Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You know, just because Wax todayc say that their day
is over does not mean that we're done here on
Sports Soox seven ninety No.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Welcome on into the that caap Cole Thompson rock with
two and No.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Seven PM, getting you prepared for game two of a
four game set between the West Sacramento.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
I don't care that that's not their name.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
I'm calling them that until anybody tells me otherwise. Athletics
and you're Houston Astros seven one three two one two
five seven ninety. If you want to chime on in
whatever's on your mind, I am here to be your therapist.
I am here to be your voice of reason. I'm
here to go ahead and kick back and enjoy the
next hour with you before we go over to local
programming and then we come back for Astros on deck.
(00:40):
We begin today show getting you caught up with Bennett
so SUSA one two eight era A thirty two strikeouts
dominant performance this year for the Astros out of the bullpen.
Another lefty, a true lefty, and as somebody that is
left handed a southpaw himself, I appreciate when you do
everything with the left hand. Sorry Chas McCormick. Sorry, Jake Myers,
(01:03):
I have a little bit more of a standard when
it comes to that type of stuff. And he was
lucky enough to join us today on the A team.
And if you want to listen to that interview in
its entirety, just make sure you go on over to
Sports Talk seven ninety or the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
And when you're on the.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
iHeartRadio app, preset Sportstock seven ninety as your number one
listen that way, you can listen to the Sean Salisbury Show,
the eighteen, the Matt Thomas Show, the Nightcap, whatever you want.
Our conversation begins with jose Al Tuvey. What's been the
deal with people hating on the little engine that could
the most dominant player in Astro's history and looking at
(01:39):
it from the outside, how did he feel about becoming
a teammate of somebody that is the most hated player
in Major League Baseball?
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Yeah, I mean it's kind of just funny.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
I mean it's he's the only guy left from that
era of Houston Astro baseball, and we hear it all
the time in the I mean it's the number one
shirp we get right, the trash can trash can and
you know, Jose I can't say enough good things about him.
He's one of the best teammates I've ever had. He
(02:11):
talks to everybody in the locker room. He's such a
big part of this team, and he has been for
so many years. You know, it sucks going to away
stadiums and hearing him get boot all the time, but
I think at this point, you know, he he's used
to it and he enjoys it, and when he gets
his revenge like he did last night, it's even sweeter.
Speaker 5 (02:30):
What did you think of this clubhouse and jose Al
Tuovey's role in it when you first arrived that last
month of the regular season in twenty three.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
Immediately I knew why the Astros have been so good
for so many years.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
And it's that locker room.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
I mean, you know, it's changed now a little bit
since twenty three to now, but the idea and the
culture is still there.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
And it's just, you know, we play for each other.
We're we're all a tight knit group.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
There's not one personal lot room that you know is
going against the grain. It's it's really it makes it
fun when you're playing for your brothers, Uh, and that's
what I really enjoy about this team, in this locker room.
Speaker 6 (03:09):
From a pitching perspective, Is there anybody that you gravitated towards?
Is there anybody that kind of helped you out, maybe
even you know, unprovoked. I don't know how it goes, obviously,
and everybody's different. Is there somebody that you can point to,
some buddies that have kind of taken you under their wing,
helped you out?
Speaker 3 (03:25):
What have you?
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Yeah, I mean there's a couple of guys for sure.
The first one is Josh Hater. I mean he's my
catch play partner, being the best lefty in.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
The reliever in the league.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
Uh, you know, I try to I try to do
everything that guy does because I want to, you know,
I want to be like him. And he's just he's
he's an open book. He's always trying to help us.
He's picks my brain, I pick his brain. And and
he's just a great leader for that bullpen, especially, you know,
a bullpen with four lefties, and that him leading.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Us all is awesome.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
And then last year, you know, I was rehabbing a lot,
and I was here in Houston for half the year,
and I spent a lot of time with Lance because
he was rehabbing as well, and just seeing how that guy,
you know, because he was he was reheaped for a
long time and just going through you know, just seeing
what he was doing, trying to you know, come to
(04:26):
the park with a positive attitude every day even though
you know you can't contribute to the team. That helped
me a lot last year. So Lance was a big
part of that for me.
Speaker 5 (04:34):
What was it like when I assume this happened, when
one of your pitching coaches Josh or Murph came to
you and said, we got some data on your slider.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
They don't hit it. We'd like you to throw it more.
Speaker 7 (04:48):
You know.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
It's funny because because every team, every stop that I've
had like that, that is the that's the one thing
they always say, like, hey, throw your slider. But with
these guys, for some reason, like they really they really
trusted it that like, you know, this is a really
good pitch and and you know, it might take some
time for us to for it to to really play
(05:11):
on the big leagues, but like when it does, it's
gonna be worth the wait. And uh, you know, I
love Josh and and and Murph. They're they're they're the
two best pitching coaches for me personally.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
They keep things.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
Light, uh and they really know how to to the
scoutter reports and things like that, Uh for us to
all succeed.
Speaker 5 (05:31):
Well, I feel like we keep getting the opportunity to
ask this question of our astros pitching guests.
Speaker 8 (05:37):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (05:37):
And it's the first time in all of our years
broadcasting we've ever been able to ask it. What's it
like having a a pitching staff and a bullpen so
overrun with left handers.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
I mean, guys, it's amazing. You know, you don't see it.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
Uh. You know, we we we take a lot of
pride in being left handed in that bullpen, uh and
now in our starting rotation as well. But you know,
we got to give some love to our writings down
there in the bullpen too, you know, Brian and Bray
who's Bray Hue. I know he had a tough one
last night, but he's been unbelievable all year long.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (06:12):
You know, just it feels like the eighth and ninth
inning are just locked down endings for us every time.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
And then you know we got Sean Duban, who you know,
I know he was hurt the first couple of months
of the year, but I mean he's been he's been
a workhorse for us out of that.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Bullpen, and and those innings you.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
Know, might go un notice to some people, but to
us in that bullpen, I mean, we see what he's
doing and it's incredible.
Speaker 6 (06:38):
As a fellow left left handed person. And in an
era where everybody wakes up and figures out something, they
need to come complain about it every single day. Are
you with me that you feel like we are more
discriminated against than most people in society with things like
spiral notebooks with the binding on the left hand side.
That's crap, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Yeah? Yeah, one hundred percent.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
Uh we you know, we get I think Josh Josh
is a fake lefty, and I think DK is a
fake lefty too. I think I think Steve and I
are the only true lefties where we do everything left handed.
So you know, I I hear you on that.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
With with all the the other stuff that we got
to deal with, well.
Speaker 5 (07:16):
Makes me curious, is Chaz or or Jake are they
fake lefties or real lefties?
Speaker 4 (07:22):
I you know, I think, well, Chaz Bat's right handed
so you know.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
But but uh, you know, I don't know.
Speaker 5 (07:32):
I mean, they go left and bat right. I'm just
trying to dump both those. I'd call them fake lefties.
Even if I don't know the answer. We know that
Bennis Suza is a true lefty. That's all that matters,
all right.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Yeah, but hey, I'm not I'm not as weird as
most lefties.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
I'll tell you that for starters, there's nothing weird about
left handed people.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Bennett.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Come on, the true lefties like you and me, the
ones that actually do everything left handed, We're awesome if
I honestly, the fact that there's a ten percent of
the population that actually meets our standard means that we're better.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Than everybody else. And I'm not afraid to say that.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
I'll call everybody out there that's alrighty anyways, it doesn't
bother me, because you want know why the South parts
are the ones that absolutely dominate the way that Bennett's
SUSA has dominated this season.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
One point eight two e er, fifty four.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Innings pitch thirty two strikeouts and a big reason why
the ass Shows are currently sitting ten games over five
hundred and better, yet still in.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
The division lead.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Yes, I understand last night's loss. Nick Kurtz hitting a
walk off to go ahead and get a three to
one victory. It absolutely stinks, but it wasn't bet At
Susa's fault.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
It was a right hander's fault.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
So just remember, ladies and gentlemen, at the end of
the day, the right hander gave it up to the
lefty that was at the plate.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Seven one, seven nine. If you want to chime on in,
if you.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Want to listen to the entirety of that interview, make
sure you go download the iHeartRadio app and preset iHeartRadio
Sports seven ninety as your number one listen. That way
you can hear it's entirety, or visit us at SportsTalk
sven ninety dot com.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
We're gonna take a quick time out when we return.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Benettsusa wasn't the only Astro to join us on the
show today, No no, We also had manager Joe Espada
talking about the direction of this team and better yet,
what needs to change tonight when we see Jason Alexander
Seinfeld's best friend himself go ahead and take them out.
We'll talk about that. We'll talk about more surrounding the astros.
(09:33):
Ari Alexander from KPRC two joining us at six point thirty.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Giving you a quick update.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
On everything that you need to know about the All
Star Game and the MLB trade deadline, and plus let's
get a little bit into the Kevin Durant talk.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
We got all this and much much more.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
We're just one segment down, three more to go, right
here on the nightcap on Sports Talk seven ninety six,
eighteen after the hour, right here on Sports Talk seven
ninety Not only is today one of the most important
days in my life because of two years ago, I
decided to go ahead and hitch myself to another individual.
So happy anniversary, Kirsen. I love you very much and
(10:08):
I cannot wait until I see you went home later tonight.
Congratulations Cold. But that is not even the best thing, Brett.
That's even the best thing, Frankie. The best thing that
happened today. And I didn't realize it when I booked
the date. I didn't realize it when I joined the show.
I didn't realize I was gonna be a working with
a psycho that absolutely loves this holiday.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
We got oj It's we got oj. We got oj,
we got al Calligs, we got.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Game six of the NBA five and nope, we got
a breakoff. Tom broke off, just sitting in the corner
waiting for his opportunity to talk about the biggest reality
television show that has ever existed.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
I will die on this. Take OJ Simpson in the
race back home.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
What a day to love everything about especially from and
the OJ LA five hundred. We had the ticket to
parade and by the way, now I'm gonna go home.
I hate do the secures and I hate this to
everybody in my life. Uh, don't bother me. Tonight when
I watched the thirty for thirty documentary, one of the
great the greatest of all the documentaries. The only one
(11:14):
that I like more by ESPN that has ever done
something positive is The Last Dance.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
This is number two.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
And I am such a big fan of thirty for
thirty because they made a roll Tide War ego documentary
and that kind of play second fiddle behind what we
got on June seventeenth, nineteen ninety four seven one three, two,
one two five seven ninety Tell me where you were,
what you were eating, what was on your mind when
you saw Al Collings going up the freeway and Oj
sitting in the back of the car, wondering is this
(11:41):
gonna be the end of the juice being loose. We'll
talk all of that, probably not much more actually for
being completely real, But here's what we will talk about.
What's going on with the Astros after last night's game.
What was on the mind of everybody inside the clubhouse
after Nick Kurtz hit a two run homer to walk
it off as the West Sacramento Athletics secured a three
(12:03):
to one lead.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Well on the Matt Thomas Show if you were paying
attention earlier today featuring.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Ross Joe Espada, actually broke it down, speaking exactly what
went wrong last night and how most these games have
gone down to.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
One major swing, one major influence.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
If you want to listen to the entirety of the interview,
just going over to Sports Talk seven ninety dot com,
of the podcast feed or download the iHeartRadio op and
when you're doing that, make sure that you had the
preset number one. Listen Sports Talk seven ninety. Our conversation
begins with how, let's just call.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
It as is.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
The last several games, one swing has been the difference,
and last night, unfortunately, it was the difference between a
win and a loss out in West Sacramento.
Speaker 8 (12:47):
You know, for me, I look at the positive Matt.
Speaker 7 (12:49):
You know, when you play low scoring games, there's a lot.
Speaker 8 (12:53):
Of things that you do.
Speaker 7 (12:54):
You have to do really well to be able to
stay in the game and have a chance to win
it at the end.
Speaker 8 (12:59):
Like we've been doing. One thing that this team does
very well.
Speaker 7 (13:03):
We're good coming from behind, right like we we we
we played hard till the end. So you know, we
are doing a really good job pitching and we're playing
some really really good defense. If you do those two things,
you're going to find yourself in every ball game they hit,
you know, the hitting kind of goes and.
Speaker 8 (13:18):
Goes throughout throughout the season. It happens.
Speaker 7 (13:21):
You know, we ran into some some good arms yesterday
we were able to score on a run, but we
were we were closed. We were one hit away from.
Speaker 8 (13:28):
Opening the game up and winning that ball game. But
for me, it's I'm going to look at the bright
side of things, man. You know, Gusto.
Speaker 7 (13:38):
Asking him the night before a you we need you
to pitch tomorrow, he said.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Joe, let's go. I'm ready to go.
Speaker 7 (13:43):
He goes out. He puts out five eight in five innings.
Those are positive man our defense. You know, we we're
grinding through some of bats and eventually, you know, we're
going to open things up. But I really really like
the way we are playing right now on both.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
Sides of the ball.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Skip you guy part is back you dated yesterday.
Speaker 9 (14:01):
How much DH how much third base do you want
to see or do you feel like you can put
getting back out there at some point in the field
this weekend?
Speaker 7 (14:07):
Yeah, So he'll play third base today and we are
you know, I'm monitoring really close. I want to be
careful on how much volume we give him right off
the bat.
Speaker 8 (14:20):
We were very.
Speaker 7 (14:21):
Lucky for that injury, you know, not to be something
that will keep him out of the line up for
a long period of time, and I want to make
sure it stays that way. But he is playing third
base today and we'll continue to keep an eye on
him and the rest of the boys since we are
in a pretty long stretch of games.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Here.
Speaker 9 (14:39):
Jo spotted with us here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Christian Walker had that big three hit game a few
games ago. Since then has slowed down a bit. What
are your conversations like been with him? Just take us
from maybe the start of the season to the struggles
and to where he is now, especially mentally.
Speaker 8 (14:56):
You know what, mentally, he's super mentally tough.
Speaker 7 (14:59):
I think the mindset of Christian Walker is one of
someone that understands that, you know, the the journey of
how long the season is and the ups and downs
that come with uh with with playing in in an
atmosphere where you're expected to win, and he understands that.
(15:19):
I do like the fact that he is open about
how he feels. He's open about like sometimes he finds
himself trying to do a little bit too much, and
you know, he is working every single day through mechanically
trying to get himself right. And we see moments where
we okay, he is fully out of this, and then
(15:41):
there's a game or two where he hits some balls
where he's unlucky, and you see his frustration at times, like, man,
I just need to get a couple of knots and
and get going here.
Speaker 8 (15:53):
But he's added to it's it's good we get him
an off day two days ago. He came out.
Speaker 7 (15:58):
Yet that I was when the bat well got a
non They picked him really tough, which I expect him to.
Speaker 8 (16:04):
He's you know, hitting behind, uh, hitting in the middle
of a lineup. But yeah, at the end of the day,
I think this. I think he's going to have a
solid season for us.
Speaker 7 (16:10):
It's a lot of baseball left and I expect him
to get going here and we need him to get going.
Speaker 8 (16:15):
He's a big, huge part of our of our lineup.
Speaker 9 (16:18):
Would Luis Giormany be your dark horse in a team
high jumping competition?
Speaker 7 (16:25):
Well, a great play. You know, in the dugout we started,
we started talking to Peret, we started joking with parties.
Speaker 8 (16:31):
But it's like, you think he could have made that play?
Speaker 7 (16:33):
Uh, And and he's like, Joe, of course I could
make that play.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
I don't know.
Speaker 8 (16:39):
Yeah, I'll tell you that was Joe.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
He went five feet the left field. That's way too
far for.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Him to go out the left field, isn't it.
Speaker 8 (16:48):
Yeah, But he's he's like, you know, I thought that
he could make that play.
Speaker 7 (16:53):
But you know, one thing about g Yoromy is something
he's done his entire career is he can really defend
everywhere you put him on in the unfield, he can
really make some place. He take prizes, so he takes
biding his defense and.
Speaker 8 (17:05):
He made those two play bare hand slow rollers.
Speaker 7 (17:08):
Which you know kept us from you know, innings to
get out of control air for Gusto. So I really
feel comfortable when he's playing defense, and he'll give you
some quality up bats when he's in there.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
I'm not gonna complain, but let's okay, Skip, you will
have to be the one to say it. I will
be the one to say it. You're not watching a
one mister escoc Predes make that play, and that's why
he use a defensive replacement. You go back and you
watch when he was doing these things with the Braves
and when he was making that highlight grab with the
New York Mets, Like that's what yer May brings to you,
(17:43):
and that's what you want to see from him. I
agree with Skip on a lot of things. Listen, the
injury to Estoc Predes could have been a lot worse.
If you got a dhent for half the time. Guess what,
he got a really good glove on the hot corner.
That's gonna at least put you in a position to
find some success where that be against Los Angeles' upcoming
weekend or later on tonight when Jason Alexander, Yes the
(18:04):
best friend of Jerry Seinfeld, makes his debut for the
Astros here in West Sacramento. Let's get you caught up
around the majors before we go, take a quick break.
Colorado versus Washington, bottom of the third, tied at one apiece.
A two run single by Canaro gives the Pittsburgh Pirates
a three to two lead over the Detroit Tigers. You
(18:24):
should be paying attention to that because of again, the
askers are trying to get to first place. You also
have the top of the second Angels versus Yankees nothing apiece,
two to one for the Marlins over the Phillies. Going
into the top of the fifth. Currently in a rain
delay between the Braves and Mets. Not on top of
the second, Twins versus Reds nothing apiece. Game's about to
get underway between the Orioles and the Rays. Cardinals and
(18:47):
White Sox out at Cellular Field. Boston takes on Seattle
after winning last night first game without Rafiel Devers first
pitch at eight forty.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
The Dodgers take on the Padres at nine.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Cubs and Brewers get NL Central action underway at Wrigley
starting at seven h five. Royals versus Rangers out in Arlington.
No one cares about that game, so why am I
even bringing it up? And of course we gotta talk
about the game that's underway, starting off with Rafael Devers
making his San Francisco Giants debut tonight when they play
(19:23):
host to the Cleveland Guardian see Quick Time Out.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Billy, I see you in the chat.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
When we come back, we'll get to your call, and
Ari Alexander from KPRC two get you caught up on
everything you need to know about the All Star break
when we come back here on the Nightcat Sports Talk
seven ninety, we.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Got phone calls not Paris to get to.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Let's go ahead and get out to the guest lines
every one thirty two, one two five, seven ninety if
you want to call in right here on the Nightcap.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Billy Houston wants to talk Astros. What's on your mind?
Speaker 10 (19:47):
Billy, Hey, Cole, Usually I call it AM six thirty AM.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
This six thirty pm. It is kind of weird for me.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 10 (19:56):
Yeah, Hey, you know, the Astros approach at the play
is kind of it's grinding on me. How many five
pitch innings are we going to give the opposing pitchers.
I guess the strategy is if you don't let him
throw enough pitches to stay loose, then he'll tighten up
second time through the little rotation.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
I don't know, but I'll to be out of the mix.
Speaker 10 (20:16):
I think that guy's hitting like three p forty on
the first pitch, but nobody else does, and a lot
of one pitch outs, A lot of starting pitchers are
getting deep into games on us. And when we were
in the we were the dominant force in the AL.
This team would work pitchers to death.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
I agree, and.
Speaker 10 (20:35):
They took a lot of pitches. They knew the strike zone.
This right now, this approach to me seems like swing
hard in case you hit it, and and it's a problem,
but no one seems to want to address the problem.
And that's confusing to me. They're not taking walks. And
I'm not saying that you can just stand up there
to take walks through.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
The professional pitchers.
Speaker 10 (20:55):
I don't care at which team it is, but they're
not working pitchers. They're not getting deep into counts, and
I think that's part of the reason that they're not
scoring runs right now. I mean, yeah, I get it
that they're just not getting hits. That's very true. But
when they're swinging. Yes, a lot of people will tell
you that the first pitch a lot of times is
(21:16):
the best pitch you're going to see in the at bat.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
I understand that.
Speaker 10 (21:20):
But there's also an opportunity to start the at bat
one oh instead of oh one And how many O
two counts do you see a CaAl?
Speaker 2 (21:27):
I mean, come on, I agree with you.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Listen, Billy, I'm not going to disagree at all, and
I appreciate the call. Man.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Here's the bottom line.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
If it is an off speed pitch and you know
that is at the heart of the plate, like there
was a swing what was it like a week and
a half ago, Christian Walker, just let it go on
by eighty three miles slider like, when it's right down
the heart of the plate, uncork one and let it fly.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
You're not gonna get many pitchers better than that.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
But if you're seeing ninety four mile fastballs, if you're
seeing ninety seven miles, it's anywhere between the upper part
of the zoner even near the near your feet, make
sure that you away from that stuff. You don't want
to go ahead and work the count that much out
of your favor I will say this, Billy, and I do.
I appreciate you bringing this up. It was really important that, yes,
maybe you will tense up. However, when you tense up,
(22:13):
part of the thing is is that if you start
to get loose at any point, well then the picture
starts to go ahead and get some wins. Paul and
Mereland wants to talk a little bit about Jason Alexander.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
What's up, Paul? Hey a minute, dat hear you saying
with your anniversary It is my anniversary two years ago today.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
All right, Now you're getting a little looky as all
the rest of us.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Yeah, I have to actually do honeydews stuff now. It's
very annoying all the time.
Speaker 10 (22:35):
Hey, my family's taking me out for a late follower
day taco Tuesday night.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
I appreciate that. That's awesome. Okay, what's the top talking
for you, Paul?
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Just fans and man? What we know about him? Man?
Speaker 1 (22:48):
What do we know about him besides an eighteen e
er with another team. Here's the good news. It's fresh
start here in Houston. That's what you're hoping for. And
he is a guy that they have high home hopes
that can be a middle relief starter.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
I mean like, I'm not expecting much.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
I do think anybody should expect much from George Costanza
the night. I think of anything, what you're expected for
is a couple of laughs, a couple of high a
couple of highs, and probably more so what we saw
with him working in Steinbrenner's office. That's that's what I
want to see, a couple of moments that are actually
pretty positive, that help the organization in the right move.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Why would you train j Dick? You're the man, Pat.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
I always appreciate you coming on in my friend. Thank you,
take care listen seven one, three, two two five seven ninety.
Paul's right. Uh, let's give you a quick starting lineup
going into night's game. And when we come back, we
have a very special guest joining us, Jeremy paying Elites
things off east Side Parades. He's again, as you heard
from Joe A. Spotta playing third. The designating hitter tonight
is gonna be Jsel Twove, Yanu diz Bat and fourth
(23:50):
Christian Walker back down the five hole where he belongs.
Joe Espada, Jake Myers Batten, six, Cam Smith and Wright
Mauricio Dubonnet's second base Cooper Hummel. We'll take on left
Field seven night if you want to join on in
the chat, but we have Ari Alexander fresh off of
a newscast, get you caught up on everything you know
(24:11):
about the Astros when it comes to All Star, the
trade deadline, and much much more. So we'll get to
him on the nightcap right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. Next,
I want you to be happier by watching the Astros
get a win tonight against the one and only West
Sacramento Athletics, and to find out more information about what
we can expect from George Castandra, what we can expect
(24:32):
from the trade deadline, we can expect from the All
Star Game. We head out to the guest line and
welcome into Ari Alexander, fresh off of a news broadcast. Ari,
I gotta ask you eighteen e er the last time
we saw Jason Alexander take the mound. What are the
expectations going into tonight's game? Is this one of those
matchups where you're saying, hey, we'll give them a couple
of innings. If things start to continue to go progress,
(24:54):
we'll leave them out there. If not, we're gonna have
to trust the bullpen.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
I think that's exactly it cool.
Speaker 11 (24:59):
I mean, you have Brandon will come in out of
nowhere and throw five scroreless innings at his first start
as an Astro's uniform. So that's sort of the hope
for Jason Alexander. This team, this organization has done a
great job of finding guys off the street, figuring out
what they like about what they throw, and then bringing
them in out of nowhere fixing them the way they
did it with yuse Kakuchi last year after that big trade,
(25:21):
and the way they've done it with guys like calb Bort,
with guys like Brandon Walter, just signing guys off the
street or picking them off off waivers, saying hey, stop
throwing this, start throwing this, throw this less, throw this more,
and it seems to work. The Astros have done such
a good job at this that they deserve the benefit
of the doubt.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
So yeah, the guy's got an eighteen.
Speaker 11 (25:40):
Era has been terrible for most of the season as
an athletic, but they wouldn't have claimed him off of
waivers if they didn't like something about him or see
something about a specific pitch, and so you got to
think that they've had him in the system now for
a few weeks, tweaked whatever it is they need to tweak,
and the hope is that he comes out a little
(26:01):
bit better than what we saw from him earlier in
the year.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
And then you also got to take into consideration that
when we're talking about someone like Jason Alexander, much like
Caleb or much like a Bennetts SUSA, other players that
have been around the revenge factor, you didn't see something
in me. I end up bawling out. I end up
having like a two point two er. I mean, Betsus
is gonna one point two era. The last two years
(26:24):
before that he couldn't even make it onto an MLB roster.
That spekes the volume of like where your staff is
a is an organization because of look at how much
more I'm performing now in a different roster with a
different team.
Speaker 11 (26:38):
Yeah, I mean, especially he's getting to start against the
team that dfad him, that took him off the roster
and he had to be waiverclaimed somewhere.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
So I would believe.
Speaker 11 (26:46):
That he's got some you know, internal motivation to do well,
specifically against this lineup against this team that didn't want him.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
But that's the.
Speaker 11 (26:54):
Reality of baseball is these guys sometimes struggle for various reasons.
It could be like the way that I've brought up
some of these guys. Kikuchi was a great one to
think about, where the Blue Jays just did not know
how to use him and the Astros got him in
the system and they were using him in an optimized way.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
And so that could be.
Speaker 11 (27:16):
A guy like a Jason Alexander going, hey, I was
in this organization in Oakland, Sacramento, Las Vegas, whatever they
are now, and they don't know how to optimize pitchers.
And he gets to be in an Astros organization that
has been among the best in the league at this
for a number of years, and he gets to come
back to this minor league ballpark and show him what
he's about on the team that is leading the division.
(27:38):
So I'm sure that something in the back of his mind.
But at the same time, it is baseball, So he's
got to study his scouting reports. He knows these guys
he played with him, and then it's just go out
and execute what the pitching coaches they're telling him. And
if you can get four innings of Okay, you know,
even like four innings a three run ball, I think
it's a win for them because this is the spots start.
Remember Lance McCullers junior is hurt, and then you have
(28:00):
the rest of your rotation lining up. Okay, this is
the spot start. So I'm not sure you can expect
all that much.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
We're talking about Ari Alexander ari a one Xander on
social media if you want to give him a follow.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
Ari.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
This bullpen, which is filled with lefties, I've never seen
this many southpaws in a bullpen before, has been one
of the most impressive units in baseball this year.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
But is there one name that you've really.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
Kind of taken a custom to of knowing that, hey,
when we see him take the mound, it is basically
a selling point that we don't need to worry about
going to Josh Hader, we don't need to worry about
going to Brian to bray. You there's a comfortability going
into say the sixth or seventh thenning that a guy
that last season maybe wasn't paying out for his team
has made such a difference for this Astros roster this year.
Speaker 11 (28:46):
Well, I think the guy that comes to mind. One
is Stephen Okred obviously, but the other one too is
Brian King. Brian King was not any sort of a prospect.
I mean, he was thirtieth round pick out of the
McNee state by the and just bounced around and no
one wanted him, and then the Astros were able to
optimize him. And he doesn't throw super hard, it's just
(29:08):
from a weird angle and he hides the ball well.
And then Steven Oker is coming out there. Oker was
a pretty good reliever for a number of years. He
bounced around to a bunch of different teams. He'd have
a good year, he'd have a bad year. He was
kind of your standard decent lefty reliever and bad year
last year. The Astros sign him off the street this offseason,
and whatever it is they did with him, he has
(29:29):
strikeout rate is unbelievable. And so they have built so
many examples of Hey, you could be the most non
prospect guy in the world. We're gonna turn you into
a decent reliever, and then down the line you're gonna
get paid, or hey, you had a bad run with
the Twins, we'll sign you, will optimize you, we'll turn
you into a good reliever. I think this has been
(29:50):
one of the most impressive things that they've done over
the years.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Rolfe al Montero.
Speaker 11 (29:54):
I know the deal didn't work out for the Astros,
but remember they traded for him as not the main
part of the deal, right he got Originally he was
just a throw in, and then he was one of
the best seventh eighth inning guys in all of baseball
in twenty twenty two and a big part of them
winning the World Series. So there's just so many examples
of not just starting pitchers, but them being able to
(30:15):
optimize pictures, and I think it's an underrated part of
the Astros dynasty. We talk about, oh, you signed this
Dominican kid for ten K and he turned into a star,
or building up the first round picks, or getting yord
On in that trade. But there's a lot of bullpen
guys that have come out of absolutely nowhere and they've
done it.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
Year after year.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
Here's one thing that I do want to talk about
when it comes to the All Star rankings. Right now,
we know that Jeremy Panna he's going to be in
the running. I would say it's not a lot, but
it feels pretty close. With how the overall voting is
Josh Haters another name that I think is going to
guarantee his spot in the American League All Star. Is
there one name right now that you feel like needs
to have a good rest of the next two weeks
(30:56):
before we get to the unveiling of the actual roster
that could eventual you make his way on. I think
Hunter Brown is safe. I'm gonna take Jeremy Panygy out.
I'm gonna take Josh hayterund. Is there somebody else that
you think right now needs to have a good couple
of swings at the plate or maybe a good couple
of innings to put himself in a position to where
he's gonna make the Rosser.
Speaker 11 (31:14):
I would say the only other two guys to have
a chance to make the roster from the Astros other
than maybe Josel two bags For Josel.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
Two bags sake, I would.
Speaker 11 (31:22):
Say he's stock Paratus, who's coming off the hamstring. And
fromer Valdez. I sort of think fromer Valdez might be
able to backdoor.
Speaker 3 (31:29):
His way into it.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
I agree with that.
Speaker 11 (31:30):
It gives me pause. The White Sox needs someone, and
I think there's someone is gonna be Shane Smith, and
so just by virtue of having to have a pictures
spot for a bad team, I think Promer could.
Speaker 3 (31:41):
Lose his spot.
Speaker 11 (31:42):
He's been good, he is ra is getting to where
it needs to be, and maybe come time for the
coaching staff to choose the pitchers, you look at him
and it's like, oh, Sub three Era getting a bunch
of strikeouts. He's on the division leader. We know that
he's a previous All Star, He's been a part of
a World's two.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
He's winning team.
Speaker 11 (32:01):
Frober Valdez is a known entity. Plus, Major League Baseball
loves its narratives.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
I think last year.
Speaker 11 (32:06):
That was a big part of why Garrett Crochet one
Pitcher of the Month over Hunter Brown because he was
a big trade deadline name. Froberveldez is going to be
the top free agent pitcher in this class. He could
maybe be a trade deadline name if the Astros want
to make, you know, a good on good trade and
bring something back. I don't think it's going to happen,
but he is a guy that is going to get
(32:27):
a lot of attention this offseason, and I can see
Major League Baseball saying, you know what, this is going
to be our number one pitcher this offseason for free agency.
Let's showcase him a little bit in this year's All
Star Game.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
Let's stay on that subject of the trade deadline more
so just prospects in general, because I want to ask
about Bryce Matthews. I know that you were watching him
earlier today out in Sureland. Number one prospect for the
Astros right now, he's probably, in my opinion, a less
an injury occurs, he's not gonna make it to the
active roster this year. But is there anything that you
think right at this moment that the Astros would be
(32:59):
one to listen to the package a deal for him
that would help them maybe get over the hump, whether
they be a pitching prospect, whether it be an outfielder,
or is it just the fact that his value, being
a former first round pick, his defense at second base,
and the longevity of potentially his career is too valuable
to go ahead and ship moff elsewhere.
Speaker 11 (33:18):
I don't think it would be smart to trade him,
and I don't think that they would trade it because
this is Dana Brown's first first round pick.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
He's only gotten to make two as a general manager.
Speaker 11 (33:27):
It's him and Walker Yannick, and obviously Yanick was the
guy last year and they're hoping that he comes up
and becomes a catcher of the future. I don't think
that he's going to flip him this quickly. I know
he did that with Jake bloss However, this is his
first first round pick. I think Dana Brown really likes
Bryce Matthews. I think he sees him as a future
piece for the Astros and to flip him for I
(33:50):
don't know, Brandon Lao, Ryan O'Hearn or whatever, a starting pitcher, Andrewsini,
the sort of names that I think are fits for
the Astros. This trade deadline, I don't think it makes
and I do think the Astros are going to get
out gunned at the trade deadline for a lot.
Speaker 8 (34:04):
Of these guys. Maybe they come in.
Speaker 11 (34:06):
And put together what looks like a bigger package than
it is for a guy, the way they did last
year for Kakuchie, and it turned out pretty well. In general,
I just don't think Bryce Matthews is the guy. I
do think he has a better chance to get on
this active roster than you might think because Data Brown
typically when he talks about a guy you sort of
have a few weeks until that guy's getting called out.
(34:28):
I don't necessarily think that's going to be the case
Bryce Matthews.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
He's right handed.
Speaker 11 (34:32):
He plays a position right now that the Astros don't
have an immediate need because they can put Jose Al
two Bay at second base for whenever. However, if this
year goes on and Brendan Rodgers is not really contributing,
Bryce Matthews keeps hitting well, there are some things he's
still got to clean up at the Triple A level. Also,
keep in mind it's June, Like we can be talking
about this in September and he could still be a
(34:54):
useful piece for a playoff run. I think that there's
a chance, but Bryce Matthews has to do his part.
He's not hitting well at home. Sugarland is one of
the more fair ballparks in the PCL. If he can
show like, hey, I can crush at this C level
home ballpark, just like I canon Reno and El Paso
and all of the Albuquerque's of the world, I think
that bodes well for him, and then continue playing good
(35:15):
defense at second base, and he has every opportunity because
the general manager drafted you in the first round as
his first ever first.
Speaker 3 (35:24):
Round pitch as a GM.
Speaker 11 (35:25):
I think he's got some protection from a trade.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
I don't disagree with you at all when it comes
to that Ario Alexander from KPRC too Sports, if you
want to go check him out at ari A one Xander,
I'm gonna leave you on this. You mentioned Ryan O'Hearn's name,
that seems to be the top batter when it comes
to the trade deadline.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
There's gonna be teams interested in him.
Speaker 1 (35:47):
The value of having a power hitter going into a
contract here for the Astros right now, what do you
think the offer would have to be to land him
from Baltimore? And who are maybe some other teams that
the Astros could be going up against to make sure
that he enters the lineup and run and route for
a posseason push.
Speaker 11 (36:03):
I mean, there's gonna be a lot of teams that
are looking for a left handed power just any of
these teams that need a bat. Any contender really could
use Ryan O'Hearn. And if you're the Orioles, you might
not necessarily want to trade him to a Red Sox
if the Red Sox start to win or the Yankees
but there are teams that are going to be going
after him, and almost every team, every contending team especially
(36:25):
has more firepower in their minor league system than Baltimore.
The one trump card that I think the Astros hold
is that they have a ton of pitching. I know
a lot of it is hurt, but that is where
Baltimore is weak right now. I think that the Orioles
could be one of the teams that go after from
or Valdez in free agency.
Speaker 3 (36:42):
And if the.
Speaker 11 (36:42):
Astros want to make the big time splash trade, assuming
you get some guys back from injury, the Christian Javiers,
Luis Garcia is the even the JP Francis for depth,
the Atlantampellers, eventually.
Speaker 8 (36:55):
Maybe you make that move.
Speaker 3 (36:56):
I don't think that's going to.
Speaker 11 (36:57):
Happen, but I think that they don't necessarily have enough
up in their minor league system or minor league system,
plus Chas McCormick to entice Baltimore to give them Ryan
O'Hearn over some of the other offers. I could see
Brandon Low maybe being a better fit because he can
play second base, and I don't think that there's going
to be as much attention on Low as there would
be on O'Hearn.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
I don't disagree. I think low would be a good fit.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
I think there's gonna be a lot of teams to
say in him, and I'm going to have you back
on to talk all things trade deadline when we get closer,
Aria Alexander, give him a follow on social media. KPRC
two Sports Ario as always appreciate the time.
Speaker 2 (37:30):
My friend.
Speaker 3 (37:31):
All right, thanks cool.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
That does it for us here on the nightcap.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
You want to go ahead and listen, make sure that
you go ahead and get the download the podcast First
of the show special thanks to Ario Alexander.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
Special thanks to Bret for pushing the ones in twos.
Speaker 1 (37:42):
I'll be back tomorrow, but instead of hearing the sweet
tunes of the voice of one mister Sean Salisbury, instead
you're gonna hear Ross Villarial. He'll get you caught up
on everything you need to know going into Astros on
Deck starting later on tonight.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
But I am Cole Thompson. I will see you tomorrow.
Until next time, Pace
You know, just because Wax todayc say that their day
is over does not mean that we're done here on
Sports Soox seven ninety No.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Welcome on into the that caap Cole Thompson rock with
two and No.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Seven PM, getting you prepared for game two of a
four game set between the West Sacramento.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
I don't care that that's not their name.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
I'm calling them that until anybody tells me otherwise. Athletics
and you're Houston Astros seven one three two one two
five seven ninety. If you want to chime on in
whatever's on your mind, I am here to be your therapist.
I am here to be your voice of reason. I'm
here to go ahead and kick back and enjoy the
next hour with you before we go over to local
programming and then we come back for Astros on deck.
(00:40):
We begin today show getting you caught up with Bennett
so SUSA one two eight era A thirty two strikeouts
dominant performance this year for the Astros out of the bullpen.
Another lefty, a true lefty, and as somebody that is
left handed a southpaw himself, I appreciate when you do
everything with the left hand. Sorry Chas McCormick. Sorry, Jake Myers,
(01:03):
I have a little bit more of a standard when
it comes to that type of stuff. And he was
lucky enough to join us today on the A team.
And if you want to listen to that interview in
its entirety, just make sure you go on over to
Sports Talk seven ninety or the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
And when you're on the.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
iHeartRadio app, preset Sportstock seven ninety as your number one
listen that way, you can listen to the Sean Salisbury Show,
the eighteen, the Matt Thomas Show, the Nightcap, whatever you want.
Our conversation begins with jose Al Tuvey. What's been the
deal with people hating on the little engine that could
the most dominant player in Astro's history and looking at
(01:39):
it from the outside, how did he feel about becoming
a teammate of somebody that is the most hated player
in Major League Baseball?
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Yeah, I mean it's kind of just funny.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
I mean it's he's the only guy left from that
era of Houston Astro baseball, and we hear it all
the time in the I mean it's the number one
shirp we get right, the trash can trash can and
you know, Jose I can't say enough good things about him.
He's one of the best teammates I've ever had. He
(02:11):
talks to everybody in the locker room. He's such a
big part of this team, and he has been for
so many years. You know, it sucks going to away
stadiums and hearing him get boot all the time, but
I think at this point, you know, he he's used
to it and he enjoys it, and when he gets
his revenge like he did last night, it's even sweeter.
Speaker 5 (02:30):
What did you think of this clubhouse and jose Al
Tuovey's role in it when you first arrived that last
month of the regular season in twenty three.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
Immediately I knew why the Astros have been so good
for so many years.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
And it's that locker room.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
I mean, you know, it's changed now a little bit
since twenty three to now, but the idea and the
culture is still there.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
And it's just, you know, we play for each other.
We're we're all a tight knit group.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
There's not one personal lot room that you know is
going against the grain. It's it's really it makes it
fun when you're playing for your brothers, Uh, and that's
what I really enjoy about this team, in this locker room.
Speaker 6 (03:09):
From a pitching perspective, Is there anybody that you gravitated towards?
Is there anybody that kind of helped you out, maybe
even you know, unprovoked. I don't know how it goes, obviously,
and everybody's different. Is there somebody that you can point to,
some buddies that have kind of taken you under their wing,
helped you out?
Speaker 3 (03:25):
What have you?
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Yeah, I mean there's a couple of guys for sure.
The first one is Josh Hater. I mean he's my
catch play partner, being the best lefty in.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
The reliever in the league.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
Uh, you know, I try to I try to do
everything that guy does because I want to, you know,
I want to be like him. And he's just he's
he's an open book. He's always trying to help us.
He's picks my brain, I pick his brain. And and
he's just a great leader for that bullpen, especially, you know,
a bullpen with four lefties, and that him leading.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Us all is awesome.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
And then last year, you know, I was rehabbing a lot,
and I was here in Houston for half the year,
and I spent a lot of time with Lance because
he was rehabbing as well, and just seeing how that guy,
you know, because he was he was reheaped for a
long time and just going through you know, just seeing
what he was doing, trying to you know, come to
(04:26):
the park with a positive attitude every day even though
you know you can't contribute to the team. That helped
me a lot last year. So Lance was a big
part of that for me.
Speaker 5 (04:34):
What was it like when I assume this happened, when
one of your pitching coaches Josh or Murph came to
you and said, we got some data on your slider.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
They don't hit it. We'd like you to throw it more.
Speaker 7 (04:48):
You know.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
It's funny because because every team, every stop that I've
had like that, that is the that's the one thing
they always say, like, hey, throw your slider. But with
these guys, for some reason, like they really they really
trusted it that like, you know, this is a really
good pitch and and you know, it might take some
time for us to for it to to really play
(05:11):
on the big leagues, but like when it does, it's
gonna be worth the wait. And uh, you know, I
love Josh and and and Murph. They're they're they're the
two best pitching coaches for me personally.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
They keep things.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
Light, uh and they really know how to to the
scoutter reports and things like that, Uh for us to
all succeed.
Speaker 5 (05:31):
Well, I feel like we keep getting the opportunity to
ask this question of our astros pitching guests.
Speaker 8 (05:37):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (05:37):
And it's the first time in all of our years
broadcasting we've ever been able to ask it. What's it
like having a a pitching staff and a bullpen so
overrun with left handers.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
I mean, guys, it's amazing. You know, you don't see it.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
Uh. You know, we we we take a lot of
pride in being left handed in that bullpen, uh and
now in our starting rotation as well. But you know,
we got to give some love to our writings down
there in the bullpen too, you know, Brian and Bray
who's Bray Hue. I know he had a tough one
last night, but he's been unbelievable all year long.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (06:12):
You know, just it feels like the eighth and ninth
inning are just locked down endings for us every time.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
And then you know we got Sean Duban, who you know,
I know he was hurt the first couple of months
of the year, but I mean he's been he's been
a workhorse for us out of that.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Bullpen, and and those innings you.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
Know, might go un notice to some people, but to
us in that bullpen, I mean, we see what he's
doing and it's incredible.
Speaker 6 (06:38):
As a fellow left left handed person. And in an
era where everybody wakes up and figures out something, they
need to come complain about it every single day. Are
you with me that you feel like we are more
discriminated against than most people in society with things like
spiral notebooks with the binding on the left hand side.
That's crap, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Yeah? Yeah, one hundred percent.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
Uh we you know, we get I think Josh Josh
is a fake lefty, and I think DK is a
fake lefty too. I think I think Steve and I
are the only true lefties where we do everything left handed.
So you know, I I hear you on that.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
With with all the the other stuff that we got
to deal with, well.
Speaker 5 (07:16):
Makes me curious, is Chaz or or Jake are they
fake lefties or real lefties?
Speaker 4 (07:22):
I you know, I think, well, Chaz Bat's right handed
so you know.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
But but uh, you know, I don't know.
Speaker 5 (07:32):
I mean, they go left and bat right. I'm just
trying to dump both those. I'd call them fake lefties.
Even if I don't know the answer. We know that
Bennis Suza is a true lefty. That's all that matters,
all right.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Yeah, but hey, I'm not I'm not as weird as
most lefties.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
I'll tell you that for starters, there's nothing weird about
left handed people.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Bennett.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Come on, the true lefties like you and me, the
ones that actually do everything left handed, We're awesome if
I honestly, the fact that there's a ten percent of
the population that actually meets our standard means that we're better.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Than everybody else. And I'm not afraid to say that.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
I'll call everybody out there that's alrighty anyways, it doesn't
bother me, because you want know why the South parts
are the ones that absolutely dominate the way that Bennett's
SUSA has dominated this season.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
One point eight two e er, fifty four.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Innings pitch thirty two strikeouts and a big reason why
the ass Shows are currently sitting ten games over five
hundred and better, yet still in.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
The division lead.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Yes, I understand last night's loss. Nick Kurtz hitting a
walk off to go ahead and get a three to
one victory. It absolutely stinks, but it wasn't bet At
Susa's fault.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
It was a right hander's fault.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
So just remember, ladies and gentlemen, at the end of
the day, the right hander gave it up to the
lefty that was at the plate.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Seven one, seven nine. If you want to chime on in,
if you.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Want to listen to the entirety of that interview, make
sure you go download the iHeartRadio app and preset iHeartRadio
Sports seven ninety as your number one listen. That way
you can hear it's entirety, or visit us at SportsTalk
sven ninety dot com.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
We're gonna take a quick time out when we return.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Benettsusa wasn't the only Astro to join us on the
show today, No no, We also had manager Joe Espada
talking about the direction of this team and better yet,
what needs to change tonight when we see Jason Alexander
Seinfeld's best friend himself go ahead and take them out.
We'll talk about that. We'll talk about more surrounding the astros.
(09:33):
Ari Alexander from KPRC two joining us at six point thirty.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Giving you a quick update.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
On everything that you need to know about the All
Star Game and the MLB trade deadline, and plus let's
get a little bit into the Kevin Durant talk.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
We got all this and much much more.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
We're just one segment down, three more to go, right
here on the nightcap on Sports Talk seven ninety six,
eighteen after the hour, right here on Sports Talk seven
ninety Not only is today one of the most important
days in my life because of two years ago, I
decided to go ahead and hitch myself to another individual.
So happy anniversary, Kirsen. I love you very much and
(10:08):
I cannot wait until I see you went home later tonight.
Congratulations Cold. But that is not even the best thing, Brett.
That's even the best thing, Frankie. The best thing that
happened today. And I didn't realize it when I booked
the date. I didn't realize it when I joined the show.
I didn't realize I was gonna be a working with
a psycho that absolutely loves this holiday.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
We got oj It's we got oj. We got oj,
we got al Calligs, we got.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Game six of the NBA five and nope, we got
a breakoff. Tom broke off, just sitting in the corner
waiting for his opportunity to talk about the biggest reality
television show that has ever existed.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
I will die on this. Take OJ Simpson in the
race back home.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
What a day to love everything about especially from and
the OJ LA five hundred. We had the ticket to
parade and by the way, now I'm gonna go home.
I hate do the secures and I hate this to
everybody in my life. Uh, don't bother me. Tonight when
I watched the thirty for thirty documentary, one of the
great the greatest of all the documentaries. The only one
(11:14):
that I like more by ESPN that has ever done
something positive is The Last Dance.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
This is number two.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
And I am such a big fan of thirty for
thirty because they made a roll Tide War ego documentary
and that kind of play second fiddle behind what we
got on June seventeenth, nineteen ninety four seven one three, two,
one two five seven ninety Tell me where you were,
what you were eating, what was on your mind when
you saw Al Collings going up the freeway and Oj
sitting in the back of the car, wondering is this
(11:41):
gonna be the end of the juice being loose. We'll
talk all of that, probably not much more actually for
being completely real, But here's what we will talk about.
What's going on with the Astros after last night's game.
What was on the mind of everybody inside the clubhouse
after Nick Kurtz hit a two run homer to walk
it off as the West Sacramento Athletics secured a three
(12:03):
to one lead.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Well on the Matt Thomas Show if you were paying
attention earlier today featuring.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Ross Joe Espada, actually broke it down, speaking exactly what
went wrong last night and how most these games have
gone down to.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
One major swing, one major influence.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
If you want to listen to the entirety of the interview,
just going over to Sports Talk seven ninety dot com,
of the podcast feed or download the iHeartRadio op and
when you're doing that, make sure that you had the
preset number one. Listen Sports Talk seven ninety. Our conversation
begins with how, let's just call.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
It as is.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
The last several games, one swing has been the difference,
and last night, unfortunately, it was the difference between a
win and a loss out in West Sacramento.
Speaker 8 (12:47):
You know, for me, I look at the positive Matt.
Speaker 7 (12:49):
You know, when you play low scoring games, there's a lot.
Speaker 8 (12:53):
Of things that you do.
Speaker 7 (12:54):
You have to do really well to be able to
stay in the game and have a chance to win
it at the end.
Speaker 8 (12:59):
Like we've been doing. One thing that this team does
very well.
Speaker 7 (13:03):
We're good coming from behind, right like we we we
we played hard till the end. So you know, we
are doing a really good job pitching and we're playing
some really really good defense. If you do those two things,
you're going to find yourself in every ball game they hit,
you know, the hitting kind of goes and.
Speaker 8 (13:18):
Goes throughout throughout the season. It happens.
Speaker 7 (13:21):
You know, we ran into some some good arms yesterday
we were able to score on a run, but we
were we were closed. We were one hit away from.
Speaker 8 (13:28):
Opening the game up and winning that ball game. But
for me, it's I'm going to look at the bright
side of things, man. You know, Gusto.
Speaker 7 (13:38):
Asking him the night before a you we need you
to pitch tomorrow, he said.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Joe, let's go. I'm ready to go.
Speaker 7 (13:43):
He goes out. He puts out five eight in five innings.
Those are positive man our defense. You know, we we're
grinding through some of bats and eventually, you know, we're
going to open things up. But I really really like
the way we are playing right now on both.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
Sides of the ball.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Skip you guy part is back you dated yesterday.
Speaker 9 (14:01):
How much DH how much third base do you want
to see or do you feel like you can put
getting back out there at some point in the field
this weekend?
Speaker 7 (14:07):
Yeah, So he'll play third base today and we are
you know, I'm monitoring really close. I want to be
careful on how much volume we give him right off
the bat.
Speaker 8 (14:20):
We were very.
Speaker 7 (14:21):
Lucky for that injury, you know, not to be something
that will keep him out of the line up for
a long period of time, and I want to make
sure it stays that way. But he is playing third
base today and we'll continue to keep an eye on
him and the rest of the boys since we are
in a pretty long stretch of games.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Here.
Speaker 9 (14:39):
Jo spotted with us here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Christian Walker had that big three hit game a few
games ago. Since then has slowed down a bit. What
are your conversations like been with him? Just take us
from maybe the start of the season to the struggles
and to where he is now, especially mentally.
Speaker 8 (14:56):
You know what, mentally, he's super mentally tough.
Speaker 7 (14:59):
I think the mindset of Christian Walker is one of
someone that understands that, you know, the the journey of
how long the season is and the ups and downs
that come with uh with with playing in in an
atmosphere where you're expected to win, and he understands that.
(15:19):
I do like the fact that he is open about
how he feels. He's open about like sometimes he finds
himself trying to do a little bit too much, and
you know, he is working every single day through mechanically
trying to get himself right. And we see moments where
we okay, he is fully out of this, and then
(15:41):
there's a game or two where he hits some balls
where he's unlucky, and you see his frustration at times, like, man,
I just need to get a couple of knots and
and get going here.
Speaker 8 (15:53):
But he's added to it's it's good we get him
an off day two days ago. He came out.
Speaker 7 (15:58):
Yet that I was when the bat well got a
non They picked him really tough, which I expect him to.
Speaker 8 (16:04):
He's you know, hitting behind, uh, hitting in the middle
of a lineup. But yeah, at the end of the day,
I think this. I think he's going to have a
solid season for us.
Speaker 7 (16:10):
It's a lot of baseball left and I expect him
to get going here and we need him to get going.
Speaker 8 (16:15):
He's a big, huge part of our of our lineup.
Speaker 9 (16:18):
Would Luis Giormany be your dark horse in a team
high jumping competition?
Speaker 7 (16:25):
Well, a great play. You know, in the dugout we started,
we started talking to Peret, we started joking with parties.
Speaker 8 (16:31):
But it's like, you think he could have made that play?
Speaker 7 (16:33):
Uh, And and he's like, Joe, of course I could
make that play.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
I don't know.
Speaker 8 (16:39):
Yeah, I'll tell you that was Joe.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
He went five feet the left field. That's way too
far for.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Him to go out the left field, isn't it.
Speaker 8 (16:48):
Yeah, But he's he's like, you know, I thought that
he could make that play.
Speaker 7 (16:53):
But you know, one thing about g Yoromy is something
he's done his entire career is he can really defend
everywhere you put him on in the unfield, he can
really make some place. He take prizes, so he takes
biding his defense and.
Speaker 8 (17:05):
He made those two play bare hand slow rollers.
Speaker 7 (17:08):
Which you know kept us from you know, innings to
get out of control air for Gusto. So I really
feel comfortable when he's playing defense, and he'll give you
some quality up bats when he's in there.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
I'm not gonna complain, but let's okay, Skip, you will
have to be the one to say it. I will
be the one to say it. You're not watching a
one mister escoc Predes make that play, and that's why
he use a defensive replacement. You go back and you
watch when he was doing these things with the Braves
and when he was making that highlight grab with the
New York Mets, Like that's what yer May brings to you,
(17:43):
and that's what you want to see from him. I
agree with Skip on a lot of things. Listen, the
injury to Estoc Predes could have been a lot worse.
If you got a dhent for half the time. Guess what,
he got a really good glove on the hot corner.
That's gonna at least put you in a position to
find some success where that be against Los Angeles' upcoming
weekend or later on tonight when Jason Alexander, Yes the
(18:04):
best friend of Jerry Seinfeld, makes his debut for the
Astros here in West Sacramento. Let's get you caught up
around the majors before we go, take a quick break.
Colorado versus Washington, bottom of the third, tied at one apiece.
A two run single by Canaro gives the Pittsburgh Pirates
a three to two lead over the Detroit Tigers. You
(18:24):
should be paying attention to that because of again, the
askers are trying to get to first place. You also
have the top of the second Angels versus Yankees nothing apiece,
two to one for the Marlins over the Phillies. Going
into the top of the fifth. Currently in a rain
delay between the Braves and Mets. Not on top of
the second, Twins versus Reds nothing apiece. Game's about to
get underway between the Orioles and the Rays. Cardinals and
(18:47):
White Sox out at Cellular Field. Boston takes on Seattle
after winning last night first game without Rafiel Devers first
pitch at eight forty.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
The Dodgers take on the Padres at nine.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Cubs and Brewers get NL Central action underway at Wrigley
starting at seven h five. Royals versus Rangers out in Arlington.
No one cares about that game, so why am I
even bringing it up? And of course we gotta talk
about the game that's underway, starting off with Rafael Devers
making his San Francisco Giants debut tonight when they play
(19:23):
host to the Cleveland Guardian see Quick Time Out.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Billy, I see you in the chat.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
When we come back, we'll get to your call, and
Ari Alexander from KPRC two get you caught up on
everything you need to know about the All Star break
when we come back here on the Nightcat Sports Talk
seven ninety, we.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Got phone calls not Paris to get to.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Let's go ahead and get out to the guest lines
every one thirty two, one two five, seven ninety if
you want to call in right here on the Nightcap.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Billy Houston wants to talk Astros. What's on your mind?
Speaker 10 (19:47):
Billy, Hey, Cole, Usually I call it AM six thirty AM.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
This six thirty pm. It is kind of weird for me.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 10 (19:56):
Yeah, Hey, you know, the Astros approach at the play
is kind of it's grinding on me. How many five
pitch innings are we going to give the opposing pitchers.
I guess the strategy is if you don't let him
throw enough pitches to stay loose, then he'll tighten up
second time through the little rotation.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
I don't know, but I'll to be out of the mix.
Speaker 10 (20:16):
I think that guy's hitting like three p forty on
the first pitch, but nobody else does, and a lot
of one pitch outs, A lot of starting pitchers are
getting deep into games on us. And when we were
in the we were the dominant force in the AL.
This team would work pitchers to death.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
I agree, and.
Speaker 10 (20:35):
They took a lot of pitches. They knew the strike zone.
This right now, this approach to me seems like swing
hard in case you hit it, and and it's a problem,
but no one seems to want to address the problem.
And that's confusing to me. They're not taking walks. And
I'm not saying that you can just stand up there
to take walks through.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
The professional pitchers.
Speaker 10 (20:55):
I don't care at which team it is, but they're
not working pitchers. They're not getting deep into counts, and
I think that's part of the reason that they're not
scoring runs right now. I mean, yeah, I get it
that they're just not getting hits. That's very true. But
when they're swinging. Yes, a lot of people will tell
you that the first pitch a lot of times is
(21:16):
the best pitch you're going to see in the at bat.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
I understand that.
Speaker 10 (21:20):
But there's also an opportunity to start the at bat
one oh instead of oh one And how many O
two counts do you see a CaAl?
Speaker 2 (21:27):
I mean, come on, I agree with you.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Listen, Billy, I'm not going to disagree at all, and
I appreciate the call. Man.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Here's the bottom line.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
If it is an off speed pitch and you know
that is at the heart of the plate, like there
was a swing what was it like a week and
a half ago, Christian Walker, just let it go on
by eighty three miles slider like, when it's right down
the heart of the plate, uncork one and let it fly.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
You're not gonna get many pitchers better than that.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
But if you're seeing ninety four mile fastballs, if you're
seeing ninety seven miles, it's anywhere between the upper part
of the zoner even near the near your feet, make
sure that you away from that stuff. You don't want
to go ahead and work the count that much out
of your favor I will say this, Billy, and I do.
I appreciate you bringing this up. It was really important that, yes,
maybe you will tense up. However, when you tense up,
(22:13):
part of the thing is is that if you start
to get loose at any point, well then the picture
starts to go ahead and get some wins. Paul and
Mereland wants to talk a little bit about Jason Alexander.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
What's up, Paul? Hey a minute, dat hear you saying
with your anniversary It is my anniversary two years ago today.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
All right, Now you're getting a little looky as all
the rest of us.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Yeah, I have to actually do honeydews stuff now. It's
very annoying all the time.
Speaker 10 (22:35):
Hey, my family's taking me out for a late follower
day taco Tuesday night.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
I appreciate that. That's awesome. Okay, what's the top talking
for you, Paul?
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Just fans and man? What we know about him? Man?
Speaker 1 (22:48):
What do we know about him besides an eighteen e
er with another team. Here's the good news. It's fresh
start here in Houston. That's what you're hoping for. And
he is a guy that they have high home hopes
that can be a middle relief starter.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
I mean like, I'm not expecting much.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
I do think anybody should expect much from George Costanza
the night. I think of anything, what you're expected for
is a couple of laughs, a couple of high a
couple of highs, and probably more so what we saw
with him working in Steinbrenner's office. That's that's what I
want to see, a couple of moments that are actually
pretty positive, that help the organization in the right move.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Why would you train j Dick? You're the man, Pat.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
I always appreciate you coming on in my friend. Thank you,
take care listen seven one, three, two two five seven ninety.
Paul's right. Uh, let's give you a quick starting lineup
going into night's game. And when we come back, we
have a very special guest joining us, Jeremy paying Elites
things off east Side Parades. He's again, as you heard
from Joe A. Spotta playing third. The designating hitter tonight
is gonna be Jsel Twove, Yanu diz Bat and fourth
(23:50):
Christian Walker back down the five hole where he belongs.
Joe Espada, Jake Myers Batten, six, Cam Smith and Wright
Mauricio Dubonnet's second base Cooper Hummel. We'll take on left
Field seven night if you want to join on in
the chat, but we have Ari Alexander fresh off of
a newscast, get you caught up on everything you know
(24:11):
about the Astros when it comes to All Star, the
trade deadline, and much much more. So we'll get to
him on the nightcap right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. Next,
I want you to be happier by watching the Astros
get a win tonight against the one and only West
Sacramento Athletics, and to find out more information about what
we can expect from George Castandra, what we can expect
(24:32):
from the trade deadline, we can expect from the All
Star Game. We head out to the guest line and
welcome into Ari Alexander, fresh off of a news broadcast. Ari,
I gotta ask you eighteen e er the last time
we saw Jason Alexander take the mound. What are the
expectations going into tonight's game? Is this one of those
matchups where you're saying, hey, we'll give them a couple
of innings. If things start to continue to go progress,
(24:54):
we'll leave them out there. If not, we're gonna have
to trust the bullpen.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
I think that's exactly it cool.
Speaker 11 (24:59):
I mean, you have Brandon will come in out of
nowhere and throw five scroreless innings at his first start
as an Astro's uniform. So that's sort of the hope
for Jason Alexander. This team, this organization has done a
great job of finding guys off the street, figuring out
what they like about what they throw, and then bringing
them in out of nowhere fixing them the way they
did it with yuse Kakuchi last year after that big trade,
(25:21):
and the way they've done it with guys like calb Bort,
with guys like Brandon Walter, just signing guys off the
street or picking them off off waivers, saying hey, stop
throwing this, start throwing this, throw this less, throw this more,
and it seems to work. The Astros have done such
a good job at this that they deserve the benefit
of the doubt.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
So yeah, the guy's got an eighteen.
Speaker 11 (25:40):
Era has been terrible for most of the season as
an athletic, but they wouldn't have claimed him off of
waivers if they didn't like something about him or see
something about a specific pitch, and so you got to
think that they've had him in the system now for
a few weeks, tweaked whatever it is they need to tweak,
and the hope is that he comes out a little
(26:01):
bit better than what we saw from him earlier in
the year.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
And then you also got to take into consideration that
when we're talking about someone like Jason Alexander, much like
Caleb or much like a Bennetts SUSA, other players that
have been around the revenge factor, you didn't see something
in me. I end up bawling out. I end up
having like a two point two er. I mean, Betsus
is gonna one point two era. The last two years
(26:24):
before that he couldn't even make it onto an MLB roster.
That spekes the volume of like where your staff is
a is an organization because of look at how much
more I'm performing now in a different roster with a
different team.
Speaker 11 (26:38):
Yeah, I mean, especially he's getting to start against the
team that dfad him, that took him off the roster
and he had to be waiverclaimed somewhere.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
So I would believe.
Speaker 11 (26:46):
That he's got some you know, internal motivation to do well,
specifically against this lineup against this team that didn't want him.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
But that's the.
Speaker 11 (26:54):
Reality of baseball is these guys sometimes struggle for various reasons.
It could be like the way that I've brought up
some of these guys. Kikuchi was a great one to
think about, where the Blue Jays just did not know
how to use him and the Astros got him in
the system and they were using him in an optimized way.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
And so that could be.
Speaker 11 (27:16):
A guy like a Jason Alexander going, hey, I was
in this organization in Oakland, Sacramento, Las Vegas, whatever they
are now, and they don't know how to optimize pitchers.
And he gets to be in an Astros organization that
has been among the best in the league at this
for a number of years, and he gets to come
back to this minor league ballpark and show him what
he's about on the team that is leading the division.
(27:38):
So I'm sure that something in the back of his mind.
But at the same time, it is baseball, So he's
got to study his scouting reports. He knows these guys
he played with him, and then it's just go out
and execute what the pitching coaches they're telling him. And
if you can get four innings of Okay, you know,
even like four innings a three run ball, I think
it's a win for them because this is the spots start.
Remember Lance McCullers junior is hurt, and then you have
(28:00):
the rest of your rotation lining up. Okay, this is
the spot start. So I'm not sure you can expect
all that much.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
We're talking about Ari Alexander ari a one Xander on
social media if you want to give him a follow.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
Ari.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
This bullpen, which is filled with lefties, I've never seen
this many southpaws in a bullpen before, has been one
of the most impressive units in baseball this year.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
But is there one name that you've really.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
Kind of taken a custom to of knowing that, hey,
when we see him take the mound, it is basically
a selling point that we don't need to worry about
going to Josh Hader, we don't need to worry about
going to Brian to bray. You there's a comfortability going
into say the sixth or seventh thenning that a guy
that last season maybe wasn't paying out for his team
has made such a difference for this Astros roster this year.
Speaker 11 (28:46):
Well, I think the guy that comes to mind. One
is Stephen Okred obviously, but the other one too is
Brian King. Brian King was not any sort of a prospect.
I mean, he was thirtieth round pick out of the
McNee state by the and just bounced around and no
one wanted him, and then the Astros were able to
optimize him. And he doesn't throw super hard, it's just
(29:08):
from a weird angle and he hides the ball well.
And then Steven Oker is coming out there. Oker was
a pretty good reliever for a number of years. He
bounced around to a bunch of different teams. He'd have
a good year, he'd have a bad year. He was
kind of your standard decent lefty reliever and bad year
last year. The Astros sign him off the street this offseason,
and whatever it is they did with him, he has
(29:29):
strikeout rate is unbelievable. And so they have built so
many examples of Hey, you could be the most non
prospect guy in the world. We're gonna turn you into
a decent reliever, and then down the line you're gonna
get paid, or hey, you had a bad run with
the Twins, we'll sign you, will optimize you, we'll turn
you into a good reliever. I think this has been
(29:50):
one of the most impressive things that they've done over
the years.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Rolfe al Montero.
Speaker 11 (29:54):
I know the deal didn't work out for the Astros,
but remember they traded for him as not the main
part of the deal, right he got Originally he was
just a throw in, and then he was one of
the best seventh eighth inning guys in all of baseball
in twenty twenty two and a big part of them
winning the World Series. So there's just so many examples
of not just starting pitchers, but them being able to
(30:15):
optimize pictures, and I think it's an underrated part of
the Astros dynasty. We talk about, oh, you signed this
Dominican kid for ten K and he turned into a star,
or building up the first round picks, or getting yord
On in that trade. But there's a lot of bullpen
guys that have come out of absolutely nowhere and they've
done it.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
Year after year.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
Here's one thing that I do want to talk about
when it comes to the All Star rankings. Right now,
we know that Jeremy Panna he's going to be in
the running. I would say it's not a lot, but
it feels pretty close. With how the overall voting is
Josh Haters another name that I think is going to
guarantee his spot in the American League All Star. Is
there one name right now that you feel like needs
to have a good rest of the next two weeks
(30:56):
before we get to the unveiling of the actual roster
that could eventual you make his way on. I think
Hunter Brown is safe. I'm gonna take Jeremy Panygy out.
I'm gonna take Josh hayterund. Is there somebody else that
you think right now needs to have a good couple
of swings at the plate or maybe a good couple
of innings to put himself in a position to where
he's gonna make the Rosser.
Speaker 11 (31:14):
I would say the only other two guys to have
a chance to make the roster from the Astros other
than maybe Josel two bags For Josel.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
Two bags sake, I would.
Speaker 11 (31:22):
Say he's stock Paratus, who's coming off the hamstring. And
fromer Valdez. I sort of think fromer Valdez might be
able to backdoor.
Speaker 3 (31:29):
His way into it.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
I agree with that.
Speaker 11 (31:30):
It gives me pause. The White Sox needs someone, and
I think there's someone is gonna be Shane Smith, and
so just by virtue of having to have a pictures
spot for a bad team, I think Promer could.
Speaker 3 (31:41):
Lose his spot.
Speaker 11 (31:42):
He's been good, he is ra is getting to where
it needs to be, and maybe come time for the
coaching staff to choose the pitchers, you look at him
and it's like, oh, Sub three Era getting a bunch
of strikeouts. He's on the division leader. We know that
he's a previous All Star, He's been a part of
a World's two.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
He's winning team.
Speaker 11 (32:01):
Frober Valdez is a known entity. Plus, Major League Baseball
loves its narratives.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
I think last year.
Speaker 11 (32:06):
That was a big part of why Garrett Crochet one
Pitcher of the Month over Hunter Brown because he was
a big trade deadline name. Froberveldez is going to be
the top free agent pitcher in this class. He could
maybe be a trade deadline name if the Astros want
to make, you know, a good on good trade and
bring something back. I don't think it's going to happen,
but he is a guy that is going to get
(32:27):
a lot of attention this offseason, and I can see
Major League Baseball saying, you know what, this is going
to be our number one pitcher this offseason for free agency.
Let's showcase him a little bit in this year's All
Star Game.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
Let's stay on that subject of the trade deadline more
so just prospects in general, because I want to ask
about Bryce Matthews. I know that you were watching him
earlier today out in Sureland. Number one prospect for the
Astros right now, he's probably, in my opinion, a less
an injury occurs, he's not gonna make it to the
active roster this year. But is there anything that you
think right at this moment that the Astros would be
(32:59):
one to listen to the package a deal for him
that would help them maybe get over the hump, whether
they be a pitching prospect, whether it be an outfielder,
or is it just the fact that his value, being
a former first round pick, his defense at second base,
and the longevity of potentially his career is too valuable
to go ahead and ship moff elsewhere.
Speaker 11 (33:18):
I don't think it would be smart to trade him,
and I don't think that they would trade it because
this is Dana Brown's first first round pick.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
He's only gotten to make two as a general manager.
Speaker 11 (33:27):
It's him and Walker Yannick, and obviously Yanick was the
guy last year and they're hoping that he comes up
and becomes a catcher of the future. I don't think
that he's going to flip him this quickly. I know
he did that with Jake bloss However, this is his
first first round pick. I think Dana Brown really likes
Bryce Matthews. I think he sees him as a future
piece for the Astros and to flip him for I
(33:50):
don't know, Brandon Lao, Ryan O'Hearn or whatever, a starting pitcher, Andrewsini,
the sort of names that I think are fits for
the Astros. This trade deadline, I don't think it makes
and I do think the Astros are going to get
out gunned at the trade deadline for a lot.
Speaker 8 (34:04):
Of these guys. Maybe they come in.
Speaker 11 (34:06):
And put together what looks like a bigger package than
it is for a guy, the way they did last
year for Kakuchie, and it turned out pretty well. In general,
I just don't think Bryce Matthews is the guy. I
do think he has a better chance to get on
this active roster than you might think because Data Brown
typically when he talks about a guy you sort of
have a few weeks until that guy's getting called out.
(34:28):
I don't necessarily think that's going to be the case
Bryce Matthews.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
He's right handed.
Speaker 11 (34:32):
He plays a position right now that the Astros don't
have an immediate need because they can put Jose Al
two Bay at second base for whenever. However, if this
year goes on and Brendan Rodgers is not really contributing,
Bryce Matthews keeps hitting well, there are some things he's
still got to clean up at the Triple A level. Also,
keep in mind it's June, Like we can be talking
about this in September and he could still be a
(34:54):
useful piece for a playoff run. I think that there's
a chance, but Bryce Matthews has to do his part.
He's not hitting well at home. Sugarland is one of
the more fair ballparks in the PCL. If he can
show like, hey, I can crush at this C level
home ballpark, just like I canon Reno and El Paso
and all of the Albuquerque's of the world, I think
that bodes well for him, and then continue playing good
(35:15):
defense at second base, and he has every opportunity because
the general manager drafted you in the first round as
his first ever first.
Speaker 3 (35:24):
Round pitch as a GM.
Speaker 11 (35:25):
I think he's got some protection from a trade.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
I don't disagree with you at all when it comes
to that Ario Alexander from KPRC too Sports, if you
want to go check him out at ari A one Xander,
I'm gonna leave you on this. You mentioned Ryan O'Hearn's name,
that seems to be the top batter when it comes
to the trade deadline.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
There's gonna be teams interested in him.
Speaker 1 (35:47):
The value of having a power hitter going into a
contract here for the Astros right now, what do you
think the offer would have to be to land him
from Baltimore? And who are maybe some other teams that
the Astros could be going up against to make sure
that he enters the lineup and run and route for
a posseason push.
Speaker 11 (36:03):
I mean, there's gonna be a lot of teams that
are looking for a left handed power just any of
these teams that need a bat. Any contender really could
use Ryan O'Hearn. And if you're the Orioles, you might
not necessarily want to trade him to a Red Sox
if the Red Sox start to win or the Yankees
but there are teams that are going to be going
after him, and almost every team, every contending team especially
(36:25):
has more firepower in their minor league system than Baltimore.
The one trump card that I think the Astros hold
is that they have a ton of pitching. I know
a lot of it is hurt, but that is where
Baltimore is weak right now. I think that the Orioles
could be one of the teams that go after from
or Valdez in free agency.
Speaker 3 (36:42):
And if the.
Speaker 11 (36:42):
Astros want to make the big time splash trade, assuming
you get some guys back from injury, the Christian Javiers,
Luis Garcia is the even the JP Francis for depth,
the Atlantampellers, eventually.
Speaker 8 (36:55):
Maybe you make that move.
Speaker 3 (36:56):
I don't think that's going to.
Speaker 11 (36:57):
Happen, but I think that they don't necessarily have enough
up in their minor league system or minor league system,
plus Chas McCormick to entice Baltimore to give them Ryan
O'Hearn over some of the other offers. I could see
Brandon Low maybe being a better fit because he can
play second base, and I don't think that there's going
to be as much attention on Low as there would
be on O'Hearn.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
I don't disagree. I think low would be a good fit.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
I think there's gonna be a lot of teams to
say in him, and I'm going to have you back
on to talk all things trade deadline when we get closer,
Aria Alexander, give him a follow on social media. KPRC
two Sports Ario as always appreciate the time.
Speaker 2 (37:30):
My friend.
Speaker 3 (37:31):
All right, thanks cool.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
That does it for us here on the nightcap.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
You want to go ahead and listen, make sure that
you go ahead and get the download the podcast First
of the show special thanks to Ario Alexander.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
Special thanks to Bret for pushing the ones in twos.
Speaker 1 (37:42):
I'll be back tomorrow, but instead of hearing the sweet
tunes of the voice of one mister Sean Salisbury, instead
you're gonna hear Ross Villarial. He'll get you caught up
on everything you need to know going into Astros on
Deck starting later on tonight.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
But I am Cole Thompson. I will see you tomorrow.
Until next time, Pace
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