September 11, 2024 • 11 mins
The Athletic's Astros beat writer, Chandler Rome joins The A-Team for his weekly visit. He talks about just how much of a threat the Seattle Mariners are to overtake the Astros in the AL West. What to expect tonight from Hunter Brown against the Oakland A's. Plus, Kyle Tucker's return and Justin Verlander's chances to make the postseason pitching rotation.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It is five o'clock.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
It is a Wednesday, which means Chandler Rome of the
Athletic to join us here for the next several minutes
to talk about all things Astros baseball.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
I feel like the last several weeks.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
In a row when he's come on, it hasn't been
after a particularly memorable performance, although I guess you could
say last night was memorable since they got bunted to
death in the twelfth inning. Chandler, what to make of
a situation that, you know it creeps its ugly head up.
The Astros in this case have a pitcher who's starting,
(00:30):
who recovers, and then the offense just can't match what
he's able to kind of do to write the ship
on any given night.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Yeah, and it should be noted that JP Sears has
become like an Astros killer. This is the guy that
two years ago, when he came in and shut them down,
they changed the batter's eye. He's part of the reason
that the batter's eye got changed and extended a couple
of years ago. They always have problems hitting JP Seears
for some reason. And then you know, you kind of
(00:58):
saw as they went to their bullpen they put together
better at bats. It just couldn't get that timely hit.
When you go two for seventeen with runners in scoring position,
that's tough to take. That's tough to overcome. And you know,
I thought they pitched well. I thought Spencer Arighetti certainly
rebounded from his awful start in Cincinnati, and just a
tough one. Just they couldn't come out on the on
(01:20):
the right end of it. But this, you know what,
if the Mariners keep losing, you're kind of in a
position now where you don't have to make such a
big deal out of these games because you still are
four and a half up in the division with eighteen
to go, with a Mariner's team behind you.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
That is just awful. I mean, that's probably too hard.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
So they're not awful, but they've just shown no signs
of making any sort of meaningful run that you kind
of think that this thing's over and you don't want
to speak too soon.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Anything can happen.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
You saw the Ashers erase a ten game deficit quicker
than pretty much any team in Big League.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
History, so think weird things can happen in this division.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
But you kind of get the feeling that no matter
how these games start going that you know the Astros
are in a good.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Spot, seems kind of inevitable.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
And we've spent two hours plus talking about it that
we're a little focused on the losing the game, bunted
to death, all that stuff, But what about what happened
in between? Arraghetti and Hector Narris got a good effort
in a tight game. Albeit you weren't ahead from Caleb
Ort getting the final out. You got three incredible I
thought innings from Ran Presley and Brian Abrad. Was Presley
(02:29):
any fresher or sharper than you'd seen him recently? And
do you think a brave's excessive rest for him? I
guess having only pitched three times this month, maybe he
showed itself with the pop he had on his pitches.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Well.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Presley had only pitched once in September as well, and
I think that you kind of saw that as well.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
He looked fresh.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Brian Abrad, you that was I mean, Josh Haters had
some innings this year that kind of etched in your
memory is just dominant. But I other than a couple
of his innings, those were probably the two most dominant
innings I've seen an Astros pitcher throw all year. They
had no chance. And this team looked. I know, the
A's get a bad rap just because of everything going on,
and you kind of think of them as a pushover.
(03:11):
But this is still one of the better teams in
the American League in the second half, and it's all
because they can hit. They can really really swing the bat.
This is a good offensive club and they had no
chance like that. They couldn't touch Brian A. Brady last
night and in the and in the tenth ending his
first inning of work, he faced Brent Rooker and JJ Blade.
I mean, those are the two of the three best
hitters in their lineup, and again they had no chance
(03:35):
to touch him.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
It won't look like that every time out.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
The Afterers aren't gonna have the luxury of giving him
a bunch of rest late, especially in this sixteen game
stretch and in the playoffs. Is not going to have
that much rest coming into games. But you see what
he's on. It is it is something to watch.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Well, small victories in that Spencer Arighetti didn't take the
l for giving up all of two runs last night,
and you know still was able to recover like a man.
But it just makes it all the more imperative, unfortunately,
for Hunter Brown to continue what he's done. If I
don't know what the offense will do tonight, because it's
a given night, you know, you just don't know. But
(04:12):
we do know what Hunter Brown's done more often than
not lately, and he's just gonna have to do that
again tonight. No reason to think he won't, though, because
he has been one of the best pitchers in baseball
for I didn't even know going back however far. He's
just been fantastic to watch and it's kind of appointment
viewing lately.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Yeah, I mean, he's the guy you want out there.
He's and especially when you put him in fromber back
to back. You kind of saw how the A's managed
that game last night, and you kind of had it
in your mind, like, look, they knew if they're going
to steal one, last night was the one they were
going to steal. Because with these two guys coming up
that they're pitching as well as any two starters in
the American League, they're probably the two best starting pitchers
(04:52):
currently in the American League right now. You know, Trek
scoobl with the Tigers obviously would have would have a
conversation to be had there as well. But I mean
with Hunter Brown. I think the interesting thing tonight will be,
you know, a lot of the A's best hitters are
left handed, and you know, we talked, We've talked about
how much that sinker has really overhauled Hunter Brown. And
you know, the sinker really doesn't work to left handed batters.
(05:13):
So you're gonna have to see a little bit more
of his curveball. See you know how he uses his
four team against the left handed hitters like Lawrence Butler,
like JJ Bloede. So it'll be a different it could
be a different sort of game plan for him tonight,
but it really hasn't phased him lineup's handedness, and really
nothing's phasing in these last couple of months. And I
think the Astros they're getting to that point now where
(05:36):
when they come to the ballpark they know that that
they've got a great chance to win. When Hunter Brown's
on the mound, they come in with a lot more confidence,
a little more care free, little more energy because they
know the momentum they've got just from the guy on
the mound.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Last night was Game three. As the designated hitter for
Kyle Tucker not a lot of base running over these
three games. Got on quite a few times early in
this stint, and only was on base last night because
Manfred let him go to second base in front of
one of the extra innings. What do you think they
have in Kyle Tucker as we sit here today? And
do you think he's still a decent ways away from
(06:10):
being an outfielder or being like he was physically.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
I think he'll be in the outfield this weekend in Anaheim.
I don't know when, but it sounds like that's what
they're gearing towards. The plan is to play him in
the outfield this weekend.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Do they do it?
Speaker 3 (06:26):
You know, the three starters that are going to pitch
in Anaheim are probably Kakouchi.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Verlander, and Blanco.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
None of them is an extreme ground ball pitcher, So
whoever he plays behind, he's probably gonna get some fly
balls and get some action back there. So, you know,
I don't really know how close he is because I
haven't seen him play defense. I haven't seen him play
defense since June, so I don't think any of us
will know until he gets out there. As far as
you know, at the plate, Obviously he didn't have a
good night last night. But I think anyone that expected
(06:55):
him to drop right back in after three months off
and just automatically his timing down.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Automatically be ready to go. Yeah, this just wasn't gonna happen,
you can tell.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
I think the thing that Joe a Spot is encouraged about,
and the thing that's looked good to me is, you know,
he's seeing a lot of pitches, he's not chasing, he's
tracking balls well, and you know he's swaying at the
right pitches.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
His timing's just off.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
You know, Joe's spotted today talked about in the twelfth
inning yesterday. You know he was about a millisecond out
in front of the ball that he hit down the
right field line could have been could have been a walk.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Off hit instead of you know, it wasn't that. So
timing is.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Gonna take a little while to get back, and look,
I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't come back in
Anaheim this weekend because he's only played three games. You know,
when you take three months off, you don't just jump
right back in.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
And are an MVP candidate again.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
So their goal should be to get him right and
to get his timing somewhere somewhat back to where it
needs to be by the end of September and for
the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
So now do Justin Verlander?
Speaker 3 (08:02):
You know, this is as vulnerable I think as I've
seen Verlander in the six years I've covered him. And
I don't think it's a situation where like you're like
there's right flags in his career or anything like this
is the end of Justin Burlander's career.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Like, I just think the count he's in such a
precarious spot with the calendar.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
I do believe him when he says, you know, he's
still building up. This is still spring training. He, like
Kyle Tucker, missed a massive amount of time. And again,
you don't just get thrown right back in and are
dominant Justin Burlander again, So there is merit to everyone saying,
you know, he's still in spring training, still building up.
But the fact of the matter is like they don't
(08:42):
have the time for him to do that before they're
gonna have to make some pretty consequential decisions. And you know,
I've talked to a couple of scouts just from other
teams that are looking at his stuff, and they say
the stuff is down. They say the stuff is not
what you're used to seeing from Justin Verlander. And they're
not saying that it can't ever come back, but they're
saying what they're looking at right now is that.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
The stuff's just not just not as crisp as it was.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
He's not commanding the fastball well, he's not generating much
deception with his with his off speeds up with his spend,
he's not getting a ton of chases. I know, no
one's gonna want to hear this, but three of his
four starts since he'd come back from the IL or
against the Red Sox, the Phillies, and the d Backs,
all of whom absolutely mash, all of whom have really
(09:29):
good lineups. His next two starts should be against the Angels,
who do not have a good lineup, who don't have
good much of anything. So maybe you see some improvement,
some regression to a mean, but will that be enough
to usurp you know, the guys that have been pitching
well for months.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
And the guys around that, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
So it's I don't know that I'm worried about Justin Berlander,
just long term his career or anything. He's obviously you know,
ages getting their ages getting to him. But I don't
ever doubt him just because of what I've watched him
do for the six years i've covered him. But you know,
as far as this season goes, as far as the
immediate future like there is, he's running out of time
(10:14):
and he's going to have to show them something marginally bad,
like demonstratively better in Anaheim's weekend for it to even
be a consideration to put him in a playoff rotation,
because right now, I don't know how in good conscious
you can start him in a playoff game.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
We too are running out of time. And Chandler, we
certainly appreciate your time. Astros and A's this evening and
then again tomorrow afternoon. You can always catch Chandler stuff
right there in the Athletic. Astros beat writer major League
Baseball writer for the Athletic. Chandler appreciate the visit all right, thanks,
as the opportunities are still in front of JV, just
as they are for Kyle and everybody else.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
What I heard was, don't get a false sense of
security when he shuts down the Angels, or as I
try to found anthynd cut off.
Speaker 4 (10:59):
Chandler as I normally do here. As he was running
through those really good offensive teams, I was trying not
to jump in and say, yeah, playoff teams.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Yeah no, that's exactly what I was thinking.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
When he was mentioning the ones that matched against him.
It's gonna be an interesting down the stretch way to
look at things.
It is five o'clock.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
It is a Wednesday, which means Chandler Rome of the
Athletic to join us here for the next several minutes
to talk about all things Astros baseball.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
I feel like the last several weeks.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
In a row when he's come on, it hasn't been
after a particularly memorable performance, although I guess you could
say last night was memorable since they got bunted to
death in the twelfth inning. Chandler, what to make of
a situation that, you know it creeps its ugly head up.
The Astros in this case have a pitcher who's starting,
(00:30):
who recovers, and then the offense just can't match what
he's able to kind of do to write the ship
on any given night.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Yeah, and it should be noted that JP Sears has
become like an Astros killer. This is the guy that
two years ago, when he came in and shut them down,
they changed the batter's eye. He's part of the reason
that the batter's eye got changed and extended a couple
of years ago. They always have problems hitting JP Seears
for some reason. And then you know, you kind of
(00:58):
saw as they went to their bullpen they put together
better at bats. It just couldn't get that timely hit.
When you go two for seventeen with runners in scoring position,
that's tough to take. That's tough to overcome. And you know,
I thought they pitched well. I thought Spencer Arighetti certainly
rebounded from his awful start in Cincinnati, and just a
tough one. Just they couldn't come out on the on
(01:20):
the right end of it. But this, you know what,
if the Mariners keep losing, you're kind of in a
position now where you don't have to make such a
big deal out of these games because you still are
four and a half up in the division with eighteen
to go, with a Mariner's team behind you.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
That is just awful. I mean, that's probably too hard.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
So they're not awful, but they've just shown no signs
of making any sort of meaningful run that you kind
of think that this thing's over and you don't want
to speak too soon.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Anything can happen.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
You saw the Ashers erase a ten game deficit quicker
than pretty much any team in Big League.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
History, so think weird things can happen in this division.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
But you kind of get the feeling that no matter
how these games start going that you know the Astros
are in a good.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Spot, seems kind of inevitable.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
And we've spent two hours plus talking about it that
we're a little focused on the losing the game, bunted
to death, all that stuff, But what about what happened
in between? Arraghetti and Hector Narris got a good effort
in a tight game. Albeit you weren't ahead from Caleb
Ort getting the final out. You got three incredible I
thought innings from Ran Presley and Brian Abrad. Was Presley
(02:29):
any fresher or sharper than you'd seen him recently? And
do you think a brave's excessive rest for him? I
guess having only pitched three times this month, maybe he
showed itself with the pop he had on his pitches.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Well.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Presley had only pitched once in September as well, and
I think that you kind of saw that as well.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
He looked fresh.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Brian Abrad, you that was I mean, Josh Haters had
some innings this year that kind of etched in your
memory is just dominant. But I other than a couple
of his innings, those were probably the two most dominant
innings I've seen an Astros pitcher throw all year. They
had no chance. And this team looked. I know, the
A's get a bad rap just because of everything going on,
and you kind of think of them as a pushover.
(03:11):
But this is still one of the better teams in
the American League in the second half, and it's all
because they can hit. They can really really swing the bat.
This is a good offensive club and they had no
chance like that. They couldn't touch Brian A. Brady last
night and in the and in the tenth ending his
first inning of work, he faced Brent Rooker and JJ Blade.
I mean, those are the two of the three best
hitters in their lineup, and again they had no chance
(03:35):
to touch him.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
It won't look like that every time out.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
The Afterers aren't gonna have the luxury of giving him
a bunch of rest late, especially in this sixteen game
stretch and in the playoffs. Is not going to have
that much rest coming into games. But you see what
he's on. It is it is something to watch.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Well, small victories in that Spencer Arighetti didn't take the
l for giving up all of two runs last night,
and you know still was able to recover like a man.
But it just makes it all the more imperative, unfortunately,
for Hunter Brown to continue what he's done. If I
don't know what the offense will do tonight, because it's
a given night, you know, you just don't know. But
(04:12):
we do know what Hunter Brown's done more often than
not lately, and he's just gonna have to do that
again tonight. No reason to think he won't, though, because
he has been one of the best pitchers in baseball
for I didn't even know going back however far. He's
just been fantastic to watch and it's kind of appointment
viewing lately.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Yeah, I mean, he's the guy you want out there.
He's and especially when you put him in fromber back
to back. You kind of saw how the A's managed
that game last night, and you kind of had it
in your mind, like, look, they knew if they're going
to steal one, last night was the one they were
going to steal. Because with these two guys coming up
that they're pitching as well as any two starters in
the American League, they're probably the two best starting pitchers
(04:52):
currently in the American League right now. You know, Trek
scoobl with the Tigers obviously would have would have a
conversation to be had there as well. But I mean
with Hunter Brown. I think the interesting thing tonight will be,
you know, a lot of the A's best hitters are
left handed, and you know, we talked, We've talked about
how much that sinker has really overhauled Hunter Brown. And
you know, the sinker really doesn't work to left handed batters.
(05:13):
So you're gonna have to see a little bit more
of his curveball. See you know how he uses his
four team against the left handed hitters like Lawrence Butler,
like JJ Bloede. So it'll be a different it could
be a different sort of game plan for him tonight,
but it really hasn't phased him lineup's handedness, and really
nothing's phasing in these last couple of months. And I
think the Astros they're getting to that point now where
(05:36):
when they come to the ballpark they know that that
they've got a great chance to win. When Hunter Brown's
on the mound, they come in with a lot more confidence,
a little more care free, little more energy because they
know the momentum they've got just from the guy on
the mound.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Last night was Game three. As the designated hitter for
Kyle Tucker not a lot of base running over these
three games. Got on quite a few times early in
this stint, and only was on base last night because
Manfred let him go to second base in front of
one of the extra innings. What do you think they
have in Kyle Tucker as we sit here today? And
do you think he's still a decent ways away from
(06:10):
being an outfielder or being like he was physically.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
I think he'll be in the outfield this weekend in Anaheim.
I don't know when, but it sounds like that's what
they're gearing towards. The plan is to play him in
the outfield this weekend.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Do they do it?
Speaker 3 (06:26):
You know, the three starters that are going to pitch
in Anaheim are probably Kakouchi.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Verlander, and Blanco.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
None of them is an extreme ground ball pitcher, So
whoever he plays behind, he's probably gonna get some fly
balls and get some action back there. So, you know,
I don't really know how close he is because I
haven't seen him play defense. I haven't seen him play
defense since June, so I don't think any of us
will know until he gets out there. As far as
you know, at the plate, Obviously he didn't have a
good night last night. But I think anyone that expected
(06:55):
him to drop right back in after three months off
and just automatically his timing down.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Automatically be ready to go. Yeah, this just wasn't gonna happen,
you can tell.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
I think the thing that Joe a Spot is encouraged about,
and the thing that's looked good to me is, you know,
he's seeing a lot of pitches, he's not chasing, he's
tracking balls well, and you know he's swaying at the
right pitches.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
His timing's just off.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
You know, Joe's spotted today talked about in the twelfth
inning yesterday. You know he was about a millisecond out
in front of the ball that he hit down the
right field line could have been could have been a walk.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Off hit instead of you know, it wasn't that. So
timing is.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Gonna take a little while to get back, and look,
I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't come back in
Anaheim this weekend because he's only played three games. You know,
when you take three months off, you don't just jump
right back in.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
And are an MVP candidate again.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
So their goal should be to get him right and
to get his timing somewhere somewhat back to where it
needs to be by the end of September and for
the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
So now do Justin Verlander?
Speaker 3 (08:02):
You know, this is as vulnerable I think as I've
seen Verlander in the six years I've covered him. And
I don't think it's a situation where like you're like
there's right flags in his career or anything like this
is the end of Justin Burlander's career.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Like, I just think the count he's in such a
precarious spot with the calendar.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
I do believe him when he says, you know, he's
still building up. This is still spring training. He, like
Kyle Tucker, missed a massive amount of time. And again,
you don't just get thrown right back in and are
dominant Justin Burlander again, So there is merit to everyone saying,
you know, he's still in spring training, still building up.
But the fact of the matter is like they don't
(08:42):
have the time for him to do that before they're
gonna have to make some pretty consequential decisions. And you know,
I've talked to a couple of scouts just from other
teams that are looking at his stuff, and they say
the stuff is down. They say the stuff is not
what you're used to seeing from Justin Verlander. And they're
not saying that it can't ever come back, but they're
saying what they're looking at right now is that.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
The stuff's just not just not as crisp as it was.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
He's not commanding the fastball well, he's not generating much
deception with his with his off speeds up with his spend,
he's not getting a ton of chases. I know, no
one's gonna want to hear this, but three of his
four starts since he'd come back from the IL or
against the Red Sox, the Phillies, and the d Backs,
all of whom absolutely mash, all of whom have really
(09:29):
good lineups. His next two starts should be against the Angels,
who do not have a good lineup, who don't have
good much of anything. So maybe you see some improvement,
some regression to a mean, but will that be enough
to usurp you know, the guys that have been pitching
well for months.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
And the guys around that, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
So it's I don't know that I'm worried about Justin Berlander,
just long term his career or anything. He's obviously you know,
ages getting their ages getting to him. But I don't
ever doubt him just because of what I've watched him
do for the six years i've covered him. But you know,
as far as this season goes, as far as the
immediate future like there is, he's running out of time
(10:14):
and he's going to have to show them something marginally bad,
like demonstratively better in Anaheim's weekend for it to even
be a consideration to put him in a playoff rotation,
because right now, I don't know how in good conscious
you can start him in a playoff game.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
We too are running out of time. And Chandler, we
certainly appreciate your time. Astros and A's this evening and
then again tomorrow afternoon. You can always catch Chandler stuff
right there in the Athletic. Astros beat writer major League
Baseball writer for the Athletic. Chandler appreciate the visit all right, thanks,
as the opportunities are still in front of JV, just
as they are for Kyle and everybody else.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
What I heard was, don't get a false sense of
security when he shuts down the Angels, or as I
try to found anthynd cut off.
Speaker 4 (10:59):
Chandler as I normally do here. As he was running
through those really good offensive teams, I was trying not
to jump in and say, yeah, playoff teams.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Yeah no, that's exactly what I was thinking.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
When he was mentioning the ones that matched against him.
It's gonna be an interesting down the stretch way to
look at things.
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Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.