September 2, 2026 • 11 mins
SCHN’s Brian Bogusevic joined The Dan Mathews Show to discuss the Astros’ loss to the White Sox, his expectations for Carlos Correa as he prepares to return from injury, and what Correa’s role could look like once he’s back in the lineup. Bogusevic also shared his thoughts on how Correa could impact the Astros’ offense down the stretch and what the team can expect from him as he works his way back into game shape.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
He's former Astro Brian Bogusevic, and he joins us every
single week. Bogie, always great buddy. So, of course, there's
going to be plenty of Astros discussion here. But, of course,
with your ties to Tulane, maybe even wade into a
little bit of college football here at the end. So,
you know, hopefully you're up to date on that. And
if not, I'll try to shepherd you through it as
best as possible. But last night, I mean, that's one
(00:20):
of those that probably that fifth inning, once the White
Sox put up those three runs, you're kind of like, hmm,
this doesn't feel like it's going to be a.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Good one tonight.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Yeah. You could just tell it was going to be,
you know, a couple of runs was probably going to
do it either way. It was just weird how it
played out, you know, on, on, on one side, the
White Sox pitcher Burke was, was really good and he's
really tough. So it's kind of one of those games
where you throw your hands up like, yeah, we weren't
really going to get anything going offensively, but then on
(00:50):
the other side of it, you know, It was like
a bunch of self-inflicted damage on the pitching side. I
think four of the runs that scored originally reached on
the walk. So it's like, you know, we kind of
just ran into a buzzsaw on one side and then
beat ourselves on the other side. It was just one
of those games where it's just like nothing is kind
of going our way.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
And clearly, Brian, I mean, this is a time of
year where playing 162 of anything is incredibly tough, no
matter how many days you have it.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
But fatigue's a real thing.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
And when you see these inconsistent performances out of the lineup,
is that what you're seeing? Are you seeing that this
is just a season that is getting to a point
where you're trying to fight.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Through said fatigue? Well, yes. I mean, look, you get
to this point in the season and there's always going
to be fatigue issues. Everybody's nursing something. Everybody's run down.
But it's on both sides, right? The guys in the
other dugout are feeling the same way. So it kind
of levels off. But in terms of inconsistency, I mean,
(01:50):
it's been inconsistent. For the entire season for the Astros.
I mean, you don't, you know, you think of 500
as being, you know, win one, lose one, but it's
really the big swings of up and down that all,
when it's all said and done ends up around 500
and just kind of. what it's been and really the
key to it. Isn't trying to put your finger on
(02:10):
what is it that we need to do? It's really
just turning the page. It's more of a, it's more
of a mental thing. Certainly at this point, you kind
of are what you are. And the trick is having
a game like you had yesterday and being able to
show up today. Like it never happened.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
And as I mentioned before, bogey, I mean, you, you
got on the mound, you were a two, a two
way athlete on the field when you played baseball. So,
you know, the pitching side of things, So when you
see a stretch like this out of the pitchers where
two straight nights of a lot of walks, what do
you necessarily.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
See contributing to that?
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Do you think it's pitchers trying to be too fine
with pitches or how do you think that we're seeing
all these misses?
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Well, it varies. I think the two games, if you
look at the last two games, I see them as
kind of being two different things. Yesterday, or I'm sorry,
the first game, Lambert, number one, he wasn't as sharp
as he normally is. That's certain. But at the same time,
he was kind of in that I'm never going to
(03:12):
give in. If I have to walk a guy, I can, I'll,
I'll go after the next guy and hopefully get him Mo,
you know, just waiting for the offense to come through.
He never really got to a point to where we've
seen him throughout the course of the year. If you
do spot him some runs, he'll really get into the
zone and use more change of speed to beat guys
and trying to nibble on the edges. I just don't
(03:33):
know that he ever got to that point. And then
at the same time, just didn't have as good a
command as he typically does. I saw a different story
maybe yesterday with Ronell where just not really trusting this
stuff not really willing to go after hitters again the
score of the game will dictate your you know willingness
to really challenge somebody but yeah i think it's a
(03:56):
combination of guys trying to be fine and maybe not
being as sharp as they want to be but at
the same time a great way to encourage pitchers to
go out there just fill up the strike zone is
to give them a three or four run lead and
nobody's been working with that the last couple days Hey.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
Brian, we heard a report from McTaggart that Correa is
going to head down to Florida and start ramping up here.
I mean, we're sitting here on September 2nd, the Astros'
last game of the regular season is on the 27th
of September. What's your best guess, if everything goes well,
when he may or may not be back and ready
to play and when he rejoins the team, how often
(04:33):
do you expect.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Him to play? Well, it's hard to tell. And when
he was talking about it yesterday, it was very much a,
we're going to go down there and start the process
and kind of see what happens as it goes. I don't,
I don't think anybody really knows. Obviously the best case
scenario is there's some kind of, you know, linear progression
for the next couple of weeks. And he gets to
(04:55):
the point to where he can come in and play
full games. Maybe that's a possibility. Maybe it's not. I
think it's still very much a wait and see just
because you're cleared for to start baseball activities doesn't mean
you're jumping in and playing, you know, five innings of
a game and trying to work up. This is, I
would say this is probably very similar to where a
(05:16):
guy would be at, you know, after the holidays and
the off season, and you're first starting to really get
ramped up before you even show up to spring training.
So there's a lot that has to be done. Obviously
he's in a good place physically, if they're willing to
allow him to do that, but could he, could he
get to full go? Yeah. There's three weeks is, is
(05:37):
enough time to go out there and get your legs
underneath you and get some at bats and then get
into some games and, and, and get back here by
the end of the month. But at the same time,
if he doesn't get there, what can he do? Can
he be a pinch hit option? Could he be, you know,
able to go out there and play, uh, every other
day or so. I think it's still all on the
table and up in the air. And I think how
(05:59):
the first, you know, week to 10 days goes will
really determine what's feasible.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Again, he's Brian Bogusevic, Space City Home Network, former Astro.
You see him on pre and post on the TV
side whenever you watch the Astros games. And he joins
us every single week here on the Dan Matthews Show,
Sports Talk 790. You kind of touched on it a
little bit there, Bogie, but just kind of take us
through your own experience.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
I mean, it's one thing.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
to get swings off a tee or even to get
some live behind an L screen in a cage, do
all those different types of things.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
But for you personally, how long did it take for you.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
To be like, okay, I'm up to game speed seeing
live where you've got pitches darting in on you, darting away,
fastballs up and in, whatever it is, to be able
to kind of get those sight lines again?
Speaker 3 (06:43):
So I think the buildup to that is kind of
in– you use days to measure that, right? It's a
couple days of hitting live to then get into more
live at-bats facing a pitcher in a controlled setting, right?
Live batting practice, which is the first couple days of
(07:04):
spring training, typically. And then once you get into games,
you know, it's kind of You have to get your
body adjusted. So there's the natural buildup of maybe playing
three or four innings day off, get out there for
maybe five or six innings day off. So you need
at least a week just to build up to being
able to be out there for days. seven to nine
(07:25):
innings and be on your feet. But in terms of
getting your swing, right, that how many at bats do
you need? That can vary. That can be, you know,
20 to 30 at bats could do it. Or sometimes
you need more 40 or 50. Now the good thing
is that in the situation that Carlos is going into
down there, it doesn't have to just be, Hey, here's
a game at seven o'clock. Go get your three at
(07:47):
bats and see what happens. They can foresee that, right?
They can take them on to backfield. They can bring
a bunch of complex guys over and and get him
15 or 20 at bats in an afternoon, if that's
what he feels like he needs. So I don't think the,
once he gets to the point to where if he's,
if he's built up physically and, you know, feels like
he can go out there and be on his feet
(08:08):
for nine innings day in and day out, how long
does it take to get those at bats? Not very
long in terms of days, because he can get a
ton of at bats at a time.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
And then Hayden was Nesky going tonight and he's been
incredibly good for the Astros since coming back from Tommy
John surgery. From what you see, how is he so
good at getting so much swing and miss?
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Well, first of all, he's breaking balls nasty. It's sharp
and it's big. I mean, you're talking about. side to
side break of, you know, 19, 20 inches. And considering
that the plate is 17 inches wide, that's a pitch
that's starting off the plate on one side and ending
up off the plate on the other side. So he,
it's just a, it's a hard pitch just to put
(08:48):
the bat on to begin with. But it's also what
comes before that breaking ball. It's a fastball that he's
aggressive with in the zone to get ahead in the count.
It's pitches that have a lot of movement. And he
pitches to all parts of the zone. It's not like
he's just a sinker slider. I'm going down and in.
I'm going down and away. He's up in the zone.
(09:10):
He's running cutters in on guys' hands. He's throwing his
four-seamer at the top and his sinker down. kind of
running in on the hand. So it's just, he can
pitch to every part of the zone. He can get
you set up. He can get you uncomfortable to where
you feel like you have to cover everything all at once.
And when you have to cover everything all at once,
you don't really have a chance against that kind of
(09:31):
breaking ball.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
And then, I mean, of course, you know, they've been
able to split the first couple of games in this
series and you got a hell of a stretch coming
up against the Phillies and against the Tampa Bay Rays.
And of course we'll cover that a little bit more
next week when we match up. But I mean, it
is also one of those things they've played really well
against teams that have winning records this year. Why do
you think that is? Like, why do you think that
(09:52):
they are able to up their game in those matchups?
Speaker 3 (09:57):
I honestly don't think there is a specific reason. I
certainly don't think it's a you know, turning on some
level of focus that they don't have against the lesser
teams because, you know, one homestand ago, it was a
bunch of last place teams in a critical situation where
your focus would be there anyway. So I don't think
(10:18):
it's a matter of turning things on. It's just Again,
it's the nature of a team that's been around 500
all season is things vary and you get variance and
home versus away. And sometimes it's the offense. Sometimes it's
the pitching. And one of the other things that comes
along with it is just you get variance between what
(10:38):
you do against good teams, what you do against bad teams.
I don't know that you could put your finger on it. However,
I do hope that the trend continues. And I do
hope that a combination of you know, quality teams who
are also in playoff races, who are also playing meaningful baseball,
who are also going to be at a heightened level
of intensity. Plus the fact that that light at the
end of the tunnel is there where, you know, you're,
(10:59):
you're a little bit more willing to push yourself physically
and leave it all out there physically. I hope that
all equals a nice stretch of, you know, 20 games
solid of good baseball.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Brian Bogusevic again, space city home network. He joins us
every single week here on the Dan Matthews show.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
And did I hear correctly? Hour long pregame tonight.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Yeah, charity game. Bring your wallet out there today.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Okay, there we go.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Well, definitely hoping to be able to support a good
cause and looking forward to seeing you and Ash there
on the Space City Home Network pregame show leading you
up to the Astros and the White Sox tonight. And,
of course, you can hear that game right here on
Sports Talk 790. Bogey, you're the best, man. It's always
great to see you at the ballpark. Always great to
catch up with you right here. We'll do so again
next week.
He's former Astro Brian Bogusevic, and he joins us every
single week. Bogie, always great buddy. So, of course, there's
going to be plenty of Astros discussion here. But, of course,
with your ties to Tulane, maybe even wade into a
little bit of college football here at the end. So,
you know, hopefully you're up to date on that. And
if not, I'll try to shepherd you through it as
best as possible. But last night, I mean, that's one
(00:20):
of those that probably that fifth inning, once the White
Sox put up those three runs, you're kind of like, hmm,
this doesn't feel like it's going to be a.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Good one tonight.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Yeah. You could just tell it was going to be,
you know, a couple of runs was probably going to
do it either way. It was just weird how it
played out, you know, on, on, on one side, the
White Sox pitcher Burke was, was really good and he's
really tough. So it's kind of one of those games
where you throw your hands up like, yeah, we weren't
really going to get anything going offensively, but then on
(00:50):
the other side of it, you know, It was like
a bunch of self-inflicted damage on the pitching side. I
think four of the runs that scored originally reached on
the walk. So it's like, you know, we kind of
just ran into a buzzsaw on one side and then
beat ourselves on the other side. It was just one
of those games where it's just like nothing is kind
of going our way.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
And clearly, Brian, I mean, this is a time of
year where playing 162 of anything is incredibly tough, no
matter how many days you have it.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
But fatigue's a real thing.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
And when you see these inconsistent performances out of the lineup,
is that what you're seeing? Are you seeing that this
is just a season that is getting to a point
where you're trying to fight.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Through said fatigue? Well, yes. I mean, look, you get
to this point in the season and there's always going
to be fatigue issues. Everybody's nursing something. Everybody's run down.
But it's on both sides, right? The guys in the
other dugout are feeling the same way. So it kind
of levels off. But in terms of inconsistency, I mean,
(01:50):
it's been inconsistent. For the entire season for the Astros.
I mean, you don't, you know, you think of 500
as being, you know, win one, lose one, but it's
really the big swings of up and down that all,
when it's all said and done ends up around 500
and just kind of. what it's been and really the
key to it. Isn't trying to put your finger on
(02:10):
what is it that we need to do? It's really
just turning the page. It's more of a, it's more
of a mental thing. Certainly at this point, you kind
of are what you are. And the trick is having
a game like you had yesterday and being able to
show up today. Like it never happened.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
And as I mentioned before, bogey, I mean, you, you
got on the mound, you were a two, a two
way athlete on the field when you played baseball. So,
you know, the pitching side of things, So when you
see a stretch like this out of the pitchers where
two straight nights of a lot of walks, what do
you necessarily.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
See contributing to that?
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Do you think it's pitchers trying to be too fine
with pitches or how do you think that we're seeing
all these misses?
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Well, it varies. I think the two games, if you
look at the last two games, I see them as
kind of being two different things. Yesterday, or I'm sorry,
the first game, Lambert, number one, he wasn't as sharp
as he normally is. That's certain. But at the same time,
he was kind of in that I'm never going to
(03:12):
give in. If I have to walk a guy, I can, I'll,
I'll go after the next guy and hopefully get him Mo,
you know, just waiting for the offense to come through.
He never really got to a point to where we've
seen him throughout the course of the year. If you
do spot him some runs, he'll really get into the
zone and use more change of speed to beat guys
and trying to nibble on the edges. I just don't
(03:33):
know that he ever got to that point. And then
at the same time, just didn't have as good a
command as he typically does. I saw a different story
maybe yesterday with Ronell where just not really trusting this
stuff not really willing to go after hitters again the
score of the game will dictate your you know willingness
to really challenge somebody but yeah i think it's a
(03:56):
combination of guys trying to be fine and maybe not
being as sharp as they want to be but at
the same time a great way to encourage pitchers to
go out there just fill up the strike zone is
to give them a three or four run lead and
nobody's been working with that the last couple days Hey.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
Brian, we heard a report from McTaggart that Correa is
going to head down to Florida and start ramping up here.
I mean, we're sitting here on September 2nd, the Astros'
last game of the regular season is on the 27th
of September. What's your best guess, if everything goes well,
when he may or may not be back and ready
to play and when he rejoins the team, how often
(04:33):
do you expect.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Him to play? Well, it's hard to tell. And when
he was talking about it yesterday, it was very much a,
we're going to go down there and start the process
and kind of see what happens as it goes. I don't,
I don't think anybody really knows. Obviously the best case
scenario is there's some kind of, you know, linear progression
for the next couple of weeks. And he gets to
(04:55):
the point to where he can come in and play
full games. Maybe that's a possibility. Maybe it's not. I
think it's still very much a wait and see just
because you're cleared for to start baseball activities doesn't mean
you're jumping in and playing, you know, five innings of
a game and trying to work up. This is, I
would say this is probably very similar to where a
(05:16):
guy would be at, you know, after the holidays and
the off season, and you're first starting to really get
ramped up before you even show up to spring training.
So there's a lot that has to be done. Obviously
he's in a good place physically, if they're willing to
allow him to do that, but could he, could he
get to full go? Yeah. There's three weeks is, is
(05:37):
enough time to go out there and get your legs
underneath you and get some at bats and then get
into some games and, and, and get back here by
the end of the month. But at the same time,
if he doesn't get there, what can he do? Can
he be a pinch hit option? Could he be, you know,
able to go out there and play, uh, every other
day or so. I think it's still all on the
table and up in the air. And I think how
(05:59):
the first, you know, week to 10 days goes will
really determine what's feasible.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Again, he's Brian Bogusevic, Space City Home Network, former Astro.
You see him on pre and post on the TV
side whenever you watch the Astros games. And he joins
us every single week here on the Dan Matthews Show,
Sports Talk 790. You kind of touched on it a
little bit there, Bogie, but just kind of take us
through your own experience.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
I mean, it's one thing.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
to get swings off a tee or even to get
some live behind an L screen in a cage, do
all those different types of things.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
But for you personally, how long did it take for you.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
To be like, okay, I'm up to game speed seeing
live where you've got pitches darting in on you, darting away,
fastballs up and in, whatever it is, to be able
to kind of get those sight lines again?
Speaker 3 (06:43):
So I think the buildup to that is kind of
in– you use days to measure that, right? It's a
couple days of hitting live to then get into more
live at-bats facing a pitcher in a controlled setting, right?
Live batting practice, which is the first couple days of
(07:04):
spring training, typically. And then once you get into games,
you know, it's kind of You have to get your
body adjusted. So there's the natural buildup of maybe playing
three or four innings day off, get out there for
maybe five or six innings day off. So you need
at least a week just to build up to being
able to be out there for days. seven to nine
(07:25):
innings and be on your feet. But in terms of
getting your swing, right, that how many at bats do
you need? That can vary. That can be, you know,
20 to 30 at bats could do it. Or sometimes
you need more 40 or 50. Now the good thing
is that in the situation that Carlos is going into
down there, it doesn't have to just be, Hey, here's
a game at seven o'clock. Go get your three at
(07:47):
bats and see what happens. They can foresee that, right?
They can take them on to backfield. They can bring
a bunch of complex guys over and and get him
15 or 20 at bats in an afternoon, if that's
what he feels like he needs. So I don't think the,
once he gets to the point to where if he's,
if he's built up physically and, you know, feels like
he can go out there and be on his feet
(08:08):
for nine innings day in and day out, how long
does it take to get those at bats? Not very
long in terms of days, because he can get a
ton of at bats at a time.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
And then Hayden was Nesky going tonight and he's been
incredibly good for the Astros since coming back from Tommy
John surgery. From what you see, how is he so
good at getting so much swing and miss?
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Well, first of all, he's breaking balls nasty. It's sharp
and it's big. I mean, you're talking about. side to
side break of, you know, 19, 20 inches. And considering
that the plate is 17 inches wide, that's a pitch
that's starting off the plate on one side and ending
up off the plate on the other side. So he,
it's just a, it's a hard pitch just to put
(08:48):
the bat on to begin with. But it's also what
comes before that breaking ball. It's a fastball that he's
aggressive with in the zone to get ahead in the count.
It's pitches that have a lot of movement. And he
pitches to all parts of the zone. It's not like
he's just a sinker slider. I'm going down and in.
I'm going down and away. He's up in the zone.
(09:10):
He's running cutters in on guys' hands. He's throwing his
four-seamer at the top and his sinker down. kind of
running in on the hand. So it's just, he can
pitch to every part of the zone. He can get
you set up. He can get you uncomfortable to where
you feel like you have to cover everything all at once.
And when you have to cover everything all at once,
you don't really have a chance against that kind of
(09:31):
breaking ball.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
And then, I mean, of course, you know, they've been
able to split the first couple of games in this
series and you got a hell of a stretch coming
up against the Phillies and against the Tampa Bay Rays.
And of course we'll cover that a little bit more
next week when we match up. But I mean, it
is also one of those things they've played really well
against teams that have winning records this year. Why do
you think that is? Like, why do you think that
(09:52):
they are able to up their game in those matchups?
Speaker 3 (09:57):
I honestly don't think there is a specific reason. I
certainly don't think it's a you know, turning on some
level of focus that they don't have against the lesser
teams because, you know, one homestand ago, it was a
bunch of last place teams in a critical situation where
your focus would be there anyway. So I don't think
(10:18):
it's a matter of turning things on. It's just Again,
it's the nature of a team that's been around 500
all season is things vary and you get variance and
home versus away. And sometimes it's the offense. Sometimes it's
the pitching. And one of the other things that comes
along with it is just you get variance between what
(10:38):
you do against good teams, what you do against bad teams.
I don't know that you could put your finger on it. However,
I do hope that the trend continues. And I do
hope that a combination of you know, quality teams who
are also in playoff races, who are also playing meaningful baseball,
who are also going to be at a heightened level
of intensity. Plus the fact that that light at the
end of the tunnel is there where, you know, you're,
(10:59):
you're a little bit more willing to push yourself physically
and leave it all out there physically. I hope that
all equals a nice stretch of, you know, 20 games
solid of good baseball.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Brian Bogusevic again, space city home network. He joins us
every single week here on the Dan Matthews show.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
And did I hear correctly? Hour long pregame tonight.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Yeah, charity game. Bring your wallet out there today.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Okay, there we go.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Well, definitely hoping to be able to support a good
cause and looking forward to seeing you and Ash there
on the Space City Home Network pregame show leading you
up to the Astros and the White Sox tonight. And,
of course, you can hear that game right here on
Sports Talk 790. Bogey, you're the best, man. It's always
great to see you at the ballpark. Always great to
catch up with you right here. We'll do so again
next week.
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Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!