Brian McTaggart Joins The Show As The Astros Are Finding Their Groove, Being 1 Game Away From #1 In AL West
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 4 (01:10):
The Astros, the Rockets, Rockets.
Speaker 5 (01:13):
As before your home for your home teams. This is
Sports Talk seven.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Ninety from the Parsons that match in next studios.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
Yes, is the Matt Thomas Show with.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Ross eleven oh one on Sports Talk seven ninety. This
is our number two of the four hour get together.
We call them Matt Thomas Show with Ross Ross with
Today and Tomorrow off. Cole Thompson's gonna come out and
hang out with us for a couple hours starting at
eleven thirty. We had the news at noon in one hour,
I just don't get it. At twelve thirty in all
(01:53):
things Shake Gilgess Alexander on today's edition of Believe It
or Not, which would be headed your way at one
point fifty right now, ten and maybe even eleven quality
minutes with Brian McTaggart MLB dot Com and the Astros
beat tag. The Astros woke up this morning, a half
game out of first place. Congratulations to the Nationals for
knocking off the MS last night nine to nothing.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
Yeah, the Astros gained a game on everybody in the
division yesterday, so a very good day.
Speaker 5 (02:19):
And uh yeah they can.
Speaker 4 (02:20):
Astros can actually be in first place today if if
they win and the Mariners lose tonight, they're in first place.
And uh it'll be a full, full blown panic in
the Seattle if it's not already.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Uh, I'll give you the opening of question, what are
we seeing today in the last six games that we
didn't see in the previous twenty or twenty five. The
offense has been much better, defense remained solid, bullpen's been
really really good. I wouldn't say the starting pitching has
been anything. Well, I mean you're getting six from lanch Yesterd.
That kind of helps. So I'll throw it to you.
(02:51):
What are we seeing now that maybe we didn't see
even two or three weeks ago.
Speaker 5 (02:57):
Yeah, well, I think you hit it. I mean it's offense.
Speaker 4 (02:59):
They had what five games in a row where they
had at least eleven hits, which they hadn't done in
about six years. You know, the series over the weekend,
they were getting a lot of singles.
Speaker 5 (03:11):
You know, they finally started driving the ball a little
bit here the last couple of games.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
But yeah, they're just they're just score more, getting more
guys on base, hitting bart with runners in scoring position.
I mean, starting pitching has been good enough. You know,
Hunter Brown was really good and you know Lance giving
you six. The big question, Marcus, what are you gonna
get now from the two rookies that are in your
rotation now? Probably for the at least, I don't know,
probably for until you get Eric Getty back in Gusto
(03:36):
and Gordon.
Speaker 5 (03:37):
But yeah, I mean we've said all along the one.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
Area where they they got to pick it up as offense,
and they've done that.
Speaker 5 (03:43):
It's really in the month of May.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
I mean they entered the month of May, I think
twenty in the twenty like twenty first maybe.
Speaker 5 (03:50):
In batting average, not the batting averages.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
Everything, and I think they lead the majors in batting
average in the month of May. So they've really turned
it around here from you know, top to bottom.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
I know that Jose had a goosegg yesterday, but he
has had a really really good homestand overall, what does
he think he attributes that to.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
Yeah, he's you know, starting to drive the ball more,
trying to hit the ball in the more. I mean,
he was his ground ball percentage rate at least about
a week ago was probably the highest of his career.
He was over over fifty percent of balls off his
bat room and play with ground balls, which.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
Is not not ideal. So he's really started to drive
the ball here in the last week.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
You know, he's worked a lot with Alex SINCHRONI said,
he started to come in early and just really uh
put in the work at the cage to uh you
know what he said was told us it's just he
tries to focus on one pitch instead of trying to
you know, cover the whole cover the whole batter's box
or the whole strike zone, and you know, leads him
(04:52):
to chase a little bit. He's sort of owned honed
in on one pitch and that's helped him, you know,
make better contact and turn it around a little.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
But you know, his numbers really this year overall have
been significantly down from years past. And it's hard for
us because you've been with him every bit of his
major league baseball career. You know, I've been here as well,
but you see him a lot more in face to
face than I do. There's a part of me that's
that would be sad if we started to see the
dramatic drop off, because he has been, in my mind,
the greatest aster of them all, because I do include
(05:22):
the postseason as part of it. But it is kind
of nice to see him get his mojo back a
little bit, because I think there were some legitimate concerned
about what was left in Jose's tank.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
Yeah, but I always thought, in the back of my mind,
I've seen him do this before, where he has these
streaks where he i mean for two or three weeks
and just you know, he swings that everything swings out
of his shoes, out of his own and you're like,
good grief. And then you know, boy, when he gets hot,
you know, he he'll have four games where he's you know,
eleven for fifteen or something like that, and then you
look up and his numbers are about what you expect.
Speaker 5 (05:55):
And I'm never going to count this guy out.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
I mean, you know, like you said, I mean, I've
covered it his his entire career, from you know, day
one when he got called up, and you know, you know,
everyone knows what what he went through and all the naysayers,
people who told him he couldn't play, and look what
he's done in his career.
Speaker 5 (06:13):
Saw.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
I think at the end of the year, Josel twov
is gonna end up having some some pretty solid numbers.
He's he's never going to be twenty seventeen Josel two anymore,
but he's he's thirty five and he can still be
make some good contributions to this offense.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Last thing about him, how often do you ask him
or is it even discussed about three thousand hits? Because
we have lost in baseball because guys take time off
and the three hundred win numbers, it seems like it's
never gonna happen for pitchers. Does Does he venture into
that conversation very much with you or for anybody that
covers the team.
Speaker 5 (06:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
I actually talked to him about it a couple of
times a year, just when I'm at his locker, just
talking and he you know, he knows us out there,
and you know he certainly wants it.
Speaker 5 (06:55):
You know.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
One thing he said to me, I think it was
earlier this year, is how much that the pandemics short
season cost him and then the season where he I
guess it was twenty twenty twenty two, twenty three where
he he broke his stumb in the World Baseball Classic.
It cost him, you know, fifty games, so that those
two things combined cost him about a season's worth of games,
which to him is you know, one hundred and fifty
(07:16):
hundred and sixty hits. So he would be a lot
closer if those things hadn't happened. But he shouldn't get
his twenty four hundred hit this year. It put him
six hundred out, which you know he could get and
in four or five years, I mean, you're still gonna
have to do one hundred and fifty hundred and sixty
hits a year.
Speaker 5 (07:32):
But he knows it's going to be tough.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
But I think he knows he's got a real shot
a shot at it if he can stay healthy.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Ran mc tagger with us here Sports Talk seven hunty
for his weekly visit tag how is Christian Walker's hand
today or how did it feel or how did he
feel about it after the game last night?
Speaker 4 (07:51):
Yeah, we talked him after the game last night and
he said it was really sorry. He said he couldn't
grip the bat X rays were negative, but he said,
I'm good to go, So you know, we'll have to
see when we get to the park later today how
he feels it.
Speaker 5 (08:03):
He said, it's just going to be.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
A matter of handling the inflammation, which immediately I was like,
uh oh, because we know Jordan Alvarez has had inflammation
for like three weeks now. So but if you remember,
in the College World Series a few years ago, Walker
got hit by a pitch in the hand. I believe
brooke as hammet bone and played the next day. So
I fully expect Christian Walker to be in the lineup today.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Injuries have been obviously a huge part of this year,
with the ailments to the pitching staff, in particular Renel
Blanco's announcement yesterday that he's going to have the Tommy
John Is anybody doing and we you have kind of
briefly talked about this. Are the Astras catching this at
a bad time? Obviously there's no good time for it.
(08:47):
Are we finding TJ's hitting every team it feels like,
or is this the Astros in a situation where they've
got two guys right now already going through it, and
then you get another guy in arrageda who's out with
that injured thumb.
Speaker 5 (09:00):
No, it's a it's a league wide issue.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
And I think last week I was on here, I
talked to you about the uh you know, the study
of MLB did last that came out last December, and uh, basically,
I mean guys are chasing spin and chasing velocity more
and at earlier ages. It's just taking tolls on on
the elbows. I mean, the Astros aren't unique in this.
Speaker 5 (09:17):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
You know, I haven't gone around and looked at everyone's
eye l to see how many TJ guys, but I'm
sure each team probably has a few. The Astros right
now have six starters on the i L, four coming
off or including Blanco who hasn't had surgery yet, four
that have had TJ surgery. So you know, Garcia and Javier,
you know, they're they're quite a bit removed from it,
(09:39):
but not back yet. So the Astros maybe a couple
more guys than most teams, but I don't think they're unique, uh,
too too much of an outlier. The Astros have also
played way more games than most teams in the last decade,
and and guys like Javier and Garcia have pitched deep
into the postseason for a couple of years in a row,
and I.
Speaker 5 (09:58):
Think that's got to be a actor as well.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
I know the Astros aren't overly forthcoming with injury updates,
but it sounded like there was some news with Luis Garcia.
What do we know and what do we do interpret
off of what has been said the last twenty four
hours or so.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
Well, he's you know, he's out there at the park
every day and he's throwing some bullpins out of Dana
Brown said on your station that he thought he'd be
back in late late July, early August.
Speaker 5 (10:24):
So he's still got a couple of months ago. I mean,
you know, he's he's done this a couple of times now.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
He's he's two years removed almost from from Tommy John surgery,
so he's had a couple of setbacks. So he's gonna
have to ramp up again and do the whole process
of uh, you know, taking some live VP and then
you know, getting in some minor league games and he's
you know, he's gonna need the full gamut four or
five starts, so that whole process is going to take
him a while. But he's done this a couple of times,
(10:51):
and he's had a couple of setbacks. So until I
see him pitching, you know.
Speaker 5 (10:55):
In a minor league, minor league game, on a minor
league rehabit, I don't think we can, you know, get
too excited about Garcia returning.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Brian, I spent some time in the first hour of
the show, first of all, plotting what Lance did yesterday.
Twelve strikeouts, six innings, one hundred and two pitches, And
then I was talking to myself about, you know, does
it still make you nervous when he goes out for
that fifth inning or the pitch count gets up in
the eighty ninety now one hundred number range. It's always
(11:23):
the bounce back that you think about the next morning.
How does he feel? And so far through three turns
of the rotation, he feels obviously very very good when
you watch him. I don't know if he'll ever be
all the way back, But as you watch him now,
especially after yesterday, are you even a little amazed that
he's able to go as deep as he is in games?
The strikeout numbers are astronomical at this point, he's still
(11:45):
looking for a first decision either way, But to give
you six after being gone for as long as he has.
I mean, it came in a good time for an
astra rotation that has not been able to give you
a whole lot of link the last three or four weeks.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
Yeah, for me, it's not so much him him going
six innings and one hundred pitches. I mean, I think
it's just sort of surprising just because we haven't seen
it from him in so long. I mean, that was
his longest start since twenty twenty two. But the strikeouts,
to me were really just really blew me away. Twelve
strikeouts and six innings. I mean there's a lot of quid.
I mean, he had those guys really full. I mean,
(12:18):
his his his slider and curveball, we're just fantastic. You know,
he's he's throwing what ninety three ninety four maybe with
the sinker, and even after the game he says, I'm
not going to throw ninety seven ninety eight anymore. So
he's sort of figuring new ways to get guys out,
and so you get you just you have to tip
your hat to him. I mean, you know, he grinded
(12:40):
for for a couple of years to get back, and
for him to go out there and strike out twelve
to me was the biggest surprise. I mean, I think
they're gonna need him to go six innings, throw one
hundred pitches every time out. And but other than that
one start, I mean, his his results have been been
pretty good. And uh, you know, maybe there's more left.
Maybe maybe he can get seven. Maybe who knows, maybe
(13:01):
he can pitch pitch even deeper into a game. But
he's got to be really encouraged with with what he did.
But yeah, I mean, there's always going to be a
little bit of hesitation as the season goes, and you know,
let's see if he can do this over the final
four months of the season.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Are there certain pitches that are easier and less laborsome
for him to throw than others?
Speaker 4 (13:21):
I would say, you know, probably the fastball is the
easiest thing for him to throw or change up, just
because you're not putting you know, much much uh pressure
on your your elbow, your forearm. I mean, when these
when these guys are coming back and the rehab, and
the first one of the first thing they do, they
get on the mound and I got on the mound,
and you know, I threw twenty.
Speaker 5 (13:39):
Fastballs just because you know, it's easy for them. They've
been doing it all their life.
Speaker 4 (13:42):
And well you start spinning it, you know, that's when
he you know, you have to exert a little more
on your arm. So but you know, like I said,
Lance had no problem you know, throwing that curveball a
bunch of times. He got what ten of his eighteen
whiffs on the curveball through a bunch of lefties. So
he's always had a lot of confidence in that pitch.
But the slider's been a big pitch for him. And
(14:03):
you know, his his syncret can still you know, get
up to ninety four. If he can spot it, it
can still be an effective pitch for him.
Speaker 5 (14:09):
All right.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
And as far as Fromber Is concerned, do you feel
like it's going to be a day where you get
to the ballpark, you put your computer up, and you
go downstairs and all of a sudden you see Fromber's
name on the on the lineup card. I mean, where
is this ultimately going to be? Is it going to
be he wakes up and feels great, ready to go?
Is it a night in the cage the next day?
Is in the lineup? How is this going to ultimately
(14:30):
play out?
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Well?
Speaker 2 (14:30):
We're going to see him back in the line up
on a semi regular basis.
Speaker 5 (14:33):
Do you think, Yeah, I mean, I guess talking about Albarez, right, Yeah, yeah,
I mean I think.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
I mean, you know, Joe's Spotted said, we're close, We're close.
But I think it's really interesting that when you ask
Joe Spotted now he says, we're waiting for Jordown to
tell us he's ready. And even Dana Brown said that
yesterday on the Seawn Salisbury Show, is we're waiting for
Jordown to tell us he's ready to go. They've put
the ball in his court to where you just to
tell us one you can play. And so as far
(15:03):
as we know, he's taking VP every day. We don't
see it because he does it in the tunnel. He's
never not been a gut hit on the field much anyway.
You know, he has been out there a few times
running and throwing and he you know, he looks fine,
but it's a matter of gripping the bat and hitting
off velocity and how that hand feels. So yeah, I
think there'll be one day we just say we'll just yeah,
like you said, we get to the park and they're
like he's been activated off the il, and I mean
(15:25):
that that's anybody's guests.
Speaker 5 (15:26):
Could be today, could be next week, who knows. It's
just truly is a day to day thing.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
And as awkward as this season has gone, from injuries
to a subpar play to hanging around five hundred, it's
incredible there a half game out of first place.
Speaker 5 (15:41):
They're in there.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
You have a three way tie for the walid card
and a long way to go. But the early thought
of trying to move players and be sellers, I don't
think it's in the in the mindset right now. The
team frankly shouldn't because it feels like the American League
is wide open right now.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
Yeah, totally wide open. I mean if they were in
the National could be maybe a little bit different story.
I mean that's where the you know, probably four of
the five best teams are maybe five of the best
six teams in the major leagues. But yeah, I mean
we always knew the Astros this division they were they
were gonna have a shot at. I mean it's not
a great division. The Mariners are showing their warts. Rangers
can't hit, same old problem that they had the last
couple of years. Very very winnable division for the Astros.
(16:21):
So I totally think they're gonna be buyers in some
way shape and for him at the deadline, starting pitching
is going to be on the radar.
Speaker 5 (16:28):
They need a left handed bat too.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
I mean they they could really use a left handed
bat to put somewhere in their mix, just because they're
so right handed. I mean, look what happened the other day.
They uh, you know, when they face a lefty with
their all right handed lineup, they absolutely destroyed JPC here.
Speaker 5 (16:42):
So uh, you know, when right handers pitched, they have
the advantage just because the Astros come only put one
pretty much one lefty in the lineup.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
So but you know, cam Smith a lot of credit
to him. I mean, he looks like he's here to stay.
You know, some other guys have turned it around a
little bit, so they're not without their issues, but they're
getting it done.
Speaker 5 (17:01):
And you got it. You know, Astros are inevitably you
hear that all the time, but here they come again.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Thanks for the time. As always, we'll talk with you tomorrow.
You and I will be doing the Ondeck Show from
the ballpark. It'll be an amazing conversation with the return
of the Friday Tidbits to the to the Ondeck Show.
Speaker 5 (17:16):
Oh they're back, Okay, I can't wait to hear.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
I mean, I'm going to assume that nobody has asked
you for a tidbit during the Indeck Show before this season.
Speaker 5 (17:22):
So I'm gonna do it.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
I'm gonna do I'm gonna do something out of the box.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
All right, let me get in the lab and see
what I can get. All right, get out of here.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Brian McTaggart MLB dot com on the Astros Beat
Work with a dedicated flooring expert. We bring the store
to your home, help find the right floors for your lifestyle,
and answer questions, all while you view hundreds of samples
with your own furniture, decor and lighting. You'll get an
all inclusive price estimate and can schedule installation as soon
as the next day for in stock styles. That's Empire's
home floor advantage working with experts who specialize in one
(00:21):
thing flooring for limited time. Use code radio to get
five hundred dollars off your contract of thirty five hundred
dollars or more. When you call or visit Empire today
dot com. That's five hundred dollars off with code radio.
You know the number.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Eight hundred five two three hundred. Empire Today.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Offer may not be applied to sales or combined of
the coupon's discounter savings terms apply. Fred hass Toyota World,
the number one hundred dealer in the world.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Fredhasstoyota dot com.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
If you love Wendy's classic chocolate and vanilla Frosty flavors,
they have some big news for you. They're announcing all
new Frosty Swirl and Frosty Fusion flavors. So it's the
same creamy treat you've always loved, now with the flavor
refresh or refresh on a classic. Gotta be Wendy's at
Participating Us, Wendy's KDM Houston ATBSHD two Houston, an iHeart
radio station.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
The Astros, the Rockets, Rockets.
Speaker 5 (01:13):
As before your home for your home teams. This is
Sports Talk seven.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Ninety from the Parsons that match in next studios.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
Yes, is the Matt Thomas Show with.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Ross eleven oh one on Sports Talk seven ninety. This
is our number two of the four hour get together.
We call them Matt Thomas Show with Ross Ross with
Today and Tomorrow off. Cole Thompson's gonna come out and
hang out with us for a couple hours starting at
eleven thirty. We had the news at noon in one hour,
I just don't get it. At twelve thirty in all
(01:53):
things Shake Gilgess Alexander on today's edition of Believe It
or Not, which would be headed your way at one
point fifty right now, ten and maybe even eleven quality
minutes with Brian McTaggart MLB dot Com and the Astros
beat tag. The Astros woke up this morning, a half
game out of first place. Congratulations to the Nationals for
knocking off the MS last night nine to nothing.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
Yeah, the Astros gained a game on everybody in the
division yesterday, so a very good day.
Speaker 5 (02:19):
And uh yeah they can.
Speaker 4 (02:20):
Astros can actually be in first place today if if
they win and the Mariners lose tonight, they're in first place.
And uh it'll be a full, full blown panic in
the Seattle if it's not already.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Uh, I'll give you the opening of question, what are
we seeing today in the last six games that we
didn't see in the previous twenty or twenty five. The
offense has been much better, defense remained solid, bullpen's been
really really good. I wouldn't say the starting pitching has
been anything. Well, I mean you're getting six from lanch Yesterd.
That kind of helps. So I'll throw it to you.
(02:51):
What are we seeing now that maybe we didn't see
even two or three weeks ago.
Speaker 5 (02:57):
Yeah, well, I think you hit it. I mean it's offense.
Speaker 4 (02:59):
They had what five games in a row where they
had at least eleven hits, which they hadn't done in
about six years. You know, the series over the weekend,
they were getting a lot of singles.
Speaker 5 (03:11):
You know, they finally started driving the ball a little
bit here the last couple of games.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
But yeah, they're just they're just score more, getting more
guys on base, hitting bart with runners in scoring position.
I mean, starting pitching has been good enough. You know,
Hunter Brown was really good and you know Lance giving
you six. The big question, Marcus, what are you gonna
get now from the two rookies that are in your
rotation now? Probably for the at least, I don't know,
probably for until you get Eric Getty back in Gusto
(03:36):
and Gordon.
Speaker 5 (03:37):
But yeah, I mean we've said all along the one.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
Area where they they got to pick it up as offense,
and they've done that.
Speaker 5 (03:43):
It's really in the month of May.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
I mean they entered the month of May, I think
twenty in the twenty like twenty first maybe.
Speaker 5 (03:50):
In batting average, not the batting averages.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
Everything, and I think they lead the majors in batting
average in the month of May. So they've really turned
it around here from you know, top to bottom.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
I know that Jose had a goosegg yesterday, but he
has had a really really good homestand overall, what does
he think he attributes that to.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
Yeah, he's you know, starting to drive the ball more,
trying to hit the ball in the more. I mean,
he was his ground ball percentage rate at least about
a week ago was probably the highest of his career.
He was over over fifty percent of balls off his
bat room and play with ground balls, which.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
Is not not ideal. So he's really started to drive
the ball here in the last week.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
You know, he's worked a lot with Alex SINCHRONI said,
he started to come in early and just really uh
put in the work at the cage to uh you
know what he said was told us it's just he
tries to focus on one pitch instead of trying to
you know, cover the whole cover the whole batter's box
or the whole strike zone, and you know, leads him
(04:52):
to chase a little bit. He's sort of owned honed
in on one pitch and that's helped him, you know,
make better contact and turn it around a little.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
But you know, his numbers really this year overall have
been significantly down from years past. And it's hard for
us because you've been with him every bit of his
major league baseball career. You know, I've been here as well,
but you see him a lot more in face to
face than I do. There's a part of me that's
that would be sad if we started to see the
dramatic drop off, because he has been, in my mind,
the greatest aster of them all, because I do include
(05:22):
the postseason as part of it. But it is kind
of nice to see him get his mojo back a
little bit, because I think there were some legitimate concerned
about what was left in Jose's tank.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
Yeah, but I always thought, in the back of my mind,
I've seen him do this before, where he has these
streaks where he i mean for two or three weeks
and just you know, he swings that everything swings out
of his shoes, out of his own and you're like,
good grief. And then you know, boy, when he gets hot,
you know, he he'll have four games where he's you know,
eleven for fifteen or something like that, and then you
look up and his numbers are about what you expect.
Speaker 5 (05:55):
And I'm never going to count this guy out.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
I mean, you know, like you said, I mean, I've
covered it his his entire career, from you know, day
one when he got called up, and you know, you know,
everyone knows what what he went through and all the naysayers,
people who told him he couldn't play, and look what
he's done in his career.
Speaker 5 (06:13):
Saw.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
I think at the end of the year, Josel twov
is gonna end up having some some pretty solid numbers.
He's he's never going to be twenty seventeen Josel two anymore,
but he's he's thirty five and he can still be
make some good contributions to this offense.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Last thing about him, how often do you ask him
or is it even discussed about three thousand hits? Because
we have lost in baseball because guys take time off
and the three hundred win numbers, it seems like it's
never gonna happen for pitchers. Does Does he venture into
that conversation very much with you or for anybody that
covers the team.
Speaker 5 (06:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
I actually talked to him about it a couple of
times a year, just when I'm at his locker, just
talking and he you know, he knows us out there,
and you know he certainly wants it.
Speaker 5 (06:55):
You know.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
One thing he said to me, I think it was
earlier this year, is how much that the pandemics short
season cost him and then the season where he I
guess it was twenty twenty twenty two, twenty three where
he he broke his stumb in the World Baseball Classic.
It cost him, you know, fifty games, so that those
two things combined cost him about a season's worth of games,
which to him is you know, one hundred and fifty
(07:16):
hundred and sixty hits. So he would be a lot
closer if those things hadn't happened. But he shouldn't get
his twenty four hundred hit this year. It put him
six hundred out, which you know he could get and
in four or five years, I mean, you're still gonna
have to do one hundred and fifty hundred and sixty
hits a year.
Speaker 5 (07:32):
But he knows it's going to be tough.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
But I think he knows he's got a real shot
a shot at it if he can stay healthy.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Ran mc tagger with us here Sports Talk seven hunty
for his weekly visit tag how is Christian Walker's hand
today or how did it feel or how did he
feel about it after the game last night?
Speaker 4 (07:51):
Yeah, we talked him after the game last night and
he said it was really sorry. He said he couldn't
grip the bat X rays were negative, but he said,
I'm good to go, So you know, we'll have to
see when we get to the park later today how
he feels it.
Speaker 5 (08:03):
He said, it's just going to be.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
A matter of handling the inflammation, which immediately I was like,
uh oh, because we know Jordan Alvarez has had inflammation
for like three weeks now. So but if you remember,
in the College World Series a few years ago, Walker
got hit by a pitch in the hand. I believe
brooke as hammet bone and played the next day. So
I fully expect Christian Walker to be in the lineup today.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Injuries have been obviously a huge part of this year,
with the ailments to the pitching staff, in particular Renel
Blanco's announcement yesterday that he's going to have the Tommy
John Is anybody doing and we you have kind of
briefly talked about this. Are the Astras catching this at
a bad time? Obviously there's no good time for it.
(08:47):
Are we finding TJ's hitting every team it feels like,
or is this the Astros in a situation where they've
got two guys right now already going through it, and
then you get another guy in arrageda who's out with
that injured thumb.
Speaker 5 (09:00):
No, it's a it's a league wide issue.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
And I think last week I was on here, I
talked to you about the uh you know, the study
of MLB did last that came out last December, and uh, basically,
I mean guys are chasing spin and chasing velocity more
and at earlier ages. It's just taking tolls on on
the elbows. I mean, the Astros aren't unique in this.
Speaker 5 (09:17):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
You know, I haven't gone around and looked at everyone's
eye l to see how many TJ guys, but I'm
sure each team probably has a few. The Astros right
now have six starters on the i L, four coming
off or including Blanco who hasn't had surgery yet, four
that have had TJ surgery. So you know, Garcia and Javier,
you know, they're they're quite a bit removed from it,
(09:39):
but not back yet. So the Astros maybe a couple
more guys than most teams, but I don't think they're unique, uh,
too too much of an outlier. The Astros have also
played way more games than most teams in the last decade,
and and guys like Javier and Garcia have pitched deep
into the postseason for a couple of years in a row,
and I.
Speaker 5 (09:58):
Think that's got to be a actor as well.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
I know the Astros aren't overly forthcoming with injury updates,
but it sounded like there was some news with Luis Garcia.
What do we know and what do we do interpret
off of what has been said the last twenty four
hours or so.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
Well, he's you know, he's out there at the park
every day and he's throwing some bullpins out of Dana
Brown said on your station that he thought he'd be
back in late late July, early August.
Speaker 5 (10:24):
So he's still got a couple of months ago. I mean,
you know, he's he's done this a couple of times now.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
He's he's two years removed almost from from Tommy John surgery,
so he's had a couple of setbacks. So he's gonna
have to ramp up again and do the whole process
of uh, you know, taking some live VP and then
you know, getting in some minor league games and he's
you know, he's gonna need the full gamut four or
five starts, so that whole process is going to take
him a while. But he's done this a couple of times,
(10:51):
and he's had a couple of setbacks. So until I
see him pitching, you know.
Speaker 5 (10:55):
In a minor league, minor league game, on a minor
league rehabit, I don't think we can, you know, get
too excited about Garcia returning.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Brian, I spent some time in the first hour of
the show, first of all, plotting what Lance did yesterday.
Twelve strikeouts, six innings, one hundred and two pitches, And
then I was talking to myself about, you know, does
it still make you nervous when he goes out for
that fifth inning or the pitch count gets up in
the eighty ninety now one hundred number range. It's always
(11:23):
the bounce back that you think about the next morning.
How does he feel? And so far through three turns
of the rotation, he feels obviously very very good when
you watch him. I don't know if he'll ever be
all the way back, But as you watch him now,
especially after yesterday, are you even a little amazed that
he's able to go as deep as he is in games?
The strikeout numbers are astronomical at this point, he's still
(11:45):
looking for a first decision either way, But to give
you six after being gone for as long as he has.
I mean, it came in a good time for an
astra rotation that has not been able to give you
a whole lot of link the last three or four weeks.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
Yeah, for me, it's not so much him him going
six innings and one hundred pitches. I mean, I think
it's just sort of surprising just because we haven't seen
it from him in so long. I mean, that was
his longest start since twenty twenty two. But the strikeouts,
to me were really just really blew me away. Twelve
strikeouts and six innings. I mean there's a lot of quid.
I mean, he had those guys really full. I mean,
(12:18):
his his his slider and curveball, we're just fantastic. You know,
he's he's throwing what ninety three ninety four maybe with
the sinker, and even after the game he says, I'm
not going to throw ninety seven ninety eight anymore. So
he's sort of figuring new ways to get guys out,
and so you get you just you have to tip
your hat to him. I mean, you know, he grinded
(12:40):
for for a couple of years to get back, and
for him to go out there and strike out twelve
to me was the biggest surprise. I mean, I think
they're gonna need him to go six innings, throw one
hundred pitches every time out. And but other than that
one start, I mean, his his results have been been
pretty good. And uh, you know, maybe there's more left.
Maybe maybe he can get seven. Maybe who knows, maybe
(13:01):
he can pitch pitch even deeper into a game. But
he's got to be really encouraged with with what he did.
But yeah, I mean, there's always going to be a
little bit of hesitation as the season goes, and you know,
let's see if he can do this over the final
four months of the season.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Are there certain pitches that are easier and less laborsome
for him to throw than others?
Speaker 4 (13:21):
I would say, you know, probably the fastball is the
easiest thing for him to throw or change up, just
because you're not putting you know, much much uh pressure
on your your elbow, your forearm. I mean, when these
when these guys are coming back and the rehab, and
the first one of the first thing they do, they
get on the mound and I got on the mound,
and you know, I threw twenty.
Speaker 5 (13:39):
Fastballs just because you know, it's easy for them. They've
been doing it all their life.
Speaker 4 (13:42):
And well you start spinning it, you know, that's when
he you know, you have to exert a little more
on your arm. So but you know, like I said,
Lance had no problem you know, throwing that curveball a
bunch of times. He got what ten of his eighteen
whiffs on the curveball through a bunch of lefties. So
he's always had a lot of confidence in that pitch.
But the slider's been a big pitch for him. And
(14:03):
you know, his his syncret can still you know, get
up to ninety four. If he can spot it, it
can still be an effective pitch for him.
Speaker 5 (14:09):
All right.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
And as far as Fromber Is concerned, do you feel
like it's going to be a day where you get
to the ballpark, you put your computer up, and you
go downstairs and all of a sudden you see Fromber's
name on the on the lineup card. I mean, where
is this ultimately going to be? Is it going to
be he wakes up and feels great, ready to go?
Is it a night in the cage the next day?
Is in the lineup? How is this going to ultimately
(14:30):
play out?
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Well?
Speaker 2 (14:30):
We're going to see him back in the line up
on a semi regular basis.
Speaker 5 (14:33):
Do you think, Yeah, I mean, I guess talking about Albarez, right, Yeah, yeah,
I mean I think.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
I mean, you know, Joe's Spotted said, we're close, We're close.
But I think it's really interesting that when you ask
Joe Spotted now he says, we're waiting for Jordown to
tell us he's ready. And even Dana Brown said that
yesterday on the Seawn Salisbury Show, is we're waiting for
Jordown to tell us he's ready to go. They've put
the ball in his court to where you just to
tell us one you can play. And so as far
(15:03):
as we know, he's taking VP every day. We don't
see it because he does it in the tunnel. He's
never not been a gut hit on the field much anyway.
You know, he has been out there a few times
running and throwing and he you know, he looks fine,
but it's a matter of gripping the bat and hitting
off velocity and how that hand feels. So yeah, I
think there'll be one day we just say we'll just yeah,
like you said, we get to the park and they're
like he's been activated off the il, and I mean
(15:25):
that that's anybody's guests.
Speaker 5 (15:26):
Could be today, could be next week, who knows. It's
just truly is a day to day thing.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
And as awkward as this season has gone, from injuries
to a subpar play to hanging around five hundred, it's
incredible there a half game out of first place.
Speaker 5 (15:41):
They're in there.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
You have a three way tie for the walid card
and a long way to go. But the early thought
of trying to move players and be sellers, I don't
think it's in the in the mindset right now. The
team frankly shouldn't because it feels like the American League
is wide open right now.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
Yeah, totally wide open. I mean if they were in
the National could be maybe a little bit different story.
I mean that's where the you know, probably four of
the five best teams are maybe five of the best
six teams in the major leagues. But yeah, I mean
we always knew the Astros this division they were they
were gonna have a shot at. I mean it's not
a great division. The Mariners are showing their warts. Rangers
can't hit, same old problem that they had the last
couple of years. Very very winnable division for the Astros.
(16:21):
So I totally think they're gonna be buyers in some
way shape and for him at the deadline, starting pitching
is going to be on the radar.
Speaker 5 (16:28):
They need a left handed bat too.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
I mean they they could really use a left handed
bat to put somewhere in their mix, just because they're
so right handed. I mean, look what happened the other day.
They uh, you know, when they face a lefty with
their all right handed lineup, they absolutely destroyed JPC here.
Speaker 5 (16:42):
So uh, you know, when right handers pitched, they have
the advantage just because the Astros come only put one
pretty much one lefty in the lineup.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
So but you know, cam Smith a lot of credit
to him. I mean, he looks like he's here to stay.
You know, some other guys have turned it around a
little bit, so they're not without their issues, but they're
getting it done.
Speaker 5 (17:01):
And you got it. You know, Astros are inevitably you
hear that all the time, but here they come again.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Thanks for the time. As always, we'll talk with you tomorrow.
You and I will be doing the Ondeck Show from
the ballpark. It'll be an amazing conversation with the return
of the Friday Tidbits to the to the Ondeck Show.
Speaker 5 (17:16):
Oh they're back, Okay, I can't wait to hear.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
I mean, I'm going to assume that nobody has asked
you for a tidbit during the Indeck Show before this season.
Speaker 5 (17:22):
So I'm gonna do it.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
I'm gonna do I'm gonna do something out of the box.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
All right, let me get in the lab and see
what I can get. All right, get out of here.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Brian McTaggart MLB dot com on the Astros Beat
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