Altuve Homers Twice In Series Win Over Rangers, Texans Begin Organized Offseason Workouts

Episode Transcript
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(00:02):
Now what's next? Next up?It's the next man up, Next up,
the next step, take the nextstep, next up, stop next,
next up? Next wants to benext? This is Next Up with
Tad Norfleet ten Chris Gordy. Let'ssee what's next next next? Good morning

(00:25):
line from the Sports Talk seven ninetystudios. The name of the show is
Next Up. Appreciate you hanging outwith us for the next two hours,
staying Northfleet as I Chris Gordy alongshortly. He's our program director, one
half of our duo at least onthis side of the screen. From that's
Connedy mcgovernor on the other side.Chris Gordy'll be alongside shortly. Thanks to
the Shawn Salisbury Show, we wakeup with them each and every weekday morning

(00:47):
six to ten am. Appreciate theguys informing us, keeping us entertained.
Those dudes are stupid. My manTriple Lee in the production chair for that
crew. As you know, weare your home for Houston sports here on
Sports Talks Night, and we takea tremendous amount of pride in that,
and we thank you for affording usthe opportunity to do so. Busy weekend
City of Houston on a sports standpoint. Obviously many of you will over at

(01:10):
Minute May Park over the weekend.We'll spend a lot of time there.
This morning, also, the Rocketswere in action as their season has concluded
for twenty twenty four. They finishedwith a record of forty one and forty
one. It's been a while sincethe Houston Rockets haven't been on the other
side of forty wins and certainly endedthe season on five hundred. A certain
bearded young fella was around the lasttime that happened. I do presume we

(01:33):
will talk more about that. BenDubo's is going to join us in about
twenty eight minutes. He is ourRockets inside of his sports talk seven ninety
Texans saw some of the guys cominginto town over the weekend, had some
conversations out, having some dinner,and all season workouts for the Houston Texans

(01:53):
begin today. So many of thedudes are over there getting ready to get
after it the most. I wouldsay this is probably the most important off
season for this rendition of Astros,this era, Astros of Texans, this
era, because the questions, themajor questions. The Miko's a real coach.

(02:15):
You have CJ as a quarterback,now here comes some expectations. So
I would say this off season isabout training with a different purpose. They're
expectations. Now people using the wordsuper Bowl and the letters MVP are being
associated with c J. Strouts.So we'll talk some Texans as. I
didn't get a chance to really Gordonand I didn't really hit that point hard

(02:35):
last week because we were so inundatedwith this Astros conversation, which is where
we go now, Astros. Itwas likely on Friday I was on Astros
Twitter and many of you, Stan, you have a point stand this was
who was that was that? Myboy JP France out there again rocked around

(02:57):
a little bit on Friday, andit was bad. It was really bad.
But nonetheless, the Astros find away to win the series two of
the three games. They now froma silver boot standpoint four games to three
over the Rangers. Now that's thegood news. And then guys started looking
like themselves all over again, right, Christian Javier really appreciate him. I

(03:20):
saw Brian or Bray you get backto looking like himself. Jose L twofa
who will hear from here in justa little bit, So you got guys,
and they appear and that's really whereI come to start. The Astros
appear to have stabilize this thing.Two game win streak and the income the
Atlanta Braids over at miny May Parktonight for a three game set. So

(03:43):
what is the temperature now now,Astros? I say that six to eleven
on the year four and six athome. By the way, when's the
last time Astros had back to backwins at home since like September last year
or something crazy. So we gotthis man and made part thing at least
going in the right direction. Andso the climate around this team right now,

(04:04):
I ask you Houston seven three twoone two five seven ninety we all
were in panic mode on Friday night, and rightfully so has two games Saturday
and Sunday afternoon changed how you feelthe projections about this team are. I

(04:24):
still have questions about a real planat first base. I still personally have
questions about the starting pitching. Wewill get some health updates on those guys
as well. I heard was thata Spot or Dana Brown speak to the
updates on Verlander who was in Corpusover the weekend, as well as from

(04:46):
US so we'll get that news hereand just a little bit, I still
have concerned about pitching first base.Those will probably be the highest two of
my priority lists currently. I hadthat up here just a minute ago.
Astros currently last in the division atsix and eleven, so still behind the

(05:11):
Seattle Mariners, while the A's havepassed the Mariners. So Astro's currently two
and a half games back from theRangers. So that's still well. With
this striking distance, I'm not worriedabout the Astros getting in post. Well,
that's what's that's what's most important aboutthis. What's up is that you
you took two out of three andyou've you now hold the season series lead
over the over the Rangers, despitehow awful you've played. You hold this

(05:34):
the series, the season series overthem, and you won't see them again
until July. Yeah, July twelfth, Minime Park. That's the last series
before the All Star break. Youget them three games and Mini made and
then you only see them one moretime the rest of the year. It's
a three games said August fifth inArlington, and that's it. So and

(05:56):
let's just say, for argument's sake, maybe more healthy by then, maybe
your starting pictures are good. Nowthey may get some of their pictures back
too. I think Steve Sparks saidit on the broadcast yesterday, said,
yeah, almost can guarantee these twotwo teams are gonna look completely different by
the time next time they see eachother. But I just say that to
say, as bad as things havebeen for you to face the Rangers seven
times and the whole day four tothree advantage over them, it's huge because

(06:20):
again, like you said, tyBreaker came into play last year and it
very well could come into play againthis year, no question. I asked
you, Gord, before we goto the phones taking your calls on Astros
as we unpacked the weekend seven one, three, two two five seven ninety,
I would like to hear some josel two ve Uh. He just
makes me feel better, jose Isaid to you when we left last week,
goard it give me some emotion.Somebody, Kyle Tucker, you better

(06:44):
flip your damn back. You needto and hitting you on on I don't
like that. Who was a bueller? But what's his name? That hit
my man? You on hit himtwice over the weekend. I forget the
kids name. The man's name fromthe ranges. They hit you on on
letm me doing that, but leUk, you should flip your bad in
protest to hear you going on myyourn so before we go to the phones,
I will hear some TV, aswill GORDI. I still have concerns,

(07:10):
but because where we were, wherewe were, all that on Friday
night was oh my god, thebottom may be found. I heard people
talking about on social that it's overthe golden air, the windows closed.
I was like, if this werein August, yeah, but again it's
it's it looked bad. So dude, games take the taste the sal would

(07:32):
taste out your mouth from the previouscouple weeks, Yeah, a little bit.
And and not even just that,but hearing you know, justin Verlanders
throws over the weekend and Corpus andJoe spotted talking to him yesterday. I
said that he's gonna they're gonna meettoday and they're gonna figure out what the
next course of action is and thatwill either be you know, this could
set up for him to start Fridaynight in DC against the Nationals, which

(07:56):
I think it's good because the nationalstinks, so that's probably a good opponent
to get get Verlander's feet wet,or they could decide to maybe you know,
hold them a couple more days,throw a bullpen at at throw a
bullpen or live VP at minimum,something like that, and then start.
So it's still cut up in theair, but the expectations sometime in the
next seven days we're gonna get Verlanderback into the rotation. And then yesterday

(08:18):
when a minie may before the game, they say, hey, we're gonna
make They're gonna make Farmber available,and Fromber comes over with the interpreter and
he did some running around yesterday andto hear Frober tell it, man,
he goes, yeah, I'm gonnaI'm gonna play catch on Tuesday, and
if all goes well, I don'tneed to rehab start. I don't need
any of that. I'm gonna jumpright back into my normal routine of preparing

(08:39):
for a start. Well. Buthere's the thing, the elbow is.
It was nothing to do with thestructure of heres. It was. It
was more just you know, sorenessup up top. And he's like,
I feel great. So he stillhasn't pitched it, Like you know what
I mean, I need him.I'd like to go see him get at
least one game sugar Land. Butyeah, I just think it's I think

(09:03):
this was more a precautionary thing thananything. I don't think this was him
in pain. I don't think thiswas oh my god, it might be
Tommy John. I think this wasmore like he probably could have kept going
through it, but the trainers werebeing overly precautious because of all the other
injuries they had. They said,look, shut him down for two weeks
and let's you know, let's seehow it goes. But anyway, it's
a great It was just a greatthing to hear on both those fronts,

(09:26):
with both those guys. But youknow, it's it's interesting the way Friday
Night's game plays out. JP Franzjust had some bad luck in at third
A. I mean, ben fallswere fine in holes and crush. Well
he said it. Afterward, hegoes, that was how did he say
it? He was? He basicallysaid, like everything that could go wrong

(09:46):
went wrong, Like they just theyguessed right a pitch. Like in other
words, you can be a pitcherand throw good pitches the other teams just
hitting them. Other days you havegood pitches in your throwing them and they're
with it and they're missing. Soin other words, there was nothing off
with him. He was doing whathe was supposed to be doing. They
just happened to hit it. It'sjust it's baseball. It's it's how things

(10:07):
happen sometimes. But I trust JPis going to bounce back from that.
It was again it was one badinning. There you go trust. But
but yeah, because because what didhe show the first two games? What
did he show? You know,last season? He was a pleasant surprise
last year. I'm not going tothrow any shade on JBJ. But the
good thing, the bigger storyline forme out of the weekend is that Renel

(10:31):
Blanco continues his excellence. He's earned. I'm not taking Ronel Blanco. I
had the rotation. I don't givea damn who He's been outstanding, but
Carl looked like twenty twenty one,and I'm not taking rone Blanca. And
wa, Christian Xavier is dude,whatever that weight thing was last year,
he is back to old like thisis. And this is what's funny is,
you know, talking about some ofthe hitters that have been struggling,
it's like the water always, youknow, comes back to where it's supposed

(10:54):
to be. This is what ChristianXavier is and he was outstanding. It
was good to stay. When Isaw him in the lineup for the weekend,
I was like, all right,France will probably struggle, and he
did. I said, Javier,we'll stabilize things. And then we just
got to Geka. Yeah, wegot o En Blanco will likely do the
same. So I was like,all right, here we go. Let's
hear from you guys before we stepaside and take a break. Steven all

(11:16):
the way on the West coast,man Steven in California. Uh, let's
see if I can get him punchedup here. How about you help me
out here? Connor, Thank you, Steven floriahaw sir, Good morning,
Hey Stan, how you doing buddy? This is half of the Californy couple
that met you at that cool wink? Is it your min ass? And
yes, right you nailed it.Memory, Yeah, good listen listen obviously

(11:41):
you know we came all the wayfrom California. My wife and I broke
the day super excited about the seasonand what a gut punch to lose forward
to my hated Yankees. Uh,I gotta admit, man, panic uh
set in very very quickly. Forme, I was one of those crazy
people just you know it's over that, you know the season's ending. But

(12:01):
before we get to all that,I got to say, I'm with you
guys on Blanco. We cannot takethat guy out of the rotation. I
don't care who comes back. Idon't care what their name is, I
don't care about their reputation. Thisguy is throwing five looks amazing. They
have eyeballs. They're not they're nottaking them out. Okay, good,
I was I was hoping that Iwould hear that from you two guys.

(12:22):
And anyhow, man, I youknow, the my finger's kind of coming
off the pantic button a little bit. But obviously this is a team that
has a lot of issues. Imean I saw a narrative the other or
a little photo the other day ofall the people that we have out in
pitching, and it was incredible.It's the full rotation out. Uh and
so but anyway, man, greatto hear you stand your voice. We
always love hearing you here in theWest Coast. No one's talking about the

(12:43):
Astros out of here. I guessthat's the one good thing man appreciate it.
Thank you for rocking. What totell your wife? I said,
hello as well. I do thankman. Appreciate the y men As family
for pulling up on us. Well, we had Big City Wings for opening
Day that Thursday versus the Yankees.How about we Paul's go Ahdad, let's
come back. I want to hearsome highlights from Jose l two Bay.
Let's brag on some other guys.There was some good performances over the weekend,

(13:05):
dudes that we had. Reference shit, this is your homer. Astros
Baseball legendar KB and me to thenext to the dirt road. This is
next up. You kind of hiton everything I wanted to say. With
stan Or Fleet and Chris Gordy onSports Talk seven ninety tawn me to send
you Baldi hands over the head ofthe wind up the two at al Twove

(13:26):
hammers at pep down the left fieldline, Paula sucking and it stays fair
Ritch God, and it hits offthe foul pole. A lead off home
run for Jose al Tuo by whatnothing, Astros. That's four jacks on
the season. Now for al Twoveon an O two pitch from Nathan Valdi.
He just fun on it. Seeyou later. That is Robert fad

(13:48):
Is the sparks of the Astros Radionetwork. Here Homer Astros Baseball seven ninety.
You can catch covers of the Astros. We have blogs as such,
I know we have the off ofpodcast. Is that the Krappobot pot is
up there at Sports seven ninety dotcom. Chris Gordion along for the ride.
He's also on that podcast, heand Ross vir Rea. If you
miss any of the shows on ourlineup, make sure you go to the

(14:09):
free iHeartRadio app. You can mostcertainly stay locked in on Astros from Astros
on Deck coming your way at sixo'clock this evening into the broadcast shortly after
seven. You wanted to say somethingbefore we got going, No, I
was just gonna add to the lastcaller who's worried about who's coming out of

(14:30):
the road. I mean, HotterBrown is is this is a big important
start for him coming up tomorrow night, because I was just that was that
was straight up allful last week.I mean it was the worst outing of
a starting pitcher in the history ofMajor League Baseball. So, and that's
not hyperble, no, it literallynumbers backet so that hits. What I
love about the sport two stand islike this is the ultimate because you play

(14:54):
every day. It's the ultimate flushat sport. Like the NFL, you
could have a bad luck one atthe time, since last year they lost
that game of Carolina and then hadthe bye week. It was a bye
then they was okay, but it'sit's the NFL. Lost can stick with
you for two weeks and you gotto deal with that. Festers with baseball,
you flush it. And it wasso funny watching seeing Hunter Brown in
the clubhouse before the game yesterday.He's laughing, he'said, I mean he's,

(15:18):
you know, like, dude,just had the worst start ever,
and he's but you flush it,man, It's on to the next one.
And if he goes out there tomorrow pitch as well, it's not
all forgotten. But it's like,all right, you back in mode of
let's let's get back right. ButBlanco, you can stay with me Brown,
Like that's not even question. I'msaying Blanco can stay, no doubt.
If we're talking order of who's goingto be pulled out first, you

(15:39):
gotta go then JP, Well,I take that back. Let me see
what this irrogatedy thing looks like tonight? Oh well yeah, but I'm totally
cool sending irrigated back down. Butthe thing is, you've already like you've
put him on the forty man,so some mighty's got to go down when
you get these guys back, right, But he's on the he's on the
active roster, so you could sendhim down, but he's taking a roster

(16:00):
now, so it's we'll see,we'll see on him. But yeah,
just in order of Hunter Brown,I think I would really teeter on,
like if he pitches terrible tomorrow,man, what's going on injury? Is
there something going on there? No? No, why are we skipping over
Raghetty? Well no, no,I'm just saying because that's the night,
and who's he going up against?Because it's one of the things where he's

(16:22):
he's up and you want to youwant to get him. You want to
get him going here, get him, get him a taste, get him,
you know, let's see what hecould do against, you know,
in a couple of starts here,God bless his heart, his first two
career starts going up against that Rangerslineup, and now he's going up against
this Braves lineup. Yeah, Imean, look, I mean it's like
it's like crowd complain. I gotto open on the road of Baltimore,

(16:45):
Like, oh sorry, man,we'll wait till the easier game comes off.
Like no, it's this is toughright here, all right, So
let's brag on some people over theweekend. Uh we came in the jose
L two a leadoff home run.The little big man would do it again?
What was that the next that beat? I think he knocked another one
in. Let me hit a secondJosel two a home run? Plea?

(17:07):
Excuse me? Here's a three yoto Jose Edie cranks this one left field?
Is it too? Say? Signoranother jack for all? Two by
his fifth of the season, crowdfavorite jose Al two by two nothing Astros
ninety seven mile an hour fastball wasmore or less down the middle. Twove

(17:33):
knows what to do with those joseL two ve eleventh multi home run game.
Seven career home runs off Yuvaldi,most against any pitcher in his career.
Yeah, it's surprising, it's kindof funny. He's he said,
of all the most of any pitcher. Blake Snell is next, he said,
four off of him, and thenthere's a big tie with three off

(17:53):
Nison Bumgardner, Chris Sale, IanKennedy Matchmaker. Surprisingly on this list,
you don't see Eralda's Chapman, butyou could argue the two that al Tuove's
hit off Verld's chaplain people, butthe two of the big biggest ones in
Astros postseason history. So it's it'sjust kind of funny there, but yeah,

(18:14):
it's he just owns the buck.And Sean Salisbury had Steve Sparks on
earlier. He was asking Steve,like, at what point when you're EVOLVEDI
do you not like, let menot give him any meatballs to hit?
And Steve's argument was yeah, butin his peripheral vision he sees who's over
on deck and it's that you're onon Alvarez guy, and you got a
Pitstel two A because you don't wantto walk him to put on incomes Jordan

(18:36):
on the Mash. Al twove thirtysixth career leadoff home run ranks third in
franchise history. I have not lookedit up, but I'd like to know
who has more leadoff home runs thanal two by Also, currently I'm starting
to hear this conversation. Of courseit's way early. I say this way
or the early, but when youactually look at what's going on, they're

(19:00):
about a tenth of the way throughthe season. Now, I don't think
it's you truly have enough sample sizeto say what this team is this season,
right, But thus far, joseL Twov I believe has reached safely
every game this season, and he'scurrently second in the majors batting three eighty
two. What he's just three eightysix is what justin turn is. It's

(19:25):
it's corazy alto just hits baseball.So it's so it's so crazy excellent.
He's just he's one of the best, one of the best hitters of all
time. And every time you think, all right, is this where he
starts to slow, he'll go ona tear or he does forty years old,
still batting three hundred. Now thepop may be gone, the body
may break down, but like he'llbe forty and still be able to hit

(19:48):
three hundred a season. It's it'sit's incredible. I did hear this come
up on the John Salisbury Show thismorning. I thought it was an interesting
nugget. There was a lot ofconversation after we got off the air.
If you saw the Alan iverson thestatus, that's a joke. No,
it's a real statue, I know, but it's a joke what they did.
But I don't know if everybody sawit's I'm trying to get to Al
two bay statue. All they havelike a kind of like a garden of

(20:11):
fame. It's like even Doctor Jay'sstatue is small like that. So that's
just a seventy six ers tradition.I didn't get that part until after everybody
was already making fun of him.My point being is at what point do
we start asking by the statue foral twove, Like while he's still playing
for the team. Yeah, it'sa little awkward while he's still but when

(20:33):
once he calls it quits. Imean, it's interesting out there on on
what is that sexist or Crawford It'sCrawford Street. They have these statues of
I think it's is it kerg Bisiothrowing the Jeff Backwall bronze statues out there?
But I almost think with L twoV, I mean go life size.
I almost think you want to golarger than life size, like put

(20:55):
put it on a like I thinkof outside Staples Center or whatever the hell
is called Oracle or whatever it is. Now they have the big ones of
shock and and all those guys likeI almost think you need something like that
grandiose larger than life. Well youcan't make the statue bigger than Vigio and
bag. So whatever that size isyou're going to. That's the guys that

(21:15):
they wanting to do it. Allright, let's do this. We're gonna
pause on the Astros conversation for now. We'll get this back going in the
eleven o'clock hour. Also in actionover the weekend, Gordon some positive things
as it impacts the Houston Rockets.Ben Dubo's Our Rockets Analyst drops by on
the other side of the break andwe do a season recap. How's Udoka,

(21:37):
how the guys feeling as they beatthe Los Angeles Clippers B team,
And we also got a brag ona lovable giant as well. This is
Next Up. We're thirty minutes inSports Talk seven ninety one. Next to
as more of Next Up continues nowon Sports Talk seven ninety home of your

(22:03):
World champion Houston Astros. After threeseasons of terrible futility and regroup. Two
seconds one second, the clock isgonna go off of the Rockets and the
final game of this twenty to twentythree to twenty four season here in downtown
Los Angeles, gather and secure anotherRockets win. Final score Houston one sixteen

(22:32):
and the LA Clippers one oh five. Welcome back into Sports Talk seven nine
do we are your home of Rocketsbasketball as radio voice of the Rockets,
also one half of the Matt ThomasShow, the afore mentioned Matt Thomas,
he and ros VIRYI coming your wayat noon. Once we conclude here,

(22:52):
Matt Thomas was at Crypto dot ComArena where the Rockets wrapped up the final
game of this twenty three twenty fourseason. You heard the score of one
sixteen one oh five. That wasactually during the Astros game yesterday, So
I was at the house flipping backand forth. Rockets finished the season forty
one and forty one. And formore on the twenty twenty three twenty twenty
four season, we go to thephone lines. Now the guest line our

(23:17):
Rockets inside of friend of the station, Friend of the show, Ben Dubo's
being good morning to you, sir, good morning to you. Sim hey
man, feeling pretty good. Ilook at this season and I get it.
The last couple games and I wasall pissed off because the Rockets,
excuse me, had no business losingto that who was at the Utah Jazz's
B team the other night. Thatwas on Thursday. That pissed me off.

(23:37):
But they come back on Friday andwin at Portland. They didn't bass
Udoka on his home turf, andthen they win yesterday even though Chris Gordy
it is a disappointment that they didn'tmake the postseason. At forty one and
forty one, I walk away fromthis year being pleased. What is your
overall valuation on the Rockets this season? It made docus first, Yeah,

(23:59):
I don't see. You can't bepleased the over under total going into the
year or thirty one and a halfand then nearly cleared that by ten.
If you're exceeding your over under byten, you've had a phenomenally successful season,
even if you didn't make your statedgoal of the play in tournament,
which we knew was a long shot. Just because of how historically loaded the
Western Conference is this year, itshould not take forty five plus wins to

(24:21):
get into the top ten of theconference. But that's just the way the
NBA landscape was this year. Hopefullythat changes in the next couple of years.
It's some of these older teams startto age out a little bit.
But I just think the way theyfinish this season, there's not a lot
you can take from any of thosefinal three games because veterans were sitting out
all over the plays. You hadguys who were trying not to get hurt.

(24:41):
So it's not like a normal gameover the NBA calendar where you can
learn something from how it plays out. But to finish with three wins in
their last four games, we saidit on last week's show, it's really
important for them to sort of provethat that thirteen and two March down,
eleven game inning streak was much morereflective of who they are than the five

(25:03):
game losing streak that followed it.And so I think being able to win
three of their last four games,even if there's not a lot you can
take from how those games played out, a lot of young guys very destroyed
at the saytown getting back to winningand being able to sort of look at
it more along the lines of reallythe final quarter of the season. Since
the All Star break, they've beena consistently good basketball team. It leaves

(25:26):
you feeling that, at least youfeeling like that thirteen and two March is
much more reflective of who they arethan that brief down turn the first week
of April. Well, von TelmaFertita and I see Adam Silver I petition,
Hey man, we're kind of inthe East, Like maybe we make
sense more geographically in the Eastern Conference. Maybe that might be a little bit
easier because they'd be a playoff teamif they were in the East. But

(25:47):
it is interesting, Ben, it'shard not to you know, the playoffs
haven't even started yet, but it'shard not to switch into off season mode
for the Rockets. And I evenheard, you know, Imadoka addressed pregame
yesterday kind of said, oh yeah, we're we're already thinking about theason,
Like, what, in your mindis the biggest thing this team needs.
We know they're going to have ahigh draft pick from Brooklyn, but with
Dylan Brooks, with Fred van Vliet, with this core of young players that

(26:10):
take another step forward, you'll getshen Goon back. What does this team
need what's the in your mind,like, is it a position, is
it a player, what's the biggestpiece this team needs to add? This
off to you, I think it'smore quality over quantity. Sure, they'll
look for guys to fill out theroster the way they did last off season
with Aaron Holliday, Jeff Green,veteran types. Maybe you look at bringing

(26:33):
back Bobon as an influence after howwell he played in the fourth quarter yesterday.
But I just think that when youlook at the way the rotation is
currently constructed, and you're going tohave Tarry Easton back, and in a
way you already major offseason slash acquisitionby trading for Steven Adams at the trade
deadline, I think the Wave fansshould probably look at that if, like
you, did your shopping a littlebit early, because they knew he was

(26:53):
going to be an acquisition not forthis season but for next season. So
in terms of the obvious hole formost this year, which was meeting another
center, well you've already done thatby bringing in Steven Adams. So when
you look at the veterans they havein place, and you have the ability
to bring back Jock Landale and JeffGreen on Sheep one year deals, which
I think they'll definitely highly consider.It's not so much that they need depth

(27:17):
guys, because you've already got thiscore six of young guys that you're going
to want to play a men Thompsonand camp Wit more and more minutes.
You're going to want to certainly getTarry Eastan when he's healthy twenty five to
thirty minutes per game. So youwant to make sure that you're not bringing
in sort of mid to your veteransthat are just going to play more than
your young guys yet not really provideyou a lot of upside. To me,

(27:38):
the big question for the Rockets isif a guy comes along that can
actually elevate them to that next level, i e. A true all star
level talent, which we hear everytime there's a transduction when they with the
NBA for Fellstone in the Rockets throughtheir due diligence. And I don't care
how good you feel about this youngcore, you'd be a fool not to
listen because there are no guarantees.We like these guys, but no one

(28:00):
has proven that they're an all starlet alone in all NBA player yet,
so I think the Rockets will dotheir due diligence. We'll see how the
playoffs play out in terms of whetherany true top shelf guy has come available.
But if it's not someone that's reallyat that tier, I don't really
think they'll do a lot. Imean, sure, you need to fill
out the end of your rotation.You need some veterans. They were important
to their development this year and soon and so forth. But I think

(28:22):
in terms of the rotation, you'realready pretty set with the young guys.
And then in terms of addressing thebig need, which for most of the
center was another big body inside adefensive contrast all for instant goons, Well,
keep in mind you already pretty muchdid that at the deadline with Steven
Adams. Just considered that rafel Stonedoing his off season shopping early. That's
the way I'm sort of contextualizing this. That's the voice of Ben Dubo's Our
Rockets Analysts here a Sports Talk sevenninety. You can also see his work

(28:47):
USA Today's The Rocket Why. Youalso hear him on our log and Line
podcast. I remember and I waslistening to some postgame commentary from Fred and
Dylan Brooks, who neither played yesterday. They win street codes and I can
understand that we know what Dylan's dealingwith an adductor and Fred's got a hip.

(29:08):
I think that's just Coword saying vits, we get it, we appreciate
you, just start you off season. Speaking of I remember when those contracts
were announced for both of those guysand going in and I spend a couple
of days and we were all like, sheesh, they the Rockets paid a
pretty penny for both. How wouldyou classify how worthy and deserving at the

(29:32):
conclusion of this first season for bothof those guys being in Rockets uniforms,
Fred was a home run fighting Let'sjust be clear, great, no question.
I think to get hit combination ofleadership, point guard documen, shooting
ability, play both on and offthe ball, which allows you the flexibility
in future years to give Amn Thompsonmore on ball reps if he deserves it,

(29:55):
perhaps Jalen Green as well. Ithink Ruffllstone absolutely nailed that. And
what gets lost when people look atthat contract if there's a team option for
year three, so basically it wasjust a two year deal. He goes
into next season as something of anexpiring contract. Now, I don't think
the Rockets are wanting to lose himby any stretch. He's just thirty years
old. But the point is,you know you have options. You can

(30:17):
bring him back on a one yeardeal for the following season, or perhaps
you can negotiate an extension off ofthat, say hey, we'll lower your
average annual value, but we'll giveyou a couple more guaranteed years, and
so you can get a more friendlydeal the next time. In terms of
average anual value, there's a lotof directions they can go, but Fred
has given them everything they needed.They had to spend that money on somebody,

(30:37):
and the way he helps them bothon and off the court. If
you listen to those young guys,every one of them points to spread.
Now Dylan, I would say it'sa little more mixed, But I think
where a lot of analysis goes wrongwith Dylan's contract, fans just are not
used to the new economics of theNBA. The Suns gave an extension this
morning to Grayson Allen for year seventybillions, and a lot of people were

(30:57):
reacting stun But that's the new economicsof the NBA the mid level exception,
which is like an average salary stance. The mid level exception is going to
be about fourteen to fifteen million dollarsthis offseason, So fans are just not
used to, like they see DylanBrooks getting paid, you know, eighty
million dollars over four years, abouttwenty million a year, and people sort

(31:18):
of roll their eyes and laugh.But that's really just a slightly above average
salary. And he's just twenty sevenyears old, so it's not like he's
particularly prone to aging out anytime soon. So I would just say that,
well, Dylan isn't as good asFred when you look at the economics of
the NBA. I don't think it'sa bad contract either. And I just
think that above all else, whatthey brought in Dylan to do was to

(31:41):
set a tone. He's a cultureguy. He's someone that it's not just
how he plays on the court,it's the grind, it's the competitive edge
that he brings to the table everysingle day on the practice court, in
the workout room. That was somethingthat they wanted around those young guys.
And so I think when you considerthat aspect of it, you should feel
pretty good about what he's fot realquick, Ben, Yes or no?

(32:02):
Will it Rockets trade one of theseyoung players this offseason? I'll say no.
You can make the case for it, but I'll say no. I
feel that as well. All Right, we'll get you Ben well, Thank
you so much. We'll get youout of here now. Bro, thanks
for dropping by, for hanging outwith us for a segment. I want
to continue a thought on the otherside. You just gave me something being

(32:22):
and I do appreciate you all year, not just for the day. Ben
Dubos everybody he's editor of USA todayis the Rocket Wire. He's our analysts
here for the Rockets and Sports Talkseven ninety. You can catch his work
on the logger line and occasionally lockedon Rockets following him, won't you If
you aren't already at Ben Dubos dU b O sc friend, well done.

(32:43):
We'll talk to you around draft timeif not before. Sound good.
Thanks for having me, man,take care. Let's step aside. I
have a couple of Rockets Nuggets andGordon let's play along. You guys can
chime in as well as we're You'rehome for Rockets Basketball seven one, three,
two, two, five, sevenninety Underrated, Overrated, Surprising Rocket
of this season, and a coupleof audio clips I want to hear as

(33:06):
well. As we wrap up thetwenty three to twenty four Rocket season.
Kicking off the eleven o'clock out,we go over the nrg is. The
fellas are back around as well.Sports Talk seven ninety, Next up That
Least and back up now Down DoorFleet and Chris Gordy on Next Up on
Sports Talk seven ninety, guys lookedlike they didn't want to play and consciously

(33:35):
subconsciously another read the race looks likeguys didn't want to play and pack it
in, so you only got oneguy. Really show up Fred early.
It's going to be especially at thestart to not repeat history and do what
we did against Memphis when they sateverybody before, also breaking do we did
against Brooklyn and what they've done forlast year. So habits are hard to

(33:58):
break and mental these are hard tochange. And that's why we are where
we are record wise, and youknow, not achieving our goals. But
you know you'd be better off sayingyou don't want to play and get people
out there who really want to play. Welcome back in the next up as
we wrap up our one here ona Monday. What is this the fifteenth

(34:19):
of April? Already tax day?Make sure you handle your business, get
things done. That was head coachEmai Ludoka. I get kind of grumpy
on tax Day because it just dependson them. I'm typically paying out.
I don't like cutting that check.I don't care if you're red, blue
or whatever. This day says thatgovernment my check. Unbelievable, Uncle Sam.
And then we're gonna hear it aweek. Oh, this country is

(34:42):
asking for more handouts. Go away, other countries, stop taking my money.
Gordy being political right now, yourlobbyists, right now, something's going
on with Gordon. I'm worried aboutUS America. You're grumpy? Is Emi
Udoka worried about our professional basketball team? Now? Those to be fair,
those were his common late last weekafter the Utah Jazz defeat where the Jazz

(35:04):
B team beat the Rockets one twentyfour one. Since Udoka made those comments,
they go to Portland and to Clippersand they win and go on the
two game win street to wrap upthe season. So I know how you
feel about once you're eliminated from postseason. It doesn't really matter. I like
the fact that they're able to finishat least five hundred, which actually end

(35:27):
up being third best in the Southwesternstandings. Dallas is gonna make the postseason,
the Waller is gonna make the postseason. Houston, Memphis and San Antonio
eliminated. So I thought, whatthe context of what Udoka's saying there,
Habits are hard to break, especiallybad ones, right like, it's going
to take time. I got reallyexcited when this team was on trajectory to

(35:52):
make the play in tournament, Gordy, but you could clearly see at times,
and I know they had that stretchin March where they were fantastic,
but when a hit you could seewhere they started to revert back a little
bit and they got to thought.I think they got a little bit fatigued,
They got worn down a little bit. The injuries I think started to
show themselves. But all the injuriesis what hurt them. What the backstretch

(36:15):
of December into January and then thatfirst week of February they lost five of
six, and you know that's it. That's where all the losses start to
pile up and and really turned theminto you know, you get in the
March, you win how many Didywin in a row? Ten and like
that was awesome. But again,like imagine had you not had that stretch

(36:37):
where you know, you had Dylanwas out for a bit, Fred was
out for a bit. I mean, yeah, you had injuries, and
you know it's like if you justcould overcome that, you'd be right there
in this I mean forty one toforty one, five more wins would have
got you in the plant. Imean, just five more wins. I
heard Jalen Green say his personal goalfor this season was forty four. I

(37:00):
believe he said forty four, Sothey came just shy and again when you
unfortunately forty four still wouldn't have gottenin. But you know, it's it's
just interesting because and think of what'shappened. I mean, we had Kevin
Durant come over to the Phoenix Suns, we had James Harden leave the East
and the Sixers come over to theClippers. So it's like we got this

(37:20):
dam Lebron's still in the West withAnthony Davis and the Lakers, like we
still have this hodgepodge of like it'sstill too many damn superstars in this side
of the conference. Get your assback to the East, like when Lebron
went back to Cleveland, Like,yes, all of y'all go to the
East. Get out of the damnWest. It's crowded here. To your
point, and this is from myyoung homie brad Oh of the brad O

(37:40):
on Wheels Show, this year's WesternConference is the first conference in NBA history
to have eleven teams without a losingrecord. That's insane. It's also the
first conference in NBA history to haveten teams ten games over five hundred.
His point, this is the mostcompetitive conference of all time. And it

(38:02):
just happens to be first year ofthe Rockets. He made Doka, so
it starts to like overshadow just howmuch good has done. And what sucks
too is I mean, you're you'rehard in years. Just happened to coincide
with the Warriors dynasty. It's likethe Rocket had had the Steph Curry Warriors
dynasty not existing. That ever,the Rockets would have had probably, I

(38:23):
mean they would have at least playedfor a championship. They would have lost
if not one, Come on,they were better than that. They lost.
I want to also, Oh,congratulations, I'm in Thompson. His
first triple double, his rust careertriple double, came yesterday. The Clippers
had their B team on the flooras well. I thought Fred Van Vliet

(38:43):
summed up this season, and Iwant to also hear from Dealing Brooks if
I could. Fred Van Vliet hadthis to say. He didn't play yesterday,
but I thought this was interesting.Let's hear from Fred. We fell
short of our goal. I wantto make that clear. You know,
we we definitely had playoffs on oursites and we fell short of that.
But we made tremendous progress, especiallyif you're going to go back to kind

(39:04):
of where things were the past fewyears, to be able to come and
turn this thing around or get itgoing more in the right direction. It
has been a great accomplishment so far, but not where we want to be.
He's from Rockets point Guard Fred VanVliet, and I think that is
the right summation of Hey, thisis foundational peak first step, right,

(39:25):
we're trying to write this ship.This thing was epically failing, and Free
van Vliet and Dylan Brooks and moreso Email Doka implemented the culture and they
got it turned around. Gordon soagain, I just take a lot of
solace. I'm looking at the seeover line and I go forty one and
forty one for that team. Yeah, I'll take that. I think one
of the most fascinating topics of thisoffseason, though, is going to be

(39:47):
obviously with what they do in freeagency. We'll see what happens in the
draft. Again, you'll have atop ten draft pick. It's number nine,
I saw it. What's going tobe the most fascinating is what do
they do with this roster. Ithink it's gonna look relatively the same,
but I think I just say it. Steven Adams is there, big name.
I know that, But if there'san opportunity, and what I'm particularly

(40:08):
looking at stand is this early roundof playoffs. These teams that are getting
get ousted early, whether it's theSacramo Kings, the Warriors, the Pelicans,
one of these teams gonna is gonnahave somebody available. Would you be
well on the flip two young guysin a draft pick and prove That's what
I'm saying. Shopping, Who doyou want? Who do you want to

(40:29):
add to this mix? Let methink about it. Rockets went shopping last
offseason we just heard from Fred Friegoacquisition coming into this season. Dylan Brooks.
He also did not play yesterday,but I thought he had some also
intriguing things to add to this Rocketsconversation. Dylan Brooks. You know Cam's
got it already, that aggressive,that killer instinct. He brings it every

(40:49):
night. It took a little bitto get uh, you know, I
mean, you know, he's soquiet, but you know, midway through
the season, you know, hegot you know, more confident place playing
his game. I feel at thebeginning of the year he was just you
know, trying to find his feet. But I'm proud of those guys and
you know, take this you knowmomentum into the you know, into the
summer to get better. I appreciateThat's Dylan Brooks. I got that courtesy

(41:14):
of Clutch Fans on social media.That was Dylan Brooks responding to the competitive
edge in rookies camp with more andI'm in Thompson and it's no question in
one season there's a scrum, there'spushing and shoving. These dudes mix it
up. It seems like every gameor every other game, they have sent
a message to the rest of theleague in one in one season, Gordon,

(41:36):
We're not gonna just let you pushus around with not chumps. We're
going to fight scratching claw like hell. And I really do love that the
additions of Fred and Dylan, andI'm going to add a guy that is
underrated. I thought Jeff Green wasfantastic coming off the bench all season.
This team would not have gotten fortyone wins without Jeff Green. And how
they did have his moments during theseason as what during the season's what I

(41:58):
think even just bow Bond, hispersonality, you know, in the in
the in the locker room and stuff, keeps everybody loose, just being that
guy. You know, nobody getstoo tight, you know. And how
about Boban. Last night, they'rerunning a promotion at crypto dot com that
if the opposing team misses two consecutivefree throws, it's free Chick fil A
for people in attendance. Boban,here's the crowd. He knows what's going

(42:21):
on, and he intentionally misses.At least I think he intentionally misses the
second free throw so that everybody getsChick fil A. He's playing to the
crowd. The Rockets were up sevenor eight points at that point, so
it's not like they were jeparty oflosing the game. I thought that was
cool. Boban was actually pretty good. Yeah, but do you have thirteen
points? I think yesterday. He'svery like when he gets time. The

(42:42):
problem is it gets time in garbageminutes. But when he gets time,
he can score like he's huge.How can they not be productive out that?
I think it's just him playing inlike competitive minutes in the game.
Running up and down gets hard onhim. I will say this, I
think I'm pleased with what Jalen Greendid this year. He was playing and
played in every game. Overall,there was some really good, there was

(43:04):
some really bad. Overall, Iwould say, Jalen Green, you've earned
the opportunity to come back and playfor the Rockets next year. Oh yeah,
I mean on your contract you're stillon now. Am I getting attract
No, I'm not giving a rookie. The problem is play like the number
two pick. Underrated for me,or it's just say overrated for me.
I was not impressed with Jabbar Smithjunior this year. He looked from what

(43:25):
he was in Summer League. Ithought he would be much better. We
got some work to do with jabar. Whether you're watching some playing tournament this
weekend, or you're watching the Astrosin action tonight over at min and May
Park Braiser in town. When youneed a refreshing beverage of an adult variety
go to you have some suggestions.Well, I mean, it's got to
be the Crossord Bock from Carbock Bruing. I was over at the ballpark over

(43:46):
the weekend, saw a lot ofyou guys drinking him, and I saw
a lot more on Saturday and Sunday, and that's when the Astros one big.
So I'm not saying that it's becauseof it, but you know,
sometimes coincidences aren't just coincidences. Buthopefully if you're heading out to the ballpark
tonight and this week you are enjoyingan ice cool Crawford back from Carbock Brewing,
you know what when you see atthe tequila sunrise stripes on the can

(44:07):
and uh, it just goes perfectlywith Astros baseball. Whether it's dollar Dog
Night, whether it's uh peanuts,cracker Jack, whatever, you're enjoying it
at the game, the Crawford bockgoes down so smooth, and uh,
you know we'll watch the astro.Suddenly the offense comes to life when you're
drinking that Crawford box. So keepon doing it. It's a home run
every time. Get yourself some Crawfordback throughout this astro season. Now what's

(44:31):
next? Next stop? It's theNick man up, next stop, the
next step, Take the next step, next up, next stop, next
next stop? This see what next? This is next up with Tan Norfleeten
Chris Gordy. Let's see what's nextnext Next Hour two was upon us live

(44:54):
from the Sports Talk seven ninety studioson a Monday. We are neltled in
between Uptown Ark and River Oaks herein the gallery area. Tax day.
Handle your business please. I wanty'all calling him being all mad at me.
I ain't got nothing to do withyour personal finances, but it's in
a grumpy move calling get on me. I need to take care of mine
as well, Stan Fleet. That'sGordon Connadie McGovern alongside. We just got

(45:17):
through talking Rockets. For the secondhalf of our one. Let's talk Texans
as the guys are back over atNRG today, many of them AnyWho,
as the Texans are one of abouttwenty two teams that begin vol off season
program today and anytime we talk Texans, we must get the great Aaron Wilson
on our Texans inside of here SportsTalk seven ninety. Mister Wilson, good

(45:39):
morning, Hope you have enjoyed alittle bit of a break. Now it's
time to run some iron, getsome win sprints. Let's get in shape
for this twenty fourth season. Absolutely, yeah, rested up, ready to
go. Today is the first dayphase one of the voluntary insist on the
word voluntary off season conditioning program.All right, and camaraderie and not a

(46:02):
whole lot of football activity, butyeah, the guys, most of them,
get back in the building and we'llhave a press conference at noon with
Timiko, Ryan CD Straddlewill Anderson Junior, a scheduler. I saw you do
a sit down, and I'm notsure the total length of the sit down,
but I saw you with veteran JimmyWard, a guy that was hurt

(46:22):
a lot last season. Obviously,you know he's a guy atter Demko's on
hard. What did Jimmy Ward haveto say about getting ready for the twenty
four season? All right, Yeah, Jimmy Warren said he thinks there are
going to be a you know,team that's going to go get the ball
on defense, and he likes theoffseason acquisitions they made. He says they've

(46:43):
been cooking Nick Casserio and Miko Ryansin their collaboration to bolst for the roster.
He was very excited about Stefan diggsaddition, mostly for him as a
football player. He called him agreat talent. But he also did do
a little business with step On onehundred thousand dollars for the number one jersey
and worked out well for Jimmy becausehe went back to number twenty, which

(47:07):
he wore quite well for the SanFrancisco forty nine ers, So a good
exchange. Those two gentlemen did somebusiness that is not uncommon in the NFL
and professional sports when someone has anaffinity for a number. This is Stefan's
University of Maryland number and going tobe back in his old college number as

(47:27):
he gets this fresh start with theTexans, and as you've seen on social
media, has already been working out, throwing with c. J. Stroud
and hanging down on John Metch youthe third out in California. So yeah,
he's been hard at work with hisoff season program already that he's doing
on his own. So most ofthese guys work out year round and don't
take a lot of time off,and he's no different. He's always in

(47:49):
great shape. Eric a little bitover a week from the draft. We'll
hear from Nick Cassario a little bitlater in this week. But I know
you've been reporting on a lot ofdifferent guys they've brought in for visits.
Standouts to you. I know AndrewPhillips, a guy I talked with,
the Senior Bowl defensive back from Kentucky. They brought in Ray Davis, the
running back from Kentucky. I knowthey've been high on any guys caught your

(48:10):
eye that they've brought in for visits. Yeah, those two from the Kentucky
Wildcats are interesting as it. SOA'sBullard, the defensive back from Georgia,
another good football player. I've seena tiny bit of a pattern where I've
seen a lot of corners and safeties. None of us have seen a couple

(48:30):
of running backs, including Guorndo fromLouisville. So, you know, trying
to figure out exactly who they'll pickfrom the visits is tough. I mean,
reported this morning Jordan Morgan. Hewas going to visit, but then
they wound up doing a private workoutinstead for him. But he's probably going
to be off the board by thetime there in the second round. They

(48:52):
could always trade up. He's agood football player. But I think defense
is the concentration. That was somethingthat there were a few things that didn't
quite go their way in free agencyand looked like some spots they could fill,
so I could see them adding tocorners safety. We've seen a little
bit of, you know, lookingat wide receivers, including locally. They

(49:15):
brought in Luke McCaffrey for a nota local day but a special like local
visit, including they've looked at otherlocal players including Jaylex Hunt from Houston Christian
interesting past Russia was also at theSenior Bowl and did well at the NFL
Scouted Combine. So it's really,I would say, pretty wide cross pattern

(49:37):
and that's what you generally see fromthe Texans when it comes to pre draft
activity. But we've also seen themdraft players that have visited like Derk Simney
junior in the past, so andWill Anderson and c. J. Stroud.
So I think sometimes with some ofthe top selections guys that are in
the first couple of rounds. Itdoes mean something. And you know,
figuring out a pattern would mean you'dhave to have every trip. And you

(50:00):
know, I don't know all ofthem. I just hear some of them
and support, you know, wantthat time to be irrelevant. But yeah,
they've definitely looked a lot of defensivebacks. It looks like that's something
that they are at least evaluating shouldthey pick some in this draft. Most
people think they will at least comeaway with one defensive back out of their
picks. It's the voice of AaronWilson, Texans insider here on Sports Talk

(50:23):
seven ninety will Real Texans Talk andlisten. This is next up. I'm
staying Northfleet. That is Chris Gordyto my left, Aaron Rosson. We
did not get to it last week, but Gordy, you just mentioned about
guys from college coming in for theirtop thirty visits, if you will,
one that got some attention that Ithink is worth addressing. Aaron, I

(50:44):
couldn't wait to run this value quarterbackSpencer Rattler out of South Carolina, formerly
of Oklahoma. I remind folks thatI do believe this is the last year
under contract for Case Keenum and Ican't remember this is the last year of
his rookie deal. I believe itis for Davis Mills this backup quarterback scenario.

(51:07):
Are they still comfortable where they areor is that something that you know
on one of those mid round picks, you can see them taking a shot
at quarterback. I could see themdoing it. I think that in the
case of both Case Kingdom and DavidSmills, it is a contract here.
I don't think that's the reason whynecessarily you feel impetus to meet with a

(51:28):
Spencer Rattler. He's a good quarterback. He's checked some boxes here in the
pre draft process, and you knowthey found him intriguing enough to bring in
along with a few other players thatday. I think when you look at
Spencer started off very well at Oklahomathat he got replaced by Caleb Williams,
and you know that is a greatquarterback to be replaced spot. But had

(51:50):
some success in South Carolina behind abad offensive line. To me, showed
some toughness. He would step in, he would take the hits, he
would deliver the throw. He putthe ball where it needs to go.
He was the Senior Bowl MVP.They do like the Senior Bowl a lot.
That's an important part of the draftprocess that the Texans do look at
a lot of Senior Bowl guys,So not a big shock that they would

(52:14):
at least evaluate Ron Wolfs was agreat GM for the Packers. He needs
to talk about you should try todraft a quarterback every year because you just
never know. Even acquiring quarterbacks likethat, they can be valuable, they
can be valuable in trades, andyou just never know. Maybe he's the
next backup quarterback for them thinking downthe road. But they can only keep

(52:36):
so many quarterbacks. They also haveten ball on the roster right now,
they're at four. I don't knowif they'll pick one. I think it's
something that they kicked around, theidea, you know, see what happens.
But yeah, I'm not privy towhat they'll do or how they view
that specific As far as I don'tthink that it's a situation of we're drafting
a guy, we're moving on fromthese guys. My expectation is that training

(52:59):
can you'll see at least those threequarterbacks the top three guys. Of course,
what's fascinating Aaron is I've seen somemock drafts as the Texans going wide
receiver, and as excited as weare about the wide receiving core right now
with the additions to Fawn Diggs,it's crazy to think only John Metchi,
Tank Dell, and Xavier Hutchinson areon this roster into twenty twenty five,

(53:20):
Robert Woods will be a free agent, Noah Brown, Nico Collins, who
we all expect to get an extension, but reworking this deal with Stefon Diggs
where you know basically he can hitfree agency again next year, it just
it's not the craziest idea to thinkthat the Texans that they really like a
wide receiver in this draft, whynot take them because you do have a
lot of decisions to make after thisseason. I think it's very logical and

(53:44):
to look at capitalizing one of tome is a really deep talent receiver class
and wherever you pick one, andit could be later, I still think
that it'll add competition to the room, and you never know, they might
be a guy that you like somuch he beats at one of the guys
you've drafted or that you've signed toa free agent contract before and if you've

(54:05):
got to be open minded about itand you know to just say, hey,
we're all said. If you alwayskeep continually doing that, teams like
that, they don't stay on top. And then the last thing that I
would describe the Texans as is complacent. They're not. So I'm really excited
to watch what training camp will belike because it's goin to be competitive for
not just the teching order behind thetop three receivers, but jobs who's going

(54:30):
to make the team, is they'regoing to cut when they do cuts,
there's gonna be some familiar names.That's gonna happen because the rosters become more
talented and the decisions become tougher.All Right, that's the voice of the
great Aaron Wilson. O were TexansInsider Here at Sports Talk seven ninety.
We will hear from Dimico CJ.And Will Anderson Jr. At noon.

(54:52):
We will be monitoring and continue tomonitor Aaron Wilson Underscore NFL on the X
platform formally known as Twitter. Hey, else, we appreciate your time this
morning. Man. Thanks guys,great talking. Always take care. My
brother Aaron Wilson letting us know what'sgoing on as voluntary emphasis on volunteer.
The man says, workouts begin phaseone of the offseason program. It just

(55:15):
feels good going to the NFL Drafta week away from this Thursday. Let's
take a pause here we come back, speaking of legendaries, the great Steve
Sparks excuse me, one half ofalong with Robert Ford, the radio team
for the Houston Astros. Astros backin action. You get Astros on deck
right here on seven to ninety comingup at six pm braisen Town for a
three game series. Sparky he cameby earlier this morning and talked to Sean

(55:37):
Salisbury. What did he have tosay about the Astros winning the series versus
Rangers on the other side. Homeof Astros Baseball KBMME. Next up continues
on your foone. Listen to SportsTalk seven ninety on any device with our
free iHeartRadio apps. He does knowthe igniter and he's gonna set the tone.

(56:02):
And when he does something special firstand bat of the game, he
has a double end of the corner. He goes Z or something like that.
You feel it. I think everybodyfeels it watching TV or at the
ballpark. We feel it. Ofcourse as broadcasters on the radios that he
sets the tone you spend the morning. Gotta thank God. What's going on

(56:23):
to the good people at htown myfavorite city in the country. I'll tell
you that each and every day becauseit's true love me from Houston. Man
had some folks in town from California, the legendary Mike Hill formerly of ESPN
most recently of Fox Sports in townfrom La He and some of my man,
my man Jay Harris works at ESPN. They had a gentleman's golf outing,

(56:45):
so the sports media was in Houston, Gordon playing a few rounds.
I did not play with them,although we did partake in a few beverages.
Introduced them to the carlok Crawobock Gordon. They had good things to say.
You'd be proud of me there,and uh, we really appreciate you
hanging out with us each and everyday right here next up fleeting Gordon would

(57:05):
be out of your way at noonfor Matt Thomas and Ross vir Real.
That was Steve Sparks, one halfof our radio crew, speaking to Robert
Ford being the other one. Ofcourse, he was speaking to jose L
two Bay's influence Gordon. Jose Ltwo by you win the ballpark yesterday,
I did not make my way overthe minute. May tell me the energy
in the building. Third pitch ofthe game, L two A and then

(57:29):
he comes back the second time aroundand let's go yard again. Did you
feel like at that point the secondL two V home run made it to
zero? Did you feel like itwas ball game at that point based on
the energy? Okay, so youstill think there was a fighter because they're
solo solo shots. I mean,because then altwo V hits out the bottom
the third, top of the fourth, Evan Carter hits one that just gets

(57:49):
over the fencing right and right center, and so it's two to one.
So you know it's it was Itwas still a ball game. But I
thought the fourth end, the bottomof the fourth was what really, you
know, turn the tide. AndVictor Carratini, we need to give him
credit. He has been really youknow, he was advertised, you know,
pretty good hitter for a backup catcher, and we've seen already standing he's

(58:12):
had some pinch hit opportunities late ingames, and we've seen games where he
started, uh like yesterday and hecomes up big, you know, the
bottom of the fourth. It's atwo to one game. Chaz singles,
payin you singles, so two menon and Victor Carrotini doubles off. Nathan
Valdi doubles the left that scores two. It makes it. It makes it
three to one, and then twobad as later Mauricio Dubon. It was

(58:35):
a ball pitched way up here,like almost at his head, and he
was chairman Jeff Jeff Bagwell said thison the TV broadcast. He was determined
he wanted to hit that one toright field, so he just he saw
it. He went, I'm goingup and getting it, knocks it the
right field and drives in two morehas a track. Um maybe if he

(58:55):
did less steroids, you would beable to catch it, you big dummy.
Anyway, Uh, he fall,he misses it and it's five to
one. At that point I felt, yes, not ball game, but
the askers of a very good chanceto win this because because Javier was Yeah,
he grew up doing on this thingyou mentioned. Victor Caratuni, the
Great Steve Sparks was asked this morningon the Shawn Salisbury Show six to ten

(59:16):
am. He was asked about Carteeny'sperformance and let's see what Steve Sparks has
to say. They pointed to youknow, when they when they knew that
Yer was going to be the startingcatcher, they were looking around the league,
and they probably did it toward theend of last season. Started to
look around and okay, thirty yearsold, he's a switch hitter, he
can play a little bit of firstbase. Uh, but he can also

(59:38):
mentor he's very smart. They probablydid their due diligence or what type of
guy he was. You know what'sinteresting. You know what GM's do,
Seawan, and you probably know this. They'll call around visiting clubhouse guys just
to figure out what type of aguy. Yeah, yeah, he start
you start to figure out, allright, what do we want to bring
into our clubhouse and how's he gonnato fit in with our team. You

(01:00:00):
don't want to mess things up inyour clubhouse. This team's been to the
LCS in the last seven years forgoodness sake. So the found out what
type of guy he was. Hewas at the very top of their list.
So priority wise, they got theguy they wanted. That was Stee
Swakshawn Salisbury show this morning, irresponsibigto cant you think of that dynamic Stan

(01:00:22):
we've had to go through. Lookin the World Series year twenty seventeen,
we had Brian McCann. He wasone of the best hitting catchers in baseball.
He was awesome. And then wewent through this phase with Maldonado,
who, man, nobody called abetter game than him. I mean he
was. He was tremendous bindhole plate. But in the last couple of years
we just we've had to deal withthe big nothing in his bat, you
know, batting into the ninth holedoing nothing. So the dynamic to go

(01:00:44):
from that to yesterday's Dan you hadtwo catchers in your lineup, and the
reason you have two catches in yourline because they can both hit you on
our dsd Agent and Victor Carrotini catchingit. Just the dynamic has completely changed.
And I think it's it was sucha big signing for them to get
this guy, and uh and he'sloving it, man, he's relishing the

(01:01:04):
opportunity. And again jan Er Diazcontinues to hit well, batting over three
hundred, but Carotene's hitting three thirtythree, and it's it's it's awesome to
see because man, we had toput up with so many and I'm not
trying to harp on the guy,but it was so many dad appearances from
Altonato at the play. Oh yeah, I mean you knew that coming in
that was gonna always be the hiccup. And it was okay. But then
the question, like some of myconcerns about this roster, and I get

(01:01:28):
it, winning two games and winningthe series over the Rangers, does it
like I'm not comfortable with the Astrosjust because they are currently leading the Silver
Boot series versus Rangers four to three. But they looked way more like they
were supposed to be. They lookedmore like themselves these last two games.
I will give them that. Well, and I'll say Friday too, okay,
playing like that, But but whatI was going to say was the

(01:01:49):
offense at least didn't quit like causebecause I heard somebody said on one of
the post guts, oh, thisteam looks like they quit. They didn't
quit. They kept at it.They scored runs. They scored eight runs
Friday. They scored eight runs inall three games this weekend. So I
give them credit. At least theydidn't quit Friday. They were fighting and
battling back, and then these pasttwo days, the pitching was outstanding,
and then the offense did their thing. We're still talking about first base.

(01:02:13):
I'm going back to Canteeny and Yanner. We now saw with both catches in
the lineup, the positive things thatcan happen. I'm looking at jose have
bread you yesterday go oh for fourwith a strikeout. He's banning one eleven,
Gordy. They're going to just leavehim out there to continue to do
this well. He had two hitson Saturday. He had a hit on
the DFC. It was a double. It was a double on one of
those. I saw, yeah,two for four, work to walk,

(01:02:36):
score two runs. It was interestingthat I talked with John Singleton before the
game yesterday in the clubhouse and Iasked him about because I think he's got
like a four game hits story going, like he's actually starting to come around
a little bit with the bat.I said, how how how good is
it to get or how hopeful isit to be playing as much as you
are? And he reminded me Ididn't. I forgot about this. This

(01:02:57):
was the first opening gay roster he'sever made, you know. When he
got called up with the Astros beforeit was mid season, and so this
was the first time he made theopening gay roster with the Astros. But
he said, getting getting as manyas bat at bats as he's getting,
he said, he's starting to adjustand you start to get that momentum going.
And so again I'm just I'm bringingthat up because again him and A

(01:03:19):
braid you have been the two guyseverybody wants to heartball and all that,
but A Brave you did specifically saygetting all the getting all these looks now
his bats starting to come around andyeah, one, two, three,
four game hit streak. He hadtwo hits on Saturday. So we'll see.
Let me keep hearing from Steve Sparks. He had a couple of things
that I really like. We gotto talk about the editions of Justin Verland
as well as from Let's See aSpark He will get us some inside information.

(01:03:44):
We'll also take a look and previewthis Brave series Braves in Town for
the next three nights. We'll seewhat that looks like as well. All
right, the step aside on theother side, more Astros Conversation, your
Home Astros Baseball Sports Talk seven ninetyto the next episode. You can't even
stop yourself, Finjon and Dory nextus as. Next Up continues on seven

(01:04:11):
ninety one too. Tway, yougot a maskot about a high fastball and
that is the ballgame. The HoustonAstros take two out of three from the
Texas Rangers, winning today by afinal of eight to five. Appreciate Robert
forore in the Steve Sparks at AstrosRadio Network. Astros win yesterday afternoon over

(01:04:33):
at MMP, first back to backwins here in Houston for the Astros since
like September of last year, whichis wild. The bats were out,
Gordy. You mentioned you've been clamoringas we all have for not just the
bats and getting on base, butmoving guys around. What some eight runs
scored over the weekend at minimum,I don't have all of them up.

(01:04:55):
But Astros win Sunday eight to five. They currently lead the series. This
is the Rangers four to three.Now, even with that being said,
Ashrows are still currently lasting the AlWest by some three and a half games
out from first. I believe isit two and a half or three and
a half. Let me go backand look at that. I believe it
was two and a half. Itis two and a half, so two

(01:05:15):
and a half behind the Rangers,given that they made up ground on this
two game win streak. Jose ltwo Va is on an absolute heater,
says Chandlerome. Christian Javier has aone point five to four ERA after twenty
three and a third innings. He'llcome to Braves who's on the mound for
the Astros the next three days.Spencer Arrighetti goes tonight with a twenty one

(01:05:39):
point zero zero ERA. Tuesday heis Haunter Brown. Can he redeem himself?
Sixteen point four to three ERA andthe O JP France had a rough
night out the last time we sawhim. What was that? On Friday?
JP Franz with an eight point twoto two. He takes the mound
against the ball on Wednesday, SoGordon the question that we started off the

(01:06:00):
ten o'clock our wit and I wantto go back to Steve Sparks here in
just a second. I applaud thatthe Astros didn't just tucktail. They fought
to come back and they're now winningthe series. But I still have concerns
with starting pitching. I still haveconcerns not getting any production from first base.
I still have some concerns for someproduction. First base, Like we

(01:06:23):
just said, I mean single tonight, two hits on Saturday. You had
two hits on Saturday. I didn'thave any yesterday. But okay, so
production, he's he has hit alittle bit. His batting average is up
to a point one one one.Yeah, and he was point oh,
I'm going to give where credits do? You should never be below the Mendoza,
like you being concerned about the pitching. Okay, yeah, like you

(01:06:45):
should be. But they're getting Verlanderback Fromper's on his way back. Kid,
he will be back, Like,so those guys are gonna get here,
and then you know, Verlander goesout there and get chilled a couple
of times, and yeah, thenI'll be like, I don't know.
That didn't help, but yeah,I mean, look, in a perfect
world, you shouldn't be leaning onSpence Raghetty. In a perfect world,
Hunter Brown shouldn't be getting rocked likehe is. So yeah, there's issues

(01:07:06):
there, But it's like I wastelling somebody at the ballpark yesterday, good
offense can overcome mediocre to bad pitching. We saw it a week ago with
Blair Henley. They want as muchas we crapped on him. They won
that game. So you know,again, this offense is good enough stand
to pick up the pitching when it'snot great. Now, then we have

(01:07:27):
times like the last couple of dayswhere Javier was awesome. Ronald Blanco has
been awesome every time, So youknow, those are games where the offense
doesn't have to you know, theycould score four runs and win a game.
But this is an offense that,yeah, we mentioned they scored eight
runs each of the last three gamesthis weekend. That's what this offense is
capable of, night in and nightout. And they're not going to do
it every night. But yeah,I would like to see at the end

(01:07:48):
of this year look back and go, look how many times this team scored
seven eight runs, Like that's whatwe should be doing. This offense is
that lethal it should be, Andthat's a fair point by you. I
still have some concern I do celebrateagain that they did not tell. Steve
Sparks was asked by Sean Salisbury abouthis concerns, as we are what what

(01:08:09):
is this record? I'm sorry Ihead it up just a minute ago.
The rare do Do Do do astrosof six and eleven on the season,
Steve Sparks. Your concern level atthe moment, sir, Well, it's
it's just the anticipation of getting theguy's healthy and back into the rotation and
seeing what you're gonna do. RonelBlanco is staying in the rotation, by
the way, right, what areyou gonna do with that? Jackie?
He's earned a spot. So Iguess my biggest concern is Hunter Brown,

(01:08:30):
if I'm being honest, all right, So Steve Sparks, says Hunter Brown,
And there'll be more conversation about pitchingas we continue to get update on
guys health. Sparky was also askedabout Berlando when we go see JV,
who was in Corpus over the weekend. I think he'll pitch on this next
road trip if everything goes well inthe next two days. Sean, I
think he'll pitch on this next roadtrip. So maybe it's DC. You

(01:08:55):
probably want to keep him from pitchingin Mexico City. One of those games
in DC, and then and thenthe next time rolls around will be back
at Mini May Park after the roadshot. I'm willing to take more precautionary
delay with Verlander. I don't wantto rush him to put him out there
at Washington, just to have himout there. The Astro should be able

(01:09:17):
to beat Washington without Justin Verlander.You then get the cut. I know
they got to go to where theygoing, Brazil. I know they got
to go away from a little bitwhere they're going that Mexico City. I'm
thinking about the NFL. I'm sorryfor Bil. The NFL is going to
flight. The NFL is going toBrazil. I'm confusing in the NFL Mexico
City, London and Germany and everywhereelse. I'm totally fine if I don't

(01:09:41):
see Justin Verlander until early May.I don't have to have him right now.
And I'm getting I'm the one thathas the issue with the pitching,
but specifically because of his age,his recent injury history, and the what
I want to say here, thelikely to be in the postseason, I'm
willing for JV to hold type fora second. Do you need to see

(01:10:04):
j V in Washington? Yes,yes, we need. We just talked
about how we don't trust the pitching. We just talked about how we don't
like watching Spencer Urghetty. I don'tgo out there, but not the damn
ace of rushing. Nobody's rushing him. He's ready. If he says he's
ready to go, he's ready togo. There's was, there was no
rushing. All there was was ahiccup during spring training and he started two

(01:10:26):
weeks later than everybody else. That'sall it was. Do players lie in
pro sports about being ready to playball? Not that Tom Brady and got
it. Okay, Well, youdon't play as many games as Brett Fad
played in and you don't telling thetruth about your health. That's just does
has been one of the most durablepictures. I'm not saying he hasn't.
I said he's injury history, andI want to present I want to preserve

(01:10:50):
him for the long run. No, but he he also has a threshold.
He needs to hit to get hishis his extra one for him.
So he's if he it's onestly,he's a veteran. If he says he's
ready to go, you hand himthe baseball and let's go. Some people
are concerned that he was getting rockedaround a little bit in Corpus and in
sugar Land, some guys homing offof him. The sugar Land thing I

(01:11:11):
watched live. There was there,Yeah, there was a couple that.
But again he even said it.He's like, I'm just trying to get
my pitch count up. It's notreally about my pitch selection. In other
words, when he faces the WashingtonNationals on Friday, standing, you know
what, he's got a whole scoutingreport on every one of those hitters,
what they like, what they don'tlike, all this, You know what
he didn't have with the Sugarland SpaceCowboys. Give me the scouting report in
these Las Vegas aces. What's up? What wa or whatever the hell they

(01:11:35):
are? What's the shortstop? Like? What's he do with some off speeds?
He didn't know anything got He's justpitching. So in Corpus yesterday or
Sunday or Saturday, what I heardand I didn't see it, but I
saw I saw a couple of highlights. They said the defense was god awful.
They said there was ground balls thatthey threw away at first base.
There was a ball that got passedan outfielder that shouldn't have gotten so they

(01:11:57):
said. Even Verlinder looked frustrated,like, come on, guys, like
I know this is double but that'sthat's double a that's that's justin Verlander,
future Hall of Famer, current playingwith a bunch of double A guys.
Oh my god, I kept listensup it Sperlander, Can I come back
to sugar Land that you just mentioned? I saw something from Brian McTaggart over
the weekend. Uh. It wasentering Sunday. Joey Lo Paffedo leeds Minor

(01:12:21):
League Baseball in home runs with ten, total bases with forty nine and run
scored with nineteen. Is tied forthe lead in extra base hits eleven and
second in RBIs with twenty four,third and slug and seventh in ops.
Is low Paffito ready to come upin and have a shot at helping his

(01:12:42):
team. At first, I wouldsay yes, Now, I didn't want
to rush Arraghaney, and we knowBlair Blair, Henley had Kreginey. We
don't want to rush Verlander. Butlet's fast track low Perffedo to the bigs.
I'm just saying, can I takea look see can get him up?
He let him? I want himto get say about Lipa, I
want him to get thirty forty starts. No, No, you're full of

(01:13:02):
bs. Let's go back to Friday. I think this is the fourteen con
I'm throwing a fastball at you.I'm sorry, Dana Brown, low Pafito's
hot start. Let me hear fromthe GM on little Fito. Yeah,
excited about Lopafito. Glad to seethe power he's showing down there. You
know, at some point, asI mentioned before, I think we're gonna
get him up here for sure.But it's good to seeze off to a

(01:13:25):
good start. We'd like to seehim cut down the strikeouts a little bit,
you know, make some contact there, but you know, ultimately showing
some good power to his game,and you know, coming along well at
first base. You know, he'llbe a nice utility piece for us,
and we can move him around,give some guys some days off. Yeah,

(01:13:45):
and he can give him some offense. And the fact that he has
some utility that's gonna get his batin the lineup even more so. As
he continues to keep coming, we'llkeep looking at him and we'll make a
decision on when we think it's thebest time to get him up here.
Want to rather than later, GentlemanBrown, he's coming, Gordy, can
we get his ass up You skippedover one of the best, one of

(01:14:06):
the best lines of that of thatquote right there. Well, two really
one like to see him cut downon the strikeouts a little bit. Can't
do that. If he's up thereat the big Lee, he's gonna be
striking a bunch. He can't doany worse than he said. He'll be
a nice utility piece for us utility. He's putting him at first utility putting

(01:14:27):
to bring his utility even a spotform. So why don't we get let
him trying to piss me out?We almost made it. Two. I
understand we all want to pull theplug on on Jose bra They are telling
you they're not doing that yet.It's not that time yet. Unbelievable.
But the other thing I'll say onLow Perfito, though, they just came

(01:14:49):
from Albuquerque where the ball flies out, So everybody's numbers look great, not
just low Braffito. You appreciate whatthe kids doing, but yeah, because
down the strikeouts, keep doing whatyou're doing. But he's got he's got
to get more of a simple sizedown there. Trimpo a. I'm staying
northfle that's Chris Grinch Gordie and notwanting to get my man low Bafido up

(01:15:10):
here to the bigs. On theother side, we want to hear an
update on from Burg Valdaz. Alsospring games around college football. Want to
comment on that. And there's alocal former professional athlete in the city,
Gordon, that's getting taken the taska little bit about some of his comments
over the weekend. Let's do that. On the side, we wrap up

(01:15:30):
and get you over to Matt Thomasand Rossville, Yale. This is next
up Homer Astros Baseball KBMME Next Upcontinues. Now. I'm a new listener
at already a huge new listener.I love the show with Stan north Fleet
and Chris Gordy on Sports Sucks sevennineteen. You can hide some guys from

(01:15:50):
time to time if you need to, because they've got a lot of guys
that are banging pretty well right nowand gotten off to good start. So
that's the good news, you know, and the news is still waiting on
a couple of guys. And Ithink you'll know what this team is really
all about. Once you get Berlanderand Farmer back in the rotation. You
feel like it's a baseball team.When a starter goes six innings like they

(01:16:13):
have the last couple of days andyou can match up and manage the way
Jolly Spotto has been hoping to sincethe start of the season. So it
starts with starting pitching. I knowsometime I'll be wrong. I'm like coming
up. I appreciate Steve Sparks,one half of the Astros Radio network along
with Robert Ford on the play byplay, Gordian Fleet here get ready to
get you over to Matt Thomas.I see Ross virial As back there talking

(01:16:36):
some bleak with Connor Quick distracting myboard. Ross. That was again,
Steve Sparks, the good news thebad news from about Das Sparky was asked
specifically, he says, the goodnews is that when JV returns. JV
was in Corpus on Saturday. Theyare determining what his next course of action

(01:16:58):
is about Dez. We heard thereport that he was feeling pretty good.
Interesting, and so again it justit makes me feel better that he'll be
ready to get back into the rotationand we'll see what that looks like when
we get more information there. Makesure you guys stay locked right here on
instead of the damn control too.You've been no walks like you didn't want
opening day fair there. Make sureyou stay locked sports Talk seven ninety for

(01:17:19):
all the Astros updates as we getthem. One other thing Astros related,
we got a slide. Jeff Bagwellhas come under fire over the weekend.
Many people did not like how Baggswas trying to paint this rosy picture of
what's going on with the organization throughthe team. You know, through thirteen
fourteen games whatever it is now atenth of the way through the season.

(01:17:41):
Did you have an issue? Didyou see people talking about better? No?
I think I think Bago is actuallya really good game analyst, you
know, from like talking about whatpitch a guy's looking for, all that
kind of stuff. Now, onthe flip side, when Josea Brady was
up, was he more you know, on the positive side of things about
a break I'll bring you. Yeah, that's a good swing. There was

(01:18:02):
it out, but that's a goodswing. Was he doing a little bit
of that? Probably? But Ithink it's a tough position to put bag
Well in, But given his relationshipwith the owner, it's what he wants
to do. Though. But yeah, like he's tight with the owner,
He's gonna support any decision the ownermakes. But then he's on the TV
broadcast where yeah it's the ASTROS broadcaston Space City Home Network, our partners

(01:18:23):
by the way, but it's likehow objective, how honest can he be?
And all the things on the wayout. Let me also say appreciate
Coach Chris Dishmand, invite me overthere to Texas Southern Spring game on Saturday.
Have a good time over there hangingout. Well, we look forward
to what TSU will do this upcomingfall. That'll do it for us.
Coladey McGovern Chris, Gordy stan Fleetand all of you Houston allows us to
do this thing called next up eachand every week they tend to noon.

(01:18:45):
Matt Thomas Rossberry'll coming your way.Enjoy your lunch here on tax Day to
fifteenth, God willing would do itagain tomorrow. Y'all be well,

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