rookies, thirty strikeouts for
Spencer Arraghedtty, a mere twenty nine for Paul Skins.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Spencer bring it go the Kakouchi angle.
Speaker 4 (17:58):
Two starts very similar results in that when he's on,
and he's been on in both of his astro starts,
he's generating a ton of swing and miss twenty six
whiffs in the first opportunity, eleven more in this more
recent one. Five shutout innings to open this last start.
Five shutout innings essentially to close his first start. It
was really five and two thirds to close his first start.
(18:21):
Watching him in an astro's uniform, do you see differences
to what you had been seeing him do in both
a Mariner's and Blue Jay's uniform from many different angles,
any which way you want to go with it.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Yeah, swings and mess a lot of fun from you say,
you know, he got to do it a couple of
different ways. There were a lot of conversations about how
you say, was going to use his stuff out there,
and I think that the Astros kind of had an
idea of, you know, the shape of his curveball, the
shape of his slider. You know, that's a conversation we
hear about a lot when you start to dig into
the analytics. And I think the Astros actually enjoyed the fastball,
(18:58):
but it was also maybe you know, the mentality of
what the Toronto Blue Jays were kind of instructing him
to do is kind of throw those pitches off the
edges and try and get the swing and miss, Whereas
I think the Astros were a little more aggressive in
telling him to pitch inside the zone. And I think
that's what's been most fun seeing the confidence and you say,
using his pitches inside the zone. Because the fastball plays
(19:19):
at ninety sixth ninety seven miles an hour, there's some
armside run on that, and he's also elevated some of
those fastballs and when he starts to move that fastball around.
You guys know as well as I do that when
you get the fastball up, it opens up the bottom
part of the zone. And he's got two pitches that
split the plate. So he's got that slider that breaks
down and in, and then he has a change up
that fades away. And at first start used to change
(19:42):
up quite a bit, punching out eleven twelve guys, and
then he against the Rangers, he went to the slider
in the spin to go out there and get swing
and miss. So I think it's kind of fun to
see him kind of evolving a little bit, trying to
figure out what else he can do on the mound,
and the Astros are helping them out, just like they
have with everybody else that's come over this orderization.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Well, I'm going to go off script again because that's
what I do. And since you mentioned the Rangers, I
know you'll agree with this. I think you'll agree with this.
Did you think it was pathetic as I was, that
they were celebrating the breakup of a no hitter as
if it were a win even though they lost the game.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Those fans up there, when.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
You man, how do I phrase this? Why am I
even thinking about trying to be delicate about this, because
I do agree with It's kind of funny in that sense.
You know, when you have a season post World Series
Championship and your team is not performing as well as
you maybe expected or maybe as you hoped. And this
is something that maybe Aftro fans don't know how to
(20:41):
deal with because after World Series Championships, the Astros have
actually dominated and gone back to the Alcs. But I
think you're cheering the small victories, and I think that
they were cheering that they didn't have to face the
embarrassment of being no hit by the Astros.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
No, that is, first of all, very well done putting
it delicately.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
I didn't know you had that in you, buddy.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
No, I like I do think to an extent that
was what was going on, because I mean, it's the
same thing the Astros fans were going through last year. Really,
we're not going to be able to defend the crown
that we won because of the Rangers. That hurts. It
hurts doubly, so I could definitely see that. But man
on the final out, and I just have to ask,
(21:23):
since you guys did it last time, did you have
the phone set up.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Oh yeah, I did. No, you're damn right. It's funny
you asked that question because you know I have I
now travel and I probably I should probably do it
more often because fans do like kind of it behind
the scenes or you know, seeing how t K and
I interact and what it's like when we're actually calling
the game, because you know, we're invested in and everybody knows,
and that TK can get rather animated, he can get energized,
(21:53):
he can get loud, and you know, it's a physical
experience to go along with the voice. And I should
do it a little bit more often. But I travel
with a like a little tripod that holds my phone,
and I legit had set up before that inning started.
I was ready to go, and I was recording every
single out of that inning to kind of prepare and
put that on social media. I need to do it
(22:14):
more often. But yeah, I was definitely anticipating another another
no hitter from fromber Valdez and the considering the amount
of attention that video got last time he threw a
no hitter, I was definitely getting ready to do that again.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
Seems like we won't see anything on at Blumber twenty seven.
That says, here's what it sounded like and looked like
when Corey Seger homered off from ber Valdez. Unfortunately that
is what happened, but no doubt it doesn't need to
be seen. Lineup out now for the Astros. We'll talk
to you about that a little bit. On the other side.
A third straight game for a player who just recently
(22:47):
made his major league debut with the Astros. It was
a big part of the offense when they were last
on the field in Arlington against the Rangers, and now
trying to do the same at Fenway Park tonight. Famous
ballpark and always a thrill I think for most major
leaguers to get there for the first time, and that'll
be the case for Zach Decenzo. The catcher for Man
on the Mound tonight, Real Blanco will be Yiner Diaz.
(23:09):
We'll get at all the particulars of tonight and get
some thoughts about the future moving forward with the Astros
to the beginning the second leg of this three city
stop road trip. Astros TV analyst Jeff Blum here with
us on the A team on a Friday afternoon. Of course,
we've got the game tonight and all throughout the season
on your exclusive home for Astros baseball, Sports Talk seven
ninety the A team.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
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Speaker 2 (24:04):
Listen to the Home of the Rockets on yours smart speaker,
Jess ask Hey Google play Sports Talk seven ninety on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Eight.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Team rolling along on a Friday edition of the program,
which means more often than not, we're joined by Jeff
Blum of Space City Home Network for his weekly visit. Hey,
uh Blummer, the Boston Red Sox are standing in front
of you, and I just kind of compared them to
the Texas Rangers of this division. Astros just got done
playing a third place team and now they're playing another one.
(24:37):
But they feel like two different franchises. And I'm not
saying that, you know, Boston's gonna come from behind and
take over either the Yankees or the Orioles. But what
do you make of this Boston club, particularly at this
exact moment in the season, you know, the second week
of August.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Yeah, I think they're an interesting ball club. But I
also think it's interesting just in the sense that, you know,
they're kind of similar to that twenty fifteen Astros team
that kind of overachieved a little bit. You kind of
went into the season he said, Wow, we've got some
nice pieces. There's good gun talent here. You know, if
the pitching can hold up and we can score some runs,
we'll have a chance. And you know, you have to
(25:17):
give Alex Korra a little bit of credit just getting
these guys motivated to come out here and play every
day in such a tough division. But you know, if
these players are playing hard, they're putting together great at bats.
They're the best hitting team in the in the American
League as far as you know, ops and batting average,
So they're doing some good things and I think that's
what's kind of exciting up here and giving Boston some hope.
(25:38):
But at the same time, you know, all three of
us talk about it all the time. This division is crazy.
You've got Baltimore kind of vaulting into the top. The
New York Yankees are where everybody expected them to be.
But I really do believe that they kind of feel
that the wild card is where their action is going
to be at considering you know what this ball club
has made up because you've got young guys, You've got
(25:59):
a couple of assault tea you know, veteran guys mixed
in there, and you've got some pitching that might be
over achieving, but it's kind of a it's kind of
a fun time I would imagine to be a Boston
Red Sox fan, because you've been beat around so much
in the last couple of years. So they've kind of
nurtured the hope that they've got a chance, and they're
they're continuing to massage out wins and swing the bats well,
even though they haven't started that second half all that well.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
You give Alex Coora credit.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
Yeah, I mean I have to. I mean it's part
of my job to be somewhat objective. But at the
same time, there's some underlying issues.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
That's that's you're very diplomatic today. Blummer.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
I don't getting you know what, I'm getting old and
I think I'm getting like diplomatic, you know, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
It's not mature.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Wrong. I ad a drink.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
You think you'd be able to find one in Boston?
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Yeah, I was gonna say, yeah, there's maybe maybe some jamison.
It may a guinness that I could figure out what to.
Speaker 4 (26:48):
Do with that fun game day ballplayer story from hitting
Senway Park. Do you have for us here this afternoon?
Something stand out from a trip you and one of
your teams made there.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Not necessarily, I mean every time it came in. Well,
you know what there was there was a one of
the more interesting games, not necessarily the game itself, but
how the situation of the game was really interesting. In five,
when I was with the White Sox earlier in the season,
they got rained out at a game at Fenway and
there was a makeup date in the middle of a
home stand for us. When we were in Chicago, we
(27:23):
had a day off, a mutual day off at the
Red Sox, and they scheduled a game here at Fenway
that we had to make up and Ozzie Gien. We
traveled with a starting pitcher, I think, three relievers, and
I think we've brought ten position players, So we literally
left about ten guys off our roster and flew into
Boston to play against Kurt Shilling. We beat his ass
(27:45):
and got that. We flew in, beat his ass, got
on the plane and flew back within you know what,
about fifteen to twenty hours. And that was probably one
of the more incredible things I've ever even been a
part of. But it happened right here at Fenway. It
was incredible.
Speaker 4 (27:58):
September fifth and five, You and the major way out there,
that's you, Carl Everett's Brandon McCarthy was your starting pitcher
that day, and you shut out the Red Sox five
nothing until the ninth inning, when I assumed, based on
your story, you were running out of pitchers because your
fourth pitcher of the day was on the mound, your
(28:19):
elite closer, Bobby Jenks. He gave up three unearned runs
in the ninth inning, but you were able to close
the door, hop on the bird and get the heck
out of there.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
Pretty interesting.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
Yeah, No, that was pretty incredible. Yeah. So be able
to fly in there with not a full roster and
then win the game and fly right back and continue
the home stand was crazy.
Speaker 4 (28:39):
Did you take advantage of the angles of Fenway Park
or was it just your wheels that earned you a
triple off of Kurt Shilling that day?
Speaker 1 (28:47):
No, you know what, I think. I think it went
into the left field corner, but you know, they were
playing me heavy to pull and it was one of
those like you know, skided, got jammed, put my head down,
pissed off, started running to first base and I looked
up and it's like rattling around the corner and I'm
just like you just kept running until they, you know,
until they figured out how to get the ball in.
But yeah, I had good numbers against Kirk Shilling for
(29:10):
whatever reason, man I loved hitting against that guy.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
Well, not knowing exactly the situation, I will agree it
does seem to add up.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
If you say you hit it in the left field corner.
Speaker 4 (29:19):
I think one hundred percent of our listeners would believe
that Manny Ramirez was in left field that day.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Yeah, you definitely got to take advantage of that guy.
You got to hit him where he's at all the time.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
By the way, I have a question, what's the oddest
conversation you had at any given time with Carl Everett?
Speaker 1 (29:38):
Uh, dude, I love he is a weird bird. We
never really got into the dinosaurs and stuff like that,
but conversations with Yeah, No, he's got a lot going on. Man,
He's you know, if you're if you're willing to accept
that and kind of, you know, play with it a
(29:58):
little bit, you can have some good conversations with these guys.
And I've never had a bad conversation with Carl Lebrett.
There was actually you would love this. There was actually
a brawl in our clubhouse that involved Carl Leverett that
season and it was awesome. I mean, he's everything about
That guy's intense and I loved it.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
So if you were to be in a bar fight,
that's the guy that you would want in the Fox
hall with you.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Hell yeah, Carl Lebrett. I mean, he's not gonna stop
until he's won that thing.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
It's that's pretty crazy, Stu. I mean, it's it's completely believable.
It's just I'm always I always like when the truth
matches up with the hype, I guess is the best
way to.
Speaker 4 (30:40):
Put it in saying all that, And I think a
lot of people here have a sense of what he
was like from how he was covered here and what
he did when he was here. All that goes together
with what I still think is true. And obviously you
can tell me otherwise or say yes, he always struck
me as still a guy that was a pretty good teammate,
a guy that you liked having on your team, liked
having around.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Oh well yeah, and you know what, you know what
maybe rubbed some people the wrong way. I guess in
the clubhouse is just you know, some of that brutal
honesty of Carl. He's not going to be s and
try and massage your ego to have a conversation. Uh.
He's going to do what he wants inside the clubhouse. Uh.
He was an established veteran at the time. And if
you're willing to have the conversation and just kind of
(31:22):
be upfront about everything, I think Carl was a great teammate.
He was actually a pretty knowledgeable player as far as
you know, facing guys and what he was going to do.
He always had that awkward stance where he was really
crowding the dish he had. You know, he had perfectly
good explanation for some of that stuff, but you know
the interviews could be a little awkward, I know at times.
But as far as a teammate and a player, I
(31:44):
actually enjoyed him. And we've had opportunities, you know, with
some of these uh autograph signings and reunions, you get
to go back and hang out with these guys, and
he's been perfectly affable with me. I thought, I think
he's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Yeah, I could. I could definitely see that.
Speaker 3 (31:58):
And You've had a number of interesting teammates and managers.
Frankly over the years. Is Jeff Blumm here on Sports
Talk seven ninety and I know that the Olympics have
been viewed in your home a lot, and it's all
because of Exfinity.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
I mean, you can't you can't get any better than that.
Speaker 3 (32:15):
With what they provide and the security and the connection
with which they provided, Exfinity is the place to go blumber.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
No, It's It's very true. We've got several TVs obviously
around the house, and when I'm able to do my
prep and get ready for these games. But the fun
thing for me is being able to have that Peacock
app on my Expinity table and be able to talk
to my remote. I mean, I've probably worn out that
talk button. I talk more to my remote than I
talked on a broadcast some days because I'm trying to
(32:45):
search for everything on there and Exfinity always brings it
to me. The streaming has been perfect and the connection
has been great for all the data that I'm trying
to download and get ready for some of these games.
So Exfinity has been probably the MVP and would win
a gold medal inside my house.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
Now, that's what it's all. And they are all about
celebrating Team USA going for the goal.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
There.
Speaker 3 (33:04):
They're offering actually a gold medal deal right now. I've
told you about it earlier. I'll tell you about it
now because right now for a couple of days, actually,
actually they're going to have their best offer yet through
August eleventh, three hundred megabit Exfinity Internet, one line of
unlimited mobile for just thirty five dollars a month for
a year, and they throw in a free five G phone.
(33:27):
The action doesn't stop there either, save on some of
the biggest names in streaming by adding the new Exfinity
stream Saver with Peacock, Apple TV Plus and Netflix for
only fifteen dollars a month. That's all it is, and
you want to get it on board right now because
when the Olympic Games end, so does this deal. Three
ways to go about it. You can go to their
(33:48):
website Exfinity dot com slash TEAMUSA. You can call them
at one eight hundred Exfinity, or you can visit a
store today get the fastest connection to Paris with Exfinity,
proud partner of Team USA. There's a Space City Home
Network's Todd Kallis, there's the A Team.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
You got him.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
It's Adam Clinton and Adam Wexler. Clinton stop impersonating me
on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 4 (34:19):
Funny story about that line we just heard Wexac Jeff
Blum here with you on a Friday edition of The
A Team was watching the game while at home on
Space City Home Network this last couple of days. My
daughter was sitting at the kitchen table watching along doing
some work. Last pitch of the inning was Astro's pitcher
(34:40):
with a strikeout, and as the ball crossed home plate.
There was a swing and miss in Unison, Todd in
Arlington and me and my den said he got him,
and my daughter was amazed, like, oh my god, how
did you do that?
Speaker 2 (34:56):
I guess it.
Speaker 4 (34:57):
I kind of thought that was coming on his end
and was a able to deliver it on my end.
And it happens from time to time. It's great stuff. No,
it's fantastic.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
You should have referred to our guest as Todd Kallis's
broadcast partner, though, since that's on brand for you.
Speaker 4 (35:11):
Said Jeff Blum his name, I could have said, Hey,
it's the triplet's dad here joining us here on Sports
Talk seven ninety Bout that went with Jeff. Hey, speaking
of which, we always like to thank the people who
make it possible for you to visit with us, So
before we get to the next topic or ten, we
should probably do that, Blumber.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
Yeah, speaking of Jeff's doctor, Jeff Witzett and his vision
group have been fantastic and I've actually gotten a point
with appointment within myself coming up when I get back
from this road trip. The eyes are getting a little
old and need to make sure that they're performing as
well as it can. So I'm going to actually sit
down with doctor Jeff Witzett, and that's exactly what you
can do as well. You can get that consultation that
(35:50):
doctor Jeff Witzit right there, face to face, and he
will give you a recommendation on what to do. And
remember he's done at least fifty thousand LACI surgery, so
is the man to go see with your eyes issues.
And of course Low T Center is where I go
for all of my maintenance as far as sleep, apnea,
cholesterol levels, checking my testosterone levels, diabetes. They check everything
(36:14):
at low T Center. You can go in there in
about fifteen minutes. They can take that test and tell
you where your levels are at and with a simple shot,
you got your testosteron levels back to where you need
to be to be as excellent as you can. So
Fellowslowtcenter dot coms where it's.
Speaker 4 (36:26):
At mentioned a little bit earlier that the lineup would
it once again include Zach Dezenzo got in action the
first two days he was a major leaguer. Got his
first major league hit in Game two, was on base
three times in that game, scoring twice, and the ball
was flying off of his bat all three of his
batted ball events were hard hit balls. He's back at
(36:47):
first base tonight. You and Todd had a brief conversation
about playing third and playing first and learning the position.
He sounds like he feels pretty comfortable over there. He
obviously has had some time over there. The bottom line
is the team feels comfortable with him over there. Al Tuve, Bregman,
Alvarez Diaz, who's catching Singleton's the d h Paynya Dezenzo,
(37:10):
Jacob Center and Dubon and Wright. What are your early
thoughts your early impressions of what you've seen from Zach Dezenzo.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
Obviously, I'm a little bit biased because he's about sixty
five two twenty and he came up as a short
stop playing at Ohio State, so he's kind of played
in a big conference D one baseball, played a demanding
position at that size. So there's a certain physicality and
athleticism that I enjoyed watching about Desenzo and watching him
work with Omar Lopez over there at first base shows
(37:40):
me that he has the will to go out there
and be coached and want to learn to play the
position so he can get his at bats. And I
think we saw in that second game. He started some
of that swing and some of that power that we're
talking about, his power stroke is actually going to the
opposite field, but he stays through his own nicely, like
we saw on a couple of those sliders pulling him
to that left field area. But I think it's also
(38:03):
you know, watching him start in this game and kind
of forcing Jordan Alvarez to play left field, it kind
of gives you an idea of how the Astros feel
about him, and also it gives you a really good
insight into how Joe Spotta, I think, is going to
manage this ball club for the rest of the season.
You know that the trade deadline brought them Yuseay Kakuchi
and Caleb Ferguson, but at the same time, they weren't
(38:24):
able to add maybe that fact that they wanted to
be able to go out there and extend their lineup
a little bit. So Dana Brown's calling up pedro Leone,
They're calling up Zach Dezenzo. So you're going to see
Joe Spotty using these guys probably more frequently than probably
we anticipated, because those are the two bets that they're
going to need to get going, and Art try and
provide some coverage and depth in this lineup, so I
(38:47):
think that you know, it shouldn't be a surprise that
the Senzo's over there at first base.
Speaker 2 (38:51):
So, Kyle Tucker, you got anything at this point?
Speaker 1 (38:55):
Hope? I mean, I'm just nurturing the hope that there
is hope. I mean, would then Dana come on the
seven to ninety the other day and say that by
the end of August he has the opportunity to get
out there. And I think for Tucker it's just a
matter of you know, if he can run at full speed,
then he should be able to go out there and hit.
I think that's the only hurdle that he really has
to get over, is that comfort level of being able
to sprint make some stop, you know, quick stops and cuts.
(39:19):
Because he's valuable defensively and he's valuable on the base pads,
and I think running the bases is probably that one
last hurtle he's got to get over. And once he
does that, it's just a matter of time before he
starts swinging the bat and gets his timing back. But
getting that guy in that lineup, we really do a
good job of covering some of those young hitters that
Joe has.
Speaker 3 (39:35):
To use in the lineup, and I think that's my
number one concern. I mean, the obvious one is getting
him back. But you know you're not gonna just he's
basically going to have to do spring training on the
fly all over again in some senses, because you're not
just going to get the guy that left on June third,
who had just hit two home runs in a Sunday
game a few days prior, and was the best player
(39:56):
position wise, you know, from a hitting standpoint on the team.
So how I mean, it's kind of a it's a
tough question since we've never seen him injured like ever
for any reason. How knowing Kyle, I guess the way
you probably do a little bit better than any of us.
How long do you think that would take?
Speaker 2 (40:16):
You know? In other words, how mentally tough is this guy?
This kid? Basically I think.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
He's plenty tough enough. But a lot of it's because
he knows his swing as well as anybody on the planet,
and as unique as it is, he knows how to
get the barable of baseball. And I think once he
gets over that, you know that it's one thing to
get over a physical hurdle and realize that your body
doesn't hurt. But at the same time, you've got to
get over that mental hurdle of saying I can step
into the box, I can take a swing as hard
(40:42):
as I want and not worry about filing it off
my front leg, because that's going to be where I
think he's going to be most tentative is some of
those pitches on the inside corner because he doesn't want
to file the ball off his shin again. And who
can blame him, you know, it's put him out for
sixty five games, I think it is now, So he's
going to be a little tentative back. But once he's
able to realize that, you know what, I've got a
(41:02):
shin guard in the right place. I would imagine he's
going to have probably one of the biggest ship guards
in all of baseball if he's smart about it, and
then just go out there and start playing baseball. But once,
once he gets up the speed and the timing is right,
it's just a just get him in the game. He's
going to figure it out. He's too good of a
hitter and too smart and knows that swing too well
to be you know, slumping for too long.
Speaker 4 (41:23):
I can't confirm this one hundred percent, but my sources
indicate he'll be with the team in Tampa and he's
gotten in touch with the Lightning goalie there in his hometown.
He's requested one of his goalie pads that he can
use moving.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
Forward to try to protect himself. That makes sense.
Speaker 4 (41:39):
I'm sure it might be a little difficult to, you know,
shuffle on down to first after he grounds the ball
through the infield into the outfield to trying to turn
a single into a double. But he'll be healthy. That's
all we can be concerned about at this point. Looking
at the other end of the Astros that we almost
never discuss, the bullpen obviously is it seems like it's
(42:00):
back in where they need to be. The starters Kakuchi
surrounding the four guys in between them have all been
good and iither get to start a series in Boston.
I think everybody's pretty excited about where things stand, with
the number of games they have left, where they sit
in the division, again essentially controlling their own destinies. Since
they have games left with Seattle and there are any
dead heat with them, so we leave it at that
(42:22):
first pitch just over two hours away, and Jeff, we
as always appreciate the time.
Speaker 1 (42:28):
Now, you guys are the best. You know. I love
coming on with you guys, and I appreciate you making
time for me.
Speaker 4 (42:32):
You got it, Jeff Blum, Todd Kallis, Julian Morales will
have that for you tonight. Of course, we've got it
with Robert Ford and Steve Sparks right here on Sports
Talk seven ninety
You look at it, Look at it, look at it.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Oh yeah, this is radio.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You listen to it on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Astros broadcaster Jeff Blum on seven ninety is brought to
you by low T Center.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
And he joins us from Bean Town.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
It is the A team here on Sports Talk seven ninety,
straight up three o'clock. And yes, the Boston Red Sox
the next victim of your Houston Astros. We can set
on tap. You'll hear it right here on Sports Talk
seven ninety, but you can also watch it on Space
City Home Network tonight, where Jeff Blum our guest right now,
and of course Todd Kallith will be on the call.
(00:41):
Hey Blummer, How's how are the temperatures up there? First
of all, I always have to ask when you're in
a northernmost city, that's probably not as hot as it
is here.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
It's not as hot, but it's comparable. And I've got
to admit I'm a little moist.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
And we're off and running.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
On a scale of one to one hundred, one hundred
absolute torrential downpour, what number would you put on the
possibility of rain drops dropping into Fenway Park tonight?
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Oh, that's easy, He's right on it.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
That literally is the forecast for this evening neighborhood of
forty percent chance of rain, probably later in the game,
when both teams are into their bullpen, then earlier about
seventy nine eighty degrees for a first pitch.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Well, they've already postponed the other team from Texas going
to the Yankees Stadium, which is just basically around the corner,
because you forget just how close everything is up there.
So I wonder if you know it, it has to
be the same collective activity. But yeah, I'm hoping if
there is some sort of delay that it's not of
the three hour variety the next time or the like
(01:44):
the last time you were in that neck of the woods.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
If you will no, Yeah, those are cuss words, and
i'd appreciate you stop pussing on air because that is
something that we definitely don't want to deal with, because
I might pull the plug on the truck after about
two hours of a delay. But it looks like it's
kind of it's riding a little bit north and it's
just that remnants of Hurricane Debbies, So I think that
we might be okay untill like maybe about ten thirty
(02:08):
eleven o'clock. But it would be prudent for the Astros
to go out there and try and score early against
ten or howck and kind of establish a lead if
that rain does come, so we can shut this thing down,
take the w and go home.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Well, it's interesting because you know, the Astros just got
done playing a third place team in their own division,
and now, I mean the exact amount of games back
of another division that's in a dead heat, the Orioles
and the Yankees duking it out for first place in
the Al East. And then you got the Red Sox
five and a half back, which is exactly where the
(02:41):
Rangers are to the Astros and the Mariners. Dumbest walk
off ever last night is the reason the Astros aren't
in sole possession of first place. I hate. I don't
even know who that was in right field last night.
I didn't even I saw it on Twitter and I
got irrationally angry, and then I threw my phone down
and just logged off of social for us to night.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Yeah, I was trying to you know, we're all trying
to track and see what's going on. You know, obviously
this time of year, it's kind of fun to score,
you know, storeboard, watch and see what's going on, and
with the Astros getting done as soon as they did,
and you know, traveling and having that day off, you're
kind of looking around and you're watching some of that
game because you realize you had a chance to maybe
gain another half game on the Seattle Mariners, and all
(03:24):
of a sudden, you know, the Detroit pitchers couldn't get
a guy out with two out, two strikes on him,
and then Mitch Hanitor HiT's just kind of that low
line drive to right field, and I don't know what
I think his name's Vallatti. I can't. I don't even
know how to pronounce his name. But I had to
watch the replay, much like you, because if you were
watching it on game day, you're going, why did that
ball land where it did and end up scoring two runs?
(03:48):
And then you watch the replan and you're like, oh,
dear god, Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, he just whiffed.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Kind of a tough one.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
Three runs on the board on a single turned into
a triple table. Yeah, it's just an up fortunate way
for that to end. Obviously, the night before, a very
fortunate way for it to end. With the detroit making
the play defensively in the bottom of the eighth, I
need to keep two runs off the board. That's exactly
what Scott Servis said, the manager of the Mariners, after
the game. He said, it kind of felt like it
(04:14):
was about to happen again. But one night they make
the play, one night they don't make the play, and
they are able to avoid the sweep, avoid falling a
full game behind. The Houston Astros still have those two
games in hand, both teams four games over five hundred
as the weekend begins. As ac laid out, these games
are meaning full to both the Red Sox and the
Astros as they attempt to make their way into the postseason.
(04:35):
The Red Sox are the first team out of the
wildcard race, trailing the leader in the East and the
two teams from the NL Central not ahead of the Guardians.
The Astros are right behind the Red Sox and the
wildcard chase and obviously in a dead heat for their
own division. Take you back to probably the most fun moments,
or among several fun moments from the last series. How
(04:57):
did you handle the drama of what was unfolding all
the way into looking for out number twenty seven for
Fromber Valdez, how do you recount that night when he
nearly or another no hitter?
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Well, I mean doing it in that ballpark would have
been special against that team would have been that much
more special. So I think it was. It was a
lot of fun and it was kind of interesting. I
feel like every time that we have an opportunity with
Fromber who matches up well against the team, it's always
the anticipation of which Romber are we going to get?
Or we're going to get the guy that just kind of,
you know, kind of massages his way through the through
(05:33):
the game, or are you going to get the guy
that goes out there and absolutely shoves. And we got
the guy that shoved the other day. And I was
kind of excited there for you know, twenty six of
those outs because you know the last two outs, you know,
maybe that twenty fifth and twenty six outs. He was
kind of a ratic a little bit with the location.
But you know, why does it always have to be
Corey Seegers what I want to know? But you know,
(05:54):
walking Josh Smith, I think you know that kind of
hurt it a little bit. And then you also have
Josh hater out there in the bullpen getting red hot
just in case. But who knew that jord On scud
in the right center field was going to end up
being the defining swing in that game after Secier hit
that two run home run. But for twenty six outs,
it looked like Valdez was well on his way to
(06:15):
picking up that second no hitter, which I think TK
said thirty two pitchers have only gotten multiple no hitters,
and that would have been a nice elite group for
Fromber to be in, but it just wasn't meant to
be that night.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
Yeah, and in short order, would have been less than
a full calendar year or just above I should say
a full calendar year between the two no nos. Obviously
he still sits on one. We have this discussion all
the time, and I know it gets brought up on
the TV broadcast from time to time, and you just
brought it up again here the idea that Fromber Valdez's
first name is not Fromber, but rather it's good. I'm
(06:49):
not one of whom believes that that is in place.
I'm pretty adamant about it. I don't think Fromber is
quite the cy young candidate that he clearly has been
at earlier points in his career the unbeatable postseason pitcher
that he was prior to twenty twenty three. So I'm
fully on board with that's not who he is, clearly,
(07:09):
but I'm hesitant to ever wonder which guy they're gonna get.
What would it take for him to maybe erase that
for you not having poor innings, which oftentimes still take place.
I mean the start before that, he had the one
inning where he just couldn't seem to get out of it,
and then he was almost perfect in the other five. Clearly,
this game was very, very good. Is that kind of
(07:30):
what he's maybe not what he once was.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
No, I think that's exactly what it is for fromber Valdez.
And you know, you hate to harp on these things
because his stuff is so good and you feel like
he can kind of he can kind of go out
there and just throw fastball, curveball, and get away with
a lot of pitches because there's so much drastic movement
on both of those pitches to be able to put
guys away. But at the same time, you know, opposing
hitters they go to school a little bit and they
(07:55):
take advantage of mistakes, and I think that's the biggest thing,
is that for Promber not to hit, you know, not
to pitch without conviction. I think if he was able
to kind of take each inning as a game in itself,
I think that he would actually be hyper successful throughout
the course of a season. But that takes a lot
of focus, it takes a lot of energy, and throughout
(08:16):
the course of thirty to thirty two starts that can
be exhausting a little bit. And he's human, and we
know that. You know there's going to be moments where
you're not as locked in as you are normally, just
because that's how the nature of baseball is when you're
playing one hundred and sixty two games. But you know,
just watching Prober, when he pitches with conviction, when he
is dialed in and working well with whether it's Karatini
(08:39):
or janr. Diez, if he is in agreement with the
pitch and he wants to put his head down and
make the pitch and execute it the way he knows how,
he's virtually unhittable. And that's what's exciting about Promber is
because start to start, he's the guy that can go
out there and actually give you the potential to go
out there and get that no hitter because he has
the strikeout stuff. He can go to the wipeout curve
(09:00):
to get the swing and miss, but he also can
be efficient by pitching the contact and using that infield
defense with a sixty plus you know percentage as far
as ground ball rate. So that's where it's kind of
interesting for Promer and I think, you know, if he
finds that group early, he can settle in and focus
on making those pitches. That's what makes it exciting when
he's out there.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
Well, a it's been an up and down season in
a lot of different ways, but as it pertains to
the pitching, you know Fromber has had his peaks and valleys,
but it's I would say it's definitely an improvement over
last year. But the guy that's starting tonight is the
one that's really going to be interesting to keep an
eye on because he's just as dominant as he was
to start the year. Maybe it's a little tapering off,
(09:39):
maybe it's fatigue. Where do you assess the current state
of affairs for one Ronell Blanco, No.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
I think it's kind of that ladder. I think it's
kind of you know, he's exceeded as innings pitch. This
is his first full season as a starting pitcher, so
you've got to kind of I mean, it's it's overused
maybe as you know, monitoring the innings or managing the workload.
You know, that's just that I don't know, I don't
like the term. I think if you're just going to
protect a guy, you've got a protected guy. But it's
(10:08):
only natural to be able to have that fatigue. And
being a starting pitcher in the big leagues asks a lot,
especially when you're an astro starting pitcher, because it's not
five and five like most of these guys around the league.
It's six innings. If you can't, you know, at the minimum,
and then throw close to one hundred pitches every time
we're out there. So it's a little exhausting, it's daunting.
And I know that Renel he's a big body, so
(10:30):
he should be able to handle the workload. But at
the same time, he's learning how to pitch late in
the season, you know, every five days, and I think
that's where you might see, you know, towards the end
of the season, you might see some little lapses in velocity.
You might see lapses in command, and that's just because
fatigue actually is setting in and he's trying to train
his body to pitch deeper in a season. But who's
(10:51):
to say he's not going to catch that second win
and finish the season strong. And I kind of hope
that's where Renelle is because when we get to the
end of October, end of August, hopefully the end of October,
but the end of August, you know, that's where you
can go to a six man rotation and you can
add that extra day of rest, and that might really
benefit a guy like Brinell. But that's the only thing
I see is him trying to work through, you know,
(11:12):
managing his innings the way he wants to be able
to maintain his stuff, because when he starts to lose
a little bit of velocity, then you start to rely
on your slider and your change up a little bit,
and sometimes it's not as effective as when you're using
your fastball to set up the secondary pitches.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
As Jeff Blum here on Sports Talk seven ninety plenty
more with him as we continue here in hour number
one of a Friday edition of the program, The A Team,
I want to tell you guys about something that Blum
and I will be discussing with you once again at
the bottom of the hour. But right now, to celebrate
Team USA going for the gold and a lot of
them have already gotten it, Exfinity is going with a
(11:48):
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(12:09):
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Speaker 2 (12:25):
Back to Adam Clinton and Adam Wexler the eighteen.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
It's the eighteam here on Sports Talk seven ninety Friday
edition of the program. A little bit shorter version of it,
as the Astros are in Boston tonight for the opener
of a three game set, and we'll have that for
you here on your home for Astros Baseball Sports Talks
seven ninety. But right now we have Jeff Blum, who
will be doing the television side of the broadcast tonight
live from Boston. He joins us for his weekly visit
(12:58):
here on the program. And you when you're talking about
Ronel Blanco before the break, talking a little bit about
fromber the anticipation starting to build around the clubhouse or
with the team for the return of Justin Verlander, or
is it kind of business as usual. We're trying to
just make every win game count until we get reinforcements,
and then after that, I'll ask you about the other
(13:19):
obvious one that everybody talks about.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Yeah, I think all of the additions I think they're
looking forward to. I know, it was kind of interesting
to watch the ball club around that trade deadline. How
you know, they kind of went into a little bit
of a mini funk after that trade deadline. I'm not
sure what was what they were expecting in that clubhouse,
but for whatever reason, after that deadline kind of passed,
things got kind of flat in that clubhouse. But it
(13:43):
looks like they've kind of rebounded a little bit and
readjusted their focus and said, you know what, we still
have a shot at this thing to go out and
win this division with as poorly as you know, Seattle
won't run away with it, and they continue to push
down the Texas Rangers. But I think that understanding that
if they can through this month of August, they pretty
much have a real opportunity to go run away with
(14:04):
that American League West. And the way that you do
that is going out there and having Justin Verlander, you know,
be the addition to that. I know it means a
lot to the guys who are on offense and go
out there and put up a lot of numbers and
want to be able to win ballgames when they put
four to five six runs on the scoreboard and have
their pitching shut it down. And I think that the
pitching staff is also looking forward to having a guy
(14:26):
like Justin around, even if it's you know, fifty sixty
pitches to start things out. When he comes back from
his rehab assignment, it would be nice to be able
to have him go out there and kind of create
that buffer in the rotation to give these guys that
extra day that I was talking about in that previous segment,
But think about the lift of just having a guy
like that in the clubhouse as well. He's a leader
on the field, he's a leader in the clubhouse. He's
(14:48):
been through everything in this game. And if this happens
to be the last moments we see Justin Erlander on
a mountain, what better place to have them than an
Ashros uniform competing with these guys down the stretch. I
think it would really give.
Speaker 4 (14:59):
Them a lit It certainly is a possibility. We kind
of brought that up earlier this week, that you know,
either his time with the Astros might come to an
end at the end of twenty twenty four in the postseason.
I don't think he's planning on retiring unless his return
this year is extremely disappointing from either the success front
or the injury front. Seems like he is still intending
(15:21):
on having his agent get to work for him this
offseason and finding a deal for him somewhere, And we
know he has a great relationship with ownership here in Houston,
so I wouldn't necessarily say it's not impossible, But he's
not under contract for next year and won't reach the
innings needed to vest his way into a contract. So
that's one thing to note, And just to kind of
wrap our heads around all of the pitching that we've seen,
(15:42):
we need to get thoughts on both of the other
two very successful guys beyond Hunter Brown. Hunter does what
Hunter does. We had not seen, you say, Kakuchi, but
now have twice in the last six games, both of
his starts Astros victories. But I want to start with
Spencer the strutter six innings, one run, owing people away,
shutting him down, sending him back to the dugout, cruising
(16:03):
around the mound, letting the let us flow. He's begging
for all of us to watch him succeed because when
he does, it's so fun to watch.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Yeah, And you know what's kind of surprising about Spaghetti
is the fact that when he's on, he's kind of
lights out. And you know that's kind of the fun
part about Spencer starts is you know, he's just like
we talked about with Fromber, you know what guy are
we going to get? Because if Spencer goes out there
and attacks his zone and kind of gets that little
vicious strut to his game a little bit where he's
kind of hunting strikeouts. I think he's a lot of
(16:34):
fun to watch and kind of proven that he does
kind of have the stuff to go out there and
get it. He's got about six different pitches. He can
create movement, the velocity's there when he's right and sets
up the curveball, the cutter of the slider, sweeper, amongst
other pitches. So he can be kind of fun to watch.
But I think he's kind of coming into his own
a little bit and maybe becoming a little more consistent.
And I think for Spencer, it's adapting to kind of
(16:58):
that big league life and what you do in between
your starts, how you prepare yourself in the next start,
not just physically but also mentally. You know, he's admitted
to the fact that he's an analytic guy, which you
have to enjoy as a as a pitcher because there's
so many numbers that they can use to make themselves better.
But at the same time, he's also learning how to
use scouting reports to benefit himself. So he's using those
(17:20):
scouting reports to kind of adapt his game plan, and
of course he's got other guys to watch inside that
rotation to kind of see how they work. Too, so
it looks like he's kind of growing up right in
front of our eyes.
Speaker 4 (17:30):
Well, your crew is awesome at what they do, so
I'm sure you and TK and Julie and everybody over
there would know this as a needed number for tomorrow night.
Spencer Arraghetty start, he starts tomorrow, as does Paul Skeens,
that guy, that rookie guy from the Pirates. Last four
starts for each of these two rookies, thirty strikeouts for
Spencer Arraghedtty, a mere twenty nine for Paul Skins.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Spencer bring it go the Kakouchi angle.
Speaker 4 (17:58):
Two starts very similar results in that when he's on,
and he's been on in both of his astro starts,
he's generating a ton of swing and miss twenty six
whiffs in the first opportunity, eleven more in this more
recent one. Five shutout innings to open this last start.
Five shutout innings essentially to close his first start. It
was really five and two thirds to close his first start.
(18:21):
Watching him in an astro's uniform, do you see differences
to what you had been seeing him do in both
a Mariner's and Blue Jay's uniform from many different angles,
any which way you want to go with it.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Yeah, swings and mess a lot of fun from you say,
you know, he got to do it a couple of
different ways. There were a lot of conversations about how
you say, was going to use his stuff out there,
and I think that the Astros kind of had an
idea of, you know, the shape of his curveball, the
shape of his slider. You know, that's a conversation we
hear about a lot when you start to dig into
the analytics. And I think the Astros actually enjoyed the fastball,
(18:58):
but it was also maybe you know, the mentality of
what the Toronto Blue Jays were kind of instructing him
to do is kind of throw those pitches off the
edges and try and get the swing and miss, Whereas
I think the Astros were a little more aggressive in
telling him to pitch inside the zone. And I think
that's what's been most fun seeing the confidence and you say,
using his pitches inside the zone. Because the fastball plays
(19:19):
at ninety sixth ninety seven miles an hour, there's some
armside run on that, and he's also elevated some of
those fastballs and when he starts to move that fastball around.
You guys know as well as I do that when
you get the fastball up, it opens up the bottom
part of the zone. And he's got two pitches that
split the plate. So he's got that slider that breaks
down and in, and then he has a change up
that fades away. And at first start used to change
(19:42):
up quite a bit, punching out eleven twelve guys, and
then he against the Rangers, he went to the slider
in the spin to go out there and get swing
and miss. So I think it's kind of fun to
see him kind of evolving a little bit, trying to
figure out what else he can do on the mound,
and the Astros are helping them out, just like they
have with everybody else that's come over this orderization.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Well, I'm going to go off script again because that's
what I do. And since you mentioned the Rangers, I
know you'll agree with this. I think you'll agree with this.
Did you think it was pathetic as I was, that
they were celebrating the breakup of a no hitter as
if it were a win even though they lost the game.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Those fans up there, when.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
You man, how do I phrase this? Why am I
even thinking about trying to be delicate about this, because
I do agree with It's kind of funny in that sense.
You know, when you have a season post World Series
Championship and your team is not performing as well as
you maybe expected or maybe as you hoped. And this
is something that maybe Aftro fans don't know how to
(20:41):
deal with because after World Series Championships, the Astros have
actually dominated and gone back to the Alcs. But I
think you're cheering the small victories, and I think that
they were cheering that they didn't have to face the
embarrassment of being no hit by the Astros.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
No, that is, first of all, very well done putting
it delicately.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
I didn't know you had that in you, buddy.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
No, I like I do think to an extent that
was what was going on, because I mean, it's the
same thing the Astros fans were going through last year. Really,
we're not going to be able to defend the crown
that we won because of the Rangers. That hurts. It
hurts doubly, so I could definitely see that. But man
on the final out, and I just have to ask,
(21:23):
since you guys did it last time, did you have
the phone set up.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Oh yeah, I did. No, you're damn right. It's funny
you asked that question because you know I have I
now travel and I probably I should probably do it
more often because fans do like kind of it behind
the scenes or you know, seeing how t K and
I interact and what it's like when we're actually calling
the game, because you know, we're invested in and everybody knows,
and that TK can get rather animated, he can get energized,
(21:53):
he can get loud, and you know, it's a physical
experience to go along with the voice. And I should
do it a little bit more often. But I travel
with a like a little tripod that holds my phone,
and I legit had set up before that inning started.
I was ready to go, and I was recording every
single out of that inning to kind of prepare and
put that on social media. I need to do it
(22:14):
more often. But yeah, I was definitely anticipating another another
no hitter from fromber Valdez and the considering the amount
of attention that video got last time he threw a
no hitter, I was definitely getting ready to do that again.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
Seems like we won't see anything on at Blumber twenty seven.
That says, here's what it sounded like and looked like
when Corey Seger homered off from ber Valdez. Unfortunately that
is what happened, but no doubt it doesn't need to
be seen. Lineup out now for the Astros. We'll talk
to you about that a little bit. On the other side.
A third straight game for a player who just recently
(22:47):
made his major league debut with the Astros. It was
a big part of the offense when they were last
on the field in Arlington against the Rangers, and now
trying to do the same at Fenway Park tonight. Famous
ballpark and always a thrill I think for most major
leaguers to get there for the first time, and that'll
be the case for Zach Decenzo. The catcher for Man
on the Mound tonight, Real Blanco will be Yiner Diaz.
(23:09):
We'll get at all the particulars of tonight and get
some thoughts about the future moving forward with the Astros
to the beginning the second leg of this three city
stop road trip. Astros TV analyst Jeff Blum here with
us on the A team on a Friday afternoon. Of course,
we've got the game tonight and all throughout the season
on your exclusive home for Astros baseball, Sports Talk seven
ninety the A team.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
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you about the deals they've got going on over there
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Speaker 2 (23:48):
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The Highway six location open on Sunday, And of course
the GM Dealer of the Year thirteen years in a row,
Classic Elite Chevy sugar Hey, it's Craig.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Listen to the Home of the Rockets on yours smart speaker,
Jess ask Hey Google play Sports Talk seven ninety on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Eight.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Team rolling along on a Friday edition of the program,
which means more often than not, we're joined by Jeff
Blum of Space City Home Network for his weekly visit. Hey,
uh Blummer, the Boston Red Sox are standing in front
of you, and I just kind of compared them to
the Texas Rangers of this division. Astros just got done
playing a third place team and now they're playing another one.
(24:37):
But they feel like two different franchises. And I'm not
saying that, you know, Boston's gonna come from behind and
take over either the Yankees or the Orioles. But what
do you make of this Boston club, particularly at this
exact moment in the season, you know, the second week
of August.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Yeah, I think they're an interesting ball club. But I
also think it's interesting just in the sense that, you know,
they're kind of similar to that twenty fifteen Astros team
that kind of overachieved a little bit. You kind of
went into the season he said, Wow, we've got some
nice pieces. There's good gun talent here. You know, if
the pitching can hold up and we can score some runs,
we'll have a chance. And you know, you have to
(25:17):
give Alex Korra a little bit of credit just getting
these guys motivated to come out here and play every
day in such a tough division. But you know, if
these players are playing hard, they're putting together great at bats.
They're the best hitting team in the in the American
League as far as you know, ops and batting average,
So they're doing some good things and I think that's
what's kind of exciting up here and giving Boston some hope.
(25:38):
But at the same time, you know, all three of
us talk about it all the time. This division is crazy.
You've got Baltimore kind of vaulting into the top. The
New York Yankees are where everybody expected them to be.
But I really do believe that they kind of feel
that the wild card is where their action is going
to be at considering you know what this ball club
has made up because you've got young guys, You've got
(25:59):
a couple of assault tea you know, veteran guys mixed
in there, and you've got some pitching that might be
over achieving, but it's kind of a it's kind of
a fun time I would imagine to be a Boston
Red Sox fan, because you've been beat around so much
in the last couple of years. So they've kind of
nurtured the hope that they've got a chance, and they're
they're continuing to massage out wins and swing the bats well,
even though they haven't started that second half all that well.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
You give Alex Coora credit.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
Yeah, I mean I have to. I mean it's part
of my job to be somewhat objective. But at the
same time, there's some underlying issues.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
That's that's you're very diplomatic today. Blummer.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
I don't getting you know what, I'm getting old and
I think I'm getting like diplomatic, you know, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
It's not mature.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Wrong. I ad a drink.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
You think you'd be able to find one in Boston?
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Yeah, I was gonna say, yeah, there's maybe maybe some jamison.
It may a guinness that I could figure out what to.
Speaker 4 (26:48):
Do with that fun game day ballplayer story from hitting
Senway Park. Do you have for us here this afternoon?
Something stand out from a trip you and one of
your teams made there.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Not necessarily, I mean every time it came in. Well,
you know what there was there was a one of
the more interesting games, not necessarily the game itself, but
how the situation of the game was really interesting. In five,
when I was with the White Sox earlier in the season,
they got rained out at a game at Fenway and
there was a makeup date in the middle of a
home stand for us. When we were in Chicago, we
(27:23):
had a day off, a mutual day off at the
Red Sox, and they scheduled a game here at Fenway
that we had to make up and Ozzie Gien. We
traveled with a starting pitcher, I think, three relievers, and
I think we've brought ten position players, So we literally
left about ten guys off our roster and flew into
Boston to play against Kurt Shilling. We beat his ass
(27:45):
and got that. We flew in, beat his ass, got
on the plane and flew back within you know what,
about fifteen to twenty hours. And that was probably one
of the more incredible things I've ever even been a
part of. But it happened right here at Fenway. It
was incredible.
Speaker 4 (27:58):
September fifth and five, You and the major way out there,
that's you, Carl Everett's Brandon McCarthy was your starting pitcher
that day, and you shut out the Red Sox five
nothing until the ninth inning, when I assumed, based on
your story, you were running out of pitchers because your
fourth pitcher of the day was on the mound, your
(28:19):
elite closer, Bobby Jenks. He gave up three unearned runs
in the ninth inning, but you were able to close
the door, hop on the bird and get the heck
out of there.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
Pretty interesting.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
Yeah, No, that was pretty incredible. Yeah. So be able
to fly in there with not a full roster and
then win the game and fly right back and continue
the home stand was crazy.
Speaker 4 (28:39):
Did you take advantage of the angles of Fenway Park
or was it just your wheels that earned you a
triple off of Kurt Shilling that day?
Speaker 1 (28:47):
No, you know what, I think. I think it went
into the left field corner, but you know, they were
playing me heavy to pull and it was one of
those like you know, skided, got jammed, put my head down,
pissed off, started running to first base and I looked
up and it's like rattling around the corner and I'm
just like you just kept running until they, you know,
until they figured out how to get the ball in.
But yeah, I had good numbers against Kirk Shilling for
(29:10):
whatever reason, man I loved hitting against that guy.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
Well, not knowing exactly the situation, I will agree it
does seem to add up.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
If you say you hit it in the left field corner.
Speaker 4 (29:19):
I think one hundred percent of our listeners would believe
that Manny Ramirez was in left field that day.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Yeah, you definitely got to take advantage of that guy.
You got to hit him where he's at all the time.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
By the way, I have a question, what's the oddest
conversation you had at any given time with Carl Everett?
Speaker 1 (29:38):
Uh, dude, I love he is a weird bird. We
never really got into the dinosaurs and stuff like that,
but conversations with Yeah, No, he's got a lot going on. Man,
He's you know, if you're if you're willing to accept
that and kind of, you know, play with it a
(29:58):
little bit, you can have some good conversations with these guys.
And I've never had a bad conversation with Carl Lebrett.
There was actually you would love this. There was actually
a brawl in our clubhouse that involved Carl Leverett that
season and it was awesome. I mean, he's everything about
That guy's intense and I loved it.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
So if you were to be in a bar fight,
that's the guy that you would want in the Fox
hall with you.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Hell yeah, Carl Lebrett. I mean, he's not gonna stop
until he's won that thing.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
It's that's pretty crazy, Stu. I mean, it's it's completely believable.
It's just I'm always I always like when the truth
matches up with the hype, I guess is the best
way to.
Speaker 4 (30:40):
Put it in saying all that, And I think a
lot of people here have a sense of what he
was like from how he was covered here and what
he did when he was here. All that goes together
with what I still think is true. And obviously you
can tell me otherwise or say yes, he always struck
me as still a guy that was a pretty good teammate,
a guy that you liked having on your team, liked
having around.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Oh well yeah, and you know what, you know what
maybe rubbed some people the wrong way. I guess in
the clubhouse is just you know, some of that brutal
honesty of Carl. He's not going to be s and
try and massage your ego to have a conversation. Uh.
He's going to do what he wants inside the clubhouse. Uh.
He was an established veteran at the time. And if
you're willing to have the conversation and just kind of
(31:22):
be upfront about everything, I think Carl was a great teammate.
He was actually a pretty knowledgeable player as far as
you know, facing guys and what he was going to do.
He always had that awkward stance where he was really
crowding the dish he had. You know, he had perfectly
good explanation for some of that stuff, but you know
the interviews could be a little awkward, I know at times.
But as far as a teammate and a player, I
(31:44):
actually enjoyed him. And we've had opportunities, you know, with
some of these uh autograph signings and reunions, you get
to go back and hang out with these guys, and
he's been perfectly affable with me. I thought, I think
he's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Yeah, I could. I could definitely see that.
Speaker 3 (31:58):
And You've had a number of interesting teammates and managers.
Frankly over the years. Is Jeff Blumm here on Sports
Talk seven ninety and I know that the Olympics have
been viewed in your home a lot, and it's all
because of Exfinity.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
I mean, you can't you can't get any better than that.
Speaker 3 (32:15):
With what they provide and the security and the connection
with which they provided, Exfinity is the place to go blumber.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
No, It's It's very true. We've got several TVs obviously
around the house, and when I'm able to do my
prep and get ready for these games. But the fun
thing for me is being able to have that Peacock
app on my Expinity table and be able to talk
to my remote. I mean, I've probably worn out that
talk button. I talk more to my remote than I
talked on a broadcast some days because I'm trying to
(32:45):
search for everything on there and Exfinity always brings it
to me. The streaming has been perfect and the connection
has been great for all the data that I'm trying
to download and get ready for some of these games.
So Exfinity has been probably the MVP and would win
a gold medal inside my house.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
Now, that's what it's all. And they are all about
celebrating Team USA going for the goal.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
There.
Speaker 3 (33:04):
They're offering actually a gold medal deal right now. I've
told you about it earlier. I'll tell you about it
now because right now for a couple of days, actually,
actually they're going to have their best offer yet through
August eleventh, three hundred megabit Exfinity Internet, one line of
unlimited mobile for just thirty five dollars a month for
a year, and they throw in a free five G phone.
(33:27):
The action doesn't stop there either, save on some of
the biggest names in streaming by adding the new Exfinity
stream Saver with Peacock, Apple TV Plus and Netflix for
only fifteen dollars a month. That's all it is, and
you want to get it on board right now because
when the Olympic Games end, so does this deal. Three
ways to go about it. You can go to their
(33:48):
website Exfinity dot com slash TEAMUSA. You can call them
at one eight hundred Exfinity, or you can visit a
store today get the fastest connection to Paris with Exfinity,
proud partner of Team USA. There's a Space City Home
Network's Todd Kallis, there's the A Team.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
You got him.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
It's Adam Clinton and Adam Wexler. Clinton stop impersonating me
on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 4 (34:19):
Funny story about that line we just heard Wexac Jeff
Blum here with you on a Friday edition of The
A Team was watching the game while at home on
Space City Home Network this last couple of days. My
daughter was sitting at the kitchen table watching along doing
some work. Last pitch of the inning was Astro's pitcher
(34:40):
with a strikeout, and as the ball crossed home plate.
There was a swing and miss in Unison, Todd in
Arlington and me and my den said he got him,
and my daughter was amazed, like, oh my god, how
did you do that?
Speaker 2 (34:56):
I guess it.
Speaker 4 (34:57):
I kind of thought that was coming on his end
and was a able to deliver it on my end.
And it happens from time to time. It's great stuff. No,
it's fantastic.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
You should have referred to our guest as Todd Kallis's
broadcast partner, though, since that's on brand for you.
Speaker 4 (35:11):
Said Jeff Blum his name, I could have said, Hey,
it's the triplet's dad here joining us here on Sports
Talk seven ninety Bout that went with Jeff. Hey, speaking
of which, we always like to thank the people who
make it possible for you to visit with us, So
before we get to the next topic or ten, we
should probably do that, Blumber.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
Yeah, speaking of Jeff's doctor, Jeff Witzett and his vision
group have been fantastic and I've actually gotten a point
with appointment within myself coming up when I get back
from this road trip. The eyes are getting a little
old and need to make sure that they're performing as
well as it can. So I'm going to actually sit
down with doctor Jeff Witzett, and that's exactly what you
can do as well. You can get that consultation that
(35:50):
doctor Jeff Witzit right there, face to face, and he
will give you a recommendation on what to do. And
remember he's done at least fifty thousand LACI surgery, so
is the man to go see with your eyes issues.
And of course Low T Center is where I go
for all of my maintenance as far as sleep, apnea,
cholesterol levels, checking my testosterone levels, diabetes. They check everything
(36:14):
at low T Center. You can go in there in
about fifteen minutes. They can take that test and tell
you where your levels are at and with a simple shot,
you got your testosteron levels back to where you need
to be to be as excellent as you can. So
Fellowslowtcenter dot coms where it's.
Speaker 4 (36:26):
At mentioned a little bit earlier that the lineup would
it once again include Zach Dezenzo got in action the
first two days he was a major leaguer. Got his
first major league hit in Game two, was on base
three times in that game, scoring twice, and the ball
was flying off of his bat all three of his
batted ball events were hard hit balls. He's back at
(36:47):
first base tonight. You and Todd had a brief conversation
about playing third and playing first and learning the position.
He sounds like he feels pretty comfortable over there. He
obviously has had some time over there. The bottom line
is the team feels comfortable with him over there. Al Tuve, Bregman,
Alvarez Diaz, who's catching Singleton's the d h Paynya Dezenzo,
(37:10):
Jacob Center and Dubon and Wright. What are your early
thoughts your early impressions of what you've seen from Zach Dezenzo.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
Obviously, I'm a little bit biased because he's about sixty
five two twenty and he came up as a short
stop playing at Ohio State, so he's kind of played
in a big conference D one baseball, played a demanding
position at that size. So there's a certain physicality and
athleticism that I enjoyed watching about Desenzo and watching him
work with Omar Lopez over there at first base shows
(37:40):
me that he has the will to go out there
and be coached and want to learn to play the
position so he can get his at bats. And I
think we saw in that second game. He started some
of that swing and some of that power that we're
talking about, his power stroke is actually going to the
opposite field, but he stays through his own nicely, like
we saw on a couple of those sliders pulling him
to that left field area. But I think it's also
(38:03):
you know, watching him start in this game and kind
of forcing Jordan Alvarez to play left field, it kind
of gives you an idea of how the Astros feel
about him, and also it gives you a really good
insight into how Joe Spotta, I think, is going to
manage this ball club for the rest of the season.
You know that the trade deadline brought them Yuseay Kakuchi
and Caleb Ferguson, but at the same time, they weren't
(38:24):
able to add maybe that fact that they wanted to
be able to go out there and extend their lineup
a little bit. So Dana Brown's calling up pedro Leone,
They're calling up Zach Dezenzo. So you're going to see
Joe Spotty using these guys probably more frequently than probably
we anticipated, because those are the two bets that they're
going to need to get going, and Art try and
provide some coverage and depth in this lineup, so I
(38:47):
think that you know, it shouldn't be a surprise that
the Senzo's over there at first base.
Speaker 2 (38:51):
So, Kyle Tucker, you got anything at this point?
Speaker 1 (38:55):
Hope? I mean, I'm just nurturing the hope that there
is hope. I mean, would then Dana come on the
seven to ninety the other day and say that by
the end of August he has the opportunity to get
out there. And I think for Tucker it's just a
matter of you know, if he can run at full speed,
then he should be able to go out there and hit.
I think that's the only hurdle that he really has
to get over, is that comfort level of being able
to sprint make some stop, you know, quick stops and cuts.
(39:19):
Because he's valuable defensively and he's valuable on the base pads,
and I think running the bases is probably that one
last hurtle he's got to get over. And once he
does that, it's just a matter of time before he
starts swinging the bat and gets his timing back. But
getting that guy in that lineup, we really do a
good job of covering some of those young hitters that
Joe has.
Speaker 3 (39:35):
To use in the lineup, and I think that's my
number one concern. I mean, the obvious one is getting
him back. But you know you're not gonna just he's
basically going to have to do spring training on the
fly all over again in some senses, because you're not
just going to get the guy that left on June third,
who had just hit two home runs in a Sunday
game a few days prior, and was the best player
(39:56):
position wise, you know, from a hitting standpoint on the team.
So how I mean, it's kind of a it's a
tough question since we've never seen him injured like ever
for any reason. How knowing Kyle, I guess the way
you probably do a little bit better than any of us.
How long do you think that would take?
Speaker 2 (40:16):
You know? In other words, how mentally tough is this guy?
This kid? Basically I think.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
He's plenty tough enough. But a lot of it's because
he knows his swing as well as anybody on the planet,
and as unique as it is, he knows how to
get the barable of baseball. And I think once he
gets over that, you know that it's one thing to
get over a physical hurdle and realize that your body
doesn't hurt. But at the same time, you've got to
get over that mental hurdle of saying I can step
into the box, I can take a swing as hard
(40:42):
as I want and not worry about filing it off
my front leg, because that's going to be where I
think he's going to be most tentative is some of
those pitches on the inside corner because he doesn't want
to file the ball off his shin again. And who
can blame him, you know, it's put him out for
sixty five games, I think it is now, So he's
going to be a little tentative back. But once he's
able to realize that, you know what, I've got a
(41:02):
shin guard in the right place. I would imagine he's
going to have probably one of the biggest ship guards
in all of baseball if he's smart about it, and
then just go out there and start playing baseball. But once,
once he gets up the speed and the timing is right,
it's just a just get him in the game. He's
going to figure it out. He's too good of a
hitter and too smart and knows that swing too well
to be you know, slumping for too long.
Speaker 4 (41:23):
I can't confirm this one hundred percent, but my sources
indicate he'll be with the team in Tampa and he's
gotten in touch with the Lightning goalie there in his hometown.
He's requested one of his goalie pads that he can
use moving.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
Forward to try to protect himself. That makes sense.
Speaker 4 (41:39):
I'm sure it might be a little difficult to, you know,
shuffle on down to first after he grounds the ball
through the infield into the outfield to trying to turn
a single into a double. But he'll be healthy. That's
all we can be concerned about at this point. Looking
at the other end of the Astros that we almost
never discuss, the bullpen obviously is it seems like it's
(42:00):
back in where they need to be. The starters Kakuchi
surrounding the four guys in between them have all been
good and iither get to start a series in Boston.
I think everybody's pretty excited about where things stand, with
the number of games they have left, where they sit
in the division, again essentially controlling their own destinies. Since
they have games left with Seattle and there are any
dead heat with them, so we leave it at that
(42:22):
first pitch just over two hours away, and Jeff, we
as always appreciate the time.
Speaker 1 (42:28):
Now, you guys are the best. You know. I love
coming on with you guys, and I appreciate you making
time for me.
Speaker 4 (42:32):
You got it, Jeff Blum, Todd Kallis, Julian Morales will
have that for you tonight. Of course, we've got it
with Robert Ford and Steve Sparks right here on Sports
Talk seven ninety
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