June 11, 2025 • 18 mins
Rolling on a bit of a hot streak coming out of their series against Cleveland, the Astros seem to have hit a wall in taking on the White Sox this season as they go on to lose Game 1 yesterday evening 4-2. Still sitting atop of the AL West Division and steady climbing the AL ranks now 4th behind the Blue Jays, Dana Brown debunks the Astros' recent series' and shares a few things that must be tweaked if the club intends to make another postseason run along with an update regarding Alvarez's current status.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Dana, welcome in. It's good to have you on. Let's
start with Lance mccollors. There's been some great, there's been
some really good, and there's been some what you'd expect
from a guy who's hadn't touched for two years and
is still in like his fifth or sixth start assess
him for us as if he.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
The post injury.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
But are you surprised that he's been even sans last night,
that he's had such success and going pretty deep in
games for the most part these last couple starts before
last night.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Yeah, Look, it's a testament to his grit, how much
he's worked. He's worked really hard to get back, and
you know that the intriguing thing is he's still has
the strikeouts. You know, he's been striking a lot of
guys out, which is encouraging to the stuff. You know,
every now and then he runs into a bumping a
row with his command and that's to be expected for
(00:55):
a guy who hasn't pitched, you know, in over two years.
So U, you know, we've been very encouraged by Lance
and what he's doing. And as I mentioned, the strikeouts
is you know, the one thing that you can hang
your hat on Dana.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
From your as a as a guy who knows talent.
Now he comes back and you're just watching him pitch
from a general manager's point of view, forget the injuries,
just how he's pitching. Well, what do you see that
tells you, oh, there is still another left obviously the
history of his game, but we're still gonna see the
best of what's the next step to see the best
of Lance mccollors in your eyes?
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Yeah, you know, when you just evaluate him, you know,
I love that he still has really good timing and
his delivery and his breaking stuff is very effective. So uh,
you know, those are things that you look at that
you know that's going to at least, you know, deceive
the hitters with a good delivery, and of course you
can get breaking balls by guys, you know, with the
(01:56):
effectiveness of the break and so those two things are
very very encouraging. You know. It's just that every now
and then, as I mentioned the command, you know, he'll
lose lose the command a little bit and so, but
the strikeouts are real and that's very very encouraging.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Dana Brown astros GM for his weekly visit here on
Sports Talk seven to ninety Dana, You're so encouraging. You
know your team, and I know you believe your team's
going to get hot and sustain it. You told us
last year and they did so this year new season.
Tell me what you see that says not only can
they get hot offensively, because the pitching staff's been pretty
damn brilliant, especially the bullpen that you see. Okay, we
(02:37):
can get hot, but we can sustain this with our
bats because at some point the bats may have to
carry the pitching staff. Hopefully not, but they may have to.
What tells you they're closer than they've been at any
time this season?
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Yeah, I think with the addition of Pinion the leadoff spot,
you know, the fact that he's hitting like you know,
like three sixty plus, you know, and that and that
leadoff spot, I mean that's encouraging up top. You know,
you know, A Parrettits has been really good. You know,
he's leading the ale third basements and home runs with
(03:13):
like fourteen and thirty nine ribbies, so he's been really good.
I think those two guys really anchoring the top. It's
going to be very important for us. We know that,
you know, our two v is gonna heat up. He's
been showing us signs of heating up. Jordon should be
back you know here shortly. He's about eighty percent healed.
(03:34):
And you know, Christian Walker has had some really big
hits for us, and we know historically he's been really
good in the months of June, July, and August in
his career. And so you know, these are some encouraging
things that we feel really good good about down the stretch.
And so once this all clicks and comes together, I
think you'll see an offense and a pitching staff that's well,
(03:57):
you know, well oiled and into you know, their thing,
doing their thing by you know, the mid part of
the summer. And so I'm very encouraged by this club.
Look we're three games up, you know. Uh, you know,
we were fighting with grit. We got the grit every day,
and these guys come to play.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Dana thirty six and thirty I believe right now. And
you mentioned the you know gonna get hot. If I'd
have told you and be we're just talking brass tacks
here on the Bingo card. For me, I didn't have
I mean paratus good player. But when we say paradus,
look at the way Jake Myers is hit and then
moving pain into the leadoff spot. In the way he's
doing that may not have been the full three bingo card.
(04:40):
And with Christian Walker the struggles al tuve the inconsistency,
but we know he gets them in bunches. And you're
on being hurt and not having the power early in
the season, but sitting at thirty six and thirty days,
just the real.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Just the truth about this.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
There's no way we would have thought considering that bingo
card that you'd be thirty six and thirty considering the
end reason as well.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
So that's got to make you happy.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Yeah, Look, this team, as I said before, they have
a lot of grit and guys will step up. Man.
That's the beauty of a good team. When one of
your buddies go down, you know the other guys was
stepping it up. You know, we got two really good
starts from our young starters that came up, and so
you know, we have a group of guys that are
(05:25):
stepping it up. And as you mentioned, yeah, I forgot
to mention Jake. Jake's been swinging the bat very well
and of course he's really good defensively. So there are
some signs with this club that will tell you, Look,
we're not even on all cylinders and we're actually playing
pretty good baseball. Can we be playing a little bit better? Yeah,
because our offense has not hit their stride yet. But
(05:48):
at the end of the day, you know, these guys
have shown some grit and it's a good group of guys.
This is a good team and we feel really good
about it. When we get these guys on all cylinders,
our pitching comes back. Uh, you know, this should be
this should make it really fun for the stretch run date.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
I want to go back with whether it's culture or
just your guys, the whole organization's ability to see through
this and get these kind of type of guys. We
hear culture, and we hear that these guys, you know,
the grit and the step up that you mentioned that
they just guys back up, step in and do their job.
But the question is why and how well? Why is
it that when they come here or when somebody gets hurt.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
What is it?
Speaker 1 (06:31):
You know, we all want to bottle that up and
sell it. Why with the Astros do you guys have
this unique ability to do this? What's the main what's
the main ingredient and that's in that pot.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Yeah, I think it's first of all, it's a winning
culture and we've been that way. You know, when you
go to the postseason eight straight times, guys come in
and they know that, Look, this is a winning call up.
As you start off with that winning attitude, you know,
and then you have the leadership under Joe A. Spada,
who has he's very familiar with these guys. He has
great leadership in the clubhouse. Uh he's not a raw,
(07:05):
raw guy, but he's the guy that you know, gets
with each each and every guy and and encourage. He
encourages guys when you have to encourage him, and he
has you know, when he has to discipline, he'll discipline.
And so look, I think it's the culture that's been created.
You know. Uh, you come here, you come here to win.
You know, as our owner has said so many times,
(07:27):
our windows always open and so look, this is this
is just the way it is here in Houston. I
mean we you know, we played good baseball. We have
great fans support. I meant these the fans just continue
to show up and continue to support us, you know,
I mean I run into fans all the time when
I'm you know, walking the streets of Houston, are just
going out for a bite. You know, these guys are
(07:50):
encouraging you know, they they they they encourage us so much.
They show up and that's the beauty. The Astro fans
show up. You know, you cannot do that without fan support.
And I tell you, these guys show up every single
day and that's where we get our drive from.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Dana Brown asked those gm for a few more minutes
here on Sports Talk seven ninety seven sALS Reshow. All right, Dan,
if I put a monitor on you, you know, a
detector that told me that when I asked the question
of concerns on this team, it would light up and
we'd all be able to see it. What is your
biggest concern sixty six games in about your team?
Speaker 3 (08:30):
Yeah, it's just, you know, we got to get on
all cylinders with the bats first of all, you know,
because as you mentioned before, the pitching has been really
good and the pitching that's been carrying us. So we
can get on all cylinders with the bats, and we
can get our guys back from injuries. I think those
would be the two things that would light up for
me because once that happens. I think we're going to
(08:52):
go into a nice little run, a nice little stretch,
you know, whether it's ten out of twelve or you know,
seven in a row or whatever it is. I think
we'll hit all cylinders at that point, you know, And
that's the big deal. That's the real big deal of
just getting the bats to get on all cylinders and
(09:12):
you know, just getting getting this machine, getting this machine
running in the right direction.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
All right, let me be the Devil's advocate just because
for listeners and viewers and debate this. What if this
is your team the way Let's just say, now, this
is who you are at thirty six and thirty Can
you win a World Series? Hitting like this with the
way it's been and pitching like this with the way
it's been. If this is who the astros are, can
(09:39):
you play in the late October and beyond?
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Listen. I won't really get into the hypotheticals, but I
will say this, this team, the roster is built for
the World Series. I think we have guys that have
to get on all cylinders, and you know, guys have
to really get hot. You know, we're gonna need our hitter,
you know, to turn up the dial. You know, that's
gonna have to happen. And I think our pitching has
(10:05):
been really good and we're gonna get guys back, So
we're gonna get guys back from injuries. So yes, the
roster is definitely built to get into the World Series.
I think some things have to happen, like the you
know players, the hitters are gonna have to get hot,
and we're gonna have to get some guys back, you know,
off the eel, which I feel like we are gonna
get guys back. You know, Arraghetti uh is the guy
(10:28):
that's already starting to throw, and you know there's a
potential of him going out to West Palm after this
homestand and and starting to throw even more and get
off the mound, and so, uh, there's some good things happening.
I think the roster is built to win. I don't
think any team would expect to, you know, go all
(10:50):
the way without there without their their horses, right and
so but ultimately, this team, this roster, this club is
certainly built the and we have the leadership to do it.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Is Christian Walker. How's he handling the pressure of some
early season woes.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
That he's not used to it. He's hit it hard
at times, and we have.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Expectations that he's going to be better data and so
do you you know this that's why he's here. It
was an upgrade at first base. But with that, how's
he handling the struggles right now?
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Yeah, I think he understands from an analytics standpoint and
data information standpoint, he is hitting the ball hard, and
we would say he's been very unlucky, you know, you know,
just looking at his Babbitt which is about two sixty
and balls in play, you know, so he's been very
(11:43):
unlucky and he's hit the ball very hard, and so
that's just you know, that's part of the game. You know,
the other teams have really good defenses, and sometimes you're
going to hit the ball hard and you're not going
to get anything out of it. But we know historically
that he turns things around in the month of June, July,
and August. You know, that's just who he is, and
(12:04):
so we're really looking for good things. He's been really
good defensively, his attitude has been great, and so he's
not panicked because he's a true professional, and so we
really expect him to, you know, to turn the corner
and get hot.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Danny, you're the ability to throw runners out. Tony, who's
a regular listener and caller, and he broached this subject,
and so I'm gonna ask for him about are you
and we You and I talked about this coming out,
you know, early after spring training, about the struggles of
throwing runners out, holding pitchers hold them, and catchers, you know,
doing all the things they got to do to be
in position to throw a gut when he runs, getting
(12:42):
the pitch quick. You know, you're you're to be able
to pop out of that the pounce time and get
it down the second Mason b act all those things.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Are you doing it better? And why is it getting better?
Do you see it? And what have they worked on
to make this better?
Speaker 3 (12:58):
Yeah, so it's all about the timing, you know. But
first of all, I would say before I get into that,
the most important thing for the pictures to get the
hitter out right. And so you have to really focus
on the hitter and you can't lose sight and hitter.
This is not like the nineteen eighties when teams had
a bunch of rabbits on the bases and they would
steal bases consistently. Now we have guys hit the ball
(13:20):
out of the ballpark, and you have to focus on
the hitter. Now with that said, you know, you also
you cannot let guys just run the bases and allow
it to be a track meet. And so I think
what we've done is we've worked on this timing thing.
We've worked on holding the ball as long as we
can hold it at times to take the spring out
of the runner's legs, you know, because sometimes when you
(13:43):
hold the ball and you hold it tight and then
all of a sudden you go to the plate, you
know you can throw their timing off. And so you know,
we've done things. We've talked to our pictures about it.
But you know, we've made it very clear, do not
lose sight of the hitter, because you know, if a
guy stills the base, he's on second base. If you
get to hit her out, you're still in good shape.
(14:04):
If a guy steals a base and then he gives
up a triple or a double or a home run,
then you got problems. And so the main thing is
to keep the main thing the main thing. And so
we got to focus on the batter, and we have
to you know, pay attention you know, to the runner
at times depending on who's on the basis, but you
(14:25):
can't lose sight of who's hitting.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
So the priority has been get the batter out and secondaries,
get the runner out, even though you'd like to do
both extremely well.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Correct.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
Yeah, absolutely, you've got to get to hit her out,
you know, if you you know you can still it's
very difficult to steal home. You can still. Second, still, Third,
if I get to hit her out, you know, I
got a chance, right, you know, And so you can't
lose focus of that.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
And about the minute I have with you, and you know,
the gray area, Dana, you're I don't envy. Your job
is talent scout, a general manager. All the things you've
done and understanding that having to deal with all of
us that want to know injuries, it's a pain in
the ass.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
So to remove gray.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Area for fans and for anybody like in Jordon's case, First,
where is he Number one? How close are we sixty percent?
About ten days two weeks ago of that thing healing?
Where are we timeline wise? But what's the protocol with him?
You know, at first we thought it was soft tissue,
and then we found there fracture. How long between like
MRIs do you ca the swelling? See it just kind
(15:28):
of take us through it so we get a better
advantage of what you have to go through when you
have to come on and talk to my ass about
injuries and what happened in Jordon's case, where are we
and how do we get to that point with all
the medical stuff.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Yeah, so he's eighty percent healed, which means he's getting
very close. No pain, he can shake hands, he can
you know, he can pick up a bat. We're just
not going to allow him the hit for a few
more days. And you know, so in terms of the
injury itself, hand injuries are very very difficult. You know,
(16:01):
any of these hand injuries are very very difficult because
what happens is you get you know, when you get
these bone injuries, Uh, you have so much swelling and inflammation,
and you you know, to read the MRI eyes are
very very difficult, and so you have to allow you know,
the swelling to go down and before you can see it.
(16:23):
And I think he was playing, you know, and he
originally it was the muscle strain in the hand, and
I think he played through it. Find the grind through
it with the grit and you know, I think he
by him playing through it, I think that's what may
have caused this small fracture. I don't know for sure,
but potentially could have. And then you know, we were
(16:46):
looking at all the inflammation with the with the muscle strain,
and then you know you missed the small fracture because
of all of the inflammation. And then the key here is,
you know we've learned to keep getting him, just continue
to image it because as the swelling gowns, you can
see a lot a lot more and so look, ultimately
(17:10):
he'll be back. We don't think it's going to be
too much longer. As I mentioned, he's eighty percent healed.
And you know, we've played very well. You know, the
guys have stepped up. You know, we're twenty and fifteen
since your ion went down, and so you know we
are playing over five hundred. The boys are playing good.
Just like last year when Tucker went out, the boys
(17:30):
stepped it up. You know, even when Tucker went out,
we played even better. And so you know we're thirty
we're forty nine to thirty four or whatever it was.
So look, ultimately the guys have stepped it up, but
we'll get yourd I'm back here soon. I know. It's frustrating.
It's frustrating, you know when when guys get hurt, but
it goes with the territory. It's part of the game.
(17:51):
It's we're not the only team that are suffering injuries,
and so U you know, we're dying to get them
back and soon he's able to swing the bat. We're
going to try to expedite it, you know, by maybe
having him face some pictures and you know, instead of
sending them on a rehab, hopefully we won't have to
send him on a triple A rehab. Maybe we can
(18:12):
get it done at the ballpark and give him some
live at bats.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Eighty percent of good number. Appreciate you walking us through that.
Takes a long time for swelling to go down as
the basic point before you can see the fracture.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
On the MRI data.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Great stuff, man, Good luck today, and we'll look forward
to talking to you next Wednesday. I always wish we
had more time with you, and thank you for your time. Man,
appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
I appreciate you guys having me on every week. Let's
go astro fans. We're fired up.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
There you go. That's Dana Brown Astro's GM.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
We'll come back to finish up quickly and i'd love
to have him for four segments.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
We'll be right back
Dana, welcome in. It's good to have you on. Let's
start with Lance mccollors. There's been some great, there's been
some really good, and there's been some what you'd expect
from a guy who's hadn't touched for two years and
is still in like his fifth or sixth start assess
him for us as if he.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
The post injury.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
But are you surprised that he's been even sans last night,
that he's had such success and going pretty deep in
games for the most part these last couple starts before
last night.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Yeah, Look, it's a testament to his grit, how much
he's worked. He's worked really hard to get back, and
you know that the intriguing thing is he's still has
the strikeouts. You know, he's been striking a lot of
guys out, which is encouraging to the stuff. You know,
every now and then he runs into a bumping a
row with his command and that's to be expected for
(00:55):
a guy who hasn't pitched, you know, in over two years.
So U, you know, we've been very encouraged by Lance
and what he's doing. And as I mentioned, the strikeouts
is you know, the one thing that you can hang
your hat on Dana.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
From your as a as a guy who knows talent.
Now he comes back and you're just watching him pitch
from a general manager's point of view, forget the injuries,
just how he's pitching. Well, what do you see that
tells you, oh, there is still another left obviously the
history of his game, but we're still gonna see the
best of what's the next step to see the best
of Lance mccollors in your eyes?
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Yeah, you know, when you just evaluate him, you know,
I love that he still has really good timing and
his delivery and his breaking stuff is very effective. So uh,
you know, those are things that you look at that
you know that's going to at least, you know, deceive
the hitters with a good delivery, and of course you
can get breaking balls by guys, you know, with the
(01:56):
effectiveness of the break and so those two things are
very very encouraging. You know. It's just that every now
and then, as I mentioned the command, you know, he'll
lose lose the command a little bit and so, but
the strikeouts are real and that's very very encouraging.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Dana Brown astros GM for his weekly visit here on
Sports Talk seven to ninety Dana, You're so encouraging. You
know your team, and I know you believe your team's
going to get hot and sustain it. You told us
last year and they did so this year new season.
Tell me what you see that says not only can
they get hot offensively, because the pitching staff's been pretty
damn brilliant, especially the bullpen that you see. Okay, we
(02:37):
can get hot, but we can sustain this with our
bats because at some point the bats may have to
carry the pitching staff. Hopefully not, but they may have to.
What tells you they're closer than they've been at any
time this season?
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Yeah, I think with the addition of Pinion the leadoff spot,
you know, the fact that he's hitting like you know,
like three sixty plus, you know, and that and that
leadoff spot, I mean that's encouraging up top. You know,
you know, A Parrettits has been really good. You know,
he's leading the ale third basements and home runs with
(03:13):
like fourteen and thirty nine ribbies, so he's been really good.
I think those two guys really anchoring the top. It's
going to be very important for us. We know that,
you know, our two v is gonna heat up. He's
been showing us signs of heating up. Jordon should be
back you know here shortly. He's about eighty percent healed.
(03:34):
And you know, Christian Walker has had some really big
hits for us, and we know historically he's been really
good in the months of June, July, and August in
his career. And so you know, these are some encouraging
things that we feel really good good about down the stretch.
And so once this all clicks and comes together, I
think you'll see an offense and a pitching staff that's well,
(03:57):
you know, well oiled and into you know, their thing,
doing their thing by you know, the mid part of
the summer. And so I'm very encouraged by this club.
Look we're three games up, you know. Uh, you know,
we were fighting with grit. We got the grit every day,
and these guys come to play.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Dana thirty six and thirty I believe right now. And
you mentioned the you know gonna get hot. If I'd
have told you and be we're just talking brass tacks
here on the Bingo card. For me, I didn't have
I mean paratus good player. But when we say paradus,
look at the way Jake Myers is hit and then
moving pain into the leadoff spot. In the way he's
doing that may not have been the full three bingo card.
(04:40):
And with Christian Walker the struggles al tuve the inconsistency,
but we know he gets them in bunches. And you're
on being hurt and not having the power early in
the season, but sitting at thirty six and thirty days,
just the real.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Just the truth about this.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
There's no way we would have thought considering that bingo
card that you'd be thirty six and thirty considering the
end reason as well.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
So that's got to make you happy.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Yeah, Look, this team, as I said before, they have
a lot of grit and guys will step up. Man.
That's the beauty of a good team. When one of
your buddies go down, you know the other guys was
stepping it up. You know, we got two really good
starts from our young starters that came up, and so
you know, we have a group of guys that are
(05:25):
stepping it up. And as you mentioned, yeah, I forgot
to mention Jake. Jake's been swinging the bat very well
and of course he's really good defensively. So there are
some signs with this club that will tell you, Look,
we're not even on all cylinders and we're actually playing
pretty good baseball. Can we be playing a little bit better? Yeah,
because our offense has not hit their stride yet. But
(05:48):
at the end of the day, you know, these guys
have shown some grit and it's a good group of guys.
This is a good team and we feel really good
about it. When we get these guys on all cylinders,
our pitching comes back. Uh, you know, this should be
this should make it really fun for the stretch run date.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
I want to go back with whether it's culture or
just your guys, the whole organization's ability to see through
this and get these kind of type of guys. We
hear culture, and we hear that these guys, you know,
the grit and the step up that you mentioned that
they just guys back up, step in and do their job.
But the question is why and how well? Why is
it that when they come here or when somebody gets hurt.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
What is it?
Speaker 1 (06:31):
You know, we all want to bottle that up and
sell it. Why with the Astros do you guys have
this unique ability to do this? What's the main what's
the main ingredient and that's in that pot.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Yeah, I think it's first of all, it's a winning
culture and we've been that way. You know, when you
go to the postseason eight straight times, guys come in
and they know that, Look, this is a winning call up.
As you start off with that winning attitude, you know,
and then you have the leadership under Joe A. Spada,
who has he's very familiar with these guys. He has
great leadership in the clubhouse. Uh he's not a raw,
(07:05):
raw guy, but he's the guy that you know, gets
with each each and every guy and and encourage. He
encourages guys when you have to encourage him, and he
has you know, when he has to discipline, he'll discipline.
And so look, I think it's the culture that's been created.
You know. Uh, you come here, you come here to win.
You know, as our owner has said so many times,
(07:27):
our windows always open and so look, this is this
is just the way it is here in Houston. I
mean we you know, we played good baseball. We have
great fans support. I meant these the fans just continue
to show up and continue to support us, you know,
I mean I run into fans all the time when
I'm you know, walking the streets of Houston, are just
going out for a bite. You know, these guys are
(07:50):
encouraging you know, they they they they encourage us so much.
They show up and that's the beauty. The Astro fans
show up. You know, you cannot do that without fan support.
And I tell you, these guys show up every single
day and that's where we get our drive from.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Dana Brown asked those gm for a few more minutes
here on Sports Talk seven ninety seven sALS Reshow. All right, Dan,
if I put a monitor on you, you know, a
detector that told me that when I asked the question
of concerns on this team, it would light up and
we'd all be able to see it. What is your
biggest concern sixty six games in about your team?
Speaker 3 (08:30):
Yeah, it's just, you know, we got to get on
all cylinders with the bats first of all, you know,
because as you mentioned before, the pitching has been really
good and the pitching that's been carrying us. So we
can get on all cylinders with the bats, and we
can get our guys back from injuries. I think those
would be the two things that would light up for
me because once that happens. I think we're going to
(08:52):
go into a nice little run, a nice little stretch,
you know, whether it's ten out of twelve or you know,
seven in a row or whatever it is. I think
we'll hit all cylinders at that point, you know, And
that's the big deal. That's the real big deal of
just getting the bats to get on all cylinders and
(09:12):
you know, just getting getting this machine, getting this machine
running in the right direction.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
All right, let me be the Devil's advocate just because
for listeners and viewers and debate this. What if this
is your team the way Let's just say, now, this
is who you are at thirty six and thirty Can
you win a World Series? Hitting like this with the
way it's been and pitching like this with the way
it's been. If this is who the astros are, can
(09:39):
you play in the late October and beyond?
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Listen. I won't really get into the hypotheticals, but I
will say this, this team, the roster is built for
the World Series. I think we have guys that have
to get on all cylinders, and you know, guys have
to really get hot. You know, we're gonna need our hitter,
you know, to turn up the dial. You know, that's
gonna have to happen. And I think our pitching has
(10:05):
been really good and we're gonna get guys back, So
we're gonna get guys back from injuries. So yes, the
roster is definitely built to get into the World Series.
I think some things have to happen, like the you
know players, the hitters are gonna have to get hot,
and we're gonna have to get some guys back, you know,
off the eel, which I feel like we are gonna
get guys back. You know, Arraghetti uh is the guy
(10:28):
that's already starting to throw, and you know there's a
potential of him going out to West Palm after this
homestand and and starting to throw even more and get
off the mound, and so, uh, there's some good things happening.
I think the roster is built to win. I don't
think any team would expect to, you know, go all
(10:50):
the way without there without their their horses, right and
so but ultimately, this team, this roster, this club is
certainly built the and we have the leadership to do it.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Is Christian Walker. How's he handling the pressure of some
early season woes.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
That he's not used to it. He's hit it hard
at times, and we have.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Expectations that he's going to be better data and so
do you you know this that's why he's here. It
was an upgrade at first base. But with that, how's
he handling the struggles right now?
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Yeah, I think he understands from an analytics standpoint and
data information standpoint, he is hitting the ball hard, and
we would say he's been very unlucky, you know, you know,
just looking at his Babbitt which is about two sixty
and balls in play, you know, so he's been very
(11:43):
unlucky and he's hit the ball very hard, and so
that's just you know, that's part of the game. You know,
the other teams have really good defenses, and sometimes you're
going to hit the ball hard and you're not going
to get anything out of it. But we know historically
that he turns things around in the month of June, July,
and August. You know, that's just who he is, and
(12:04):
so we're really looking for good things. He's been really
good defensively, his attitude has been great, and so he's
not panicked because he's a true professional, and so we
really expect him to, you know, to turn the corner
and get hot.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Danny, you're the ability to throw runners out. Tony, who's
a regular listener and caller, and he broached this subject,
and so I'm gonna ask for him about are you
and we You and I talked about this coming out,
you know, early after spring training, about the struggles of
throwing runners out, holding pitchers hold them, and catchers, you know,
doing all the things they got to do to be
in position to throw a gut when he runs, getting
(12:42):
the pitch quick. You know, you're you're to be able
to pop out of that the pounce time and get
it down the second Mason b act all those things.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Are you doing it better? And why is it getting better?
Do you see it? And what have they worked on
to make this better?
Speaker 3 (12:58):
Yeah, so it's all about the timing, you know. But
first of all, I would say before I get into that,
the most important thing for the pictures to get the
hitter out right. And so you have to really focus
on the hitter and you can't lose sight and hitter.
This is not like the nineteen eighties when teams had
a bunch of rabbits on the bases and they would
steal bases consistently. Now we have guys hit the ball
(13:20):
out of the ballpark, and you have to focus on
the hitter. Now with that said, you know, you also
you cannot let guys just run the bases and allow
it to be a track meet. And so I think
what we've done is we've worked on this timing thing.
We've worked on holding the ball as long as we
can hold it at times to take the spring out
of the runner's legs, you know, because sometimes when you
(13:43):
hold the ball and you hold it tight and then
all of a sudden you go to the plate, you
know you can throw their timing off. And so you know,
we've done things. We've talked to our pictures about it.
But you know, we've made it very clear, do not
lose sight of the hitter, because you know, if a
guy stills the base, he's on second base. If you
get to hit her out, you're still in good shape.
(14:04):
If a guy steals a base and then he gives
up a triple or a double or a home run,
then you got problems. And so the main thing is
to keep the main thing the main thing. And so
we got to focus on the batter, and we have
to you know, pay attention you know, to the runner
at times depending on who's on the basis, but you
(14:25):
can't lose sight of who's hitting.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
So the priority has been get the batter out and secondaries,
get the runner out, even though you'd like to do
both extremely well.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Correct.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
Yeah, absolutely, you've got to get to hit her out,
you know, if you you know you can still it's
very difficult to steal home. You can still. Second, still, Third,
if I get to hit her out, you know, I
got a chance, right, you know, And so you can't
lose focus of that.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
And about the minute I have with you, and you know,
the gray area, Dana, you're I don't envy. Your job
is talent scout, a general manager. All the things you've
done and understanding that having to deal with all of
us that want to know injuries, it's a pain in
the ass.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
So to remove gray.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Area for fans and for anybody like in Jordon's case, First,
where is he Number one? How close are we sixty percent?
About ten days two weeks ago of that thing healing?
Where are we timeline wise? But what's the protocol with him?
You know, at first we thought it was soft tissue,
and then we found there fracture. How long between like
MRIs do you ca the swelling? See it just kind
(15:28):
of take us through it so we get a better
advantage of what you have to go through when you
have to come on and talk to my ass about
injuries and what happened in Jordon's case, where are we
and how do we get to that point with all
the medical stuff.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Yeah, so he's eighty percent healed, which means he's getting
very close. No pain, he can shake hands, he can
you know, he can pick up a bat. We're just
not going to allow him the hit for a few
more days. And you know, so in terms of the
injury itself, hand injuries are very very difficult. You know,
(16:01):
any of these hand injuries are very very difficult because
what happens is you get you know, when you get
these bone injuries, Uh, you have so much swelling and inflammation,
and you you know, to read the MRI eyes are
very very difficult, and so you have to allow you know,
the swelling to go down and before you can see it.
(16:23):
And I think he was playing, you know, and he
originally it was the muscle strain in the hand, and
I think he played through it. Find the grind through
it with the grit and you know, I think he
by him playing through it, I think that's what may
have caused this small fracture. I don't know for sure,
but potentially could have. And then you know, we were
(16:46):
looking at all the inflammation with the with the muscle strain,
and then you know you missed the small fracture because
of all of the inflammation. And then the key here is,
you know we've learned to keep getting him, just continue
to image it because as the swelling gowns, you can
see a lot a lot more and so look, ultimately
(17:10):
he'll be back. We don't think it's going to be
too much longer. As I mentioned, he's eighty percent healed.
And you know, we've played very well. You know, the
guys have stepped up. You know, we're twenty and fifteen
since your ion went down, and so you know we
are playing over five hundred. The boys are playing good.
Just like last year when Tucker went out, the boys
(17:30):
stepped it up. You know, even when Tucker went out,
we played even better. And so you know we're thirty
we're forty nine to thirty four or whatever it was.
So look, ultimately the guys have stepped it up, but
we'll get yourd I'm back here soon. I know. It's frustrating.
It's frustrating, you know when when guys get hurt, but
it goes with the territory. It's part of the game.
(17:51):
It's we're not the only team that are suffering injuries,
and so U you know, we're dying to get them
back and soon he's able to swing the bat. We're
going to try to expedite it, you know, by maybe
having him face some pictures and you know, instead of
sending them on a rehab, hopefully we won't have to
send him on a triple A rehab. Maybe we can
(18:12):
get it done at the ballpark and give him some
live at bats.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Eighty percent of good number. Appreciate you walking us through that.
Takes a long time for swelling to go down as
the basic point before you can see the fracture.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
On the MRI data.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Great stuff, man, Good luck today, and we'll look forward
to talking to you next Wednesday. I always wish we
had more time with you, and thank you for your time. Man,
appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
I appreciate you guys having me on every week. Let's
go astro fans. We're fired up.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
There you go. That's Dana Brown Astro's GM.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
We'll come back to finish up quickly and i'd love
to have him for four segments.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
We'll be right back
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