April 24, 2025 • 11 mins
Brian McTaggart Joins The Show After Astros Sweep Against The Blue Jays
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Time for US spend ten called a minutes with the
one and only Brian McTaggart on the MLB Astros beat
here on Sports Talk seven ninety tags Local nine playing
their best baseball this season, a very successful home stand,
beating up on the Toronto Blue Jays in three consecutive games.
I don't know what was more impressive, the starting pitching
(00:20):
on the relief pitching. Maybe the answer is see all
the above. Yeah, they were both great.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
I mean, I think the relievers went what seven and
a third scoreless innings, and that was basically the three
back end guys, King of Brau and hater Fort Whitley
did have an out again there. But it all starts
with starting pitching, and all three of the guys that
started in that series were great, beginning with you know,
Hudder Brown being, you know, the clear cut ace of
this team, Ronel Blanco with his best start of the
(00:48):
season by far, and then Ryan Gusto comes out and
shows you why they sort of decided to keep him
on this team out of camp after he was setting
down it initially and continues to battle so and you know,
I think you getting this kind of pitch, and I
think they're gonna be all right.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
I mean, I think I've said on here.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
And I mean we all know that they're the guys
that are struggling are going to come around eventually.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
It looks like Christian Walker's there. DS had a couple
of hits yesterday. He's got a long way to go,
you know.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Alvarez is slowly his numbers are slowly climbing up, so hey,
compared to last year when they were seven and seventeen.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
At this point, thirteen and eleven looks really good. It does.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
And you know what, and I know that Joe A
Spot I mentioned us a couple of days ago, there
is a thought of a six man rotation coming up.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Because of the lack of off days in the month
of May.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
You're gonna have a really good arm not available to
you because you're gonna have to reduce your bullpen by
a spot. And ultimately you've got to make a decision about, well,
how you're going to treat that six man rotation. These
are good problems they have right now.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Yeah, you can never have too much pitching. So if
you've got a guy, he's still a good guy, and
you got to set them to the triple A.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
It doesn't deserve it, then yeah, that's a good problem
to have with you the astros.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
I mean, you know, maybe a guy.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Like Logan Van Why or rookie who you know they're
excited about and they.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Feel as the future.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
I mean, he's a guy I think certainly could you know,
bounce between you know, Triple A and the big leagues
this year, So you know that's the guy to look at.
But yeah, Lance pitches, uh, you know, this weekend in
corporates Christy and then maybe he comes back soon after that.
But you know, I think the sixth man rotation makes sense.
They've done that at different points the last couple of years.
I know Dana Brown is a big fan of that,
(02:25):
and you know, it totally makes sense, especially during a
stretch where you don't have a day off, and they
have one of those in May. I think May like
ninth through the twenty fifth, pretty much the middle chunk
of May there, which includes a road trip to Tampa
Bay and Texas, so they can get lanced back by
then and go to a six man rotation.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
That would come right at the right time.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Christian Walker got a day off earlier this week, and boy,
that has paid dividends for him. And it's funny because
sometimes veterans don't want to have to have that day
off to say they can work out their issues by
playing every single day. But whatever that was sitting there
observing just kind of mentally watching the sport as compared
to Fish being out there, he has been a difference
maker the last couple of nights.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yeah, you know, this guy, I'm really impressed by his
approach because when he was moved down to the lineup
a few days ago and he's like, totally get it.
You know, I'm not getting it done in the four spot,
you know, let someone else go in there and get
those at bats. And then when he got the day off,
he's like, yeah, you know, understand.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
And you know what he.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Said last night was he thought that the day off
gave him a chance, you know, to get away from everything.
I think his quote was he didn't have the pressure
of figuring out to come to the ballpark and try
to get a couple of hits that night. And he
made a couple of adjustments the following day just to
try to go back to some basics, not tinker too
much and the batter's box and you know, comes out
(03:42):
and gets three hits and two more right off the
bat just to be including a homer. So yeah, science
he's coming around for sure. And I mean, you know
a breather when you just you don't see your name
in the lineup and say, you know what, I'm just
gonna sit in the dugout and clear my head and
watch things like this work.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
I mean, they we've.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Seen it worked for a couple of players last year,
you know. I think Bragman had a breather and came
back and played pretty well. So managers give these guys
the things for a reason. But nice to see him
get going after I know that had to be a
tough start, especially with a new team where you come in,
pressure's on you sign all. You know this money and
you got this contract and you're not living up to it.
So there's probably he's probably putting a lot of pressure
(04:22):
on himself as well.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
Yeah, and somebody who benefited from a breather last year,
was it Theiner. I think he got like a bad
hit him on the hand or something, and he missed
a couple of days and he came back and his
back kind of woke up. Three game hit streak for
him so he's shown some signs of life. But how
do you think things are going to be handled going
forward fore Ier.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Yeah, I mean I think they're gonna keep running him
out there too, you know, hope, you know, hopefully for
their sake. This is the start of him, you know,
coming around a little bit. I mean, he's you know,
he's he's going to be an aggressive hitter at the plate.
Pictures are going to try to exploit that. But you know,
we've saw in the last couple of years. Uh, he
can do some real damage in the middle that lineup.
But you know, you know, Kraattini is still a guy
they got to mix in from both.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Sides of the plate.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
He's just one of the best pure hitters they have
on the team as far as back to ball skills.
So I don't think we're gonna see any changes in
playing time or approach or anything. They're gonna keep finding
way to get Yainer in there when he's not catching,
and hopefully they get him going.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
Brian McTaggart whether us here on Sports Talk seven to
ninety five hits in his last two starts for Zac Desenzo.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
What kind of role do you think he can carve
out for this team. Well, I think he might play more.
They love him.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
I mean, I you know, they like Cam Smith and
you know all you know what he brings and everything,
and certainly cam has had his moments this year.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
He mean, he hasn't been.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
As electric as he was in the spring, which is
to be expected because you're playing in the regular season.
But they really like what what Descenzo brings to the plate,
how hard he hits the ball, his approach at the plate,
excuse me, excuse me, it's pretty pretty advanced.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
And I think we'll see him play more.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
I mean we all he played really sparingly there for
a while, but I think it wouldn't surprise me if
he starts to take a few of those bats away
from cam Smith and right field a little bit. I
think he's starting to force Joe has spot his hand.
There's really not a spot to mix him in otherwise,
because you know you're not gonna play him and left
unless you know, all two days at d H.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
But then you know you got your don You got
to get in there.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
You're not gonna play him at third base with pereties,
and you're not gonna play him at first.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
I mean, those are his positions.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
So if you're gonna get him in the lineup more,
it's going to be probably the expense of Cam Smith.
So I think we'll see Dia Uh, we'll see Zach
play a little bit more right field going forward here,
you know, putting up maybe a little bit of pressure
on Cam to start swinging the bat a little bit
better as well.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Isn't it crazy Brian that it was the Cam Smith
for Rookie of the Year voting was already done by
the end of spring training, and now you've got your
Zach Decenzo fan club growing saying we got to find
a spot for him. This sound the the wins of
Major Baseball got during the course of the year. And
I think Cam's looking more and more comfortable in right field.
(07:05):
I don't think he's embarrassed himself so far. There have
been some plays that, you know, it looks like he's
he's a professional athlete. But if Decenzos back continues to,
you know, be a nice lightning rod for this team. Uh,
this is going to be some interesting times to try
to balance who plays where and how to get guys
playing time because you've got a lot of guys your
veterans that don't want to take days off. You know,
(07:25):
you know that Christian Walker doesn't want to take any
time off at first base. You know, jose L Twov
wants to be in there at least six days a week.
You know, you're not if he's not playing in left field,
wants at DH so uh. And then you got a
guy like a Chas McCormick who just hasn't seen much
playing time at all of the exceptional yesterday, there's a
little bit of I'm ready to go, but there's just
not enough spots in the field right now for the
(07:46):
guys that are looking to get that extra playing time.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Yeah, totally.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
And again, if you're you know, if you're Joe Spot,
no great problem to have. I mean, you got guys
on the bench you want to try to get in
bats because they're being productive, and you can't do it
just because some guys are trans I mean Cam Smith
has not been batman. I think his OPS is over
seven hundred. But you're right, he's looked more and more
comfortable in right field. The running catch on Sunday night
was was great. I mean he's very athletic out there.
(08:13):
You know, I think if he stayed out there. If
he does stay out there by the end of the year,
you know, I think it'll be a very capable right
fielder descendso too. I mean, he's you know, he played
he played shortstop in college. You know, he's a big
guy who can move really well, and so I think
he can be a solid right fielder as well. So
that that's gonna be a position to watch going forward.
When I think he got those two guys now clearly
(08:34):
are going to battle for some play time, Accormacks can
continue to be that late game replacement, whether that's in
the left field for Altuve or in right field for
either one of those guys when they have the lead.
So it's, uh, you know, the roster right now is
you know, it isn't bad. I mean, Joe's gonna have
to try to piece it together with the hot hands
and so forth. And but you know, having Zach Decenzo hit,
(08:55):
you know, Joe Spottle will take that any day and
find a way to get him in the lineup.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
All right, you got a trip to Kansas City this
weekend of the local nine and then aj in Town
and the rest of the Tigers come in. They're playing some
excellent baseball right now. And I don't think we're sitting
there going revenge series after last year's wild Card. But
that's the Detroit team just isn't slowing down. So things
are about to get a little more stout. Kansasity can hit,
they're not doing much pitching so far. It'll be just
(09:19):
kind of nice facing some American opponents. It feels like
this Astro schedule, at least so far in the early
portion of the year, has been so National League dominant.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Yeah, they came out of the gate with what six
games against the NL, then they faced the Cardinals and
Padres back to back series, so yeah, good run of.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
AL teams coming up here.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Yeah, I mean Detroit, I mean myz and Porplson looked
like number one picks finally, you know, they were the
number one overall picks and that they're playing like and
now school is Schooball. He's got a you know, a
sub one whip and a two point two two e
ra A. So you I don't know if we're going
to see him next week or not, but you know
when anytime the Tigers coming down, AJ's gonna push all
the buttons. And I mean, you know, Detroit. It's probably
(10:00):
one of the top four or five teams in the
American League at this point. But hey, Astros are sitting
at thirteen eleven. They're only game behind the Rangers for
first place. All the all the talk, you know, a
couple of weeks unto the season about you know, how
terrible things were going, and they're right there where they
want to be. So they just have to find a
way to keep it up and they should be able
(10:20):
to go to Kansas City and win a couple of
those games.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Hunter Browns pitching Sunday.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
If you remember last last season, Hunter Brown had that
disastrous start in Kansas City, you know where you couldn't
get out of the first inning. And so he's going
to go back there now as an ace, a chance
to exercise some demons. That'll be fun to watch as well.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Did you ever think you're gonna say a Hunter Brown
and A's in the same conversation. I mean, the answer
could be yes, But in your mind, when you first
saw Hunters, you say, this is the kind of guy
that could be potentially a number one guy in a rotation.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Well, when you started hearing buzz about him in the
minor leagues, I guess when he got to high A
or double A. Uh, you know, people internally were talking like,
you know, this guy could be a big part of
the rotation. You're always skeptical, skeptical, and guys like that
are moving through and it's never liked he was before
that like a top top prospect. But certainly this time
last year I would not have said that he I mean,
he was sort of clinging to just life as a
(11:10):
big leaguer. I mean, I think he was probably getting
close to getting shipped out before he you know, he
changed things up a little bit, but.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
It turned on a dime.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
And I think over the since May one, he's got
the second best E ra A as far as starters in.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
The big league.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
So it's not that he's going to be the ace
or or what have you.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
He is the ace.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
And that's no knock on frimeber Valdez because he's Ace
one one B. But right now, if you line up
this rotation of the playoffs, Hunter Brown would start at
game one. So if you say that, then yeah, that
guy's your race. And good for him for sticking with
it and making the necessary changes.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
All right, mister Butttager, thank you very much. We'll look
forward to hearing you tomorrow or in the on Deck show,
and always reading your award winning material at MLB.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Dot com, astros dot com. Thank you for the visitors always.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
All right, thanks Matt, all right, let's see Brian McTaggart
with us here every Thursday on Sports Talk at seven
ety
Time for US spend ten called a minutes with the
one and only Brian McTaggart on the MLB Astros beat
here on Sports Talk seven ninety tags Local nine playing
their best baseball this season, a very successful home stand,
beating up on the Toronto Blue Jays in three consecutive games.
I don't know what was more impressive, the starting pitching
(00:20):
on the relief pitching. Maybe the answer is see all
the above. Yeah, they were both great.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
I mean, I think the relievers went what seven and
a third scoreless innings, and that was basically the three
back end guys, King of Brau and hater Fort Whitley
did have an out again there. But it all starts
with starting pitching, and all three of the guys that
started in that series were great, beginning with you know,
Hudder Brown being, you know, the clear cut ace of
this team, Ronel Blanco with his best start of the
(00:48):
season by far, and then Ryan Gusto comes out and
shows you why they sort of decided to keep him
on this team out of camp after he was setting
down it initially and continues to battle so and you know,
I think you getting this kind of pitch, and I
think they're gonna be all right.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
I mean, I think I've said on here.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
And I mean we all know that they're the guys
that are struggling are going to come around eventually.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
It looks like Christian Walker's there. DS had a couple
of hits yesterday. He's got a long way to go,
you know.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Alvarez is slowly his numbers are slowly climbing up, so hey,
compared to last year when they were seven and seventeen.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
At this point, thirteen and eleven looks really good. It does.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
And you know what, and I know that Joe A
Spot I mentioned us a couple of days ago, there
is a thought of a six man rotation coming up.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Because of the lack of off days in the month
of May.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
You're gonna have a really good arm not available to
you because you're gonna have to reduce your bullpen by
a spot. And ultimately you've got to make a decision about, well,
how you're going to treat that six man rotation. These
are good problems they have right now.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Yeah, you can never have too much pitching. So if
you've got a guy, he's still a good guy, and
you got to set them to the triple A.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
It doesn't deserve it, then yeah, that's a good problem
to have with you the astros.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
I mean, you know, maybe a guy.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Like Logan Van Why or rookie who you know they're
excited about and they.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Feel as the future.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
I mean, he's a guy I think certainly could you know,
bounce between you know, Triple A and the big leagues
this year, So you know that's the guy to look at.
But yeah, Lance pitches, uh, you know, this weekend in
corporates Christy and then maybe he comes back soon after that.
But you know, I think the sixth man rotation makes sense.
They've done that at different points the last couple of years.
I know Dana Brown is a big fan of that,
(02:25):
and you know, it totally makes sense, especially during a
stretch where you don't have a day off, and they
have one of those in May. I think May like
ninth through the twenty fifth, pretty much the middle chunk
of May there, which includes a road trip to Tampa
Bay and Texas, so they can get lanced back by
then and go to a six man rotation.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
That would come right at the right time.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Christian Walker got a day off earlier this week, and boy,
that has paid dividends for him. And it's funny because
sometimes veterans don't want to have to have that day
off to say they can work out their issues by
playing every single day. But whatever that was sitting there
observing just kind of mentally watching the sport as compared
to Fish being out there, he has been a difference
maker the last couple of nights.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yeah, you know, this guy, I'm really impressed by his
approach because when he was moved down to the lineup
a few days ago and he's like, totally get it.
You know, I'm not getting it done in the four spot,
you know, let someone else go in there and get
those at bats. And then when he got the day off,
he's like, yeah, you know, understand.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
And you know what he.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Said last night was he thought that the day off
gave him a chance, you know, to get away from everything.
I think his quote was he didn't have the pressure
of figuring out to come to the ballpark and try
to get a couple of hits that night. And he
made a couple of adjustments the following day just to
try to go back to some basics, not tinker too
much and the batter's box and you know, comes out
(03:42):
and gets three hits and two more right off the
bat just to be including a homer. So yeah, science
he's coming around for sure. And I mean, you know
a breather when you just you don't see your name
in the lineup and say, you know what, I'm just
gonna sit in the dugout and clear my head and
watch things like this work.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
I mean, they we've.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Seen it worked for a couple of players last year,
you know. I think Bragman had a breather and came
back and played pretty well. So managers give these guys
the things for a reason. But nice to see him
get going after I know that had to be a
tough start, especially with a new team where you come in,
pressure's on you sign all. You know this money and
you got this contract and you're not living up to it.
So there's probably he's probably putting a lot of pressure
(04:22):
on himself as well.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
Yeah, and somebody who benefited from a breather last year,
was it Theiner. I think he got like a bad
hit him on the hand or something, and he missed
a couple of days and he came back and his
back kind of woke up. Three game hit streak for
him so he's shown some signs of life. But how
do you think things are going to be handled going
forward fore Ier.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Yeah, I mean I think they're gonna keep running him
out there too, you know, hope, you know, hopefully for
their sake. This is the start of him, you know,
coming around a little bit. I mean, he's you know,
he's he's going to be an aggressive hitter at the plate.
Pictures are going to try to exploit that. But you know,
we've saw in the last couple of years. Uh, he
can do some real damage in the middle that lineup.
But you know, you know, Kraattini is still a guy
they got to mix in from both.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Sides of the plate.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
He's just one of the best pure hitters they have
on the team as far as back to ball skills.
So I don't think we're gonna see any changes in
playing time or approach or anything. They're gonna keep finding
way to get Yainer in there when he's not catching,
and hopefully they get him going.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
Brian McTaggart whether us here on Sports Talk seven to
ninety five hits in his last two starts for Zac Desenzo.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
What kind of role do you think he can carve
out for this team. Well, I think he might play more.
They love him.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
I mean, I you know, they like Cam Smith and
you know all you know what he brings and everything,
and certainly cam has had his moments this year.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
He mean, he hasn't been.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
As electric as he was in the spring, which is
to be expected because you're playing in the regular season.
But they really like what what Descenzo brings to the plate,
how hard he hits the ball, his approach at the plate,
excuse me, excuse me, it's pretty pretty advanced.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
And I think we'll see him play more.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
I mean we all he played really sparingly there for
a while, but I think it wouldn't surprise me if
he starts to take a few of those bats away
from cam Smith and right field a little bit. I
think he's starting to force Joe has spot his hand.
There's really not a spot to mix him in otherwise,
because you know you're not gonna play him and left
unless you know, all two days at d H.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
But then you know you got your don You got
to get in there.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
You're not gonna play him at third base with pereties,
and you're not gonna play him at first.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
I mean, those are his positions.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
So if you're gonna get him in the lineup more,
it's going to be probably the expense of Cam Smith.
So I think we'll see Dia Uh, we'll see Zach
play a little bit more right field going forward here,
you know, putting up maybe a little bit of pressure
on Cam to start swinging the bat a little bit
better as well.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Isn't it crazy Brian that it was the Cam Smith
for Rookie of the Year voting was already done by
the end of spring training, and now you've got your
Zach Decenzo fan club growing saying we got to find
a spot for him. This sound the the wins of
Major Baseball got during the course of the year. And
I think Cam's looking more and more comfortable in right field.
(07:05):
I don't think he's embarrassed himself so far. There have
been some plays that, you know, it looks like he's
he's a professional athlete. But if Decenzos back continues to,
you know, be a nice lightning rod for this team. Uh,
this is going to be some interesting times to try
to balance who plays where and how to get guys
playing time because you've got a lot of guys your
veterans that don't want to take days off. You know,
(07:25):
you know that Christian Walker doesn't want to take any
time off at first base. You know, jose L Twov
wants to be in there at least six days a week.
You know, you're not if he's not playing in left field,
wants at DH so uh. And then you got a
guy like a Chas McCormick who just hasn't seen much
playing time at all of the exceptional yesterday, there's a
little bit of I'm ready to go, but there's just
not enough spots in the field right now for the
(07:46):
guys that are looking to get that extra playing time.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Yeah, totally.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
And again, if you're you know, if you're Joe Spot,
no great problem to have. I mean, you got guys
on the bench you want to try to get in
bats because they're being productive, and you can't do it
just because some guys are trans I mean Cam Smith
has not been batman. I think his OPS is over
seven hundred. But you're right, he's looked more and more
comfortable in right field. The running catch on Sunday night
was was great. I mean he's very athletic out there.
(08:13):
You know, I think if he stayed out there. If
he does stay out there by the end of the year,
you know, I think it'll be a very capable right
fielder descendso too. I mean, he's you know, he played
he played shortstop in college. You know, he's a big
guy who can move really well, and so I think
he can be a solid right fielder as well. So
that that's gonna be a position to watch going forward.
When I think he got those two guys now clearly
(08:34):
are going to battle for some play time, Accormacks can
continue to be that late game replacement, whether that's in
the left field for Altuve or in right field for
either one of those guys when they have the lead.
So it's, uh, you know, the roster right now is
you know, it isn't bad. I mean, Joe's gonna have
to try to piece it together with the hot hands
and so forth. And but you know, having Zach Decenzo hit,
(08:55):
you know, Joe Spottle will take that any day and
find a way to get him in the lineup.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
All right, you got a trip to Kansas City this
weekend of the local nine and then aj in Town
and the rest of the Tigers come in. They're playing some
excellent baseball right now. And I don't think we're sitting
there going revenge series after last year's wild Card. But
that's the Detroit team just isn't slowing down. So things
are about to get a little more stout. Kansasity can hit,
they're not doing much pitching so far. It'll be just
(09:19):
kind of nice facing some American opponents. It feels like
this Astro schedule, at least so far in the early
portion of the year, has been so National League dominant.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Yeah, they came out of the gate with what six
games against the NL, then they faced the Cardinals and
Padres back to back series, so yeah, good run of.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
AL teams coming up here.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Yeah, I mean Detroit, I mean myz and Porplson looked
like number one picks finally, you know, they were the
number one overall picks and that they're playing like and
now school is Schooball. He's got a you know, a
sub one whip and a two point two two e
ra A. So you I don't know if we're going
to see him next week or not, but you know
when anytime the Tigers coming down, AJ's gonna push all
the buttons. And I mean, you know, Detroit. It's probably
(10:00):
one of the top four or five teams in the
American League at this point. But hey, Astros are sitting
at thirteen eleven. They're only game behind the Rangers for
first place. All the all the talk, you know, a
couple of weeks unto the season about you know, how
terrible things were going, and they're right there where they
want to be. So they just have to find a
way to keep it up and they should be able
(10:20):
to go to Kansas City and win a couple of
those games.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Hunter Browns pitching Sunday.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
If you remember last last season, Hunter Brown had that
disastrous start in Kansas City, you know where you couldn't
get out of the first inning. And so he's going
to go back there now as an ace, a chance
to exercise some demons. That'll be fun to watch as well.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Did you ever think you're gonna say a Hunter Brown
and A's in the same conversation. I mean, the answer
could be yes, But in your mind, when you first
saw Hunters, you say, this is the kind of guy
that could be potentially a number one guy in a rotation.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Well, when you started hearing buzz about him in the
minor leagues, I guess when he got to high A
or double A. Uh, you know, people internally were talking like,
you know, this guy could be a big part of
the rotation. You're always skeptical, skeptical, and guys like that
are moving through and it's never liked he was before
that like a top top prospect. But certainly this time
last year I would not have said that he I mean,
he was sort of clinging to just life as a
(11:10):
big leaguer. I mean, I think he was probably getting
close to getting shipped out before he you know, he
changed things up a little bit, but.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
It turned on a dime.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
And I think over the since May one, he's got
the second best E ra A as far as starters in.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
The big league.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
So it's not that he's going to be the ace
or or what have you.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
He is the ace.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
And that's no knock on frimeber Valdez because he's Ace
one one B. But right now, if you line up
this rotation of the playoffs, Hunter Brown would start at
game one. So if you say that, then yeah, that
guy's your race. And good for him for sticking with
it and making the necessary changes.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
All right, mister Butttager, thank you very much. We'll look
forward to hearing you tomorrow or in the on Deck show,
and always reading your award winning material at MLB.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Dot com, astros dot com. Thank you for the visitors always.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
All right, thanks Matt, all right, let's see Brian McTaggart
with us here every Thursday on Sports Talk at seven
ety
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com