May 20, 2025 • 14 mins
Moving on from the Silver Boot Series against the Rangers, the Astros now take on the Tampa Bay Rays following their series opener yesterday in which the Astros emerge victors late in the 7th. Circling his second start, Colton Gordon takes the Astros through 5 innings backed with clutch and timely hits from numerous of Astros players jumping out in front of the Rays early. With Jake Meyers putting the Astros over with 1 to win following his solo homer, Dan and Ari share what they loved most about yesterday's game and what could the Astros do to sustain the type of play they've now reached.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
And you're able to hold on.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
You're able to do enough in the Astros win last night,
as you just heard Robert Ford tell you right there, and.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
With that we say away we go.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Good morning here on the Sean Salisbury Show Sports Talk
seven ninety it's Dan Matthews here with you, Ari Alexander
KPRC two hanging out with us this morning here as Ari,
did you push that red button right there that turns
on the microphone. Gosh, there you are. Yeh, that's it? Man, morning,
how about it?
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Huh?
Speaker 2 (00:31):
You TV guys, you usually have to stay up late,
and you're waking up early with us.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
I appreciate it. Man, didn't even know six o'clock existed. Man,
this is get to the airport time. I was gonna say.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
This is, you know, one of those that Randy McAvoy,
hey man, you know need you to go to Cleveland,
you know, follow the Texans up there. That's that's about
my best Randy. The guy that usually sits in your
chair in the afternoon. Adam Clanton, he does a spot
on Randy.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Yeah, I'm not gonna do it right now, but I
can rival Adam Clinton's impression.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
You've got a pretty good one I've got. You know,
it's only six oh three, so I like our chances
of maybe being able to coax that value or the
show is over there we go, but are gonna be
with me tomorrow and also today? Obviously, I mean you're
here right now, so we know that's the case. But
I mean the Astros last night able to get the win.
(01:20):
I guess we can kind of start from the beginning
to the end here. Colton Gordon much improved this time
around and runs into a little bit of trouble there
in the fourth and then the fifth, but able to
get through five and a third last night.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Yeah, he Sawid works fast.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
He's a guy that not gonna walk a lot of people,
but he doesn't throw very hard. He's in ninety one
miles an hour. Crafty lefty is how he's described what
everyone describes him as, and he's a guy that he's
there to fill in, but he's also not bad. So
right now, where you have all these pictures injured, Hayden
Wisnski out for the year with Tommy John surgery, You're
still waiting on Spencer Arraghetty to come back. You're still
(01:57):
seeing how far into a game Lance mccullor Junior can go,
and you had all these these pitchers, all this depth.
Still don't know when Luis Garcia is coming back, still
tracking Christian Javier after the All Star break, JP Franz
potentially after the All Star break. If you can come
in and get a guy like Colton Gordon to be solid,
to be what he was last night five and a third.
(02:18):
You know, he gives up a couple home runs. These
are good major league hitters, but struck out some guys,
didn't walk anyone. If he can keep doing that, you
stabilize that five spot. I like where he's at right
now because they've done a great job of developing guys
out of nowhere. He's a little less than out of nowhere,
like a JP Franz was out of nowhere. Out of nowhere,
(02:38):
Colton Gordon is a bit of a guy. If he
can keep doing what he did last night, I think
they've been good. On the pitching side. The bullpen has
been incredible this year. You have guys truly coming out
of nowhere, which is bullpens are known to do, and
you can sustain winning as long as the lineup can
give you a little You don't have to be great.
You're surviving without jord On Alvarez. But if you can
(03:01):
get five and a third three runs out of a
guy that probably shouldn't even be in the big leagues
this year because you assumed you had all this depth,
you're doing fine.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah, and you mentioned the bullpen and they were fantastic
again last night. You get in inning in a third
out of Brian King, he gives up that inherited run
but still scoreless to his ledger. And then Brian A Bray,
you fantastic. And then Josh Hater. I mean twelve times
you've called on him in save situations this year, twelve
times he's answered.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
You come into this year knowing you're eight to nine,
is locked down with two of the best relievers in
the game, even though they struggled a little more last
year than you would have expected. Especially you pay Hater
ninety five million, which present value the biggest closer contract
in all baseball. But you put this bullpend together with
the Steven Oker to the world, a guy that you
signed off the street, a veteran who's coming off a
bad year. Brian King, late round pick, absolutely came out
(03:51):
of nowhere, had a nice season, last year, but not
a big enough sample size to be able to rely
on him, and you maybe were looking at is Taylor
Scott going to be your seventh thinning guy this year?
He's not on the team anymore. He was just DFAD
and Brian King has stepped up. I mean he's got
a one something era. Steven Okert's got a one something era.
Caleb Ort now that he's back from injury, two oh
(04:12):
eight era, Dubin is off of injury, is pitched nicely.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Filling in.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
Gusto has been stronger in that long relief role than
he has been as a starter. And suddenly you know
that seven eight nine you got King a bray, you hater,
and you have some other guys that can fit in there.
And Forrest Whitley is not too long from coming back,
and even though he keeps getting hurt, the guy does
not give up runs at the major league level. I
know the sample size is tiny, but the stuff is good.
(04:38):
If he can ever stay healthy, you do have a
bit of length. And that bullpen there so much so
that coming into this year they were relying on Miguel
Castro to be a big piece of their bullpen.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
They paid him one point five million in the majors.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
They never made the majors, and they just traded him
to the White Sox because they just flat out don't
need him.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Yeah, I mean they've been fantastic, and I mean, I
guess the part that has been a little less to
be desired as the middle of the lineup. And that
showed its head again last night where you move jose
Al two bay to the three spot. Now, granted, just
like Chas McCormick, it did look like he got one
that had a chance to get out to left, but
that wind just knocks it down, goes right into the
left fielder's glove. He wears an O for four last night.
(05:20):
Christian Walker, same deal, no shrikeouts I'll contact from him,
So I guess, I mean that's not nothing. And then
Jiner Diaz, who, I mean, what is it with him
in that low and away slider man Like he just
he cannot lay off of that pitch right.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Now and you want him to learn eventually.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
He's a guy as a catcher, He's sitting there seeing
all that kind of stuff coming from his pitchers and
it takes a while. I mean catchers develop later into
their career he's such a free swinger and that helps
you some of the time and it hurts you some
of the time. And I'm not sure how much I
like having him in Altuve in the lineup closer to
each other.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
You want to keep those guys are not going to
take pitches.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
You want to keep those guys as far away from
each other in the lineup as possible. But right now,
the way that they're built, Pain is looking really good
at the top of the lineup and they have to
move up east. Soak peretis because he's the guy that's
going to take pitches. I think Christian Walker is a
guy who you want to see take more pitches, who
you want to see walk more. But he's at a
point of the year where he's working out some of
(06:18):
the mechanical stuff, and he hasn't had a good start
to the year. And it's shown in flashes. This is
not a Joseo Bravey situation. It is shown and flashes
and you are missing yord On Alvarez even though he
wasn't playing well to start the year.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
You have the benefit of the doubt there.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
You know, how many years now has he been one
of the most feared hitters in baseball that he'll find
his I was just thinking about this morning, like we
miss Dusty a little bit. Water finds its level. It's
one of those things that you don't think about that
you've heard Dusty say sixty times and then you're brushing
your teeth in your morning, You're like, yeah, water finds
its level. So that's that's what's gonna happen with jord
On Alvarez. Eventually it should happen with al Tuo Bay.
(06:55):
You hope it happens with Altuo Bay because he is
in the first of a five year extension. You hope
that the decline is now. He's just a guy that
you cannot be that close to the lineup to I
and or Diaz. I want to see a little bit
of those those different mixes. And I want to see
Christian Walker take some more pitches because I know it's
in there and you got it right now. They're moving east,
(07:15):
soak up to the two hole for a good reason,
because pain is that bats are quick.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
He's a guy that likes to swing as well.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
He doesn't walk a lot, even though he's been tremendous
this year and the walk rate is up but there
are some lineup construction things they can do. Yeah, that
middle You're right, the middle of the lineup is not
as dangerous as it could be. The good thing they're
winning and half the team is not hitting even close
to what they can and have done.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Yeah, it's something that Dana Brown every single week he
joins us on Wednesdays, that he's been saying all along
is look, you know, the lineup still kind of trying
to catch up to what the pitching has given you.
And I mean that's the thing. You close that gap
just a little bit all of a sudden looking up
at the Mariners, and I know that you've been, you know,
neck and neck with the Rangers for right now. I
mean those two teams. You wonder if Seattle's going to
(08:00):
continue to hit this way. They've had some pitching injuries too.
Oh by the way too. I mean they're without a
couple of their key guys right now and they're able
to still pitch the way that they are. But then
the Rangers, I mean, aside from the starting rotation, I mean,
you're you're a Mets guy. You know the story of
Jacob de Grom quite a bit that Yeah, he looked
really good the other night, And yeah, he can look
(08:22):
really good. But just like people here complain about Lance mccullors,
it's been the same thing with the Graham during his career.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Yeah, and you're the Rangers. You pay this guy one
hundred and eighty five million, and it's because of the upside.
The upside is the best pitcher in baseball, potentially the
highest peak of any pitcher, like that night when he's
facing Hunter Brown.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Yes, is a Mets guy.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
I'm going back and I'm watching twenty twenty one to
Gram highlights, which is the most insane pitching anyone potentially
has ever seen. He's not that guy anymore. He's still
really good at ninety seven. He's still really good with
the slider. But I mean, you've wistful de Gram at
one oh one with a ninety four mile slidering. You
just don't know when it breaks. There's a reason he's
(09:02):
ratcheted down this year. Jack Lyder had a nice start
until the Astros were able to chase him.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
They have some guys, they have the lineup.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
I think the Rangers scare me more than the Mariners do,
because this is now what the third fourth year in
a row, that they've had the pitching and they don't
have the lineup, and the lineup is finally hitting. How
long can can it last? Cal Rawley has been incredible.
They did a great job extending him. Julio Rodriguez is
getting paid two hundred million. He is not hitting the
way that you would expect him to. Ever since his
(09:31):
rookie year, he hasn't been quite as good. Jorge Polanco,
who the Astros chased after this offseason and didn't offer
him quite enough money, He's been really good. But if
you're the Mariners and you're the Astros and you're looking
at all, right, here's the guys we have that we're
relying on the rest of the year to produce. And
the Astros are waiting on Jose Altuve, a future Hall
of Famer, and Jordon Alvarez, one of the best hitters
(09:52):
in baseball. Those are the guys you're lying to regress
to better players. And then you're the Mariners and you're
relying on Randy rose Arena, who has a massively wide
range of outcomes. You're relying on Jorge Polanco, who's been
hurt and is not as good as you ord on Alvarez,
continue what he's doing, and you're relying on Julio Rodriguez,
who's obviously a really good player. But now we're starting
(10:12):
to go to a point where this is the third
year of Julio Rodriguez being good but not quite what
we saw the rookie year. And to me, it just
feels like from a trending standpoint, the Astros are in
a better place than the Mariners are.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Rain, you're scaring me a little bit. The Mariners don't.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Yeah, I mean, it's still a long way to go
as far as the season. I mean, you know, you're
not into Memorial Day yet. And I've had numerous people
that have been following baseball for years tell me, you know,
looking at the standings, They're like, no, don't, don't do
that yet. Don't don't. Don't even think about the standings
right now. They don't even matter Becausemorial Day is almost
kind of what Christmas Day is to the NBA. That
(10:50):
that's when the season in earnest gets going. In June
and July, that's when kind of the pretenders and contenders
actually start to separate themselves a little bit. Yeah, and
you're so figuring out what your lineup is you're still
figuring out how much left field can josel Tube play?
How much can you move him back into second base?
Is Brendan Rodgers going to be good enough to play
their long term? Do you need to find someone else?
(11:13):
Who else are you going to mix in? What's going
on with the rest of the outfield? Cam Smith had
a couple hits last night. He's been better. Camp Smith
is above league average as a hitter, and he's been
playing a really good right field and even he's getting
mixed in with Zach Dezenzo's had his good stretches and
Chaz never plays. And he came off the bench and
had had a decent game, got his first RBI.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
It is May what was it twentieth today? And he
got his first RBI on May nineteenth. And it's not
for lack of playing well, he just doesn't play. They're
such a weirdly built team sometimes because right now they're
carrying says our salas are that love, says our salas are.
But he hasn't had a bat. Couldn't you find someone
who's going to get in that bat? And I get
why he's there as the third catcher because Kartine has
(11:57):
been playing a lot and he's been really good, which,
by the way, shout out Dana Brown. I know he
gets a lot of criticism, sometimes it's deserved, and he
gets some praise sometimes it's deserved. One of these moments
where he gets praise and it's deserved, nailed the Victor Carrotini.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Signing absolutely, Yeah, there's no doubt about that. I mean,
you know you're able to add him, and I mean
he's been a plus with the bat that I mean,
I think that's been the absolute added bonus you've been
able to get out of him. And I mean he's
been fantastic.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Last night.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
You win that game huge part because of him six seven, eight,
nine last night, accounting for six of the eleven hits
that you got. So while we've talked about the middle
of the order has had their struggles, those guys have
also been the ones that have kind of carried this
thing a little bit.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
You want to guess where the best hitter resides in
the Astros lineup?
Speaker 2 (12:42):
It is Jake Myers batting seventh last night. It is
the ninth spot in general. Ah about that, which is insane?
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Why why is your ninth spot your best hitter that's where,
like in literal league, you put the kid that plays
right field who's like not growing quite as fast as
the rest of the kids in fourth grade and is
out there picking his nose and maybe carried his juice
box in the back pocket to right field and it's
spilling a little bit down his pants, and you think
that might be something else, but it's just the apple juice.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
That's your best part of your lineup. This is such
a weird team sometimes.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Dan, Yeah, there's no doubt about it. And hopefully you
can start to get to some of those other guys
going because I know the Astros could really use them,
no doubt about it. Again, Ari Alexander KPRC two hanging
out with me this morning in for Sean Tripoli is
still here and we'll continue the Astros conversation sebon one
three two one two five seven ninety Again that's seven
(13:37):
one three two one two five seven nine zero Game
one Western Conference Finals between OKC and Minnesota tonight. They're
in OKC. Some potential Rockets news to get into here
today as well as so we're already getting in the
rumor season and the Rockets of course gonna be in
the center of all of those. But coming up next,
(13:59):
we finally got hear from Jordan. But is it necessarily
the news that we wanted. We'll discuss that here. It
is The Sean Salisbury Show, right here on your home
with the Astros and the Rockets.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Sports Talk seventy ninety
And you're able to hold on.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
You're able to do enough in the Astros win last night,
as you just heard Robert Ford tell you right there, and.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
With that we say away we go.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Good morning here on the Sean Salisbury Show Sports Talk
seven ninety it's Dan Matthews here with you, Ari Alexander
KPRC two hanging out with us this morning here as Ari,
did you push that red button right there that turns
on the microphone. Gosh, there you are. Yeh, that's it? Man, morning,
how about it?
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Huh?
Speaker 2 (00:31):
You TV guys, you usually have to stay up late,
and you're waking up early with us.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
I appreciate it. Man, didn't even know six o'clock existed. Man,
this is get to the airport time. I was gonna say.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
This is, you know, one of those that Randy McAvoy,
hey man, you know need you to go to Cleveland,
you know, follow the Texans up there. That's that's about
my best Randy. The guy that usually sits in your
chair in the afternoon. Adam Clanton, he does a spot
on Randy.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Yeah, I'm not gonna do it right now, but I
can rival Adam Clinton's impression.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
You've got a pretty good one I've got. You know,
it's only six oh three, so I like our chances
of maybe being able to coax that value or the
show is over there we go, but are gonna be
with me tomorrow and also today? Obviously, I mean you're
here right now, so we know that's the case. But
I mean the Astros last night able to get the win.
(01:20):
I guess we can kind of start from the beginning
to the end here. Colton Gordon much improved this time
around and runs into a little bit of trouble there
in the fourth and then the fifth, but able to
get through five and a third last night.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Yeah, he Sawid works fast.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
He's a guy that not gonna walk a lot of people,
but he doesn't throw very hard. He's in ninety one
miles an hour. Crafty lefty is how he's described what
everyone describes him as, and he's a guy that he's
there to fill in, but he's also not bad. So
right now, where you have all these pictures injured, Hayden
Wisnski out for the year with Tommy John surgery, You're
still waiting on Spencer Arraghetty to come back. You're still
(01:57):
seeing how far into a game Lance mccullor Junior can go,
and you had all these these pitchers, all this depth.
Still don't know when Luis Garcia is coming back, still
tracking Christian Javier after the All Star break, JP Franz
potentially after the All Star break. If you can come
in and get a guy like Colton Gordon to be solid,
to be what he was last night five and a third.
(02:18):
You know, he gives up a couple home runs. These
are good major league hitters, but struck out some guys,
didn't walk anyone. If he can keep doing that, you
stabilize that five spot. I like where he's at right
now because they've done a great job of developing guys
out of nowhere. He's a little less than out of nowhere,
like a JP Franz was out of nowhere. Out of nowhere,
(02:38):
Colton Gordon is a bit of a guy. If he
can keep doing what he did last night, I think
they've been good. On the pitching side. The bullpen has
been incredible this year. You have guys truly coming out
of nowhere, which is bullpens are known to do, and
you can sustain winning as long as the lineup can
give you a little You don't have to be great.
You're surviving without jord On Alvarez. But if you can
(03:01):
get five and a third three runs out of a
guy that probably shouldn't even be in the big leagues
this year because you assumed you had all this depth,
you're doing fine.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah, and you mentioned the bullpen and they were fantastic
again last night. You get in inning in a third
out of Brian King, he gives up that inherited run
but still scoreless to his ledger. And then Brian A Bray,
you fantastic. And then Josh Hater. I mean twelve times
you've called on him in save situations this year, twelve
times he's answered.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
You come into this year knowing you're eight to nine,
is locked down with two of the best relievers in
the game, even though they struggled a little more last
year than you would have expected. Especially you pay Hater
ninety five million, which present value the biggest closer contract
in all baseball. But you put this bullpend together with
the Steven Oker to the world, a guy that you
signed off the street, a veteran who's coming off a
bad year. Brian King, late round pick, absolutely came out
(03:51):
of nowhere, had a nice season, last year, but not
a big enough sample size to be able to rely
on him, and you maybe were looking at is Taylor
Scott going to be your seventh thinning guy this year?
He's not on the team anymore. He was just DFAD
and Brian King has stepped up. I mean he's got
a one something era. Steven Okert's got a one something era.
Caleb Ort now that he's back from injury, two oh
(04:12):
eight era, Dubin is off of injury, is pitched nicely.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Filling in.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
Gusto has been stronger in that long relief role than
he has been as a starter. And suddenly you know
that seven eight nine you got King a bray, you hater,
and you have some other guys that can fit in there.
And Forrest Whitley is not too long from coming back,
and even though he keeps getting hurt, the guy does
not give up runs at the major league level. I
know the sample size is tiny, but the stuff is good.
(04:38):
If he can ever stay healthy, you do have a
bit of length. And that bullpen there so much so
that coming into this year they were relying on Miguel
Castro to be a big piece of their bullpen.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
They paid him one point five million in the majors.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
They never made the majors, and they just traded him
to the White Sox because they just flat out don't
need him.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Yeah, I mean they've been fantastic, and I mean, I
guess the part that has been a little less to
be desired as the middle of the lineup. And that
showed its head again last night where you move jose
Al two bay to the three spot. Now, granted, just
like Chas McCormick, it did look like he got one
that had a chance to get out to left, but
that wind just knocks it down, goes right into the
left fielder's glove. He wears an O for four last night.
(05:20):
Christian Walker, same deal, no shrikeouts I'll contact from him,
So I guess, I mean that's not nothing. And then
Jiner Diaz, who, I mean, what is it with him
in that low and away slider man Like he just
he cannot lay off of that pitch right.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Now and you want him to learn eventually.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
He's a guy as a catcher, He's sitting there seeing
all that kind of stuff coming from his pitchers and
it takes a while. I mean catchers develop later into
their career he's such a free swinger and that helps
you some of the time and it hurts you some
of the time. And I'm not sure how much I
like having him in Altuve in the lineup closer to
each other.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
You want to keep those guys are not going to
take pitches.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
You want to keep those guys as far away from
each other in the lineup as possible. But right now,
the way that they're built, Pain is looking really good
at the top of the lineup and they have to
move up east. Soak peretis because he's the guy that's
going to take pitches. I think Christian Walker is a
guy who you want to see take more pitches, who
you want to see walk more. But he's at a
point of the year where he's working out some of
(06:18):
the mechanical stuff, and he hasn't had a good start
to the year. And it's shown in flashes. This is
not a Joseo Bravey situation. It is shown and flashes
and you are missing yord On Alvarez even though he
wasn't playing well to start the year.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
You have the benefit of the doubt there.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
You know, how many years now has he been one
of the most feared hitters in baseball that he'll find
his I was just thinking about this morning, like we
miss Dusty a little bit. Water finds its level. It's
one of those things that you don't think about that
you've heard Dusty say sixty times and then you're brushing
your teeth in your morning, You're like, yeah, water finds
its level. So that's that's what's gonna happen with jord
On Alvarez. Eventually it should happen with al Tuo Bay.
(06:55):
You hope it happens with Altuo Bay because he is
in the first of a five year extension. You hope
that the decline is now. He's just a guy that
you cannot be that close to the lineup to I
and or Diaz. I want to see a little bit
of those those different mixes. And I want to see
Christian Walker take some more pitches because I know it's
in there and you got it right now. They're moving east,
(07:15):
soak up to the two hole for a good reason,
because pain is that bats are quick.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
He's a guy that likes to swing as well.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
He doesn't walk a lot, even though he's been tremendous
this year and the walk rate is up but there
are some lineup construction things they can do. Yeah, that
middle You're right, the middle of the lineup is not
as dangerous as it could be. The good thing they're
winning and half the team is not hitting even close
to what they can and have done.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Yeah, it's something that Dana Brown every single week he
joins us on Wednesdays, that he's been saying all along
is look, you know, the lineup still kind of trying
to catch up to what the pitching has given you.
And I mean that's the thing. You close that gap
just a little bit all of a sudden looking up
at the Mariners, and I know that you've been, you know,
neck and neck with the Rangers for right now. I
mean those two teams. You wonder if Seattle's going to
(08:00):
continue to hit this way. They've had some pitching injuries too.
Oh by the way too. I mean they're without a
couple of their key guys right now and they're able
to still pitch the way that they are. But then
the Rangers, I mean, aside from the starting rotation, I mean,
you're you're a Mets guy. You know the story of
Jacob de Grom quite a bit that Yeah, he looked
really good the other night, And yeah, he can look
(08:22):
really good. But just like people here complain about Lance mccullors,
it's been the same thing with the Graham during his career.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Yeah, and you're the Rangers. You pay this guy one
hundred and eighty five million, and it's because of the upside.
The upside is the best pitcher in baseball, potentially the
highest peak of any pitcher, like that night when he's
facing Hunter Brown.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Yes, is a Mets guy.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
I'm going back and I'm watching twenty twenty one to
Gram highlights, which is the most insane pitching anyone potentially
has ever seen. He's not that guy anymore. He's still
really good at ninety seven. He's still really good with
the slider. But I mean, you've wistful de Gram at
one oh one with a ninety four mile slidering. You
just don't know when it breaks. There's a reason he's
(09:02):
ratcheted down this year. Jack Lyder had a nice start
until the Astros were able to chase him.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
They have some guys, they have the lineup.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
I think the Rangers scare me more than the Mariners do,
because this is now what the third fourth year in
a row, that they've had the pitching and they don't
have the lineup, and the lineup is finally hitting. How
long can can it last? Cal Rawley has been incredible.
They did a great job extending him. Julio Rodriguez is
getting paid two hundred million. He is not hitting the
way that you would expect him to. Ever since his
(09:31):
rookie year, he hasn't been quite as good. Jorge Polanco,
who the Astros chased after this offseason and didn't offer
him quite enough money, He's been really good. But if
you're the Mariners and you're the Astros and you're looking
at all, right, here's the guys we have that we're
relying on the rest of the year to produce. And
the Astros are waiting on Jose Altuve, a future Hall
of Famer, and Jordon Alvarez, one of the best hitters
(09:52):
in baseball. Those are the guys you're lying to regress
to better players. And then you're the Mariners and you're
relying on Randy rose Arena, who has a massively wide
range of outcomes. You're relying on Jorge Polanco, who's been
hurt and is not as good as you ord on Alvarez,
continue what he's doing, and you're relying on Julio Rodriguez,
who's obviously a really good player. But now we're starting
(10:12):
to go to a point where this is the third
year of Julio Rodriguez being good but not quite what
we saw the rookie year. And to me, it just
feels like from a trending standpoint, the Astros are in
a better place than the Mariners are.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Rain, you're scaring me a little bit. The Mariners don't.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Yeah, I mean, it's still a long way to go
as far as the season. I mean, you know, you're
not into Memorial Day yet. And I've had numerous people
that have been following baseball for years tell me, you know,
looking at the standings, They're like, no, don't, don't do
that yet. Don't don't. Don't even think about the standings
right now. They don't even matter Becausemorial Day is almost
kind of what Christmas Day is to the NBA. That
(10:50):
that's when the season in earnest gets going. In June
and July, that's when kind of the pretenders and contenders
actually start to separate themselves a little bit. Yeah, and
you're so figuring out what your lineup is you're still
figuring out how much left field can josel Tube play?
How much can you move him back into second base?
Is Brendan Rodgers going to be good enough to play
their long term? Do you need to find someone else?
(11:13):
Who else are you going to mix in? What's going
on with the rest of the outfield? Cam Smith had
a couple hits last night. He's been better. Camp Smith
is above league average as a hitter, and he's been
playing a really good right field and even he's getting
mixed in with Zach Dezenzo's had his good stretches and
Chaz never plays. And he came off the bench and
had had a decent game, got his first RBI.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
It is May what was it twentieth today? And he
got his first RBI on May nineteenth. And it's not
for lack of playing well, he just doesn't play. They're
such a weirdly built team sometimes because right now they're
carrying says our salas are that love, says our salas are.
But he hasn't had a bat. Couldn't you find someone
who's going to get in that bat? And I get
why he's there as the third catcher because Kartine has
(11:57):
been playing a lot and he's been really good, which,
by the way, shout out Dana Brown. I know he
gets a lot of criticism, sometimes it's deserved, and he
gets some praise sometimes it's deserved. One of these moments
where he gets praise and it's deserved, nailed the Victor Carrotini.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Signing absolutely, Yeah, there's no doubt about that. I mean,
you know you're able to add him, and I mean
he's been a plus with the bat that I mean,
I think that's been the absolute added bonus you've been
able to get out of him. And I mean he's
been fantastic.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Last night.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
You win that game huge part because of him six seven, eight,
nine last night, accounting for six of the eleven hits
that you got. So while we've talked about the middle
of the order has had their struggles, those guys have
also been the ones that have kind of carried this
thing a little bit.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
You want to guess where the best hitter resides in
the Astros lineup?
Speaker 2 (12:42):
It is Jake Myers batting seventh last night. It is
the ninth spot in general. Ah about that, which is insane?
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Why why is your ninth spot your best hitter that's where,
like in literal league, you put the kid that plays
right field who's like not growing quite as fast as
the rest of the kids in fourth grade and is
out there picking his nose and maybe carried his juice
box in the back pocket to right field and it's
spilling a little bit down his pants, and you think
that might be something else, but it's just the apple juice.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
That's your best part of your lineup. This is such
a weird team sometimes.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Dan, Yeah, there's no doubt about it. And hopefully you
can start to get to some of those other guys
going because I know the Astros could really use them,
no doubt about it. Again, Ari Alexander KPRC two hanging
out with me this morning in for Sean Tripoli is
still here and we'll continue the Astros conversation sebon one
three two one two five seven ninety Again that's seven
(13:37):
one three two one two five seven nine zero Game
one Western Conference Finals between OKC and Minnesota tonight. They're
in OKC. Some potential Rockets news to get into here
today as well as so we're already getting in the
rumor season and the Rockets of course gonna be in
the center of all of those. But coming up next,
(13:59):
we finally got hear from Jordan. But is it necessarily
the news that we wanted. We'll discuss that here. It
is The Sean Salisbury Show, right here on your home
with the Astros and the Rockets.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Sports Talk seventy ninety
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