July 21, 2025 • 14 mins
Following the conclusion of the All-Star break, the Astros seem to have hit a bump in the road rolling in and coming out of the break as we've now reached the second half of the season. Winning 1 out of their last 6 just before the break and concluding their first series yesterday avoiding the sweep, the Astros win 11-3 but lose the series 1-2 to the Seattle Mariners. Assessing a few blunders over the Stros' last 10 games, Steve shares a few things to be mindful of as we roll through the weeks pertaining to injuries and the trade deadline approaching.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Indeed it is, and it's time for our weekly visit
with Steve Sparks out on the West Coast. I when
I say West Coast Arizona close enough and grateful to
have him on for his weekly visit post All Star Break. Steve,
welcome in. Let me start here. What point time do
you We're almost one hundred games in and we talk
about it's a long season, and it is. But at
(00:20):
what point in time do you say we're no longer
in the dog days. We're in a run that did
every game. Now the stretch run is important. Are we
there yet?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Well, that's two different questions. I think dog days, yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Go ahead, you always yeah, When do we kick in?
When do we kick into? Man, the urgency has to
be every single day, I guess is what I'm asking.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Well, it's to what point you really want to do that.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
I think as far as urgency goes, you're going to
try to put out your best lineup just about every day.
But at the same time, you're always thinking about how
do I get guys off their feet so they're fresh
and they remain healthy and things like that. I how too,
Bay could date from time to time. I'm sure his
body could help benefit from getting a day off and
(01:09):
daging from time to time, But right now, with so
many injuries, I mean, you're trying to put out your
most competitive lineup as you can, facing you know, other
good Major League teams that you feel like you want
to give all your guys a great chance to win
on a nightly basis.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
So I think they're going to be in the dog
days for a little while.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Until they start getting guys back and you start getting
guys breathers. I always think back to twenty twenty two
when the Astros were running out of six man rotation
before other teams were doing that for over half of
the season, and how much more fresh that they were,
and they absolutely steamrolled through the playoffs and through the
World Series that year. I think because they were more
(01:49):
rested than anybody else. When you're not as healthy as
you have been in years past, I think it makes
it much more tricky.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Joe a spot A I could tend he's the manager
of the year considering all that's gone on and where
they are four games in front. His best job in
these last two years is it managing what he's had
to manage Steve.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
It's been very difficult. Yeah, I think he's done a
great job. I thought last.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Year pulling the team out of where they started, I
thought he did a great job too.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
But right now, I mean he's just.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Trying to figure out, you know, who can I put
in there to be competitive And there's been so many
guys with Taylor Tremmell yesterday, and we've seen Zach Short
win a game for the Astros against the Dodgers last week.
We've seen Shane Wickham make a great play yesterday on
the slide behind I think it was Cooper Hombley yesterday.
Just different guys are stepping up and doing big things
(02:44):
for the Astros. So I think that says a lot
about the player development. But we see it a lot
in spring training, Sean. I mean, we see a lot
of these guys, and we've seen these relationships bloom with
the major league coaching staff. We see it and we've
gotten to know these guys lot in spring training, right
I think that's the one thing that's kind of missing
is people don't realize that these guys are welcome into
(03:07):
this clubhouse pretty easily because we've gotten to know him
so well. In the month of February March too.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Steve is a starting pitching right now, doing it all
the way through, doing enough to keep the bullpen rested,
like I know you want when we push into middle
of August to September.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Wow, that's it.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
You know what when you're running a six man rotation,
I think the Astros one six man rotation right now
because they're playing thirteen games in a row. Yep, that's
going to put an extra strain on the bullpen. So
it's going to be up to whether or not Gusto
goes in the rotation or they bring somebody else up.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
I'm not sure how they would do it if they
went to.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
A sixth man, but they need a long man, you know,
somebody to cover them in those in those games so
they don't pitch guys three games in a row. Say,
and we watched Joe do a great job yesterday making
sure he didn't have Okert or sus or Narrow pitch three.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Games in a row.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
I mean, I think that's probably the back of his
mind all the time. But I think right now, this
time of year, you want to make sure you don't
put those guys health in jeopardy.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Steve Whend, I mean you're You're so good at getting
us talking us off a ledge when it comes to this,
and we know mccullor's has good stuff. You really are
and listen, potential and production are two different things. And
I think we all root for Lance's success. And I
know with the injuries, they're in a bad it's it's tough.
I mean, your down bodies. What are you seeing that
(04:32):
tells you that if they were healthy, he stays in
the rotation. What's missing from the arsenal right now, other
than getting ahead in the count throwing the type of
strikes he needs to.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Well, what I've seen is some games where he's pitched
really well and he's racked up a lot of strikeouts.
So that tells me, you know, when he's leveraging the counts,
when he's the head of the count, he still has
the stuff to get.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Swing and miss when he's right.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
So if everything's good, you know, maybe it's pitch mixed,
maybe it's changing where the catcher sets up to get
himself in better accounts. I think he needs to do that.
So I think it's all about I know we've talked
about this a lot. It's the one on one count,
you know, get ahead of the count so you can
leverage and get guys to chase. Right now, you fall
(05:17):
behind two and one or three in one, guys can
be very very selective because they don't have that urgency
to protect. And I think right now he's just not
getting the chase that he's used to. But I think
it starts with getting the account in his favor. I
like his curveball right now better than his sweeper. I
think upping the percentage of the curveball rather than the
sweeper makes more sense. It's just got more depth, it's
(05:39):
got more swing and myth, and it's hanging around in
the strike zone longer.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
To get guys to bite more. So that's where I
would go.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
You know, I'm not the pitching coach, but right now
I like one pitch better than the other, and the
other thing. I would start to catcher more over the
plate to get him to get him ahead of the
account and make guys start to swing more.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Do we, Steve, Do you trust that we're going to
see the production that we need to see to keep
him in the rotation as they start to get healthy,
and hopefully they will sooner than later.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Yeah, I think it's in there. You know, we've seen
some guys around the league at miss some time. Spencer
Strider has had a hard time getting back into the
field of things. There's a bunch of guys that when
you've had as long as the layoff is lance, there's
going to be some inconsistencies. But I've seen it, you know,
and I've seen some games where he's he's looked really
(06:29):
sharp and really good where I think he can help
his team. So I just think I think it gets
down to being more aggressive than the strike though.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Steve Sparks for his weekly visit here for a couple
more minutes here on Sports Talk seven to ninety Sean
Salisbury Show, Steve, I mean, if you know different, any
signs of health or that we're going to get people
back sooner than later. I mean, when do you see
hobby Er didn't get three innings? How quickly do you
think we're going to see some of these guys.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Specific timeline, I'm not real sure if I was the guest,
it's probably all in August.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
But you're looking at You're looking.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
At Araghetty, You're looking at Christian Javier, You're looking at Garcia.
You're starting to get some guys coming back, and we're
seeing the velocities of you know, Danna talk to Robert
yesterday and he mentioned that Javier is up to ninety five.
We see Araghetty, he dealt feel very confident in what
he's gonna be able to do when he gets back.
(07:29):
I think he's going to be a huge piece of
this thing going forward for the Astros.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
And then you're we're gonna see the other guys trickling.
We're gonna see Paya, We're gonna see your don We're
gonna start to see some.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Guys come back.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
How long it takes myers in Easok, I think they're
a little further out. But once those guys start to
trickle in, not only are you going to get the
full squad, get the band back, but you're gonna get
some guys that are super fresh. I mean the guys
that have been off their feet and probably very well
rested going into the playoffs. So I think if you're
(08:03):
looking for silver linings, that's going to be it. But uh,
you got to get them by first. But i'd like
some of the signs and some of the reports we're
giving with some of these pictures, it's going to be
a very welcome edition.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Steve does this if they are a World Series team,
which I believe they think they are, and I think
a lot of us when they're going good, considering all
these circumstances, to be up by four games, it's pretty impressive.
What what what? What would you what would you expect?
I mean, at least at least your intuition about this
All Star break the aggressiveness side of it, not all
Star break, trade deadline break. The trade deadline, Yeah, all
(08:38):
Star breaks on. I always confused back in the day.
They were around the same time, right for me when
I was growing up. But the trade deadline? What do
you what do you see as far as aggressiveness goes?
How aggressive will they be?
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Well, you're feeling out as many teams as possible right now.
There's only a couple that have really kind of come
out and said, yeah, we're.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Open for business. But there's gonna be a up with
more right at the very end.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Here's one thing that I keep kind of going back
to is the last few deadlines. The astros of dealt
and tell me if you recognize anything that's in common
with these guys, William A. Bray, you, Emanuel Valdez, Joey
Lo Peffido, Will Wagner, Ryan Clifford, and Drew Gilbert. They're
not household names, but they have one thing in common.
(09:22):
Six guys that they've dealt and I think it's a coincidence,
but they're all left handed hitters, right, every single one
of them.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
That the Astros have delta.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
In these trades, so now they're depleted to a degree
as far as left handed hitters goes through the system
except for Jacob Melton, and Jacob Melton is probably one
of their best trading chips.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
But I would hold on to Jacob Melton. I like
his twitch, I like his upside.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
So as far as left handed hitters go, the Astros
haven't had a bunch of those guys coming up through
the system because they've traded them all.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
So it's always one eye on the as one eye on.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
The future according to Dana Brown, So I would keep
the one eye on the future and keep Jacob Melton.
But as far as going out and get guys, he
talks about getting a left handed hitter, I agree with that.
Once Jordan gets back and you feel a lot better
about having some guys around out a well balanced lineup.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Up, we're starting to see Taylor Trammel.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
We're starting to see some guys contribute.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
And get better and help him.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Now you're seeing what you have going forward, and once
everybody gets healthy, then you're gonna have to start making
tough decisions.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
And I think you know the first tough decision is
going to start with the trade deadline. What do we
need to go get.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
We'll see the other thing about one eye on the
future and one eye on the present, Sean, If you're
getting a pitcher, man, I'm sure thinking about somebody who
I can put into.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
The rotation right next year as well.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
I want somebody controllable and you know, treated almost like
it's the off season, maybe a free agent signing, but
by going out and get somebody who can help you
next year.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Yeah, stay away from the rental, is what you're saying there, Steve,
and I Yeah, real quickly, let's say you were you
had you only had your choice of one, just you
as a as a baseball insider and fan as well,
that it was either a starting pitcher there was going
to be here that you had you had under contract
that wasn't a rental or a power bat left and
(11:28):
regardless when you start to think, okay, when Jordan comes
back and we're getting Hobby Air and Garcia maybe or Arraghetti,
you start to think about August Steve. But you're going
to have to make that decision before then. So if
you only had one wish list, it had to be
a starting pitcher or a power left handed bat. Who
is it? Not the name, but what position.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
If it's the same package, I have to give up.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Yes, So all things being the same, yes, yes.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Let's not forget this, and let's not forget this. Every
single trade that you make right now is really gonna
hurt because you have to overpay to outbid some other teams.
So if you're looking for a left hand of bat
or you're looking for pitching, everybody's looking for that and
you're gonna have to You're gonna have to make it sting.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
To to really get those guys.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
But if it was one of the two, I would
go for the bat just because of the way they've pitched.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Just because of the way.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
I'm not saying there's a surplus, because you just start
looking for wood right away and you're wanting to knock
on it. But there's guys down to the miners that
are doing great. Jason Alexander with a one and a
half of the ra and he's come up twice and
pitch very well. Brandon Walter. Man, by the way, Brandon Walter,
(12:42):
I think they have more pitching than they do bats
and right now the Astros. When I look at the lineup,
I want to see more thump. I want to see.
I want to see somebody to add to this lineup
to help them score more runs.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Because I think pitching wise, they've done a phenomenal job.
You're trying to keep them healthy. There's a long way
to go.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
The pitchy man, I've been really impressed with what they've
been able to do to this point, and I still
think they have more in the tank.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
You don't just want wood, you want goodwood, right, Steve,
It's not just wood.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
We have goodwood, doesn't everybody? I mean, you want cherry,
you want you goodwood. Hey, You're exactly right.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
No question, not selling you out because I'm just asking.
It is Arizona. It is a night game. There are
golf courses. Are you playing today?
Speaker 2 (13:32):
I've got too many people in town.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Like I'm meeting with a buddy of mine in an
hour and a half that I played with with the Tigers.
Then I've got a niece here that we're getting together
the next day, and the next day is an off days,
so I didn't have time. I'm just getting together with
a couple of people here the next couple of days.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
And other than that, Man, I love playing here.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
I do too. I do. I'm one hundred per se
because you could, you could be done. But you can
get eighteen holes in about three hours, especially in the summertime.
But yeah, nobody, yeah, nobody out there. You don't have
to hit and weight and you're a man in need.
Steve Golf will have to take a back seat. Okay,
it just will.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Backseat this time this trip. Yeah, I've been looking forward
to seeing a couple of people. So this is always
fun for me to become to Poenans.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Awesome, what a great city. Enjoy Hopefully we get these
taken care of and get this thing rolling, get healthy,
and the trade deadline will present something that can help
them as they look for the stretch run. Steve, great
stuff today. I appreciate it and we look forward to
you next Monday. Brother.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Thank you, Thanks Sean, take care for you too.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
That's a great Steve Sparks
Indeed it is, and it's time for our weekly visit
with Steve Sparks out on the West Coast. I when
I say West Coast Arizona close enough and grateful to
have him on for his weekly visit post All Star Break. Steve,
welcome in. Let me start here. What point time do
you We're almost one hundred games in and we talk
about it's a long season, and it is. But at
(00:20):
what point in time do you say we're no longer
in the dog days. We're in a run that did
every game. Now the stretch run is important. Are we
there yet?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Well, that's two different questions. I think dog days, yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Go ahead, you always yeah, When do we kick in?
When do we kick into? Man, the urgency has to
be every single day, I guess is what I'm asking.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Well, it's to what point you really want to do that.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
I think as far as urgency goes, you're going to
try to put out your best lineup just about every day.
But at the same time, you're always thinking about how
do I get guys off their feet so they're fresh
and they remain healthy and things like that. I how too,
Bay could date from time to time. I'm sure his
body could help benefit from getting a day off and
(01:09):
daging from time to time, But right now, with so
many injuries, I mean, you're trying to put out your
most competitive lineup as you can, facing you know, other
good Major League teams that you feel like you want
to give all your guys a great chance to win
on a nightly basis.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
So I think they're going to be in the dog
days for a little while.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Until they start getting guys back and you start getting
guys breathers. I always think back to twenty twenty two
when the Astros were running out of six man rotation
before other teams were doing that for over half of
the season, and how much more fresh that they were,
and they absolutely steamrolled through the playoffs and through the
World Series that year. I think because they were more
(01:49):
rested than anybody else. When you're not as healthy as
you have been in years past, I think it makes
it much more tricky.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Joe a spot A I could tend he's the manager
of the year considering all that's gone on and where
they are four games in front. His best job in
these last two years is it managing what he's had
to manage Steve.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
It's been very difficult. Yeah, I think he's done a
great job. I thought last.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Year pulling the team out of where they started, I
thought he did a great job too.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
But right now, I mean he's just.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Trying to figure out, you know, who can I put
in there to be competitive And there's been so many
guys with Taylor Tremmell yesterday, and we've seen Zach Short
win a game for the Astros against the Dodgers last week.
We've seen Shane Wickham make a great play yesterday on
the slide behind I think it was Cooper Hombley yesterday.
Just different guys are stepping up and doing big things
(02:44):
for the Astros. So I think that says a lot
about the player development. But we see it a lot
in spring training, Sean. I mean, we see a lot
of these guys, and we've seen these relationships bloom with
the major league coaching staff. We see it and we've
gotten to know these guys lot in spring training, right
I think that's the one thing that's kind of missing
is people don't realize that these guys are welcome into
(03:07):
this clubhouse pretty easily because we've gotten to know him
so well. In the month of February March too.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Steve is a starting pitching right now, doing it all
the way through, doing enough to keep the bullpen rested,
like I know you want when we push into middle
of August to September.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Wow, that's it.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
You know what when you're running a six man rotation,
I think the Astros one six man rotation right now
because they're playing thirteen games in a row. Yep, that's
going to put an extra strain on the bullpen. So
it's going to be up to whether or not Gusto
goes in the rotation or they bring somebody else up.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
I'm not sure how they would do it if they
went to.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
A sixth man, but they need a long man, you know,
somebody to cover them in those in those games so
they don't pitch guys three games in a row. Say,
and we watched Joe do a great job yesterday making
sure he didn't have Okert or sus or Narrow pitch three.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Games in a row.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
I mean, I think that's probably the back of his
mind all the time. But I think right now, this
time of year, you want to make sure you don't
put those guys health in jeopardy.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Steve Whend, I mean you're You're so good at getting
us talking us off a ledge when it comes to this,
and we know mccullor's has good stuff. You really are
and listen, potential and production are two different things. And
I think we all root for Lance's success. And I
know with the injuries, they're in a bad it's it's tough.
I mean, your down bodies. What are you seeing that
(04:32):
tells you that if they were healthy, he stays in
the rotation. What's missing from the arsenal right now, other
than getting ahead in the count throwing the type of
strikes he needs to.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Well, what I've seen is some games where he's pitched
really well and he's racked up a lot of strikeouts.
So that tells me, you know, when he's leveraging the counts,
when he's the head of the count, he still has
the stuff to get.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Swing and miss when he's right.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
So if everything's good, you know, maybe it's pitch mixed,
maybe it's changing where the catcher sets up to get
himself in better accounts. I think he needs to do that.
So I think it's all about I know we've talked
about this a lot. It's the one on one count,
you know, get ahead of the count so you can
leverage and get guys to chase. Right now, you fall
(05:17):
behind two and one or three in one, guys can
be very very selective because they don't have that urgency
to protect. And I think right now he's just not
getting the chase that he's used to. But I think
it starts with getting the account in his favor. I
like his curveball right now better than his sweeper. I
think upping the percentage of the curveball rather than the
sweeper makes more sense. It's just got more depth, it's
(05:39):
got more swing and myth, and it's hanging around in
the strike zone longer.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
To get guys to bite more. So that's where I
would go.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
You know, I'm not the pitching coach, but right now
I like one pitch better than the other, and the
other thing. I would start to catcher more over the
plate to get him to get him ahead of the
account and make guys start to swing more.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Do we, Steve, Do you trust that we're going to
see the production that we need to see to keep
him in the rotation as they start to get healthy,
and hopefully they will sooner than later.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Yeah, I think it's in there. You know, we've seen
some guys around the league at miss some time. Spencer
Strider has had a hard time getting back into the
field of things. There's a bunch of guys that when
you've had as long as the layoff is lance, there's
going to be some inconsistencies. But I've seen it, you know,
and I've seen some games where he's he's looked really
(06:29):
sharp and really good where I think he can help
his team. So I just think I think it gets
down to being more aggressive than the strike though.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Steve Sparks for his weekly visit here for a couple
more minutes here on Sports Talk seven to ninety Sean
Salisbury Show, Steve, I mean, if you know different, any
signs of health or that we're going to get people
back sooner than later. I mean, when do you see
hobby Er didn't get three innings? How quickly do you
think we're going to see some of these guys.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Specific timeline, I'm not real sure if I was the guest,
it's probably all in August.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
But you're looking at You're looking.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
At Araghetty, You're looking at Christian Javier, You're looking at Garcia.
You're starting to get some guys coming back, and we're
seeing the velocities of you know, Danna talk to Robert
yesterday and he mentioned that Javier is up to ninety five.
We see Araghetty, he dealt feel very confident in what
he's gonna be able to do when he gets back.
(07:29):
I think he's going to be a huge piece of
this thing going forward for the Astros.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
And then you're we're gonna see the other guys trickling.
We're gonna see Paya, We're gonna see your don We're
gonna start to see some.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Guys come back.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
How long it takes myers in Easok, I think they're
a little further out. But once those guys start to
trickle in, not only are you going to get the
full squad, get the band back, but you're gonna get
some guys that are super fresh. I mean the guys
that have been off their feet and probably very well
rested going into the playoffs. So I think if you're
(08:03):
looking for silver linings, that's going to be it. But uh,
you got to get them by first. But i'd like
some of the signs and some of the reports we're
giving with some of these pictures, it's going to be
a very welcome edition.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Steve does this if they are a World Series team,
which I believe they think they are, and I think
a lot of us when they're going good, considering all
these circumstances, to be up by four games, it's pretty impressive.
What what what? What would you what would you expect?
I mean, at least at least your intuition about this
All Star break the aggressiveness side of it, not all
Star break, trade deadline break. The trade deadline, Yeah, all
(08:38):
Star breaks on. I always confused back in the day.
They were around the same time, right for me when
I was growing up. But the trade deadline? What do
you what do you see as far as aggressiveness goes?
How aggressive will they be?
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Well, you're feeling out as many teams as possible right now.
There's only a couple that have really kind of come
out and said, yeah, we're.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Open for business. But there's gonna be a up with
more right at the very end.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Here's one thing that I keep kind of going back
to is the last few deadlines. The astros of dealt
and tell me if you recognize anything that's in common
with these guys, William A. Bray, you, Emanuel Valdez, Joey
Lo Peffido, Will Wagner, Ryan Clifford, and Drew Gilbert. They're
not household names, but they have one thing in common.
(09:22):
Six guys that they've dealt and I think it's a coincidence,
but they're all left handed hitters, right, every single one
of them.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
That the Astros have delta.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
In these trades, so now they're depleted to a degree
as far as left handed hitters goes through the system
except for Jacob Melton, and Jacob Melton is probably one
of their best trading chips.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
But I would hold on to Jacob Melton. I like
his twitch, I like his upside.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
So as far as left handed hitters go, the Astros
haven't had a bunch of those guys coming up through
the system because they've traded them all.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
So it's always one eye on the as one eye on.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
The future according to Dana Brown, So I would keep
the one eye on the future and keep Jacob Melton.
But as far as going out and get guys, he
talks about getting a left handed hitter, I agree with that.
Once Jordan gets back and you feel a lot better
about having some guys around out a well balanced lineup.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Up, we're starting to see Taylor Trammel.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
We're starting to see some guys contribute.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
And get better and help him.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Now you're seeing what you have going forward, and once
everybody gets healthy, then you're gonna have to start making
tough decisions.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
And I think you know the first tough decision is
going to start with the trade deadline. What do we
need to go get.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
We'll see the other thing about one eye on the
future and one eye on the present, Sean, If you're
getting a pitcher, man, I'm sure thinking about somebody who
I can put into.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
The rotation right next year as well.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
I want somebody controllable and you know, treated almost like
it's the off season, maybe a free agent signing, but
by going out and get somebody who can help you
next year.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Yeah, stay away from the rental, is what you're saying there, Steve,
and I Yeah, real quickly, let's say you were you
had you only had your choice of one, just you
as a as a baseball insider and fan as well,
that it was either a starting pitcher there was going
to be here that you had you had under contract
that wasn't a rental or a power bat left and
(11:28):
regardless when you start to think, okay, when Jordan comes
back and we're getting Hobby Air and Garcia maybe or Arraghetti,
you start to think about August Steve. But you're going
to have to make that decision before then. So if
you only had one wish list, it had to be
a starting pitcher or a power left handed bat. Who
is it? Not the name, but what position.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
If it's the same package, I have to give up.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Yes, So all things being the same, yes, yes.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Let's not forget this, and let's not forget this. Every
single trade that you make right now is really gonna
hurt because you have to overpay to outbid some other teams.
So if you're looking for a left hand of bat
or you're looking for pitching, everybody's looking for that and
you're gonna have to You're gonna have to make it sting.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
To to really get those guys.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
But if it was one of the two, I would
go for the bat just because of the way they've pitched.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Just because of the way.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
I'm not saying there's a surplus, because you just start
looking for wood right away and you're wanting to knock
on it. But there's guys down to the miners that
are doing great. Jason Alexander with a one and a
half of the ra and he's come up twice and
pitch very well. Brandon Walter. Man, by the way, Brandon Walter,
(12:42):
I think they have more pitching than they do bats
and right now the Astros. When I look at the lineup,
I want to see more thump. I want to see.
I want to see somebody to add to this lineup
to help them score more runs.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Because I think pitching wise, they've done a phenomenal job.
You're trying to keep them healthy. There's a long way
to go.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
The pitchy man, I've been really impressed with what they've
been able to do to this point, and I still
think they have more in the tank.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
You don't just want wood, you want goodwood, right, Steve,
It's not just wood.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
We have goodwood, doesn't everybody? I mean, you want cherry,
you want you goodwood. Hey, You're exactly right.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
No question, not selling you out because I'm just asking.
It is Arizona. It is a night game. There are
golf courses. Are you playing today?
Speaker 2 (13:32):
I've got too many people in town.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Like I'm meeting with a buddy of mine in an
hour and a half that I played with with the Tigers.
Then I've got a niece here that we're getting together
the next day, and the next day is an off days,
so I didn't have time. I'm just getting together with
a couple of people here the next couple of days.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
And other than that, Man, I love playing here.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
I do too. I do. I'm one hundred per se
because you could, you could be done. But you can
get eighteen holes in about three hours, especially in the summertime.
But yeah, nobody, yeah, nobody out there. You don't have
to hit and weight and you're a man in need.
Steve Golf will have to take a back seat. Okay,
it just will.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Backseat this time this trip. Yeah, I've been looking forward
to seeing a couple of people. So this is always
fun for me to become to Poenans.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Awesome, what a great city. Enjoy Hopefully we get these
taken care of and get this thing rolling, get healthy,
and the trade deadline will present something that can help
them as they look for the stretch run. Steve, great
stuff today. I appreciate it and we look forward to
you next Monday. Brother.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Thank you, Thanks Sean, take care for you too.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
That's a great Steve Sparks
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