May 12, 2025 • 15 mins
Losing back to back series against the White Sox and the Brewers, the Astros turn things around drastically following their phenomenal weekend here at home against Cincinnati taking 2 of the 3 games from the Reds. With Hunter Brown on the mound opening the series followed with Ronel Blanco closing the series yesterday, Steve joins and shares his thoughts on the outstanding pitching performances from the weekend along with an update pertaining to when we can expect Yordan to return back to the lineup.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
And we welcome in Astros broadcaster Steve Sparks for his
weekly Monday visit at eight o'clock. Got to see it
from a different perspective yesterday he worked so hard, a
little time off, but got to see it. Steve, welcome
in shut out yesterday. Let's start war really matters, Renelle.
Blanco was really good. I mean you look at Hunter
Brown what Friday, and then Blanco on Saturday. Steve, you've
(00:24):
been saying for a couple of years now. Pitching staff
will take him where they want to go. The rest
will fall into place. You get starts like this from Blanco,
and obviously we expected from Hunter Brown on a regular
and then the bullpen does their gig this. They will
always hang around until the bats are ready to go.
With pitching like this. Blanco was sensation they have.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yeah. Yeah, Blanco was unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
I don't think a lot of people realize how consistent
he was last year.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
We know about the no kitter, but he had a
better or The Astros had.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
A better team record when he pitched, and the Detroit
Tigers had when Derek Scuball pitched, who was the Cy
Young Award winner. The Astros were twenty and nine when
Blanco pitched last year. That's how consistent he was at
keeping them in the game. And he's just been that
type of guy. To have him as your fourth or
fifth starter, to be able to go out there and
do stuff like eleven punchouts. It gets a pretty good
(01:16):
lineup with the Cincinnati Reds. Good patient lineup anyway. I
thought was very impressive. And he's been doing this for
a little bit, you know, under fan fair a little bit.
He's had a couple of clunkers this year, but I
think he's starting to get it rolling pretty good. We've
always talked about his ideal is to throw all four
of his pitches twenty five percent of the time, so
he's unpredictable, and that's what he's getting back to.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Hey, Steve, going back to last year when he turned
it around and had such a and at times when
they desperately needed him, he carried them last year. Well,
what's the difference in him last year and this year
than previous Well, you mentioned those getting all four of
those pitches to where it's it's the versatility and the
diversity of his pitches. But there's got to be more
to it than that. What is it what sparked the
(01:59):
turnround for him to worry? He became this guy.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
When I talk to the analytics people with the astros
and I say, why is he so good? Because with
my eyes, each pitch in a vacuum doesn't look to
be that good. They tell me that he tunnels, in
particular his fastball and slider. He tunnels his pitches probably
better than anybody else in the major leagues, which means
to a hitter, his fastball and a slider halfway home
(02:28):
look identical. So one goes one way, one goes the
other way, and that's very frustrating. So I don't know
how he does it, and I don't know what the
secret is to be unable to tunnel your pitches very well.
But I think, in a nutshell he repeats his.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Delivery really well.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
But I think that's the secret sauce more than anything else,
all this pitches halfway home look the same.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Steve, thirty games in, are you pleased or at least
getting more pleased with the pitch selection. I'm talking about
the hitters, about out how they're the discipline at the plate.
Are they getting closer? Just from your naked eye.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Yes, you know, and it always comes back to the results,
you know, and you can you can look at Brendan
Rodgers or somebody like that and say, Okay, don't change anything,
because look at these numbers. Your hard hit rate is
the highest on the team. You're going to get more love,
you're expected batting them. You know, you look at these
nerdy stats, but they can prove to a guy that
(03:29):
what you're working on is the right thing to do.
So don't change things too quickly. And I think that's
the beauty, you know, of the cameras and the numbers
and all of that is is when to change things,
when to make adjustments, and when not to. And I
think the astros are kind of getting rewarded because we
kept talking about man, they're hitting the ball right at them.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
You know.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
We used to always be able to say that as
a blanket statement, but we couldn't back it up as
well as we could now with hard hit rate and
exit velocity and things like that, which is helpful. I
love that, you know, you can say, hey, you know,
this picture might be getting unlucky right now because of this,
you know, all the soft contact. So I think in
that regard, this stuff is great for these guys, and
(04:11):
I think it's starting to pay off with with Christian Walker.
Of course, he's swinging the bat much better. Pain has
been fantastic, Yan, your Diaz has been great, great, and
it's all you know. The theme I think for all
of this, Sean, is that they're picking up the slack.
The Jordan has been out, you know, for eight or
nine days now, and the Astros have an ops of
over eight hundred since he's been out, so a lot
(04:34):
like last year with Kyle Tucker when they were fifteen
games above five hundred in his absence. They do a
good job of picking up the slack offensively.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Astos broadcaster Steve Sparks for his weekly eight o'clock visit
here on Sports Talk seven ninety Sean Salisbury Schell Steve
watching Pain you play. I know you rave about him,
did It's it's I don't even know by saying different,
the table set or the energy, it's it. It's a
no brainer.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
He is.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
This team's gonna go where he takes him. I understand
the Yorda. You get my point at the top of
the there's an energy about him that's starting to permeate.
And when I want when he's going good. It feels
like everybody feeds off it. So whatever it is that
he's accepted and decided to take more on and do it,
he's doing it at a high level right now, on
both defense and offense. I'm loving watching his Another addition
(05:25):
to his.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Game me too.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
You know, he's third in the American League and more,
he's best among all American League shortstops.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Here's the thing for me. I think base running kind
of like.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
A book cover to your player, to a player, when
you watch him take secondary leads, you watch him take
extra bases, you watch him hustle down the first baseline,
I think that's almost.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
A window to his baseball soul.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
You know, you learn about what he's really about as
a baseball player.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
What's cam Smith.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
By the way, his base running is impeccable too. That's
the that's the book cover to this player. And I
think that means anything, That means everything, and I think
that permeates as you mentioned, you know, to the rest
of the team. Put him at the top of the
lineup and you watch him spark the team with his play,
and he's just coming into his own. I think he's
(06:17):
figured some things out offensively to allow him to get
into a position to let his talent take over. And
we've always seen the twitch. We know he's got fast hands.
In a ninety eight mile apart our fastball is probably
not going to beat him. But now I think he's
able to relax because of less movement and less things
going on in his stance and the setup that everything's
(06:41):
starting to come into everything.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Man, he just practices right.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Right, Steven, you mentioned the book could be pretty easy
to write the forward about what kind of player this
guy is for his book right now, write that energy
with it. Steve, did you see him? Was there ever
a part of you over these last three years? It said?
That's a natural leadoff hitter, and do you believe he is?
But that's where he needs to stay.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Well. Talking to him after he was one of our
he was a player of the game for us.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Maybe the second or third day after he was batting
lead off to asked him, I said, hey, man, how
do you feel in a postgame interview? How do you
feel at the leadoff spot? Have you done it before?
Because it just clicked in my mind. He looks like
he loves it, and he said, man, I've been a
lead off hitter my whole life, you know, growing up,
you know, college.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
So in his mind he's a leadoff hitter, and in
your mind, you're a leadoff hitter.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
I think that's where you need to be if you're
decent at it, and I think he loves it.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
And I think he.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Relishes the opportunity to put the astros on the scoreboard
with one swing. But I think he also relishes the
opportunity to get an infield hit, which, by the way,
he had thirty one of them last year and that
led the major leagues.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
I think he can.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
He can beat you in a lot of different ways,
and he loves doing that. I think he's one of
those types of players who likes to show off his
talent in one of them is.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Yeah and Steve. I think that he takes I think
he's better when he takes on more. I know some
guys can't say. It feels like, oh, you only to
be in the lead, okay, cool, Oh you need me
in a gold glove. Oh I need to be a
table setter with a little bit of power and run
the bases, get from first to third. He's been I've
enjoyed watching played the last three years, No more than
I do now. I mean this is he's his energy's
(08:20):
gone to a new level. Okay, five years from now,
if this assent continues, how or where is the ceiling
for Hunter Brown? What are we going to be saying
about him three, four or five years from now? At
this a sense? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Yeah, man, what he's been able to do since the
beginning of last year is pretty incredible. You know, just
to watch his confidence and the way he he's kind
of taken over a leadership.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Role, you know, without ver Land or now in the clubhouse.
You know, he.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
Voices his opinion and I think guys look to him
and admire the way he's been able to.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Turn it around.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
A lot about a guy when there's adversity. And he
was at a pretty low point last year, and we
talked about this. I thought he was. I thought he
was on the verge of getting sitting down to Triple
A to try to figure some things out. But he
figured it out on a big stage. And now he's
arguably one of the best pitchers in baseball. So where
is he going to.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Be in five years?
Speaker 3 (09:20):
I think, you know, it's a hard game to stay healthy,
and I'll say that, but you know, if he stays healthy,
I think he's he's going to be looked at it
kind of like Roy Oswalt type, you know. I think
right now he's pitching like roy did at the peak
of his of his tenure with the Astros.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Steve, Yeah, if if the energy, if if we're talking
about a futures bet and the way that Penya and
Brown are going, if those are the pitchers, slash everyday
player aside from all the other players, that the energy
is going to be set in the toughness the Astros
windows is kicked wide open. There's no question about all right, Steve,
we're not talking to I mean, you can't and it
wouldn't be fair anyway. About the mccullors, all the field stuff.
(10:00):
I don't want to talk anything about that. I would
not put you in that bind anyway. On the field,
right which I want to focus on. What'd you see
Saturday with him just coming right out anything centered just
nerves early, Steve, it's a second start trying to figure
it out.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
There's probably nerves, you know, pitching it at home for
the first time too, But what I see more than
anything is just a ton of movement on his change up.
I see a ton of movement on his sinker, a.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Ton of movement.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
His sweeper breaks almost twenty five inches. I mean just
a ton of movement, and he spends it.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
In the ball just moves so much.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
So I think being able to tighten up some of
the movement on those pitches might help him just to
just to get into the zone a little.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Earlier and make guys make bad decisions later on. Right now,
I think.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
They're making good decisions because he's fallen behind in the count.
And one thing I remember most about Lance is when
he had a bad game before. I remember talking about
this in our pre game shows. You know, when he
was about to start that next game, he bounces back
and makes corrections faster and better than just about anybody
(11:09):
the Askers have had in the last ten years. So
I expect him to figure it out really quickly. He's smart.
He his stuff is still really good. His fastball is
not as as boring as it once was, but it
still has great movement. And I think his secondary stuff,
especially his change up, is really really good. And once
(11:30):
he starts getting ahead of the count, he'll get a
lot of chase on those pitches. But you don't get
a lot of chase on pitches that move a lot
once you fall behind. So the key is getting ahead
for him. But I think he's as good as it
gets is as far as bouncing back from a clunker
and pitching really well for a good extended period of time.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
His answers are going to be patient, and I don't.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Blame him, Yeah, no question about it. All that hard
work he's put into it to get back. Steve. Interestingly enough,
when you're behind and you're not throwing those competitive strikes
because of all the movie, it makes it easier for
them to do their thing. I'm just curious, and I
know this sounds odd, but and you said tighten it up,
I think that you could could in the fact that
we got to say, hey, dude, you've got great spin.
(12:11):
You almost got to back off on the spin, so
they're more competitive to get ahead in the count. I mean,
I know it's odd to say that at a time
when people want to spin, spin spin, but in truth, Steve,
it's almost like we we got to have him at
eighty five percent of the spin than one hundred percent
of it, right, I mean, to get ahead and to
throw early strikes at least competitive pitches that make people
(12:31):
want to chase that's not out of the strike zone.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
I've told you this a bunch of times.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
When it looks like guys are kind of nitpicking, you know,
early in the counts, I think you just got to
set right down the middle of the plate with lance
early in the counts, and as scary as that is
for a pitcher, and it's got to be.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
You don't want to.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
You don't want to his ball moves so much. You
just want to allow for as much movement to get
over the plate somehow, because the movement's going to be fine.
The stuff right in the middle of the plate with
movement is fine. But if it moves to the outside
corner of fine. But if you if you're thinking about
the catcher on the outside corner early in the counts
and you miss just a little bit, then you've got
(13:12):
no chance for a guy to offer at it. So
I think the catcher needs to start down the middle
early and then starting once you get ahead, start moving
toward the corners later in the counts.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Get it.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Yeah, that guy who's got that power draw, got a
trust You can aim right and you're still going to
hit it. Where you want to throw in the middle.
With all that movement, Steve, you still catch part of
the play. At least it starts competitive and then you
can start to dabble outside the strike zone, right Steve,
Because you're right, you're not going to live. You're not
going to live in the middle of the plate. You'd
like to get ahead and then do your thing. But
it's odd. We don't ask a lot of guys to
(13:42):
back off spin. But you're exactly right, Steve. It's the
only a small miss.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Really good right right.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
But his stock is still really electric. I mean, his
fastball doesn't have ninety ninety six right now, and it
might get to close to that later, but it's he
still has plenty. But his other stuff is really good.
It's it's better than most. Probably unfair to say that it's.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Going to bounce back right away. You know, that would
be great if it does.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
But I think they're going to be patient, and I
think we're going to see certainly an improvement for the
last game.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
He's got a pretty good constitution, doesn't he, Steve. His
constitution to get ready is pretty good, right, I mean,
like Clydesdale Art.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Yeah, yeah, Well he'll be good.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Yeah, Well, heck what twenty and nineteen at this stage
of the game and a talented Reds team, but two
great pitching performances and get a lance back at it
because you're going to need him as this goes on.
There is no doubt about it. And I know we're
waiting and Steve real quick. Any any laid updates on
the timing of jord On Do you think we see
him this week?
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Well, I know he's been improving. I know when he
shows up to the ballpark today, if he still feels good, uh,
he's going to swing a bat for the first time,
and I think swinging the bat. Jordon's been one of
the most quick to get into the line once he
deems himself ready of anybody that I've seen in a
long time. He doesn't typically need it, you know, to
(15:06):
go down on rehab to get ready. He can get
ready in the cage quicker than anybody. So that's in
the past. That's where I think it is so to
be able to.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Come off maybe before the Ranger Series.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
I think the Astros you know, are crossing their fingers
that that might happen. If he comes to the ballpark
and feels good, swinging it today.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
That'd be awesome. It'd be great to get him back
in if people are starting to pick up the temple
a little bit and hit that ball hard, which is
great news. And the pitching staff two of the three
games was lights out, Steve, great stuff, brother. We always
appreciate you chiming in and have a good week and
we'll look forward to next Monday's conversation.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
All right, thanks for having me, Sean.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Thanks, that's great Steve Sparks. And he's right. Man, you know,
isn't an amazing dead Dan. You got to tell a
guy and man, you got a little two bud spid
And we welcome in Astros broadcaster Steve Sparks for his
weekly Monday visit at eight o'clock. Got to see it
from a different perspective yesterday he worked so hard, a
little time off, but got to see it. Steve, welcome
in shut out yesterday. Let's start war really matters, Renelle.
Blanco was really good. I mean you look at Hunter
Brown what Friday, and then Blanco on Saturday. Steve, you've
(00:24):
been saying for a couple of years now. Pitching staff
will take him where they want to go. The rest
will fall into place. You get starts like this from Blanco,
and obviously we expected from Hunter Brown on a regular
and then the bullpen does their gig this. They will
always hang around until the bats are ready to go.
With pitching like this. Blanco was sensation they have.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yeah. Yeah, Blanco was unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
I don't think a lot of people realize how consistent
he was last year.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
We know about the no kitter, but he had a
better or The Astros had.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
A better team record when he pitched, and the Detroit
Tigers had when Derek Scuball pitched, who was the Cy
Young Award winner. The Astros were twenty and nine when
Blanco pitched last year. That's how consistent he was at
keeping them in the game. And he's just been that
type of guy. To have him as your fourth or
fifth starter, to be able to go out there and
do stuff like eleven punchouts. It gets a pretty good
(01:16):
lineup with the Cincinnati Reds. Good patient lineup anyway. I
thought was very impressive. And he's been doing this for
a little bit, you know, under fan fair a little bit.
He's had a couple of clunkers this year, but I
think he's starting to get it rolling pretty good. We've
always talked about his ideal is to throw all four
of his pitches twenty five percent of the time, so
he's unpredictable, and that's what he's getting back to.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Hey, Steve, going back to last year when he turned
it around and had such a and at times when
they desperately needed him, he carried them last year. Well,
what's the difference in him last year and this year
than previous Well, you mentioned those getting all four of
those pitches to where it's it's the versatility and the
diversity of his pitches. But there's got to be more
to it than that. What is it what sparked the
(01:59):
turnround for him to worry? He became this guy.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
When I talk to the analytics people with the astros
and I say, why is he so good? Because with
my eyes, each pitch in a vacuum doesn't look to
be that good. They tell me that he tunnels, in
particular his fastball and slider. He tunnels his pitches probably
better than anybody else in the major leagues, which means
to a hitter, his fastball and a slider halfway home
(02:28):
look identical. So one goes one way, one goes the
other way, and that's very frustrating. So I don't know
how he does it, and I don't know what the
secret is to be unable to tunnel your pitches very well.
But I think, in a nutshell he repeats his.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Delivery really well.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
But I think that's the secret sauce more than anything else,
all this pitches halfway home look the same.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Steve, thirty games in, are you pleased or at least
getting more pleased with the pitch selection. I'm talking about
the hitters, about out how they're the discipline at the plate.
Are they getting closer? Just from your naked eye.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Yes, you know, and it always comes back to the results,
you know, and you can you can look at Brendan
Rodgers or somebody like that and say, Okay, don't change anything,
because look at these numbers. Your hard hit rate is
the highest on the team. You're going to get more love,
you're expected batting them. You know, you look at these
nerdy stats, but they can prove to a guy that
(03:29):
what you're working on is the right thing to do.
So don't change things too quickly. And I think that's
the beauty, you know, of the cameras and the numbers
and all of that is is when to change things,
when to make adjustments, and when not to. And I
think the astros are kind of getting rewarded because we
kept talking about man, they're hitting the ball right at them.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
You know.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
We used to always be able to say that as
a blanket statement, but we couldn't back it up as
well as we could now with hard hit rate and
exit velocity and things like that, which is helpful. I
love that, you know, you can say, hey, you know,
this picture might be getting unlucky right now because of this,
you know, all the soft contact. So I think in
that regard, this stuff is great for these guys, and
(04:11):
I think it's starting to pay off with with Christian Walker.
Of course, he's swinging the bat much better. Pain has
been fantastic, Yan, your Diaz has been great, great, and
it's all you know. The theme I think for all
of this, Sean, is that they're picking up the slack.
The Jordan has been out, you know, for eight or
nine days now, and the Astros have an ops of
over eight hundred since he's been out, so a lot
(04:34):
like last year with Kyle Tucker when they were fifteen
games above five hundred in his absence. They do a
good job of picking up the slack offensively.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Astos broadcaster Steve Sparks for his weekly eight o'clock visit
here on Sports Talk seven ninety Sean Salisbury Schell Steve
watching Pain you play. I know you rave about him,
did It's it's I don't even know by saying different,
the table set or the energy, it's it. It's a
no brainer.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
He is.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
This team's gonna go where he takes him. I understand
the Yorda. You get my point at the top of
the there's an energy about him that's starting to permeate.
And when I want when he's going good. It feels
like everybody feeds off it. So whatever it is that
he's accepted and decided to take more on and do it,
he's doing it at a high level right now, on
both defense and offense. I'm loving watching his Another addition
(05:25):
to his.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Game me too.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
You know, he's third in the American League and more,
he's best among all American League shortstops.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Here's the thing for me. I think base running kind
of like.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
A book cover to your player, to a player, when
you watch him take secondary leads, you watch him take
extra bases, you watch him hustle down the first baseline,
I think that's almost.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
A window to his baseball soul.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
You know, you learn about what he's really about as
a baseball player.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
What's cam Smith.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
By the way, his base running is impeccable too. That's
the that's the book cover to this player. And I
think that means anything, That means everything, and I think
that permeates as you mentioned, you know, to the rest
of the team. Put him at the top of the
lineup and you watch him spark the team with his play,
and he's just coming into his own. I think he's
(06:17):
figured some things out offensively to allow him to get
into a position to let his talent take over. And
we've always seen the twitch. We know he's got fast hands.
In a ninety eight mile apart our fastball is probably
not going to beat him. But now I think he's
able to relax because of less movement and less things
going on in his stance and the setup that everything's
(06:41):
starting to come into everything.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Man, he just practices right.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Right, Steven, you mentioned the book could be pretty easy
to write the forward about what kind of player this
guy is for his book right now, write that energy
with it. Steve, did you see him? Was there ever
a part of you over these last three years? It said?
That's a natural leadoff hitter, and do you believe he is?
But that's where he needs to stay.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Well. Talking to him after he was one of our
he was a player of the game for us.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Maybe the second or third day after he was batting
lead off to asked him, I said, hey, man, how
do you feel in a postgame interview? How do you
feel at the leadoff spot? Have you done it before?
Because it just clicked in my mind. He looks like
he loves it, and he said, man, I've been a
lead off hitter my whole life, you know, growing up,
you know, college.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
So in his mind he's a leadoff hitter, and in
your mind, you're a leadoff hitter.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
I think that's where you need to be if you're
decent at it, and I think he loves it.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
And I think he.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Relishes the opportunity to put the astros on the scoreboard
with one swing. But I think he also relishes the
opportunity to get an infield hit, which, by the way,
he had thirty one of them last year and that
led the major leagues.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
I think he can.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
He can beat you in a lot of different ways,
and he loves doing that. I think he's one of
those types of players who likes to show off his
talent in one of them is.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Yeah and Steve. I think that he takes I think
he's better when he takes on more. I know some
guys can't say. It feels like, oh, you only to
be in the lead, okay, cool, Oh you need me
in a gold glove. Oh I need to be a
table setter with a little bit of power and run
the bases, get from first to third. He's been I've
enjoyed watching played the last three years, No more than
I do now. I mean this is he's his energy's
(08:20):
gone to a new level. Okay, five years from now,
if this assent continues, how or where is the ceiling
for Hunter Brown? What are we going to be saying
about him three, four or five years from now? At
this a sense? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Yeah, man, what he's been able to do since the
beginning of last year is pretty incredible. You know, just
to watch his confidence and the way he he's kind
of taken over a leadership.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Role, you know, without ver Land or now in the clubhouse.
You know, he.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
Voices his opinion and I think guys look to him
and admire the way he's been able to.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Turn it around.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
A lot about a guy when there's adversity. And he
was at a pretty low point last year, and we
talked about this. I thought he was. I thought he
was on the verge of getting sitting down to Triple
A to try to figure some things out. But he
figured it out on a big stage. And now he's
arguably one of the best pitchers in baseball. So where
is he going to.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Be in five years?
Speaker 3 (09:20):
I think, you know, it's a hard game to stay healthy,
and I'll say that, but you know, if he stays healthy,
I think he's he's going to be looked at it
kind of like Roy Oswalt type, you know. I think
right now he's pitching like roy did at the peak
of his of his tenure with the Astros.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Steve, Yeah, if if the energy, if if we're talking
about a futures bet and the way that Penya and
Brown are going, if those are the pitchers, slash everyday
player aside from all the other players, that the energy
is going to be set in the toughness the Astros
windows is kicked wide open. There's no question about all right, Steve,
we're not talking to I mean, you can't and it
wouldn't be fair anyway. About the mccullors, all the field stuff.
(10:00):
I don't want to talk anything about that. I would
not put you in that bind anyway. On the field,
right which I want to focus on. What'd you see
Saturday with him just coming right out anything centered just
nerves early, Steve, it's a second start trying to figure
it out.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
There's probably nerves, you know, pitching it at home for
the first time too, But what I see more than
anything is just a ton of movement on his change up.
I see a ton of movement on his sinker, a.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Ton of movement.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
His sweeper breaks almost twenty five inches. I mean just
a ton of movement, and he spends it.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
In the ball just moves so much.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
So I think being able to tighten up some of
the movement on those pitches might help him just to
just to get into the zone a little.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Earlier and make guys make bad decisions later on. Right now,
I think.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
They're making good decisions because he's fallen behind in the count.
And one thing I remember most about Lance is when
he had a bad game before. I remember talking about
this in our pre game shows. You know, when he
was about to start that next game, he bounces back
and makes corrections faster and better than just about anybody
(11:09):
the Askers have had in the last ten years. So
I expect him to figure it out really quickly. He's smart.
He his stuff is still really good. His fastball is
not as as boring as it once was, but it
still has great movement. And I think his secondary stuff,
especially his change up, is really really good. And once
(11:30):
he starts getting ahead of the count, he'll get a
lot of chase on those pitches. But you don't get
a lot of chase on pitches that move a lot
once you fall behind. So the key is getting ahead
for him. But I think he's as good as it
gets is as far as bouncing back from a clunker
and pitching really well for a good extended period of time.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
His answers are going to be patient, and I don't.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Blame him, Yeah, no question about it. All that hard
work he's put into it to get back. Steve. Interestingly enough,
when you're behind and you're not throwing those competitive strikes
because of all the movie, it makes it easier for
them to do their thing. I'm just curious, and I
know this sounds odd, but and you said tighten it up,
I think that you could could in the fact that
we got to say, hey, dude, you've got great spin.
(12:11):
You almost got to back off on the spin, so
they're more competitive to get ahead in the count. I mean,
I know it's odd to say that at a time
when people want to spin, spin spin, but in truth, Steve,
it's almost like we we got to have him at
eighty five percent of the spin than one hundred percent
of it, right, I mean, to get ahead and to
throw early strikes at least competitive pitches that make people
(12:31):
want to chase that's not out of the strike zone.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
I've told you this a bunch of times.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
When it looks like guys are kind of nitpicking, you know,
early in the counts, I think you just got to
set right down the middle of the plate with lance
early in the counts, and as scary as that is
for a pitcher, and it's got to be.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
You don't want to.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
You don't want to his ball moves so much. You
just want to allow for as much movement to get
over the plate somehow, because the movement's going to be fine.
The stuff right in the middle of the plate with
movement is fine. But if it moves to the outside
corner of fine. But if you if you're thinking about
the catcher on the outside corner early in the counts
and you miss just a little bit, then you've got
(13:12):
no chance for a guy to offer at it. So
I think the catcher needs to start down the middle
early and then starting once you get ahead, start moving
toward the corners later in the counts.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Get it.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Yeah, that guy who's got that power draw, got a
trust You can aim right and you're still going to
hit it. Where you want to throw in the middle.
With all that movement, Steve, you still catch part of
the play. At least it starts competitive and then you
can start to dabble outside the strike zone, right Steve,
Because you're right, you're not going to live. You're not
going to live in the middle of the plate. You'd
like to get ahead and then do your thing. But
it's odd. We don't ask a lot of guys to
(13:42):
back off spin. But you're exactly right, Steve. It's the
only a small miss.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Really good right right.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
But his stock is still really electric. I mean, his
fastball doesn't have ninety ninety six right now, and it
might get to close to that later, but it's he
still has plenty. But his other stuff is really good.
It's it's better than most. Probably unfair to say that it's.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Going to bounce back right away. You know, that would
be great if it does.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
But I think they're going to be patient, and I
think we're going to see certainly an improvement for the
last game.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
He's got a pretty good constitution, doesn't he, Steve. His
constitution to get ready is pretty good, right, I mean,
like Clydesdale Art.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Yeah, yeah, Well he'll be good.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Yeah, Well, heck what twenty and nineteen at this stage
of the game and a talented Reds team, but two
great pitching performances and get a lance back at it
because you're going to need him as this goes on.
There is no doubt about it. And I know we're
waiting and Steve real quick. Any any laid updates on
the timing of jord On Do you think we see
him this week?
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Well, I know he's been improving. I know when he
shows up to the ballpark today, if he still feels good, uh,
he's going to swing a bat for the first time,
and I think swinging the bat. Jordon's been one of
the most quick to get into the line once he
deems himself ready of anybody that I've seen in a
long time. He doesn't typically need it, you know, to
(15:06):
go down on rehab to get ready. He can get
ready in the cage quicker than anybody. So that's in
the past. That's where I think it is so to
be able to.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Come off maybe before the Ranger Series.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
I think the Astros you know, are crossing their fingers
that that might happen. If he comes to the ballpark
and feels good, swinging it today.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
That'd be awesome. It'd be great to get him back
in if people are starting to pick up the temple
a little bit and hit that ball hard, which is
great news. And the pitching staff two of the three
games was lights out, Steve, great stuff, brother. We always
appreciate you chiming in and have a good week and
we'll look forward to next Monday's conversation.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
All right, thanks for having me, Sean.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Thanks, that's great Steve Sparks. And he's right. Man, you know,
isn't an amazing dead Dan. You got to tell a
guy and man, you got a little two bud spid
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