May 9, 2025 • 14 mins
The Athletic's Chandler Rome heads over to The A-Team to break down everything happening with the Astros' roster, including an IL stint for a new name, the future of Brendan Rodgers, Jose Altuve's age, Jeremy Pena's surge and more!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Adam Clinton and Adam Weckler are d a team. Hey,
no football at five on a Friday, because instead we
check in with our good buddy Chandler, Rome of the
Athletic Chandler.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Appreciate you taking the time. Astro's back home Reds in
Town Diesel on the Mound the latest chance for us
to take in in person for some of those who
have tickets tonight, the best pitcher in the American League,
or at least one of them.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Yeah, he is getting to be appointment television.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
As I think I've said on here before.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
He's the guy that you look on a homestand and
you want to plan out when he's pitching, when he's
gonna pitch so you can get your tickets. And I
think he may pitch twice on this homestand or maybe
they may save him to start the first game in
Arlington against the Rangers, considering to go to a six
man rotation. But yeah, I mean, if you can get
out here and see him, he is worth. He's worth
(01:01):
coming to the ballpark to see you.
Speaker 5 (01:02):
Kind of set us up for this next question with
that thought about what Kansas City we'll see on the
mound from the Astros was Nesky. Hydden was Nesky if
you didn't hear one on the fifteen day IL earlier
today with right elbow discomfort, had been given an extra
time off in between his April twenty fifth start and
the start he most recently made on May sixth. This
past Tuesday would have been slotted in for the opener.
(01:25):
Ryan Gusto potentially could have been slotted in for the
finale of the six game homestand so Monday was Nesky
Wednesday with Gusto. What do you think the Astros will do?
And obviously we mentioned their names earlier. Colton Gordon has
been scheduled for the start tonight in sugar Land. Don't
know if there's been with sugar Land. Don't know if
there's been a change there. And aj Blueball last pitched
(01:46):
on Tuesday. Either one of them, both from a timing
standpoint and from a roster standpoint, could make sense.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Yeah, I mean, joe Jo Stott has said today they
are going to stick with going to a six man rotation,
even with Hayden Esky on the eye. Also, I mean,
it does make sense that one of those two guys
is probably going to be called up to join the
rotation now because they had the off day yesterday, they
can still finagle some stuff around. You know, I wouldn't
put anything in stone other than the two other probables
(02:16):
that are starting the next two nights, so they can
still do a lot of different things.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
But yeah, I mean unless.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
They unless they think a lot of Miguel Iola, who
struck out ten last night for Triple A sugar Land
and was pitching very well, he could be somebody that
maybe they look at off the roster. But I think
it's gonna be either blue Ball or Gordon is gonna
be the guy that comes up and kind of slots
into this rotation. You know, blue Ball has done it.
You saw him against the Tigers. He's got the big
(02:43):
league experience. Granted it's one game, but still he's got
He's been up here, kind of knows the riggers of it.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
Colton Gordon's left handed.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Do they want that different look in the rotation of
another lefty to go with Valdez in the sixth man,
I'm not sure. A lot of it's gonna come down
to timing. A lot of it's gonna come down the
who's on schedule, who's pitching well, Like kind of matchup centric,
but yeah, it does seem like one of those two
guys is gonna get a pretty decent runway here.
Speaker 5 (03:08):
The other part of it is obviously the pitcher who's
not available anymore, and that's Hayden was Nesky. From what
Joe spot has said today or anything else you might know,
what do you think this might mean more than just
fifteen days away?
Speaker 4 (03:20):
I mean, look, it's never good.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
The circumstances that led up to this obviously were not great,
with the velocity being down against the Royals pretty precipitously,
then having to skip his start to quote give him
time to recover, and then obviously how he pitched in
a walking just it.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Didn't look great.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
You know, it doesn't look and sound great, but you know,
you never know until you see what the doctors have
to say. It should be noted that he was on
the il last season for two months with the right
fearm stream so the forearms connected to the elbow as
we all know, like, so he has had some issues.
He had some issues last year in Chicago, so he's
being the doctors right now. Actually, so we probably won't
(04:03):
get a full fledged update until tomorrow and to think
we'll get a full fledged update at all is pretty
pretty nonsensical. So we'll just wait and see, just like
we did for eleven days when he just quote needed
some time to recover.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Talking to Chandler Rome here on Sports Talk seven ninety,
we've talked about this this week already, and this is
hardly the first time jose Al Tuvey has had a
slump during a season in his long and illustrious career.
But given him his advanced age and everything else surrounding
this team, is it like, are we to the point
now where when he goes into a slump like this
(04:38):
you start worrying about the dreaded like, you know, Okay,
is this the start of the decline? I know he's
already declined in some ways. It's just that's what happens
in Father times undefeated. But are we officially on that
watch now or is just just a regular run of
the mill slump?
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Yeah, I mean it's hard not to be. Time comes
for everyone, age comes for everyone. The fact that he
is not played second base anymore just kind of I
mean that kind of shows that he's on he's in.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
A different part of his career now.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
You know, as long as I think the contact piece
stays and the speed stays because he's still he's still
getting down the line. Well, he can still get the
bat on a lot of pitches that normal hitters can't.
As long as though two those two things stay intact,
he will be okay. Is he going to be a
one forty oh ps plus and like superstar, like unquestioned
(05:31):
all star? You know, that remains to be seen. I
don't know if I don't know if he's still in
that part of his career. But this AL two a
slump kind of looks like every other AL two a
slump we've seen from him. When he gets like this,
I know there's a lot of people freaking out that
he bunted as many times as he did in Milwaukee.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
He does. That's what he does when he's in a slump.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
He he knows he's not right, so he wants to
try to get one down, you know, get on base,
feel good about himself, and kind of center himself.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
He does that all the time.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Same thing with chasing a lot out of the zone,
swing at a ton of stuff like this is how
he processes a slump. So there's been nothing really out
of the ordinary. In terms of like how the slump
has looked and how he's looked. But I mean, look,
it's magnified when no one else is hitting. It's magnified
when Alvarez on the il, when Christian Walker's going through it,
when Yanor Diaz, who is hitting a lot better recently,
(06:20):
still doesn't have the season stats as you thought Yanor
Diaz would have. So they need him to get going,
but they need a lot of other people to get
going as well.
Speaker 5 (06:28):
Did we kind of quietly see a transition to something
we'll see for many, many years to come with what
Jeremy Paney has done as the leadoff hitter, as in
this is probably a very positive permanent spot in the
lineup for him.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
I mean, as long as it keeps going like this, like,
I don't see any reason why they would change it.
He seems to really have taken to it. He's not
I think Joe put I think Joe has thought to
put it well on Wednesday. You know, they're not asking
him to sit up there and take walks and be
super patient. But I also don't think you're gonna see
him be as aggressive as Alto they was up there
(07:02):
in the leadoff spot. Obviously hit the first pitch homer
in Milwaukee on Wednesday. But he's he's I think what
he's doing well.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
And what Joe A.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Spotta likes that he's doing is he's making adjustments. Like
he goes up for his first at bat, sees what
the pitcher has, and then like is quickly making adjustments
for his next at that because inherently, when you're the
leadoff guy, you're gonna get the most at bats of anyone.
So he's got to be really good at making those
adjustments because he's gonna have more at bats in the game.
But I mean, it seems to suit him really well.
(07:30):
He's so fast, he's hitting the ball on a line more,
he's not hitting the ball on the ground.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
As much as he used to.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
It seems like he really has taken to that, and
I don't think they're gonna change it any times soon.
Speaker 5 (07:40):
He wrote a piece a little bit that have many
times actually this season and noted it again from a
contractual and timeline standpoint, regarding Brendan Rodgers in his time
here with the Astros. You a little explainer on where
we are with that and what his usage lately might mean.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Yeah, it's a very nuanced and very kind of it's
a very weird baseball thing, but basically they had Tomorrow
is the last day that the Astros can basically either
release him, option him to the minor leagues, or get
him off the forty nine roster. The fact that he's
playing tonight would suggest to me that he's not on
(08:18):
outright waivers, which they would have to put him on
outright waivers to get him off the roster.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
And you know the fact that they have.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Given him as much runway as they have given him
would suggest to me that he's going to stick around.
I think that's always been the inclination that he was
going to stick around. I know the numbers are not
the results, like, the actual stats.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
Are not good.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
But if you look under the hood at what they
have asked him to do, that's hit the ball harder.
That's his bat speed is about three miles an hour
quicker this year than it ever has been in his career.
They've lowered his hands in his batting stance, They've widened
his batting stance. He's hitting the ball in the air more,
he's hitting the ball on his pull side. Everything peripherally
looks good from the results, and I think if they
(09:02):
play it out over the course of the year, I
think you'll see an improved offensive player. Now, I say
all that, and he's got an ops that starts with
a six, and he's striking out about thirty three percent
of the time. So I'm not here to try to
tell you that he's been some offensive stalward or some
game changer.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
But he is certainly someone that.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
They have identified that they can unlock some things if
he makes some mechanical adjustments, if he makes some swing adjustments.
He has done all that, and it looks like he
has unlocked all of it. It's just not showing up
in the results. To be honest with you, I think
if they don't keep Brendan Rodgers around, it will be
a financial thing if they don't want to pay him
the remainder of his two million dollars salary because they're
(09:42):
so keeping such a conscious eye in the luxury tax.
And be quite frank, if they cut Brendan Rodgers over
what is maybe like one point three or one point
four million dollars, that would look incredibly cheap, just incredibly
cheap for a team that purports its window will never close.
Window is always open if you're cutting guys over one
point five million dollars and that's a tough.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
Look.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Is Jake Myers back?
Speaker 4 (10:08):
Where did he go?
Speaker 3 (10:12):
Look he did this last year. I mean, you saw
how great his first half was last year and then
kind of fell off.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
It's on him to it's on him to sustain it.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
I think some of the stuff is I think some
of the stuff you can see is sustainable.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
Some of the stuff you can look at it and
be like, yeah, he can carry this through. But I
would call him again.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
We saw this last year, and I think he's doing
enough right now to warrant every day playing time obviously,
you know, I think it's coming at the expense of
Cam Smith.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
Certainly.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
You know, Zach Dezenzo is putting up good at dash
right now and they clearly want to give him a
runway to have some of that. So Cam Smith's kind
of been the odd man out and you kind of
have to wonder how long that's tenable. With Cam Smith
only playing, you know, three times a week as a
twenty two year old, that's still earn in the big league.
So learning professional baseball.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
If it keeps going like this and there's nowhere to
play in.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
They may have some difficult decisions to make in the
not so distant future.
Speaker 5 (11:11):
Very different situation than a year ago this point in time.
This is kind of the start of the season that
was good. They were twelve and twenty four after thirty
six games. A year ago. They're eighteen and eighteen right
there at five hundred heading into the series against the Reds.
Any part of you see any possibility of the type
of run they put together last year from this point forward.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
I mean, with the way they're playing right now, no,
But I would probably told you the same thing last
year that I didn't see the run that they had
in them last year in there, and they made it work.
So I mean, look, when you can run fromer Valdez
and Hunter Brown out there two out of every five
or six days, like, you feel good about that. And
(11:55):
you also feel good that Christian Walker is not going
to have an ops that starts with a five. You
feel good that Altwovey is not going to look like
this all year. When they get Ord and Alvarez back,
you know that the hand has had to have been
impacting him.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
This whole year.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
So there's underlying stuff that tells you that this team
is playing is better, and there's guys that are going
to start, you know, regressing or progressing to the meme.
But you know, it's the thing about this team and
the thing about this franchise where it's at right now,
Like this is the team, Like they have no help,
(12:34):
Like they have nothing in Triple A that they can
call up to, you know, give a spark or to
like change the dynamic to see how the rocks. Like
this is it, Like these are the twenty six guys
they have, Like Blue Bar Gordon's gonna have to come
up out of necessity.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
But other than that, like this is it. So it's
gonna be this team.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
It's not gonna be one of these things where they're
gonna call a bunch of guys up and change a
bunch of stuff. Like it's on these guys to turn
it around and get it done.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
Apparently, reportedly, Chandler, the Big Ten, and the SEC are
delivering support to a sixteen team college football playoff. Is
Chandler Rome supporting an expanded sixteen team college football playoffs?
Speaker 3 (13:11):
I'm fine with a sixteen team playoff, just don't mess
the NCAA tournament. Don't make the NCAA tournament like ninety
six teams or one hundred. I don't like the NCAA
tournament is perfect.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
Don't mess with that.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
I'm fine with because I thought I loved the twelve
team playoff this past year. Even though I had no
rooting interest in anyone in it, I loved it. And
who knows, with sixteen teams, maybe Brian Kelly can actually.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
Accomplish something and get LSU into a playoff.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Well, we were going to get your thoughts on Draymond Green,
but we're fresh out of time.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
Can I give my thoughts on Jalen Green?
Speaker 5 (13:44):
Or is that you're a weekly guest? We'll you in
next week for that.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
Week on this station. Wait you said that again? I said,
is that banned on this station? Not at all? Green thoughts? No,
give us your thoughts. Can I have data points? Can
U and rafel Stone can say?
Speaker 5 (14:01):
Uh?
Speaker 3 (14:01):
And I'm a lot? I mean I like him. I
like Jalen Green a lot. Like I watch more Rockets
basketball this year than I haven't a lot.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
I like Jayalen Green a lot.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
I don't know if it's just the upside, I don't know,
It's like every time I watched him he played well like,
I wouldn't trade him.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
I like him a lot.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
I personally I build the team around him over Alper
and Shingoon.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
But that's just me, a lowally baseball writer. Interesting.
Speaker 5 (14:27):
There you have it. Uh, there are people that think
just like you doing there highly high baseball writers or
basketball fans or basketball writers. A lot of people have
varying opinions, and we welcome yours each and every week.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
That from Jeff Pass and I'll tell you that much thankfully,
Adam Clinton and Adam Weckler are d a team. Hey,
no football at five on a Friday, because instead we
check in with our good buddy Chandler, Rome of the
Athletic Chandler.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Appreciate you taking the time. Astro's back home Reds in
Town Diesel on the Mound the latest chance for us
to take in in person for some of those who
have tickets tonight, the best pitcher in the American League,
or at least one of them.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Yeah, he is getting to be appointment television.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
As I think I've said on here before.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
He's the guy that you look on a homestand and
you want to plan out when he's pitching, when he's
gonna pitch so you can get your tickets. And I
think he may pitch twice on this homestand or maybe
they may save him to start the first game in
Arlington against the Rangers, considering to go to a six
man rotation. But yeah, I mean, if you can get
out here and see him, he is worth. He's worth
(01:01):
coming to the ballpark to see you.
Speaker 5 (01:02):
Kind of set us up for this next question with
that thought about what Kansas City we'll see on the
mound from the Astros was Nesky. Hydden was Nesky if
you didn't hear one on the fifteen day IL earlier
today with right elbow discomfort, had been given an extra
time off in between his April twenty fifth start and
the start he most recently made on May sixth. This
past Tuesday would have been slotted in for the opener.
(01:25):
Ryan Gusto potentially could have been slotted in for the
finale of the six game homestand so Monday was Nesky
Wednesday with Gusto. What do you think the Astros will do?
And obviously we mentioned their names earlier. Colton Gordon has
been scheduled for the start tonight in sugar Land. Don't
know if there's been with sugar Land. Don't know if
there's been a change there. And aj Blueball last pitched
(01:46):
on Tuesday. Either one of them, both from a timing
standpoint and from a roster standpoint, could make sense.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Yeah, I mean, joe Jo Stott has said today they
are going to stick with going to a six man rotation,
even with Hayden Esky on the eye. Also, I mean,
it does make sense that one of those two guys
is probably going to be called up to join the
rotation now because they had the off day yesterday, they
can still finagle some stuff around. You know, I wouldn't
put anything in stone other than the two other probables
(02:16):
that are starting the next two nights, so they can
still do a lot of different things.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
But yeah, I mean unless.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
They unless they think a lot of Miguel Iola, who
struck out ten last night for Triple A sugar Land
and was pitching very well, he could be somebody that
maybe they look at off the roster. But I think
it's gonna be either blue Ball or Gordon is gonna
be the guy that comes up and kind of slots
into this rotation. You know, blue Ball has done it.
You saw him against the Tigers. He's got the big
(02:43):
league experience. Granted it's one game, but still he's got
He's been up here, kind of knows the riggers of it.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
Colton Gordon's left handed.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Do they want that different look in the rotation of
another lefty to go with Valdez in the sixth man,
I'm not sure. A lot of it's gonna come down
to timing. A lot of it's gonna come down the
who's on schedule, who's pitching well, Like kind of matchup centric,
but yeah, it does seem like one of those two
guys is gonna get a pretty decent runway here.
Speaker 5 (03:08):
The other part of it is obviously the pitcher who's
not available anymore, and that's Hayden was Nesky. From what
Joe spot has said today or anything else you might know,
what do you think this might mean more than just
fifteen days away?
Speaker 4 (03:20):
I mean, look, it's never good.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
The circumstances that led up to this obviously were not great,
with the velocity being down against the Royals pretty precipitously,
then having to skip his start to quote give him
time to recover, and then obviously how he pitched in
a walking just it.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Didn't look great.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
You know, it doesn't look and sound great, but you know,
you never know until you see what the doctors have
to say. It should be noted that he was on
the il last season for two months with the right
fearm stream so the forearms connected to the elbow as
we all know, like, so he has had some issues.
He had some issues last year in Chicago, so he's
being the doctors right now. Actually, so we probably won't
(04:03):
get a full fledged update until tomorrow and to think
we'll get a full fledged update at all is pretty
pretty nonsensical. So we'll just wait and see, just like
we did for eleven days when he just quote needed
some time to recover.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Talking to Chandler Rome here on Sports Talk seven ninety,
we've talked about this this week already, and this is
hardly the first time jose Al Tuvey has had a
slump during a season in his long and illustrious career.
But given him his advanced age and everything else surrounding
this team, is it like, are we to the point
now where when he goes into a slump like this
(04:38):
you start worrying about the dreaded like, you know, Okay,
is this the start of the decline? I know he's
already declined in some ways. It's just that's what happens
in Father times undefeated. But are we officially on that
watch now or is just just a regular run of
the mill slump?
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Yeah, I mean it's hard not to be. Time comes
for everyone, age comes for everyone. The fact that he
is not played second base anymore just kind of I
mean that kind of shows that he's on he's in.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
A different part of his career now.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
You know, as long as I think the contact piece
stays and the speed stays because he's still he's still
getting down the line. Well, he can still get the
bat on a lot of pitches that normal hitters can't.
As long as though two those two things stay intact,
he will be okay. Is he going to be a
one forty oh ps plus and like superstar, like unquestioned
(05:31):
all star? You know, that remains to be seen. I
don't know if I don't know if he's still in
that part of his career. But this AL two a
slump kind of looks like every other AL two a
slump we've seen from him. When he gets like this,
I know there's a lot of people freaking out that
he bunted as many times as he did in Milwaukee.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
He does. That's what he does when he's in a slump.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
He he knows he's not right, so he wants to
try to get one down, you know, get on base,
feel good about himself, and kind of center himself.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
He does that all the time.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Same thing with chasing a lot out of the zone,
swing at a ton of stuff like this is how
he processes a slump. So there's been nothing really out
of the ordinary. In terms of like how the slump
has looked and how he's looked. But I mean, look,
it's magnified when no one else is hitting. It's magnified
when Alvarez on the il, when Christian Walker's going through it,
when Yanor Diaz, who is hitting a lot better recently,
(06:20):
still doesn't have the season stats as you thought Yanor
Diaz would have. So they need him to get going,
but they need a lot of other people to get
going as well.
Speaker 5 (06:28):
Did we kind of quietly see a transition to something
we'll see for many, many years to come with what
Jeremy Paney has done as the leadoff hitter, as in
this is probably a very positive permanent spot in the
lineup for him.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
I mean, as long as it keeps going like this, like,
I don't see any reason why they would change it.
He seems to really have taken to it. He's not
I think Joe put I think Joe has thought to
put it well on Wednesday. You know, they're not asking
him to sit up there and take walks and be
super patient. But I also don't think you're gonna see
him be as aggressive as Alto they was up there
(07:02):
in the leadoff spot. Obviously hit the first pitch homer
in Milwaukee on Wednesday. But he's he's I think what
he's doing well.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
And what Joe A.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Spotta likes that he's doing is he's making adjustments. Like
he goes up for his first at bat, sees what
the pitcher has, and then like is quickly making adjustments
for his next at that because inherently, when you're the
leadoff guy, you're gonna get the most at bats of anyone.
So he's got to be really good at making those
adjustments because he's gonna have more at bats in the game.
But I mean, it seems to suit him really well.
(07:30):
He's so fast, he's hitting the ball on a line more,
he's not hitting the ball on the ground.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
As much as he used to.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
It seems like he really has taken to that, and
I don't think they're gonna change it any times soon.
Speaker 5 (07:40):
He wrote a piece a little bit that have many
times actually this season and noted it again from a
contractual and timeline standpoint, regarding Brendan Rodgers in his time
here with the Astros. You a little explainer on where
we are with that and what his usage lately might mean.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Yeah, it's a very nuanced and very kind of it's
a very weird baseball thing, but basically they had Tomorrow
is the last day that the Astros can basically either
release him, option him to the minor leagues, or get
him off the forty nine roster. The fact that he's
playing tonight would suggest to me that he's not on
(08:18):
outright waivers, which they would have to put him on
outright waivers to get him off the roster.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
And you know the fact that they have.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Given him as much runway as they have given him
would suggest to me that he's going to stick around.
I think that's always been the inclination that he was
going to stick around. I know the numbers are not
the results, like, the actual stats.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
Are not good.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
But if you look under the hood at what they
have asked him to do, that's hit the ball harder.
That's his bat speed is about three miles an hour
quicker this year than it ever has been in his career.
They've lowered his hands in his batting stance, They've widened
his batting stance. He's hitting the ball in the air more,
he's hitting the ball on his pull side. Everything peripherally
looks good from the results, and I think if they
(09:02):
play it out over the course of the year, I
think you'll see an improved offensive player. Now, I say
all that, and he's got an ops that starts with
a six, and he's striking out about thirty three percent
of the time. So I'm not here to try to
tell you that he's been some offensive stalward or some
game changer.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
But he is certainly someone that.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
They have identified that they can unlock some things if
he makes some mechanical adjustments, if he makes some swing adjustments.
He has done all that, and it looks like he
has unlocked all of it. It's just not showing up
in the results. To be honest with you, I think
if they don't keep Brendan Rodgers around, it will be
a financial thing if they don't want to pay him
the remainder of his two million dollars salary because they're
(09:42):
so keeping such a conscious eye in the luxury tax.
And be quite frank, if they cut Brendan Rodgers over
what is maybe like one point three or one point
four million dollars, that would look incredibly cheap, just incredibly
cheap for a team that purports its window will never close.
Window is always open if you're cutting guys over one
point five million dollars and that's a tough.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
Look.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Is Jake Myers back?
Speaker 4 (10:08):
Where did he go?
Speaker 3 (10:12):
Look he did this last year. I mean, you saw
how great his first half was last year and then
kind of fell off.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
It's on him to it's on him to sustain it.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
I think some of the stuff is I think some
of the stuff you can see is sustainable.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
Some of the stuff you can look at it and
be like, yeah, he can carry this through. But I
would call him again.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
We saw this last year, and I think he's doing
enough right now to warrant every day playing time obviously,
you know, I think it's coming at the expense of
Cam Smith.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
Certainly.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
You know, Zach Dezenzo is putting up good at dash
right now and they clearly want to give him a
runway to have some of that. So Cam Smith's kind
of been the odd man out and you kind of
have to wonder how long that's tenable. With Cam Smith
only playing, you know, three times a week as a
twenty two year old, that's still earn in the big league.
So learning professional baseball.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
If it keeps going like this and there's nowhere to
play in.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
They may have some difficult decisions to make in the
not so distant future.
Speaker 5 (11:11):
Very different situation than a year ago this point in time.
This is kind of the start of the season that
was good. They were twelve and twenty four after thirty
six games. A year ago. They're eighteen and eighteen right
there at five hundred heading into the series against the Reds.
Any part of you see any possibility of the type
of run they put together last year from this point forward.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
I mean, with the way they're playing right now, no,
But I would probably told you the same thing last
year that I didn't see the run that they had
in them last year in there, and they made it work.
So I mean, look, when you can run fromer Valdez
and Hunter Brown out there two out of every five
or six days, like, you feel good about that. And
(11:55):
you also feel good that Christian Walker is not going
to have an ops that starts with a five. You
feel good that Altwovey is not going to look like
this all year. When they get Ord and Alvarez back,
you know that the hand has had to have been
impacting him.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
This whole year.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
So there's underlying stuff that tells you that this team
is playing is better, and there's guys that are going
to start, you know, regressing or progressing to the meme.
But you know, it's the thing about this team and
the thing about this franchise where it's at right now,
Like this is the team, Like they have no help,
(12:34):
Like they have nothing in Triple A that they can
call up to, you know, give a spark or to
like change the dynamic to see how the rocks. Like
this is it, Like these are the twenty six guys
they have, Like Blue Bar Gordon's gonna have to come
up out of necessity.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
But other than that, like this is it. So it's
gonna be this team.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
It's not gonna be one of these things where they're
gonna call a bunch of guys up and change a
bunch of stuff. Like it's on these guys to turn
it around and get it done.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
Apparently, reportedly, Chandler, the Big Ten, and the SEC are
delivering support to a sixteen team college football playoff. Is
Chandler Rome supporting an expanded sixteen team college football playoffs?
Speaker 3 (13:11):
I'm fine with a sixteen team playoff, just don't mess
the NCAA tournament. Don't make the NCAA tournament like ninety
six teams or one hundred. I don't like the NCAA
tournament is perfect.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
Don't mess with that.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
I'm fine with because I thought I loved the twelve
team playoff this past year. Even though I had no
rooting interest in anyone in it, I loved it. And
who knows, with sixteen teams, maybe Brian Kelly can actually.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
Accomplish something and get LSU into a playoff.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Well, we were going to get your thoughts on Draymond Green,
but we're fresh out of time.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
Can I give my thoughts on Jalen Green?
Speaker 5 (13:44):
Or is that you're a weekly guest? We'll you in
next week for that.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
Week on this station. Wait you said that again? I said,
is that banned on this station? Not at all? Green thoughts? No,
give us your thoughts. Can I have data points? Can
U and rafel Stone can say?
Speaker 5 (14:01):
Uh?
Speaker 3 (14:01):
And I'm a lot? I mean I like him. I
like Jalen Green a lot. Like I watch more Rockets
basketball this year than I haven't a lot.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
I like Jayalen Green a lot.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
I don't know if it's just the upside, I don't know,
It's like every time I watched him he played well like,
I wouldn't trade him.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
I like him a lot.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
I personally I build the team around him over Alper
and Shingoon.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
But that's just me, a lowally baseball writer. Interesting.
Speaker 5 (14:27):
There you have it. Uh, there are people that think
just like you doing there highly high baseball writers or
basketball fans or basketball writers. A lot of people have
varying opinions, and we welcome yours each and every week.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
That from Jeff Pass and I'll tell you that much thankfully,
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