July 29, 2025 • 8 mins
Joe Espada: Today Is A New Day & We Gotta Find Our Way
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
All right, so our manager of the Astros, Joe Spotta,
has out of his meetings, was able to gradually join
us at his regular scheduled time, and Joe's with us
here on sports talks. Amn't I skip. I want you
taking deep breaths too, because look, this is a marathon
run you're going through here. This is obviously difficult time.
(00:23):
These are the lot of the guys you're not using.
But frustration is starting to kick in your picture. Last
night Frommer was fantastic, twelve strikeouts with six innings lost
for the first time in a starting a long period
of time. Obviously, he was very disappointed in the outfield
strategy in the contest. Is that something that has been
addressed with you? Do you plan on talking to him
(00:44):
about it? Do you say, hey, we had the optics
on Nathaniel Lowe being an opposite guy and oh, by
the way, you know it was part of his frustration.
He didn't get the strike three call that would have
never allowed load to get that hit to begin with.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Listen, So you know, for me, I like to make
it clear that you know, teams go through stretches like
this in a one sixty two seasons. You know, there's
going to be ten twelve twelve days where you're having
a tough time to score runs, or you're having a
tough time to getting you know, quality starts, or you're
having a tough time make you know, you make defensive
(01:20):
mistake happens. This is this is baseball, and as a club,
you have to know how to navigate those moments, right.
You have to find ways to you know, press the
reset button. Tomorrow's a new day. Let's try to find
a way to win today. And we're going through that
stretch right when it comes to Framber, Framber is a competitor,
is passionate. He wants to win. He's a winner. You know,
(01:43):
there was some frustration. He threw the ball extremely well,
and there was that one particular play that I will
sit down with him and I'll address that. I do
like when people show passion and they care about every
single detail about our preparation because that's what we do.
We are really really good defensive team, and we take
(02:05):
pride on our defense and our strategy behind our defense. Now,
I wish he would have come to me first, but
he's that's his emotion, and I don't That's what makes
Ramberg the person that I care for, and I love
that he's passionate, and I will have that conversation with
him today. But again, that happened yesterday. Today we have
(02:26):
a new Today's a new day, and we got to
find a way to win today.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Yeah, last question about that, because I honestly think, Joe,
look every company, whether it's the Houston Astros, this radio station,
or the restaurant that you'd like to go to. Some days,
not everybody's on the same page. Some days, guys have
got to be frustrated, but you have. I mean, my
guess is Joe and your time as a manager and
as a bench coach and being in a clubhouse that
(02:50):
times the door gets shut and things are said, And
I guess the only question would be is would it
have been better if he would have just told you, hey,
I got a problem with this, as compared to kind
of just on his own saying what he said to
the reporters that were in front of his locker last night.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
You know what, I'm going to have a conversation with
Framberg today. You know, it's his emotional moment for him,
and I'll dress that today with him. We'll have a
conversation and we'll put this behind us. It's just not
you know, it's not a it's not a big deal
doing doing time of competition and when you're trying to
(03:26):
accomplish what we're trying to accomplish, emotion stakes over and
you know, we'll we'll address that today.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Is there any part of you that wants to sneak
a little shuttle over to Sugarland to see how your
short stops doing tonight.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
No, he's going He's going to be just fine. He's
going to go there today. He's going to dh try
to get you know, as many as the bats as possible.
But he was here yesterday. He looked good. You know,
we are really happy with where he's at right now
physically and mentally. We can't wait to have him back.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
Do you do you feel like you should get a
medical degree? With all the injuries you've had to deal
with this year? I mean, how many different muscles and
wrists and elbows? What have you learned about? Have you
learned everything about the human body this year?
Speaker 2 (04:13):
You know, I've I've learned a lot of terminology and
I did not know there was ligaments in certain places,
you know, bones in certain areas, you know, it's been
it's been a crazy experience, but you know what, I'm
looking at the fact that these guys are coming back.
(04:34):
They're really closer to having our full squat back, and
we're going to continue to grind to we'll get uh,
we get every one on.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
The field, ashows manager Joe Spottleo is here on Sports
Talk seven ninety and with that, weighing getting guys back
and where they are and projecting they are both on
the pitching and position player sides. What have conversations with
Dana been about is it has it been more difficult
this year as far as it's not as necessarily as
cut and dry about team needs.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
No, you know what, we we taking in consideration that
we have some guys coming back, right so we're trying
to you know, strategize around that, trying to improve our roster,
taking again consideration of the guys that we have him
back and how close they are getting back. So we
are just exploring different areas and you know, hopefully we
(05:21):
we can, you know, if there's something that fits our
club and it makes sense, I'm sure Dana and his
staff and we'll talk about it and we and we'll
we'll address that and make our club better.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
The yearly question, I ask a manager whether it's you
or anybody else that preceded you, how much without naming names?
Do run to the guys on the active roster, come
to your room, shut the door and say, hey, skip,
my agent's hearing this. I'm hearing this on social media.
Do what do I make of it? And what do
you say to them?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Yeah? You know what they it's hard not it's hard
to avoid not avoid you know, the rumors. And there's
always guys who have questions. And I I have an
open door policy and those guys come in and you know,
they understand the business side of things. I haven't had
that many conversations with with our guys in the last
couple of years. But if I sense there is something
(06:12):
going on, they have a question, I like just to
put them on the side, on the outfield grass or
in the clubhouse, in the kitchen, and we will talk.
I want to make sure that they all were on
the same page that we all are. This is a family,
and I want him to there's any concerns, let's talk
about things. But you know, but but they but it happens,
and it's hard for And it's hard not to have
(06:32):
this conversation when they you know, with social media and
there's so much information out there in today's game.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
All right, So it sounds like the clubhouse is really
jammed right now. Uh, that's a good sign. You're seeing
some people back, uh balance, And I'll use Jacob Mountain
for example. Jacob wants to play, Jacob's been out for
a while. Jacob doesn't like to be hurt. He knows
his team is looking for healthy bodies. Did you have
to have that? Are you one hundred percent ready to
(07:01):
go locked and loaded, pain free or they are you
sometimes afraid? Not in a soid with Jacob, but with
just some players in general. Hey, I gotta do whatever
I can. My squad's disappointing on a tough stretch. I'll
get out there even if not nine hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
No, you know what, No, we're not going to do that.
We're not going to put our players in a position.
This is their career. I'm very mindful of that. You know,
I play baseball. I understand this is their livelihood. That
they have families, they have kids. We're not going to
ask the player who is not ready to go and
put their career in jeopardy. If we could wait another
three or four days. It's very important, you know that
(07:36):
we make sure that we take care of our players.
If they're not one hundred percent, they're not going to
be able to perform at their capability. So we we
make sure that those guys are in a good spot
before we bring him back and be able to, you know, perform.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Escape your need to thank you for the time. Good
luck to it against the Nationals.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
All right, man, thank you, you got it.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
That's Joe spot Of with us here on Sports Talk
seven nine.
All right, so our manager of the Astros, Joe Spotta,
has out of his meetings, was able to gradually join
us at his regular scheduled time, and Joe's with us
here on sports talks. Amn't I skip. I want you
taking deep breaths too, because look, this is a marathon
run you're going through here. This is obviously difficult time.
(00:23):
These are the lot of the guys you're not using.
But frustration is starting to kick in your picture. Last
night Frommer was fantastic, twelve strikeouts with six innings lost
for the first time in a starting a long period
of time. Obviously, he was very disappointed in the outfield
strategy in the contest. Is that something that has been
addressed with you? Do you plan on talking to him
(00:44):
about it? Do you say, hey, we had the optics
on Nathaniel Lowe being an opposite guy and oh, by
the way, you know it was part of his frustration.
He didn't get the strike three call that would have
never allowed load to get that hit to begin with.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Listen, So you know, for me, I like to make
it clear that you know, teams go through stretches like
this in a one sixty two seasons. You know, there's
going to be ten twelve twelve days where you're having
a tough time to score runs, or you're having a
tough time to getting you know, quality starts, or you're
having a tough time make you know, you make defensive
(01:20):
mistake happens. This is this is baseball, and as a club,
you have to know how to navigate those moments, right.
You have to find ways to you know, press the
reset button. Tomorrow's a new day. Let's try to find
a way to win today. And we're going through that
stretch right when it comes to Framber, Framber is a competitor,
is passionate. He wants to win. He's a winner. You know,
(01:43):
there was some frustration. He threw the ball extremely well,
and there was that one particular play that I will
sit down with him and I'll address that. I do
like when people show passion and they care about every
single detail about our preparation because that's what we do.
We are really really good defensive team, and we take
(02:05):
pride on our defense and our strategy behind our defense. Now,
I wish he would have come to me first, but
he's that's his emotion, and I don't That's what makes
Ramberg the person that I care for, and I love
that he's passionate, and I will have that conversation with
him today. But again, that happened yesterday. Today we have
(02:26):
a new Today's a new day, and we got to
find a way to win today.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Yeah, last question about that, because I honestly think, Joe,
look every company, whether it's the Houston Astros, this radio station,
or the restaurant that you'd like to go to. Some days,
not everybody's on the same page. Some days, guys have
got to be frustrated, but you have. I mean, my
guess is Joe and your time as a manager and
as a bench coach and being in a clubhouse that
(02:50):
times the door gets shut and things are said, And
I guess the only question would be is would it
have been better if he would have just told you, hey,
I got a problem with this, as compared to kind
of just on his own saying what he said to
the reporters that were in front of his locker last night.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
You know what, I'm going to have a conversation with
Framberg today. You know, it's his emotional moment for him,
and I'll dress that today with him. We'll have a
conversation and we'll put this behind us. It's just not
you know, it's not a it's not a big deal
doing doing time of competition and when you're trying to
(03:26):
accomplish what we're trying to accomplish, emotion stakes over and
you know, we'll we'll address that today.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Is there any part of you that wants to sneak
a little shuttle over to Sugarland to see how your
short stops doing tonight.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
No, he's going He's going to be just fine. He's
going to go there today. He's going to dh try
to get you know, as many as the bats as possible.
But he was here yesterday. He looked good. You know,
we are really happy with where he's at right now
physically and mentally. We can't wait to have him back.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
Do you do you feel like you should get a
medical degree? With all the injuries you've had to deal
with this year? I mean, how many different muscles and
wrists and elbows? What have you learned about? Have you
learned everything about the human body this year?
Speaker 2 (04:13):
You know, I've I've learned a lot of terminology and
I did not know there was ligaments in certain places,
you know, bones in certain areas, you know, it's been
it's been a crazy experience, but you know what, I'm
looking at the fact that these guys are coming back.
(04:34):
They're really closer to having our full squat back, and
we're going to continue to grind to we'll get uh,
we get every one on.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
The field, ashows manager Joe Spottleo is here on Sports
Talk seven ninety and with that, weighing getting guys back
and where they are and projecting they are both on
the pitching and position player sides. What have conversations with
Dana been about is it has it been more difficult
this year as far as it's not as necessarily as
cut and dry about team needs.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
No, you know what, we we taking in consideration that
we have some guys coming back, right so we're trying
to you know, strategize around that, trying to improve our roster,
taking again consideration of the guys that we have him
back and how close they are getting back. So we
are just exploring different areas and you know, hopefully we
(05:21):
we can, you know, if there's something that fits our
club and it makes sense, I'm sure Dana and his
staff and we'll talk about it and we and we'll
we'll address that and make our club better.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
The yearly question, I ask a manager whether it's you
or anybody else that preceded you, how much without naming names?
Do run to the guys on the active roster, come
to your room, shut the door and say, hey, skip,
my agent's hearing this. I'm hearing this on social media.
Do what do I make of it? And what do
you say to them?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Yeah? You know what they it's hard not it's hard
to avoid not avoid you know, the rumors. And there's
always guys who have questions. And I I have an
open door policy and those guys come in and you know,
they understand the business side of things. I haven't had
that many conversations with with our guys in the last
couple of years. But if I sense there is something
(06:12):
going on, they have a question, I like just to
put them on the side, on the outfield grass or
in the clubhouse, in the kitchen, and we will talk.
I want to make sure that they all were on
the same page that we all are. This is a family,
and I want him to there's any concerns, let's talk
about things. But you know, but but they but it happens,
and it's hard for And it's hard not to have
(06:32):
this conversation when they you know, with social media and
there's so much information out there in today's game.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
All right, So it sounds like the clubhouse is really
jammed right now. Uh, that's a good sign. You're seeing
some people back, uh balance, And I'll use Jacob Mountain
for example. Jacob wants to play, Jacob's been out for
a while. Jacob doesn't like to be hurt. He knows
his team is looking for healthy bodies. Did you have
to have that? Are you one hundred percent ready to
(07:01):
go locked and loaded, pain free or they are you
sometimes afraid? Not in a soid with Jacob, but with
just some players in general. Hey, I gotta do whatever
I can. My squad's disappointing on a tough stretch. I'll
get out there even if not nine hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
No, you know what, No, we're not going to do that.
We're not going to put our players in a position.
This is their career. I'm very mindful of that. You know,
I play baseball. I understand this is their livelihood. That
they have families, they have kids. We're not going to
ask the player who is not ready to go and
put their career in jeopardy. If we could wait another
three or four days. It's very important, you know that
(07:36):
we make sure that we take care of our players.
If they're not one hundred percent, they're not going to
be able to perform at their capability. So we we
make sure that those guys are in a good spot
before we bring him back and be able to, you know, perform.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Escape your need to thank you for the time. Good
luck to it against the Nationals.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
All right, man, thank you, you got it.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
That's Joe spot Of with us here on Sports Talk
seven nine.
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