Spencer Arrighetti Struggles, Astros Drop Game To Blue Jays, Rockets Introduce Reed Sheppard

Episode Transcript
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(00:02):
Now what's next? Next up?It's the next man up, next time,
the next step, take the nextstep, next up, stop next,
next up. This team wants tobe next. This is next Up
with Tad Northfleeten Chris Gordy. Let'ssee what's next next next? Feeling good,

(00:24):
feeling great On a Wednesday final editionthe next up for the week as
Gordy and I are out tomorrow andFriday. I'm actually out on Monday,
but Gordy will be back. NoChris Gordy today, that doesn't mean we
won't take you up until noon.In his usual perch, there's Connedy mcgovernor
rocking the Astros. Arms appreciate himdoing so. Thanks to the Shawn Salisbury

(00:47):
Show. Each and every weekday morningsix to ten am. We get up,
we get entertained, get informed,and love those interviews that those guys
do, including general manager Dana Brownof the Houston Astros. We just heard
from about though what's that about twentyminutes ago. We will get through some
of the audio of what Dana hadto say throughout the course of this program.
Guess that will be on this show. Go. We got Jason Bristol,

(01:11):
that's my guy. Yeah, he'sheavy with the sports over there at
KHOU Channel eleven. Y'all follow him, y'all watch him each and every day,
appreciate the work that they do.And who else we got, Oh,
Eric ed Holm, I've got abone to pick with him. He's
been on this show before. Ericad Hoolm is back to writing some bleep
about the Houston Texans on NFL dotcom. We must address that. We

(01:32):
also heard from Reed Shepherd, thenewly acquired Houston Rocket out of the University
of Kentucky, a program that isnear and dear to my heart. And
we will do that. And oh, let's call that hell may get to
it in the next segment, takingyour phone calls all of the like seven
one, three, two, two, five, seven ninety again stand Northfleet?

(01:52):
Is me? You new to thestation? New to the show?
Probably should have said that earlier.My radio partner Chris Gordy, he is
out today and the rest of theweekend. Actually all right, So hope
everybody's feeling all right. And Ihave mixed feelings actually because the Houston Astros,
who had been rolling winners ten ofthe last eleven, things looking good.

(02:16):
Yeah, you got somebodies banged upstarting rotation down to just four people,
two of them being young Bucks.And here we are up in Toronto.
Game one, yeah, got thatneeded Game two? Why do you
say staying? We need it?Because the Astros find themselves going into yesterday,

(02:38):
three games out of the wild Card, three games back in the division.
I would love to be able tocatch Seattle, or at least be
right there nipping on their heels bythe time we go come out of the
All Star break. You got threewith the Rangers here at minute made Park
going into the break immediately coming outof Friday, Saturday, Sunday in July,

(02:59):
you get at to see other manners. I would love for the Astros
to be able to take the divisionright there. But you got a pace,
not a marin is lost last night, so we still hold a three
games because the Astros lost last night. And look, there are two places
to start with what took place lastnight. We can start at the beginning.

(03:22):
It was god awful. I hatethat term. It wasn't great.
Spencer Arraghetty got absolutely destroyed. Andthe conversation that I hear people having the
Morning show appreciate Dan Matthews sitting therefor Sean This morning the Morning Show,
Brian and Dan Matthews were discussing whatyou all called in about and you can

(03:45):
do so with me seven one,three, two two five seven ninety.
Joe Spotter had a decision to makeSpencer Arraghetty didn't have it. It was
ugly. Should he have pulled himsooner? Yeah? Yes, my god,
the answer is yes. Well,Stan, we just had a bullpen
game on Sunday. What about thearms and were already down to just four

(04:09):
starters? And what are we gonnado? We'll worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow.
I got time to let something happen. What I don't have time for
in the middle of a dude gettingabsolutely obliterated, just absolute meat loaf over
the top half of the play.Damn Spencer Arraghatty. Big difference in the

(04:30):
Colorado Rockies, the one of theworst teams in the majors. And I
get it, Toronto is bottom ofthe division, but they're still better than
Colorado. What the hell was that? So my thing is and who I
was in here last night watching thegame in the studio, Josh and I
were talking about this. I said, Yo, I understand that the Spotta's

(04:51):
hands were tied to some degree,but you can't in four innings let a
dude give away seven runs. AndGord, they and I go back and
forth with this all time. Iactually misarguing with Gordon. Don't tell him.
I said that, all Stan,you gotta have run production of the
bats. The bats, they scoredsix runs. My point has always been

(05:12):
this season, too many times we'reseeing pictures give away the damn game in
the first inning, two three,and the damn game is over. They
scored six runs last night. Wasn'tenough, Spencer arroghedtdy. So let's say
I'm trying to pull up now,all right, So Arrogatty goes out there,

(05:33):
he gets yanked eventually. Then hereit comes Contraras Contreres gives me two
winnings. Cool, give me Contreri'ssooner. Now know the blister opened up
and he's got a lot going onwith the hand and had some blood.
Then you know they had to stopthe game for a minute. Whatever their
seth Martinez. Okay, cool again, Stan, I had what you want
to do with my bullpen. Figureit out, skip you let a winning

(05:57):
bull game get away. It gotout a hand, so I get it.
It's one of one sixty two.You gotta live to fight another day.
The other team gets paid too.We've heard all the damn cliche,
all right, So that's the beginning. Matter of fact. Hold on,
I want to hear from somebody color. Who do I want to hear from?
On? Why erra Gett? Itwas in there was? Let me

(06:17):
pull this up. I'm pretty sureSpotta was asked about this. Give me
some George spot on. What thehell happened? The bullpen did what they
needed to do on the end ofthat thing. Give me George spot on,
how we how we let this thingget out of hand? Here?
We did? We did? Youknow? We funked back. We give
ourselves a chance there at the end, swing away from tying the game by

(06:40):
we taking the lead. So Ilike the way we stay in the game
regardless of all the game started.If he says that again, I'm gonna
lose it. Since when do westart giving professional athletes? Or they tried
real hard, that's why they makethirteen million a year. The hell out
of here, try Connor. Iasked you you watched the games. I

(07:10):
open up the phone lines in thefirst segment. I don't often do that.
Seven one three, two one twofive seven ninety. I understand that
Joe Spotta and and and you knowhe the bullpen is already taxed and start.
I get all of that. Connorhe should have pulled rag Getty before
the fifth end and correct. Imean, it's I can see the argument.

(07:30):
You got to save the bullpen foras long as you can, especially
with this fourth game coming up.We don't know who's gonna be the starter.
But it didn't look good, especiallyafter that last run where it was
off off a wild pitch and theyscored for the seventh proved it looked awful,
like that's this is what I'm saying. It's not like. And let's
get to Ara Getty. And bythe way, the Astros and it sounds

(07:51):
like I'm bitching because I am Aarraghettyhas been up and down. It got
off to an ugly star early,he settled in, he put some nice
work out there, and then itgot a little bumpy here yesterday. What
is ri Getty's number one issue?As is the case with young dudes when

(08:13):
they come up through the system forthe Astros, more often than not,
it's controlling location. He's got goodstuff for what I can see and what
other baseball people say. But bro, when you're getting shelved, we can't
afford that, not in the positionthat the Astros in. Now, if

(08:35):
you agree with Jege Spotter, youcall and tell me seven one three two
point two five seven ninety if youtook issue with what a spotter had going
on leaving Irrigetty in the game fourinnings, allowing six hits, six earned
seven runs. Oh, by theway, he walked four dudes. That
ain't great either. All right,then I come back to Joe and Joe
I feel bad for y'all do becauseJoe I just got people off ass yesterday

(09:01):
by telling them, Okay, it'sinteresting. The team goes on the winning
street, we don't talk about firinga spot anymore. And then you do
some stuff. Let me pull upthis ninth in it with MAURICEO Dubond on
the bench, and saves salads arethere. This man goes and pinch his
cabbage. Now I understand the analyticsprobably say cabbage gives them a better chance.

(09:26):
I don't give a damn. I'veseen saves salads are saved our ass
more than one occasion this year.Oh, by the way, I just
want to get the ball in play. Excuse me. I really don't give
a bleep about righty, righty,lefty lefty. You can whatever. I
trust my mad ma hon during HomeboyMauricio Dubon to put the ball in play.

(09:50):
Pinions already on second? Okay,Joe, do we practice practice?
Do we pre small ball? Overhere? Anybody believe in small ball?
Well? Staying it's difficult. Whatdid he say about? But he had
something on What did he say?It's hard to bunt when the dude is
throwing that fast. Okay, that'sa reason of throwing that fast and that

(10:11):
high. Okay, we can't manufactureany contact. Du bond can do that,
Joe. I just got through givingyou your love man, all your
flyers. I'm like, okay,Joe, and then you go out yesterday
and do some more craziness like this. Now, I'm not a baseball man

(10:33):
air quotes, but damn I've beenaround the game long enough to know certain
things just shouldn't happen. Maybe youall disagree, maybe you agree, We'll
continue that you on that fat Ialso want to celebrate some folks. Let's
hear from Arrighetta himself on the otherside, the fourth of July is among
us. How about you show upwith a bang. Yeah, gotta keep
mama happy. She's off work,spirits are flawing. She's getting all in

(10:58):
the feelings. You know, she'sseeing you on the grill, taking out
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(11:18):
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(11:39):
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Chris Gordy just this next up onsports Suck. I'm still a little perturbed

(12:09):
talking some Astros here. You're HomerAstros Baseball, the legendary KB and me.
We are strolls back in action thisafternoon or this evening. I should
say, first pitch shortly after sixo'clock. Astros on deck at five.
I'm coming to you, Tom Pauland will you're my next three up?
And yes, I understand that youknow. Yes, Seattle lost to there

(12:30):
on the two game loser street Cope. I understand that the Astros are winners
of ten of the last twelve.Cool, but damn last night. Come
on, Joe. I have anissue with some decision making in the beginning
of the game, allowing it tobe seven zip. And I have some
issues with some pitch hitting for folksat the end of the game. Mauriceo

(12:58):
Dubon should be in the game.Local FEEDO batting for Sazon Salle is off
makes no sense. Where do youall land? I know the phone lines
are loaded. I appreciate you guysinteracting. Gordy out today, He's back
next week Tom in downtown. AmI losing it? Or did you see
it's similar to what I saw it? I see it's similar to what you
thought. The biggest mistake he madewas as soon as George Springer was you

(13:22):
to come up, he should havepulled him. Springer's a dead fastball hitter,
and he had already missed several pitcheswith the count in his favor,
so it was over by then.And Steve Sparks is on the play by
play during that part, that's arrogant. He was losing it. And you
could hear it in Steve Sparks's voicethat when Springer stepped in there, he

(13:46):
said, he did the play byplay, he said, if you're going
to throw it to George Springer inside, it's got to be inside. And
he just missed the spots. Howdo you go from ten strikeouts and four
hits to that type of performance.That's what happen and sew a rookie pitcher.
But as soon as George Springer steppedinto that battles box, you could
just steal it. You know,he's he's hot. He took him deep.

(14:09):
So I'm with you on that.You know, I'm a little bit
pretured with what's going on with KyleTucker Man, why don't we know more
about where this guy's going? Youknow what, Tom, I have something
for you, brother. I hateto cut you a little short there,
but I have something for you.We were joined by Dana Brown. He
was during the Shawn Salisbury Show.Kyle Tucker has started some baseball activities.

(14:35):
Not ready to go just yet,but we'll get to that. I want
to really pass through what Dana Brownhad to say down all come at about
eleven thirty or so. Let's goto champions for as Paul get in here,
let's talk some strolls. Hey man, listen, I understand your perspective
and and you do a great jobon your show, and I appreciate the

(14:58):
full disclosure. And a football guy, and look, I can sense your
passion and the whole of it.And unfortunately I'm a diehard Astros fan.
But part of that's because I lovebaseball. I think baseball is the greatest
sport ever invented. But we couldtalk about that another day. But I

(15:20):
was I called about three months ago. Is the last time I called.
The first time I saw ereng Gettypitch, I said, erin Getty's got
the hit factor. He's going tobe a major league pitcher. There were
a couple of games, two orthree games where he was trying hard to
convince me otherwise. Last night wasnot necessarily one of those. If you

(15:43):
really look at the George Springer pitchthat he hit for a home run,
which by the way, was athree run homer, which, by the
way, he doesn't hit that threerun homer. We're not having this discussion.
By the way, it was alow and inside pitch. It was
exactly where I would have pitched itif I'd say the prayer and God had

(16:07):
ansered my prayer. It was rightwhere. To go back and look at
the replay, low and inside,and it would have been to strike if
if if Springer had to swung outof it would have been I don't know.
I think it was a full count. I don't know, but that's
free. That's a free run shot. So that one pitch, the one
pitch for a for a wild pitch, is four runs. Baseball is a

(16:32):
game of just a few pitches.Many times now the walks were reprehensible.
Get four walks inexcusable. Okay,he went back to his old ways,
But prior to that he was doingpretty good. So that so let me
ask you, Paul, and I'minterrupting, forgive me for doing so.
So you're telling me before you getthe springer, you didn't think that arrogant.

(16:56):
It shouldn't should have been yank forme early it didn't look like he
had it. Nor your point iswell taken. It's a it's a very
very very good observation you made,and I would agree with you if we
were a little bit later in theseason and we were a little bit more
desperate to close that gap, thatgap. But wearing out your pictures,

(17:21):
you cannot unwear out your pictures,sir. You cannot unwear them out.
You can't just throw everything on thetable and go dad, come it.
We've got three games now we canwe have an opportunity to cut at the
two would have loved or seen himto cut it. But you cannot wear
out your pictures. I don't innings, say fixed too many innings and you

(17:45):
sacrifice them for arguably the remainder ofthe year. Paul, I gotta run,
brother. I appreciate the cot Ijust don't and other diehards, and
I do appreciate. That's one ofthe things I love about our industry and
what we do on this show.I believe going in and he shares my
sentiment in this we like to openup for wherever you are and your fandom
from super fan, the super casual, and everything in between. I'm here

(18:08):
for the conversation, and to me, I just wonder, like, I
get it. You need your startersto eat up innings, but you also
have to win games. This isnot versus the Yankees, This is not
versus the Orioles, this is notversus Seattle. This is a winnable team.

(18:29):
This is a winnable game. Goget the wins that you can get.
I will live to fight another day. I'll deal with tomorrow. Tomorrow
staying they already got to do abullpen game coming up this weekend. I'm
aware of that. In Minnesota,They're probably gonna have to do another bullpen
game. I'll deal with that.Then in the immediacy, let me hear
from Rigatty real quick. I'm comingto you, Will and Katie. Eric

(18:52):
Gatty, what the hell was goingon with you? Sir Pai made some
badfitches and thing strikes, Like Ihad a good game plan coming in and
I didn't really execute very well.And had some bigger missus. That's what
I'm competitive at bats. It's justa it's not a good recipe. I
feel like Lee, that was thelast time I only needed to do this
really big restive to his own andI feel like there was a bats that

(19:14):
I did that. There was atbats where it really wasn't And I'd say,
that's this the reason why the lineis what it is. Spencer Righetty
postgame, accounting for seven runs,six of them earned. Yeah, he
had the Colorado start, but golook at arraghetty start before that. Where
did you give up some seven runshe gave up? I'm sorry it was
two starts Ago versus Detroit thirteen tofive, Astros lose. He gave up

(19:37):
another seven runs in in and ina third arra get That's another reason I'm
upset, Joe. You see erroGatty do this. You should have recognized
the signs that Arraghatty didn't have it. Get him out of there, will
and Katie, what say you?Uh man? A couple of quick things
that I'll get to my main point. One, appreciate you holding down the

(20:00):
floor. We got all these otherslackers at seven ninety one. They take
and like Sean Matt Gordy and RVthe Man and one other small things.
This last collar, I don't knowwhat he meant by Spencer Arangetty having the
hit factor. I see nothing likethat. Nothing he has jumps off the
table. That's like, oh mygod, this guy's gonna be great.
He's just a fill in role atthis point. But I never my main

(20:25):
point, I never really get madat at an Astro's loss and a whole
you know, one out of onehundred and sixty two. But a spot
of like really pissed me off yesterdaybecause one, we have the momentum going
to catch Seattle and so put inso Jeremy Pina let off with the with
the doubles. Yeah, And Idon't understand why some of these coaches just

(20:51):
shy away from small ball. Ifyou're gonna use Cabbage or low Perfito,
then bunt Paya over. And becauseone you've got Chad Green, a veteran
pitcher that throws the ball hard,and you want to put the ball to
the right side. But Cabbage andlow Braffito are both rookies that you know
the odds of them pulling the ballaren't as great as they could to lay

(21:14):
down a bunch. So use oneof them to lay down a butnt and
get him the fact. And thenbring in Dubon, who is I I
hate the right handed left handed matchup. We've seen Tucker and Yeah to fight
gods the odds against that. Bringin Dubon, who is a great contact
hitter. Exactly, punch one out. Haven't punched one out to the outfield.

(21:36):
Tie the game up. Our lasttwo extra inning games, we scored
five runs in one inning, putit to extra innings, and then let
us go to work from there.But and so as soon as that came
up, and I'm like, allright, Penya, you did your job.
And then you're just gonna bring onthese two left handed and he even
said he was just hoping for apower bat that's gonna hit a home run
stick to small ball. I almostlost it. Will and Kate were up

(21:57):
against the brother. I appreciate thepassion, and I almost lost it.
I was telling Connor that during thebreak, and we gotta get ready to
hit here. I have to askJason Bristol. He you see him on
the broadcast over there at KHO.You he's gonna drop by here. First
time I think he's been on NextUp. I hate that Gordian here,
We've been on his show several times. But I'm like, wait a minute.
You wanted Joey Lopafito to hit ahome run, pitch hitting Trey Cabbage

(22:19):
for Savesar Salazar, who has walkedoff for this team on multiple occasions this
season. And then when jose Atwo way is up there, I'm like,
okay, two vay, here wego, baby, two outs top
nine, make something happen. Myboy two ve couldn't come through on that
one. Damn Yeah, I knowwe need to celebrate Jordan. We've got

(22:41):
time to do that. On theother side, Jason brisol kho you with
thirty minutes into a next Up,last show of the week, Sports Talk
seven ninety stattor Fleetech Chris Gordy.This this next time on Sports Talk seven
ninety Welcome back in the next stepthirty minutes into a Wednesday edition fleet That

(23:04):
would be me at stand Sportsman onsocial My radio partner Chris Gordy out today
at Connor d McGovern. He's onthe other side there. You should be
following us at Sports Talk seven ninety, just like you should be following the
gentleman that is on the guest lineright now. You recognize him from anchoring
on k h O. U doesa great job reporting as well. My

(23:25):
brother Jason Bristol dropped by the show. Jason, good morning to you,
sir, Good morning Stan. Howare you man? Doing fantastic? Just
sid praying to the good Lord.I do a decent show, so maybe
I get one of those emmys likeyou have over there in your home office.
I appreciate that. You know Connor, you know is Connor is very
proper and professional on the phone.Not that I was expecting him not to

(23:48):
be, but he, you know, calls up mister Jason Bristol. Yes,
that's me. I thought he wasgonna sell me and try and sell
me a new roof for a newcar. Yeah, he might be in
finance, and hell he's going backto finance. He gonna start doing no,
my man, Connor does a greatjob. I appreciate that professional he
does. That's what we preach overhere, Gord and I exude professionalism.
And I say that tongue in cheek, of course. All right, Jason,

(24:11):
people are telling me first word,I think of first word, I
think of h people tell me Stanas it pertains to the decisions by Joe
Spotted last night. Stan, youare overreacting because of the starters and because
the bullpen is taxed and you hadto let irrigate it go as long as
he could go. Jay. Theyshould have got his ass out of there

(24:33):
way before the start of the fifthend. No, I'm sorry, Stan,
I sometimes you have to play thelong game here, and when your
bullpen is taxed. Think of whatJustin Verlander says at times when things aren't
going well. JV says, myjob then is to save the bullpen,

(24:55):
help the team go as long asI can, and that's basically over one
hundred and sixty two game season,there are nights you are not going to
have it. And I have toagree with the rest of the baseball people
out there. I was sitting therewatching the game, and our anchor Len
Cannon says, I got to gethim out of there, and he was
at seventy something pitches. I basicallysaid, they're going to try and get

(25:18):
as close to one hundred autumn aspossible, not Len Cannon but Spencer Araghetty.
But you know, looking forward,looking forward, there are some issues
that are going to pop up,and we saw this last year Spencer Araghetty,
Renel Blanco, They've never thrown morethan one hundred and twenty five innings
in a season. And this lackof depth, or I should say this

(25:41):
influx of injuries, all these injuriesthey've had, it's going to hurt because
in obvious for obvious reasons. Butwhen you look at the long game,
here why the Astros. One reasonthey were very successful in twenty twenty two
was using a six man rotation,and with these injuries you have, you

(26:02):
have not been able to really utilizethat. I'm not saying Joe a spot
of would, but during certain times, however, you're going to get to
a point where Renel Blanco, SpencerArraghetti, we saw it last year with
Hunter Brown, They're going to beasked to push past a limit or number
of innings that they're not used toand their arms are probably going to be

(26:25):
barking. I would imagine their stuffwill not be as crisp. And that's
just one of the issues that theinjuries that will compound, I think as
we get deeper and deeper into theseason. All Right, So Jason Bristol,
Kjo you joining us here on NextUp Sports Talk seven ninety of course.
Okay, let's just say we letJoe a spot off the hook for

(26:48):
what happened in the first four innings. All right, how do you explain
Penya getting a double and then he'sgot local feedo swinging for the fences,
and then he's hitting for says Salasbringing in cabbage and my man Maurizio ma
hun dur homeboy doesn't even touch thebag. Explain this for me. Make

(27:08):
it make sense. Jay, Well, I don't know. Joe A.
Spotta is the one to quote unquoteblame here. It's very clear that at
least to me and my partner atKHO you love in Jeremy booth Our,
former major league scout, who isour KHO you love in? Baseball analysts
that you know, Baseball nowadays isoften run by the front offices and the

(27:33):
analysts, and they have the matchupsthat they want. So I mean,
yes, certainly Joe can make somedecisions here and there. But my guess
is they were looking at whatever numbersthey had and they felt that those were
the best moves. So I needsome help. Let's let's spend some time
here because and I hate to dothis because I'm not trying to kick dirt
on Joe A. Spotta. DoI think he's the guy that's gonna get

(27:56):
us where we want to go?Not right now? No, Do I
think he's been afforded the opportunity tolet it play out this year? Yes,
they're not making a move in season. Okay, So let me get
this straight. If the analytics creware dictating the lineup and George Spotter doesn't
necessarily have a saying that, andthen the manager isn't really supposed to be

(28:18):
around the clubhouse, He's supposed tokind of let the guys police the guys,
so he doesn't really impact that.Okay, then George Spotter really doesn't
have and saying what's going on froma front office standpoint, that's Jim Crane,
the cronies, all due respect,Dama Brown. So what is it
that George Spotter? What is heactually doing? Do I need to get
another case of employment? I wantGeorge Spottle's job because he really doesn't seem

(28:41):
like he's responsible for anything. Yetas a multi millionaire, what exactly can
we look for Spotter to do?Well, manage personalities and make sure these
guys are rested and make sure they'rein a good mental frame of mind.
Go ahead. But that's kind ofthe modern game. I mean, when

(29:03):
you look at these lineups and whenpeople sit there and say, oh,
you know, this person's batting inthis position, and this person's batting there,
and this guy's not playing the nextday after having a big game,
think of it. Like traditional baseballpeople would probably not be making those moves.
So who it's more the analysts.Those are analytical moves, and certainly

(29:26):
a lot of people will will aremad at Jeff Bagwell and Jeff Bagwell blah
blah blah and this person and theinner circle and they need to stay away.
And but those are analytical type decisionswhen you see these lineups and you
see some of these guys in weirdspots in the lineup. As far as
quote unquote, I don't want tosay traditionalists, because even the traditionalists they

(29:53):
understand the value of stats and numbersand things like that, but there is
something that the numbers can't, can'tand never will be able to point.
It's feel. It's feel and whereguys feel most comfortable. This is the
veteran team, and for the mostpart, the core is they've been there,
done that, And yes, guyslike routine. And maybe sometimes people

(30:18):
will say they have a case ofprofessional itis where you know they're playing for
three weeks from now or September ormaybe the the intent is it what it
should be. But overall, theseguys know how to play, they know
what to do. They've been there, done that, and when you look
at these lineups and things like that, these are analyst lineups. That's the

(30:40):
point that Jeremy Booth and I havebeen making since since the beginning of the
season. Well, I respect youropinion. I wouldn't ask you to be
on the show, so I willtake that into consideration. That makes me
feel better right now. And no, I'm not gonna lose it. They've
won ten of twelve, they're stealingstriking distance of Seattle and the third wild
Cart, so I'm going to keepit. Well, they've done a great
job, Stan. I mean whenyou consider it this past month June,

(31:00):
I mean without Kyle Tucker, Berlanderhurt, this is still the DNA is
still a championship caliber team. It'sjust the margins continue to get thinner.
And thinner and thinner because of thelack of depth in the farm system,
and then obviously when you see guysleave over the course of how many years.

(31:23):
All right, so Jason Bristol Kangeore you anchor reporter in the extraordinary.
He does all the things. Soall right, bro, I saw
you were over at Toyota Center.Let's pivot read Shepherd, third overall pick
out of Kentucky introduced, how didit feel? I love like talking to
people that are in the building,in the room. I think sometimes some
of that stuff is palpable. Whatdid you think? How did it land

(31:45):
for you all? When you lookat what the rockets and how the Rockets
view this guy, I mean RaphelStone the night of the draft came out
and said we believe that he wasthe best prospect available by quite a bit.
One thing that I was yeah,I mean, one thing I was
struck by is man, either I'mgetting older or the kids get these players

(32:08):
are looking younger and you yeah,I mean one year of college basketball.
But certainly the pedigree Mom Dad starbasketball players at Kentucky. Something that was
really talked about was this family mottoor or saying that they have is you

(32:29):
can't be soft, and and Reidhas basically been in a fish bowl.
After talking to his mom and dad, it seems as though he's been in
a fish bowl. And I thinkcoming to Houston, well millions and millions
of people will actually be a goodthing for him because I don't want to
say he can blend in because he'sstill an NBA player. But when you

(32:50):
when when you hear about the pressurethat has been put on him since basically
middle school to live up to whathis parents were or be better and mister
All State, Gatorade Player of theYear, American, mister basketball in Kentucky,
you know, hopefully this is achance where he doesn't feel like all
eyes are on him. And Ilike the pick. I mean when when

(33:15):
when a team comes out I lovepeople with conviction. And when Raphelstone comes
out and says this was the webelieve he was the best player by quite
a bit, I'm fine with that. If you were going to put your
all your eggs in that basket,I'm fine with that. If you if
you have the conviction, all right, we will get you out of here.
On that one. We'll have to. We'll breach you back, man.

(33:37):
I appreciate you coming by next upfor a little bit. I'm up
against it. Follow him, won'tyou? Houston, Emmy Award winning TV
sports storyteller at k h o Utailor levin here Houston. You can follow
him on social at J Bristol bR I S t O L. Don't
forget the k h o U J. Bristol k h O you. I

(33:57):
appreciate it, good brother. Let'stalk down the roape, all right,
And we appreciate you being on ourshow Sunday nights. Thanks so much.
Yeah, thanks, you appreciate it. That's Jason Bruster. Can't tell you
friend of the show, friend ofthe fam, all right. On the
other side, I'll continue talking somemanstrows. I do need to brag on
a couple of people. And thereare some folks on my social and on
my damn phone line. They gotan issue with some of my baseball observations.

(34:19):
But we won't have an issue withover the fourth of July, fellas.
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(34:42):
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(35:05):
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Get studrx dot com. Who's gotnext? That's great one here? What's
coming next? What do we donext? And who's gotta take it to

(35:29):
the next level? Back to StatonNorthfleets and Chris Gordy. This is next
up by Sports Talk seven ninety.I think, oh man, it's tough
to to bunch a grin. Ido have faith in those guys just to

(35:50):
try to, you know, geta good picture head and dry somebody.
But you know, bunning fastballs upin its own in ninety eight. It's
very difficult thing to do. That'sa skipper over at Mini May Park.
Even though the team is in themidst of a ten game road trip.
They dropped game two up there theRogers Center north of the border. Our

(36:13):
brothers up there in Canada. Sevento six Astros, dude mount of comeback
led by a couple gentlemen. We'llget to here in just a minute.
But there it is, bottom ofthe ninth, Hm, Jeremy Pinyon,
I see you on the double,his fifteenth on the year. All right,
no eltse jp on second. JoeyLoperfedo's up and a Spoder says,

(36:40):
nah, wasn't trying to bunt.No need to play small ball there.
Joey Lopafedo strikes out swinging. Howmany pitches was this? It was six
pitches? All right? So oh, who wanted them to rhyme me that?
Somebody on social want to mind methat? Let me make sure I
recognize Lpenny w on social saying,did you forget Lopafito struck out before he

(37:07):
decided to pinch it for Salazar brother. They're not going to win every game
the rest of the year. That'snot the bleeper point. Of course,
they're not gonna win every game,but there are some games that they should
win. They had climbed back intothis one. This was a winnable game.
I'm sorry. When you have theHouston Astros DNA and pedigree and it's

(37:29):
the damn top of the ninth andthere's a chance to get jose L Tube
to play, which happened, andyou don't have any outs and the athletic
Jeremy Pinya is standing on second withno outs, that's kind of a game
I expect the Astros to win.Those are games that Astros have historically won.

(37:49):
Excuse me for that. So,yeah, I hear you, Lpenny
w And So the point was aSpotta was telling lopa Fido because he he
was going up against Chad Green.He was telling Lopafito, don't butt.
Okay, well, how were wegonna manufacture a run here? Because if

(38:12):
he's not gonna be able to buntand Chad Green throwing nine eight miles an
hour, how's he gonna get thebarrel or the bat on the ball.
Do we trust Lopafito in that spotor would we trust somebody like I don't
know moreci Yo Dubon in that spotit's madness analytics. Oh, appreciate my
brother. Jason Bristol at KHOU droppingby a channel eleven. He said,

(38:32):
what up the previous segment. Yougo back to Sports seven ninety dot com
or the free iHeartRadio app and listento Jay Bristol. Like him a lot,
appreciate him, Zach, the goodfolks over there. I miss Matt
Well. I need to see mistermutes or a noe. It's him,
all right, So then Trey Cabbagestrikes out, and then we know jose
L twove Is it's a rap.At that point, astros come up short

(38:53):
seven six. All right, letme go to the phone out here because
somebody else is asking some of thesame questions that I'm asking. We got
just a couple more minutes in thissegment. Eric at home NFL dot com
coming up top of the eleven o'clockhour. I need to bitch you mona
complain to him. I'm upset withhim. Write some stuff about my Texas
Johnny on the North side of thecity. You're next up, your last

(39:15):
caller talking about what the I havea couple of comments here, but about
what the veterans have to do onthis team. Just reminder, to remind
him, our last World Series MVPwas a rookie. Oh yeah, last
year we lost against THEE the Rangersseries because Penya and Tucker didn't hit.

(39:35):
The point being is that our youngguys are the ones that have to come
through for this team to you know, stay on pace and be a very
productive team and get our record backor it needs to be. It's not
the veterans, it's the young guys. That being said is that we lost
that game asterday because his father continuesto pinch hit for Salazar. The kid

(39:58):
yesterday had a single for an RBI, a walk and then had a hit
for a flyout. Does that soundlike a profile from a guy that isn't
hitting the ball And he did thattwice for Cabbage? Like what is this
love affair with Cabbage that you wouldn'tgive the kid that's been hitting all game
and making things happen, you know, and pinching for him in that situation,

(40:22):
Kenya needs to be able to stealthird. If you're not gonna bun
him, you got to do something. Oh, he's one of our fastest
dudes. You're wondering he's one ofour fastest guys that he can't try to
steal their I mean, we havea problem. We do have an issue
with our base running. Our baserunning is terrible. So that being said,
my big issue was with what hedid is Salazar again for Cabbage.

(40:43):
I don't get what his problem iswith Salazard, and that is what they
were doing with Dubon is like I'vebeen preaching about Dubon for like two years,
like Dadue needs to be on thestart line and back to Saladsar.
I mean that was just like,that's where he messed up the whole flow
right there. Appreciate you, Johnnyon the North side of the city,
and I just caught myself in error. The point still remains the same because

(41:07):
Johnny just brought it up. ThenI mentioned to open the show that Salazar
has saved his teams, but ona couple of occasions. What did I
just see some breaking news in theNBA. I'll get to that. As
you just saying doesn't involve the Rockets, I'm thinking about Karantini. Karantin,
he did do a couple of walkoff jobs there, but nonetheless, saves

(41:29):
Zalazard to Johnny's point, he walkedin the third, He singled to Wright
in the fifth, scoring John Singleton, moving Pina the third, and then
he flies out with good contact thecenter in the seventh. So there's a
guy that's had some activity, andyou, because the pitching change, you're
gonna now bring in Cabbage to pinchhit for Salazar. Just don't like that

(41:52):
move. I just don't. AndI still believe in everything that I said
about Mauricio Dubon. If you weregonna do it, Dubon should have either
gone in for the po Fito oryou bring in the Dubon if you're gonna
bat somebody for Salazar and not Cabbage, and then I'm totally comfortable. Jose
L two Ve goes down, Uh, it flies out to center. I'm

(42:14):
gonna live and die with what happenswith Josel two V in that spot.
Didn't have an issue with that.Now we I mean, we don't get
a chance to celebrate. We'll talksome more strokes on the other side.
Thank it, I didn't even getto they on home run. I got
bragg on Jordan. We'll do thaton those side. But I gotta squeeze
in some NFL NFL dot Com beingdisrespectful to the trajectory and the projection of

(42:35):
twenty four Houston, Texas, andwe will have none of it. Findal
hour of the show on the otherside. Sports Talks seven ninety. Now
what's next? Next stop? It'sthe next man up? Next stop,
the next step, take the nextstep, next up, stop, next
next stop? This he wants tobe next? This is next up with

(42:58):
stad Northfleeten Chris go, Let's seewhat's next next Sax. Final hour of
the week for me, least forus here. Sports Talk seven nineties show,
Next Up, Chris Gordy out stainFleet flying solo for another fifty nine
minutes. I say that that wasdisrespectful. There's Conndye McGovern. We call
him c mac around here. Appreciatehim holding me down from a production and

(43:20):
programming standpoint. Thanks to all ofyou, Yes you, Houston, best
city in America who allow us todo our thing and maintain your home for
Houston sports and uh yeah, Lisashared the number one show in the city
of Houston lad three months. Yeah, appreciate all of you doing that.
You missed the first hour. Goto Sports seven ninety dot com. You
can also go to the free iHeartRadioapp. Two weeks from tomorrow. Yeah,

(43:45):
Texans training camp on it properment.Yeah, not too long after that
week. Get some pass on andI get a different time. I get
a different glow. I feel gooduntil I read some bleep from people over
at NFL dot com. Particular writer. That's all my damn nerves. Let's
go to the guest line now,friend of the station, friend of the

(44:06):
show. Well, we talked tohim during draft time, just before and
right after as well. You knowhis work on NFL dot com. Brother
Eric ed Holme, lead draft writerNFL dot com. Good morning to you,
Eric. I like how you lureme into the Lions, then with
that friend of the program business andthen and then say, all right,
nice drawn, let's go. I'mkidding man, you know I love coming

(44:28):
on. What's going on? Everythinggood? No, everything is not good
because I'm reading your bleeping material andwe're gonna start right here. This came
out, I said, Eric,he had to think about me when he
wrote this. All right, soyou do a great job. I really
appreciate your work, all due respect. That's real. You know, you
gotta get somebody a compliment before youkick him in the jump. All right,
So you have an article up.It's from last week, though,

(44:50):
but I carried it over to thisweek. I was out a little bit.
Five NFL off season storylines that areoverblown and five that deserve more attention.
So I'm like, okay, that'sa good tease. Let me skim
this article and see what Eric's talkingabout here. Line and I overblown uh
huh Falcus QB situation. Don't knowwhat I agree with that one, but
okay, Caleb Williams, Yeah,probably a bit overblown. He's not that

(45:13):
guy, not to me. Bill'soff season. Yeah, they're in trouble
and getting down here to number fouroverblown charges need wide receivers. Yeah,
they do. Took a guy inthe first round the other year that worked
out so well. And then Iget down to number five overblown storylines.
The Texans as legitimate Super Bowl contenders. Explain yourself. Yeah, I don't

(45:37):
know that they're ready yet. Ithink we've obviously seen a franchise almost completely
change its vector in the last year. I don't want to make this seem
like I'm anti Texans are off ifanything. Yeah, as I pointed out
to you, I was higher onStroud than Young coming out. I thought
Will Anderson was the best player inthe drafts, regardless of position. I

(45:59):
love the off season moves. Thelast year I thought that, you know,
it definitely had a I almost feltfelt like them like I do about
the Washington Commanders now, Like everythingthey did last offseason excited me, and
everything they did during the season morethan backed it up. I couldn't have
predicted what they did last year.But progress isn't linear in this league,

(46:21):
and that that progressive, you know, one step at a time thing.
It doesn't always happen. There aresteps backward all the time in the NFL.
And you know, I've even arguedthis offseason that the Texans are a
better team on paper now than theywere one year ago. And that's exactly
the direction you want to go asfar as talent, right, you don't

(46:44):
want to be going the wrong direction. But that doesn't guarantee more wins.
And I think the schedule is goingto be, at least the second half
of it, it's gonna be anissue. And I don't know that they
have as clear a runway as Ithink some people feel they do. This
doesn't mean they're not contenders. Thisdoesn't mean they're not going to be competitive,

(47:05):
or that they're not on that superBowl path. It just means I
don't think we're going to be crowningthem champions or even by the end of
the year considering them major threats toa super Bowl. And that's I'll die
on that hill and you can stabme while I'm bleeding. No trust me.
I will know I value your opinionand I trust your work. Even

(47:27):
though we can have some healthy debate, as Gordian I do. Gordy's out
today, but we do it allthe time. Okay, So let's go
through what we would consider a championshipchecklist. Stay with me here, Yeah,
uh, competent front office, generalmanagement, head coaching. I think
you would give the Texans a checkwith the pairing of Domico and Nick ca
Sario. Can we check that next, no question at all, And and

(47:51):
the rest of the staff too.I mean, I love what I saw
from Bobby Slowick. Gross is agreat coordinator. O question, you know,
I mean that part of it isis in great hands. Okay,
so let's check that all right?Coming up next, our franchise quarterback check
you would agree with that, Yep, no question. I love what I
saw from one of the most poisedrookies in years. Okay, uh Win

(48:15):
Healthy by personnel, Laramie, TonzoShack, Mason, Titus Howard and some
young guys on the interior center andon that left side, but by and
large Win Healthy. I think youwould say check to that as well.
Adequate offensive line, I think,yeah, A A A reserve check is

(48:37):
how I would say. I definitelysaw progress in the group. I think
there is better depth, but youknow, we we we still have some
things to figure out up front.You know what is what is Kenyon Green
gonna end up being? You know, you know, right, Juice Scrugs
and other guys. Yeah, no, I mean I just think that with
with the offensive line, like youknow, there there are about four four

(49:00):
or five elite units and everyone elseis below that. I don't even know
if you say elite these days,it's such a problem rock in the league.
But or if I very respected units, and I don't know that I
can quite put the Texans in thatgroup yet. All right, that would
probably be fair for me, givenwhat you said about Kenyon Green and what's
going on the whole that left guardand the young guys that are somewhat upproving

(49:22):
Juice Scruggs, Jared Pattison at center. I do want to ask yourself,
we're talking offensive line. Blake Fishout of the second round out of Notre
Dame, do you see starter potentialat some point in the rookie season for
him? A good question. Youknow, he's a really interesting guy.
I don't know that I would haveconsidered him a second rounder in January,
but the more people I talked towas clear that there was a growing affection

(49:44):
for him. I mean, beforethey played a game at Notre Dame,
he was considered the better recruit thanJoe All. I mean that's something to
start with right there. Like talentwise, I don't think there's any question
there's some people have kind of whisperedthat he used to play with a little
more edge. People have said,hey, maybe he's better at guard.
You know, it kind of dependswhat their vision is for him and how

(50:07):
pro ready he's gonna be from thejump. I don't I don't have the
answers to those questions, but Ithink there there's more there than I realized
initially when I started scouting him andand you know, like I said,
if you told me six months agohe was gonna be that what a second
round pick. I don't know thatI would have endorsed it, but the
more I watched them, the moreinterested that I was. All Right,

(50:30):
so we've done hand coach GM,front office check, quarterback check, offensive
line. Let's just call it evenmaybe yeah, yep, right, skill
position, Miko, Steph Diggs,Tankdale, healthy, Joe Mixing, Dalton
Schultz check. It doesn't get muchmore check than that. I like it,

(50:52):
I really do. I think BrigainSchultz back was important. The move
is obviously a fascinating, you know, risk, and it's it's got to
feel good when a team like Houstoncan say, hey we can we can
rob one of the longtime conference powerhouses. Right for five years, the Bills

(51:12):
have been, you know, areally tough team and up and coming team,
the kind of team that the Texansare slowly becoming, I think.
But you know that that's a goodfeeling. That's not to say that Steph
doesn't come with with some questions too, right, and I think in year
one he'll be on his best behavior, so to speak, and and try
to fall line with the team element, but you never know, he's also

(51:36):
in that Antonio Brown stage of hiscareer. It's like it could go one
of two ways, like he couldbe a future Hall of Famer or things
could go sideways, you know,And I just that's hard to know exactly
where he is right now, buthe's he's obviously got number one ability.
Eric Adholm, lead draft writer NFLdot Com, joining us here on next
up stan Fleet flying solo today.All right, so just a couple of

(52:00):
defensive pieces, and I'm going toask you again the question we started with
past rush danil Hana, Will AndersonJunior, Denico Autry check. It doesn't
get much more check than that.I think that's gonna have to be what
drives the defense this year. Ithink that's gonna have to be. It's,
you know, it's superpower if youwill, and I think it ken

(52:20):
you know, obviously, the questionis how much better is that group right
there than the one that had apretty good player in Jonathan Gernard. I
mean, I think most people wouldrecognize that, you know, effort,
it's finishing ability. Is it amajor major upgrade? Significant? I don't
know, significant? No, Ithink again, I think it's a good

(52:44):
unit, but I just that's myquestion is how much did they significantly upgrade
on defenses? Is I guess thestill lingering issue for me. And let
me remind you that Derek Barnette getsacquired from Philly gets released. He was
a god saying for us late inthe year. Last year. He's now
more of a depth piece, soyou still have him, but now he

(53:05):
becomes your essentially fourth or fifth rusheras opposed to be in your second or
third. So I think that's acheck. Now here's one where it gets
a little dicey for me. Thisback in we both know to win in
this league you got to have somebodyto cover dudes. Derek Stingley junior win
healthy. Check the other three ifyou want to include the Nickel four,

(53:29):
Petrie, Jimmy Ward, perhaps RookieKamari, last of the slash Jeff Okudah,
and then Danze mc king the secondat the Nickel. I don't know
that I can go check on that. How would you rate that bunch?
Yeah, I'm kind of there withyou too, And I guess you'd include
Bullock as well. I mean,I don't know what he's gonna do and
you want. Yeah, That's whereI'm at. Yeah, in some form,

(53:52):
right, and so the depth isgetting better, you know Stingley,
you know again, I felt like, you know, we saw some strides
from him last year. Ward's gotsome skins on the wall. He's certainly
a guy who's been in big gamesand knows what is expected of, you
know, by Deem Tamaco, Ryansand company. So, yeah, lasted
or wasn't. I don't think abad pick at all, but you know,

(54:15):
there's some some limitation size wise,and there's still some some holes in
his game that I think there arequestions the need answering anyway. So yeah,
collectively, is it a special unitright now? I don't know that
you can say that. I thinkagain, if you feed off the pass
rush, you tackle well, andthen it kind of boils down to those
those big plays. That's what Ithink the formula was last year. Let's

(54:37):
let's let's not worry about giving upfour hundred yards in the game. Let's
get that key turnover, Let's getthat red zone stop. You know,
let's let's stop them on fourth downwhen they crossed the fifty yard line or
whatever it may be. And youknow, it worked for a half against
Baltimore sort of and then it didn't. And I guess my question is can

(54:59):
they have have a little bit morestopping power in general, and can they
continue being a timely clutch defense whenwhen they when they have to? Those
are those are steps forward that thatturn you from AFC contender into Super Bowl
contender. I think there's a bigdifference, especially with you know, maybe

(55:21):
maybe the power isn't quite there widespreadin the conference, but I still think
there are enough teams that will willstand in their way at least and be
you know, the Cincinnatis of theworld. And I think they're gonna bounce
back this year. I don't thinkBuffalo is going away. Why don't Why
does everybody believe Cincinnati like it?It's almost like Cincinnati gets credit for what

(55:44):
they did two years ago. ThisTexan team went into Cincinnati versus Joe Burrow
and beat them. And the gamethat c J Stroud basically still he had
two turnover. I think he hadthree turnovers, two picks almost had another
one comes to mind. Why won'tpeople and then the above, why do
y'all love on Buffalo so much?I love Josh Allen, I really do.

(56:05):
I spec Yeah, I don't knowthat you're gonna getna see as much.
I mean, I felt like,if you watch down the Stretch with
Buffalo, you know, Gabe Davisis barely getting the ball, like you
know, I don't think his lossis considered that major. You know,

(56:27):
Steph was catching five six balls forforty fifty yards and a lot of games
and that was after the OC change. Don't do that get to start the
season. He was a monster.Oh yeah, No, I'm just saying
from Buffalo's perspective, this is nota oh Diggs can't play. Okay,
you're saying Buffalo, it wasn't thatbig of a loss. Move on Buffalo

(56:50):
would already kind of turned the pagea little bit on Diggs and Davis.
I mean I felt like down theStretch, like you said, new play
caller, different kind of lens onhow to attack people, less of forcing
the ball into Steph fifteen times agame, and more of hey we have
James Cook, we have some tightends. We have this Khalil Shakir kid

(57:10):
who can who could play a littlebit. And it was more of a
ball distribution offense towards the end,and I don't know, so I guess
the question is how long will ittake to get them settled? How is
Miami gonna withstand the offseason losses andstill be trust to a tongueva in a

(57:32):
big spot? Not more than questionmark. I'm with you, man,
I here, believe me, nogo back. I swear I watched like
four Dolphins games and I thought,my god, I kind of forgot how
amazing they were at times last year. But it's that lack of thank you.

(57:52):
The postseason came and all those trackguys slowed down when they had to
go outside versus Patt and my homesup there in Arrowhead, Eric, I
wish I could argue with you somemore. Yeah, that's fair, and
I think, for really that's reallythe next step. When I talk about
the Texans, Yeah, they wentinto the jungle against Joe Burrow, but

(58:13):
they went twice in the M andT Bank Stadium in the Harbor of Baltimore
and they came up short both times. You cannot win in this league until
you can take your show on theroad and be as competitive against real competition.
And they have to go to Araahead this year. I think they
have to go to Green Bay thisyear. They have to go to Dallas
this year. We'll find out whatthese twenty four Texans are talking about.

(58:35):
Eric at home everybody, he's alead draft writer NFL dot Com. I
appreciate him dropping by as we're upagainst the fourth man. I hope you
enjoy yourself and I look forward toargue with you somewhere down the line.
I'm still alive, man, youknow, bloody, but still hanging in
there. Mass follow him, won'tyou, Houston? Thank you appreciate your
aer right follow his work, won'tyou? He is at Eric underscore ed

(58:59):
h O l M again, leaddraft rider of NFL dot Com. Let's
come back, Let's pop over backto the Toyota said, I want to
comment on young Reed Shepherd address theHouston media. What can we expect from
a dude? Dawning Jersey fifteen.The Sports Talk seven ninety Homer Rockets basketball
Next up continues on your computer.Listen to Sports Talk seven ninety on any

(59:23):
device with our free iHeartRadio apps.Something that we you know, focused on
improving within our team and then atarget of ours going into the offseason,
not just our guys growing in thatarea, but anybody that we felt like
we could get our hands on andselect. We'd like them to have that

(59:43):
in their skill set and obviously Readsone of the best at it, walk
it like a tucket head. Coachof the Rockets email Udoka at the introductory
pressor yesterday for newly acquired Read Shepherdthird over our pick out of Big Blue
Nation. That's the University Kentucky wherehe was missed basketball coming out of high
school in two thousand and three.The parents of Stacey and Jeff. By

(01:00:09):
the way, that's where he getshis first name from. Reed is his
mother's maid name. Two basketballers intheir own right. Jeff a former most
Outstanding player, two time national championfor the Wildcast. They're in Lexington and
they bring that winning DNA here toHouston. We so hope and it was

(01:00:29):
no secret the Rockets needed two things. They needed a rim protector and they
needed shooting. They did the formerduring last season's trade deadline where they went
and acquired Steven Adams, who wasthen hurt coming back from a knee injury.
He expects to be fully ready togo at the start of this season.

(01:00:49):
He along with Alprin, Shinghun andJock Landale will man the posts at
that center, spot the shooting whenyou're at aj Griffin who they just acquired
from Atlanta. And then the draftingof Reed Shepherd, who was their best
three point shooter would have been Fredvan Vliet from a year ago. Dylan
Brooks at times can give them somethree and D components, gone as Reggie

(01:01:13):
Bullock. Also Aaron Holliday comes back, so and then you know the scoring
from a Jalen Green a cam withmore off the bench. Tari has some
moments here and there, and thenthe development of Jabari Smith. So like
when I listened to what the guyshad to say from Toyota Center yesterday,

(01:01:35):
I had just a couple of observations. That was one email A Dooka has
been adamant about that from the momentthe season ended, they need shooting,
and he mentioned the rim protection withinreason, they have taken care of both
of those. I'm not saying it'sperfect or ideal. I'm saying David Lease

(01:01:57):
addressed it. Let's see how itlays out. Now. I want to
brag on a gentleman here because Ialso heard Raphael Stone, general manager of
the Rockets, he spoke yesterday.This is one of the biggest reasons that
Reed is re Shepherd. That iswhy he is here in Houston now.
The IQ in the DNA, itflashed in all these different ways. The

(01:02:20):
reds were really good, the shopselection was really good, the defensive players
were really good, and so itseemed to be It seemed to be a
real thing, and people who dothat in college at a super high level
have been extraordinarily successful in the NBA. General manager Raphael Stone, that's one

(01:02:42):
of the reasons that excites me aboutthis player. It's not just the fifty
plus percent shooting fifty two percent.It's not just that that's going to come
down in the NBA. Obviously,I said to wegx and Ross the night
we did the draft party or thedraft show from over Georgia, Brown,
I said, look, if hecan consistently be thirty nine, you know,

(01:03:04):
thirty to thirty nine, you know, flirt with forty forty one percent
cool, Just consistently do that andit'll be fine. But the other things,
the playmaking, the ball disruption,the vision. We'll talk a minute
about the work ethic, the basketball. IQ playing for two parents that understand
the game, but also playing ata high profile program like Kentucky with the

(01:03:28):
eyeballs and the expectation, and playingfor a guy that recognizes talent. John
Calipari. Say what you will aboutall the other stuff. No, he's
not the best Exits and O's coachthat I've ever seen. I know Cal
personally. I work for them orwith alongside the man at the University of
Kentucky as their broadcast partner. Calunderstands the NBA. He would not have

(01:03:52):
put his stamp on Reid if hedid not think Reid was ready. Now
that doesn't mean ready day one tobe an All Star. Let's be reasonable
here, but I get excited aboutthe addition of Reed Shepherd. Now,
when you look at the rosters full, they're at fifteen dudes, there is
nowhere for anybody else to go,and barring something just super blockbuster that would

(01:04:16):
knock all of us out of ourseats, this is gonna be the team
they run back. It's gonna belast year's team minus Reggie Bullock at Reed
Shepherd, AJ Griffin and some Commonand Steven Adams of course, and we'll
see how much time in Summer LeagueRead and AJ play. I imagine Reid

(01:04:36):
is going to get some Summer Leagueminutes. In fact, who do I
hear from on summer League? Wasthat Udoka? Or was that Raphaelstone talking
about Summer League? I believe thatwas Adokah Connor let me hear from coach
Udoka on the G League. Ibelieve that's Udoka. Three. Yeah.
I don't think I go in withany predetermined plan as far as going to

(01:04:58):
the G League or not. Obviouslylast year was beneficial for guys. Cam
wasn't playing as much early and heworked through some things there and came back
better. My men had the injury, so we've got them two or three
games down there coming off the injury. But it's nothing determined going into it.
I think it's an added benefit ofus. It need be. But
you know, in the perfect world, we love for read to jump into
the rotation, be a big partof it and not never have to see

(01:05:21):
the G League. If it's somethingyou need to do, then you know.
For years, I've seen a tonof success stories coming out of the
G League, playing guys that havenot played as much really getting some repetition
down there, and so no predeterminedplan and wait and see what happens as
far as that, but would loveto not even have to do it at
all. I'm sure he would too. Some league coming up, Rockets Lakers

(01:05:44):
think that's what July to twelfth,Bronnie James, he signed with the Lakers.
Reachepher, Bronnie James, Oh,don't could tell me about some league.
You can get a really good lookat guys and the competitiveness IQ all
those things that we've seen on filmand seen in workouts. Obviously a different
level with competition out there, butyou want to see who they are and
like Rafel spoke about their character,work, ethic, competitiveness and so yeah,

(01:06:08):
some guys have had rough starts theircareer in Summer League and by the
end of Summer League they're playing great. And so how fast someone can really
adapt to the NBA game and differentthings throwing at them. On the other
side, let's hear from Reed Shepherddirectly. I got one thinal something I
heard him say that jumped out tome. We'll pivot back to the Astros,
as we heard from general manager ofthe Astros that be Dana Brown.

(01:06:29):
He dropped by the Sean Salisbury Showthis morning. We'll clock out get ready
for a holiday weekend. Next upyour homie Houston Sports, the legendary KB
and Me with your non next uppictures. Tremble with fear, you run
all the rest o the comftree rightover with north Fleet and Gordy on Next
up Bellies, Tremble with hunger.Lunchtime is so close, Chill then show

(01:06:56):
down on more next time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Obviously, when
win a championship, you know,I think that's the that's the main goal
as a basketball players. You wantto win at the highest level and you
want to be the champion. Butyou know, at the end of the
day, being being a guy thateveryone looks at and knows he played really

(01:07:18):
hard, he played with a lotof uh positivity, He was a good
teammate, He was a good personoff the court. You know, I
don't want to just be known asa basketball player. I think it's very
important to get out in the communityand interact with the fans and have good
relationships with with your teammates and thecoaches, in the front office and and
everything everyone in Houston, just andjust being that good team and community guy

(01:07:43):
that looking back twenty years they're notlike, oh, he just played basketball.
He was he was a winner,he was a competitor, but also
he was a he was a goodperson. He don't deserve it. Green
Shepherd from the Toyota Center yesterday.The first thing out is mind winning championships.
He said the same thing to usmoments after being drafted last Wednesday.

(01:08:04):
Welcome back. In the next up, we got about another half hour,
a little bit less. We'll getyou over to the Matt Thomas Show,
Matt Thomas and Rossville Real. MattThomas, of course, is the radio
voice of the Houston Rockets and doesa damn good job at it, even
though he pisses me off with thesetext messages that he sends me out.
Matt Thomas and I June Gemini,y'all forgive us. We have a quirker

(01:08:26):
relationship. There are a couple otherthings I want to say about Reed Shepard
real quick again, Brownie James assigned this contract. Also the breaking news
a couple hours ago. If youhadn't seen it, maybe just now getting
ready for your lunch break. LebronJames has agreed to a two year,
one hundred and four million dollar extensionto return or a contract to go back
to Los Angeles, so he andson will play on the same team.

(01:08:47):
Surprise. So there's that. Bringingit back to Reeed Shepherd, a couple
of things I want to hear fromDana Brown here as we pivot into the
Astros. But the IQ deflections,the athleticism, the sneaky athleticism to be
able to play on ball or offthe ball. I love it right,

(01:09:09):
the willingness to play defense, theIQ to understand where to be when to
be there. Sometimes that can keepsize and lessen it as being a disadvantage.
But the things he was talking aboutthere, the personality, getting in
the community, being a good teammate, being a good citizen here in Houston.
Those things matter in the course ofnot individually, but the team framework.

(01:09:34):
And we've seen that in both theAstros and how they built this thing.
A lot of team first guys overthere. We've seen that since Dimko
has shown up as the head coach, a lot of team first, a
lot of me over there. It'sokay to have some depending on what your
resume has been. Obviously, Reidhadn't had the chance to earn that yet,

(01:09:57):
so you neique to me his personfinality, the DNA, the thought
process. All of that matches wherethis program is. And I thought Kelly
Eco did a great job in theathletic I respect the brother's work. The
last piece, the last paragraph ofa piece that he wrote a day or
so ago, I think surmises wherethe rockets are. And I tell you

(01:10:23):
what, let me digress before Iget to there. I am concerned about
one thing would reach Sheeppard and it'snot his size. When you're classified as
a one trick pony, which everybody'sgoing to talk about his shooting first,
I'm curious how will he handle thepressure in those moments when the Lakers are

(01:10:43):
here in Toyota Center and it's asoul out crowd because I watched it happen
and the majority of the people areclapping for Lebron. I was there,
I've seen it. I've seen Lebronin multiple arenas. It's like that everywhere
in the NBA, with the exceptionof about three places. How will we
respond win called upon when he's outthere and maybe it's D'Angelo Russell or Austin

(01:11:04):
Reeves or somebody's guarding him. Canhe consistently knock down the shots when everybody
knows that's what you're here to do. How will you handle that pressure?
And we won't know until we getthere. As his game develops, the
expectations will change, but for nowthey're going to be multiple times that Doka's

(01:11:25):
going to bring him off the bench, and it's going to be specifically to
get hot, real quick, getus back in this game narrative, this
deficit. Excuse me, build somemomentum so we can go on the run
and then go back to the bench. A lot of pressure back to Kelly
Eco as it pertains to the Rockets. In a fast paced NBA with player
movement afoot, with teams often findingthemselves stuck championship chasing or worse, unable

(01:11:51):
to climb out of mediocrity, theRockets are comfortable being patient, at least
in Phase two. We know thatwe've heard Till and Fertita as well as
Roethell Stone talk about Phase two lastsentence most important they beating. The Rockets
will play the waiting game, eitherfor one of their own youngins to propel

(01:12:15):
themselves in to start them, oran opportunity reveals itself to go get a
Devin Booker. Donovan Mitchell is goingback to Cleveland. I think about a
guy that's gonna be free agent.That free agent class next year eating great
right now. Jalen Brunson, JamalMurray, Brandon Ingram are some names.

(01:12:38):
Zion has been rumored to want outof New Orleans. We'll see what happens
there. I know he signed amassive extension, but you know, NBA
players can move however they want tomove. Raphael Stone, Tim and Fertita,
their brain trust high Gretcha. Thatbrain trust over at Toyota Center has
this team as about as well positionedas you can be. I said it

(01:13:01):
on Draft night to the guys.Rolphail Stone is in a situation now.
They have cap space. They don'thave a ton of it, but they
got some. They've got future draftcapital. They've got a young core.
What is it eight first rounders inthis young core contracts that you can move
off of in a New York minute, Fred van Vliet, that's a team

(01:13:23):
option for twenty twenty five. Youcan get off of that. Dylan Brooks
can be packaged at his expiring dealhere in the next season or two his
own self. In it's own right, you can move off Landale Jeff Green,
you can move off that like theirposition and win healthy. This is
at least a playing team. Ithink Udoka has a chance to put them

(01:13:44):
in a playoff team. This thingis coming together. But the best thing
about what the Rockets are is thatthey don't have to be hasty. They
can afford to be prudent and waitfor the proper deal to come to them.
So we don't talk a lot ofrockets around here. And I get
it. The team hadn't been greatsince Harden's been going and all of that,

(01:14:05):
and we get so astrup by whatthe Astros have been doing and what
the Texans did a season ago.And I'm right there with you're in supporting
those two outlets too. But Ilove the NBA. I have an affinity
for the Houston Rockets, and Ireally do have a respect for where Raphaelstone
and Email Udoka have this team positioned. Now after the draft, we'll see

(01:14:25):
what happens moving forward as we getcloser to training camp later in the fall
and into the regular season. Allright, let's come back. Let's hear
from general man. Just speaking ofmanagement and people that are proficient at the
job. Dana Brown joined the ShawnSalisbury Show. Let me get some highlights
from that, then we'll wrap up. I got a flight to catch.
Next up for another eighteen minutes SportsTalks seven ninety when fleets streets Houston listens.

(01:14:54):
Yes, I have a great shotalready a huge brand. I'm liking
your stuff. Stanton or Fleet andChris Gordy next on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Yeah. I mean, ultimately,the goal was we if we get
back to five hundred, we'll getback in this thing. We got back
to five hundred now, as Iwas talking about, before we can get

(01:15:15):
that five seven game run. Youget five over, seven over, you
know, and then just keep playinggood baseball. Before you know it,
you build yourself a league, anduh, you know, you're back in
first place. So, uh,you know, give give the guys credit
for having grit to fight through it, you know, with all the injuries
and different things that we've been facedwith this year. You know, but
ultimately this is a really good teamand uh, you know, these guys

(01:15:40):
are used to it. Take generalmanager of the Houston Astros, Dana Brown.
He was on the Sean Salisbury Showthis morning. Seawan Salisbury was out,
Dan Matthews was in. Brian Lolimaand Manuel holding things down from six
to ten am. We'll appreciate thoseguys each and every weekday morning. That

(01:16:00):
interview in its entirety, please goto Sports seven ninety dot com or use
the free I Heart Radio app.Beautiful thing about the free iHeartRadio app?
Really two things. One is freetoo. I takes it everywhere with me
when in my travels I'm out movingaround the city. Fleet you always got
your air pods in men, whatyoure doing? I'm listening what's going on?
So when guys around the station starttalking bleep Connor, I know the

(01:16:23):
list I'm listening all the time.I hear all the things being said.
Jack yasses all right, not toDana Brown. Sorry, all right,
So let me get back into thisthing. Astro's back in action. First
pitch take and place shortly after sixo'clock here game three versus the Toronto Blue
Jays up there in Toronto. DidI miss that? I say that incorrectly?

(01:16:47):
What time is that game? Imight have said that in correctly.
This is six or seven? Whattime we getting rolling today? Is Wednesday?
So you get Astros on deck atfive and then yeah, show lapter
six o'clock. We'll get first pitch. So who's out there today? Didn't
I see it was Frama going outthere today. I think from B is

(01:17:08):
going out there today. Yeah,it's from but from Oh no, I'm
sorry. Ronelle Blanco versus Kakuchi righthand of Ronell Blanco eight and three,
two point four to nine. Healready on the year Kokuchi four point one
eight. He's at four and eighton the end. So we'll see what
happens there. So I was alittle bit out of shape by what happened

(01:17:30):
last night. Spence and Irrigatty wentout there and he bleeped the bed and
he should have been pulled sooner.Some of you disagree with me, some
of you agree with me. I'llworry about the bullpen, potential bullpen game
on Friday. I'll worry about howtired the arms are. From Sunday,
I'll get all that. Hell,you had three days off the past ten

(01:17:54):
days. You had three days offback there the last week, week and
a half. This was a winnablegame. You cannot I mean, this
opponent, this isn't Seattle or theYankees. Ain'tbody like that. The Orioles
have been on fire. We knowwe beat them. Mike Cool. This

(01:18:15):
isn't the Mets like y'all with therun they've been on here recently. I
mean, this was a winnable game. Go win the damn game? And
where about tomorrow? Tomorrow? Andthe true baseball people, the traditionalists,
tell me, stand, that's nothow baseball do you want to win?
Or no, it's one of onesixty two. Okay, those ones add

(01:18:36):
up at the end of the day. One game here, one game there,
one game over there? All right, Dana Spencer, Arraghatty, How
we're gonna qualify what you saw fromhim last night? Let me quantify that
first, Irraghatdy, y'all saw that. Y'all watched the same thing I did.
It wasn't great. Four innings walkingfor, did have five k's,

(01:19:00):
six, earned a total of sevenruns, scored eighty nine pitches. Dana
Brown, what the hell's going onwith irrig Getty last night? Well,
I think he's just got to hitthe spots. You know. One of
the things with the pitchers, youknow, you have to execute the pitch.
You know, whether you're a rookieor whether you're a veteran, if
you don't execute the pitch, theseMajor league hitters are pretty good. So
if you don't execute the pitch,you're gonna get hit, regardless if you're

(01:19:23):
a rookie or veteran. And soI think he just simply missed the spot.
If he hits the spot, hegets through those innings and it's a
different ballgame, you know, Andthat's that's really the key. And you
know, ultimately, when we getgood starts, we're gonna, as I
mentioned, we're going to be inballgames. So I think he's definitely gonna
learn from it. You know,we got to minimize our mistakes in that

(01:19:45):
respect, and uh, you know, we we'll we'll have good, good
outcomes, all right, Joe managerDana Brown, how about this? Let
me hear one more. Dana Brownsomewhat lengthy the pitching rotation for the rest
of his series. Dana Brown nine. Yeah, we got a two horses
going the next two nights, anduh yeah, it seems like what we're

(01:20:08):
thinking about is, you know,we could we could go Duban again.
Uh, Dubin pitched very well forthose three and the thirds. What happened
is his pitch count got up.We're trying to build him up, and
so if we can continue to buildhim up. He could fill in that
spot, maybe into Boss comes back, or maybe until we make a trade.
But ultimately I thought he threw well, you know against the Mets.

(01:20:30):
You know, he no hit himfor three and the third his pitch count
got up, so we had topull him. And so you know,
he's got good stuff. He wasup to ninety seven the other day,
had the breaking ball was working,and so he gave him a couple of
hard hit balls. But you know, no damage was done. And you
know, so Dubin, you guysmay remember pitch some big games for us,

(01:20:50):
even last year. He had somebig starts, so I could certainly
see him filling that role and thenthat turns it back over and then will
be in good shape. But ourguys are in the grind and UH,
you know where we're gonna continue tomove forward, all right? General manager
Dana Brown, how they're gonna replaythe remainder of UH this series and what

(01:21:13):
that rotation? Potentially a bullpen gamethat's UH to start the Minnesota series on
Friday, he threw out Sean Dubin. I don't know what they're gonna do.
All I know is irrigated showed youthree starts ago, the same thing
happened. It was seven runs againin the first two winnings. Come on,
Joe and whether it's Joe Weather,whoever's giving him the lineup card,

(01:21:36):
fine, all right. Bottom lineis it was seven zip before we could
open our eyes. And then inthe fifth inning, some magic started happening.
They're says Salazar, he's driving.Here runs Jose al two Va,
he's driving in runs. And thenthe big boy, big boppy himself,
your daddy, let me, letme get some of that sweet music from
your daddy. Top of the fifthfor reals, with the three to zero

(01:21:59):
and Alvarez hits it in the airdeep to right field. Strigger is going
back looking got Clay. You're onwith a three run homer and the Astro
shrail seven to five. Second straightday with a homer and number eighteen on
the year for the pig Man.You're on Alvarez, Jordon, here they
come. You're on Alvarez setting onthe change up all the way through that

(01:22:23):
at bat, even on three andOho got the change up and didn't miss
it. What a blast. TheAstros right back in it with the five
spot. Huge fifth inning for theStros. They'd add on another run courtesy
Jake Mayas grounds out the second outto excuse me, Jordon scores that made
it seven to six there, howabout some of stoop base running from Jordon

(01:22:46):
ball gets away from second to shore, bouncing to the center field, Ordon
vary astutely. I'm gonna moodest thingover the third that allowed Jake Myers to
push him on in top of theeighth. And then it was there at
the bottom, excuse me, thetop of the ninth that I just don't
understand. Lowal Fedos going out thereand Mauricio Dubon doesn't get a shot.

(01:23:08):
Oh, then you're gonna pinch hitTrey Cabbage for Sazar Salazar who had an
RBI in the game and had goodcontacting two other at bats. And then
at the end of the day Josel two. They could not play hero
on this one. He flew outthe center all right, no harm,
no foul. Astros have still wonten of their last twelve, remained three

(01:23:29):
games back because the Mariners lose lastnight, three games back from the Al
West, three games back from thewild Card, so still in good position
there. We'll see what the Fellashave to do tonight. I will be
watching this from somewhere that is notHouston, Texas. That'll do it for
us here on next up for theweek, you get some national programming the
next two days. Back with youon Monday. I will not be here.

(01:23:51):
Gordy will be hope he's having agood, safe time wherever he is
somewhere doing some sec stuff. Idon't know what Bidy's doing, Connady McGovern
and let's go with these accents standNorthfleet. All of our guests this week,
including today Jason Bristol Khou as wellas my man Eric at home of
NFL dot Com, mat Thomas Ross, verryal coming your way. Enjoy your

(01:24:12):
fourth God willing will do it againon Monday. Y'all be well,

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