February 26, 2024 • 8 mins
Dana Brown on Astros Radio Network Spring Training - 2-25-24
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Taking the ball for the first timethis spring, and Robert and I are
pleased to be joined by Dana Brown, the Astros general manager. Here we
go, Here we go. We'reoff and running here in spring training.
Exciting for you to see what yougot out there every day. Oh,
totally exciting. Uh. You know, I got my mind focused on like
the middle of the bullpen right now. I feel good about you know,
(00:22):
our clubs, you know our positionplayers. I feel really good about our
starters as well. You know,I feel like the back end of our
bullpen is really good, and soI'm really focused in on what are we
gonna do here in the middle,And that's a big focus of mind.
Martinez first pitch is outside to saidjac who struck out his last time up.
(00:44):
Third pitcher for the Astros is Martinez, Hunter, Brown and Bennett Sussa
so far and the righty delivers andit's in there at the knees for strike
one, one on one. Sowhen you talk about that bullpen, I
mean, obviously you look at youmentioned the back end. Josh Hater,
Ryan Presley, Brian and bre Youand also Raphael Montero figure to be the
four locks out of the eight spotsthat's slice down the right field line and
(01:04):
it's foul into the seats and it'sone to two. So does that is
that fair to say maybe four openspots out of eight spots in the bullpen
with the way things sit right now, Yeah, I think those four guys
are pretty much a lock, asyou mentioned, right, and we have
to figure out, you know,like which one of these guys are going
to really step up. You know, we really we really don't want to
(01:27):
pull uh, what's my guy that'sstarting right now, Blanco? Blanco?
Yeah, I'm getting confused. Hestarted yesterday. But anyway, we really
don't want to pull Blanco out ofthe uh, you know, rotation because
we want him as starter depth.I mean, we could easily put him
in that mix and he would probablymake the club because he broke with us
(01:49):
last year, but we'd rather keephim as starter depth because you know,
one hundred and sixty two games,it gets a little long, and so
we need the starter depth. Soif these guys could really step it up,
whether soon Susan Coleman one of thoseguys, if they could really step
up and take that you know,bull by the horn and fill those innings
that would be outstanding. I've gota couple of guys in the lineup today
(02:12):
that I want you to comment on, if you don't mind. Dana pitches
outside. It's two and two toSi Jace. We're seeing Jacob Melton,
We're seeing Lo, Braffito and Cabbage, all three of those guys in the
outfield for the Astros. Let's startwith Melton. I know you've had an
affinity for him ever since he's laideyes on him. Tap her back to
the mound. Good play by Martinez, but throws it away, off balance
(02:36):
throw in toward right field as Loperfdothrows it in, So it said probably
a base hit and an error onseth Martinez with that off balance throw for
to Jace, he's on second.You look like Martinez never really had a
good grip on that baseball as hebare handed it. What do you like
about Jacob Melton? I really likeJacob Melton. Melton has power, speed,
(03:00):
you can play defense, and ifyou watch him take batting practice,
he'll put on the show for you. So I think he's got a chance
to get to that power. Youknow, he might potentially be, you
know, a thirty thirty guy oneday. I mean, I could easily
see that happening. He had abunch of home runs last year in the
twenties, and I think he stolelike forty something bases, so forty six
(03:21):
deals and twenty three homers. Yeah, I think he can get the thirty
thirty. I think he's got achance. Jared Young misses downstairs or Jared
Young takes one downstairs. He's theDH. So when you when you look
at a hitter like that, yousee what he can do in batting practice,
what makes you think that that cantranslate to the game. Yeah,
Well, you know you have tohave the heartbeat for it. You know,
(03:42):
you can't let the game speed upon you. And he's really relaxed,
and you know he had a bigleg kick last year. He already
cut that down and so I thinkhe's on his way to get into it.
You know, when you start facingvelocity and you have the mindset that
you're going to get better and improveand make the next seria adjustments, and
you start doing it and it's workingin a game, then that tells me
(04:03):
you've got a chance to really gettingto your ability. Martinez set at the
belt with the runner on second nobodyout. Here's the pitch ground her to
the right side. That's what thehitter was trying to do. But if
Brady's there, he was guarding theline, he'll take it himself. For
the first out over the third basegoes to JC. You know, when
you talk about Melton's power, youand I and Jeff Blump earlier today were
(04:24):
on a backfield watching Milton among others, take batting practice, and we saw
him his first round, take battingpractice without even striding, and you still
saw the ball jump out of thebat, off the bat and leave the
yard. So I mean that givesyou an idea of just the raw power
just right there. Absolutely, andit goes back to what I was saying.
He had all those big moving partslast year. We're letting them know
(04:44):
that. Look, you can quietdown your approach by even not striding and
still hit the ball out. Sothat'll make him a little bit more comfortable
when it comes to just having asmall move, whether it's a small move
back with your hands or a littlesmall leg kick, and you can still
drive the ball. If you're drivingit out without striding, guess what,
you stride a little bit, youcan still drive it out. I've talked
(05:04):
to a couple of scouts talking aboutJoey Loperfdo. They said, the more
you see Loperfido, the more youappreciate what he can do to help you
win baseball games. Two strikes nowto Buddy Kennedy, Yeah, Loperfido is
a good player. Although I'm gonnget on him a little bit. I
don't think he backed up that playin right field just down, but that's
all. That's why we have springtraining. Yeah, and we'll remind him
(05:25):
not to do that ever again thisseason. But no, he's a really
good player, left hand hitter,exciting, wiry strength, really good frame
and built the play every day.So here's one hit a mile high,
shallow right center field, Loperfedo comingin for it. It's shallow. Tagging
at third is to jac and he'llput on the brakes as the throw comes
(05:46):
in and there's two away now asMartinez tries to strand the runner on third.
Nice job getting that shallow fly ballso that the runner could not score.
All right, And Tray Cabbage,who's left field, so he's got
a shot to make the team.What does he have to do and what
has to fall in place for Cabbageto make this roster. Yeah, good
(06:06):
question. We want Cabbage to reallyclean up the approach. He's a late
trigger guy. He's starting to lowearly sometimes to get caught in between.
Like that first at bat, hetook two fastballs that were right there,
hit a boom, and so wegot to get him to the point where
he's getting his hands ready early enoughso it gives him an opportunity to read
(06:26):
the baseball and it's coming across theplate. I think he's a late trigger
guy who if he could start earlier, it'll clean up the timing issues that
he's having and he'll be able toget some of those fastballs. And he's
got big power. Yeah, Imean, he's got power. He can
run, he's got the tools.And we saw something when he was put
on waivers before we make the trade. He was put on trade waivers when
(06:48):
we saw like look, we lookedat the video and said, look,
this guy can make some adjustments.He hit thirty home runs and stole thirty
bases in triple A. Let's seewe can get that to transfer. And
we made a small trade. Whenyou look at guys like that real quick,
it's a one to two count topay its two outs runner on third.
Sometimes when you see a guy withmaybe not a very advanced approach,
(07:09):
you feel like you can teach aguy to take him to the next level.
Yeah. Absolutely. Uh you know, some guys turn the corner a
little bit later, and that's whenyou notice they go to from one organization
to another organization, and before youknow it, they get with a certain
guy that could get him to getthings to click. We feel yeah,
we feel like that. Yeah,that's cool. Seth Martinez is on the
mound. He saw plenty of timewith the Assos the last couple of season.
(07:32):
The right he delivers the two totwo and it's fouled away. What
do you like about Seth? Yeah, Seth has that riding fastball and he
sweeps that breaking ball, so hegets the eyes going up and then he
throws that sweeper to the outer half. And uh, you know, he
threw a great game last year inCleveland. I don't know if you guys
remember the extra inning. Oh yeah, yeah, he threw like multiple innings
(07:53):
and gave us an opportunity to win. And so he's a good guy that
has options that go up and down, get ground balls like that, there's
a jam shot to third base that'sbragnant with the throwing the money for the
third out of the inning. Wellafter this single and the error by Seth
Martinez, he's able to work outof it straight in the runner on third.
We played three and a half firstoff at Dana Brown, first of
(08:13):
many we hope, but it's agreat start to spring training and wish well.
Absolutely thanks one I think Cardinals.As we go to the bottom of
the fourth,
Taking the ball for the first timethis spring, and Robert and I are
pleased to be joined by Dana Brown, the Astros general manager. Here we
go, Here we go. We'reoff and running here in spring training.
Exciting for you to see what yougot out there every day. Oh,
totally exciting. Uh. You know, I got my mind focused on like
the middle of the bullpen right now. I feel good about you know,
(00:22):
our clubs, you know our positionplayers. I feel really good about our
starters as well. You know,I feel like the back end of our
bullpen is really good, and soI'm really focused in on what are we
gonna do here in the middle,And that's a big focus of mind.
Martinez first pitch is outside to saidjac who struck out his last time up.
(00:44):
Third pitcher for the Astros is Martinez, Hunter, Brown and Bennett Sussa
so far and the righty delivers andit's in there at the knees for strike
one, one on one. Sowhen you talk about that bullpen, I
mean, obviously you look at youmentioned the back end. Josh Hater,
Ryan Presley, Brian and bre Youand also Raphael Montero figure to be the
four locks out of the eight spotsthat's slice down the right field line and
(01:04):
it's foul into the seats and it'sone to two. So does that is
that fair to say maybe four openspots out of eight spots in the bullpen
with the way things sit right now, Yeah, I think those four guys
are pretty much a lock, asyou mentioned, right, and we have
to figure out, you know,like which one of these guys are going
to really step up. You know, we really we really don't want to
(01:27):
pull uh, what's my guy that'sstarting right now, Blanco? Blanco?
Yeah, I'm getting confused. Hestarted yesterday. But anyway, we really
don't want to pull Blanco out ofthe uh, you know, rotation because
we want him as starter depth.I mean, we could easily put him
in that mix and he would probablymake the club because he broke with us
(01:49):
last year, but we'd rather keephim as starter depth because you know,
one hundred and sixty two games,it gets a little long, and so
we need the starter depth. Soif these guys could really step it up,
whether soon Susan Coleman one of thoseguys, if they could really step
up and take that you know,bull by the horn and fill those innings
that would be outstanding. I've gota couple of guys in the lineup today
(02:12):
that I want you to comment on, if you don't mind. Dana pitches
outside. It's two and two toSi Jace. We're seeing Jacob Melton,
We're seeing Lo, Braffito and Cabbage, all three of those guys in the
outfield for the Astros. Let's startwith Melton. I know you've had an
affinity for him ever since he's laideyes on him. Tap her back to
the mound. Good play by Martinez, but throws it away, off balance
(02:36):
throw in toward right field as Loperfdothrows it in, So it said probably
a base hit and an error onseth Martinez with that off balance throw for
to Jace, he's on second.You look like Martinez never really had a
good grip on that baseball as hebare handed it. What do you like
about Jacob Melton? I really likeJacob Melton. Melton has power, speed,
(03:00):
you can play defense, and ifyou watch him take batting practice,
he'll put on the show for you. So I think he's got a chance
to get to that power. Youknow, he might potentially be, you
know, a thirty thirty guy oneday. I mean, I could easily
see that happening. He had abunch of home runs last year in the
twenties, and I think he stolelike forty something bases, so forty six
(03:21):
deals and twenty three homers. Yeah, I think he can get the thirty
thirty. I think he's got achance. Jared Young misses downstairs or Jared
Young takes one downstairs. He's theDH. So when you when you look
at a hitter like that, yousee what he can do in batting practice,
what makes you think that that cantranslate to the game. Yeah,
Well, you know you have tohave the heartbeat for it. You know,
(03:42):
you can't let the game speed upon you. And he's really relaxed,
and you know he had a bigleg kick last year. He already
cut that down and so I thinkhe's on his way to get into it.
You know, when you start facingvelocity and you have the mindset that
you're going to get better and improveand make the next seria adjustments, and
you start doing it and it's workingin a game, then that tells me
(04:03):
you've got a chance to really gettingto your ability. Martinez set at the
belt with the runner on second nobodyout. Here's the pitch ground her to
the right side. That's what thehitter was trying to do. But if
Brady's there, he was guarding theline, he'll take it himself. For
the first out over the third basegoes to JC. You know, when
you talk about Melton's power, youand I and Jeff Blump earlier today were
(04:24):
on a backfield watching Milton among others, take batting practice, and we saw
him his first round, take battingpractice without even striding, and you still
saw the ball jump out of thebat, off the bat and leave the
yard. So I mean that givesyou an idea of just the raw power
just right there. Absolutely, andit goes back to what I was saying.
He had all those big moving partslast year. We're letting them know
(04:44):
that. Look, you can quietdown your approach by even not striding and
still hit the ball out. Sothat'll make him a little bit more comfortable
when it comes to just having asmall move, whether it's a small move
back with your hands or a littlesmall leg kick, and you can still
drive the ball. If you're drivingit out without striding, guess what,
you stride a little bit, youcan still drive it out. I've talked
(05:04):
to a couple of scouts talking aboutJoey Loperfdo. They said, the more
you see Loperfido, the more youappreciate what he can do to help you
win baseball games. Two strikes nowto Buddy Kennedy, Yeah, Loperfido is
a good player. Although I'm gonnget on him a little bit. I
don't think he backed up that playin right field just down, but that's
all. That's why we have springtraining. Yeah, and we'll remind him
(05:25):
not to do that ever again thisseason. But no, he's a really
good player, left hand hitter,exciting, wiry strength, really good frame
and built the play every day.So here's one hit a mile high,
shallow right center field, Loperfedo comingin for it. It's shallow. Tagging
at third is to jac and he'llput on the brakes as the throw comes
(05:46):
in and there's two away now asMartinez tries to strand the runner on third.
Nice job getting that shallow fly ballso that the runner could not score.
All right, And Tray Cabbage,who's left field, so he's got
a shot to make the team.What does he have to do and what
has to fall in place for Cabbageto make this roster. Yeah, good
(06:06):
question. We want Cabbage to reallyclean up the approach. He's a late
trigger guy. He's starting to lowearly sometimes to get caught in between.
Like that first at bat, hetook two fastballs that were right there,
hit a boom, and so wegot to get him to the point where
he's getting his hands ready early enoughso it gives him an opportunity to read
(06:26):
the baseball and it's coming across theplate. I think he's a late trigger
guy who if he could start earlier, it'll clean up the timing issues that
he's having and he'll be able toget some of those fastballs. And he's
got big power. Yeah, Imean, he's got power. He can
run, he's got the tools.And we saw something when he was put
on waivers before we make the trade. He was put on trade waivers when
(06:48):
we saw like look, we lookedat the video and said, look,
this guy can make some adjustments.He hit thirty home runs and stole thirty
bases in triple A. Let's seewe can get that to transfer. And
we made a small trade. Whenyou look at guys like that real quick,
it's a one to two count topay its two outs runner on third.
Sometimes when you see a guy withmaybe not a very advanced approach,
(07:09):
you feel like you can teach aguy to take him to the next level.
Yeah. Absolutely. Uh you know, some guys turn the corner a
little bit later, and that's whenyou notice they go to from one organization
to another organization, and before youknow it, they get with a certain
guy that could get him to getthings to click. We feel yeah,
we feel like that. Yeah,that's cool. Seth Martinez is on the
mound. He saw plenty of timewith the Assos the last couple of season.
(07:32):
The right he delivers the two totwo and it's fouled away. What
do you like about Seth? Yeah, Seth has that riding fastball and he
sweeps that breaking ball, so hegets the eyes going up and then he
throws that sweeper to the outer half. And uh, you know, he
threw a great game last year inCleveland. I don't know if you guys
remember the extra inning. Oh yeah, yeah, he threw like multiple innings
(07:53):
and gave us an opportunity to win. And so he's a good guy that
has options that go up and down, get ground balls like that, there's
a jam shot to third base that'sbragnant with the throwing the money for the
third out of the inning. Wellafter this single and the error by Seth
Martinez, he's able to work outof it straight in the runner on third.
We played three and a half firstoff at Dana Brown, first of
(08:13):
many we hope, but it's agreat start to spring training and wish well.
Absolutely thanks one I think Cardinals.As we go to the bottom of
the fourth,
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