Latest / Sports Avenue Twisted Podcast / SATP Ep.40 Pt. II feat. Houston Stressans

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SATP Ep.40 Pt. II feat. Houston Stressans · Sports Avenue Twisted Podcast

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Let's switch over to the Astros Now talk a little bit of
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baseball. The the this version of the
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Astros this year looks a little bit different.
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You have long time Astros, Cal Tucker, Alex Bregman, who were
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drafted in the same year. They're gone, replaced with
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Isaac Peretis and and Cam Smith and and they brought in
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Christian Walker. So tell us a little bit about
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what this team looks like, the different look that these guys
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have compared to last year and how the how your expectations
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are for going forward? Last year was a frustrating year
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as an Astros fan. I mean, we're spoiled, I'll
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admit that. I mean, this, this run we had is
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like got us entitled. But I mean, as a fan, you get
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greedy and you get expectations and you know, you know what your
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team can do. So you you hold the team to that
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standard. But, you know, last year was a
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tough year, you know, a lot of injuries.
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But I thought last year, you know, it was still an impressive
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season despite losing that series of the Tigers, which, you
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know, that's that's kind of us, you know, making our own bed,
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thereby not getting a better record to getting a bye and
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having to play in that first round and that three-game
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series. And, you know, having it go away
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so quickly to the Tigers. But it was impressive for them
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to battle back after, you know, a horrendous early start, which
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were notorious for. But last year was the worst
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we've seen in a while. And they had injuries.
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So, but the make up of the team last year to me felt different
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than, you know, teams in past as far as this dynasty that or this
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run that they've had like to me like over this run, the the the
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formula has been elite starting pitching, elite relief pitching,
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elite defense and good to average offense that can get
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hot, but is more timely hitting late in games and down the
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stretch. And last year I feel like the
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pitching was not as good and the bats were better than than
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average. And so that was, you know, a
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different recipe. But now you go back to this
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year, like you mentioned with the changes, I feel like it's
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returned back to what it is. And baseball's a long season.
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It has its ups and downs. You have terrible losses here
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and there, but all things considered, like where they are
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at right now, you know, with Yordan being heard and not doing
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much, without Tuve not doing much, and we're still hovering
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around 500 and only a couple games back or so from the
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division lead. I think we're in great position.
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But I think we've returned to that formula that I mentioned
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that they've had that has had them have great success, which
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is elite starting pitching, elite bullpen, elite defense.
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All three of those, they're top in the league and then offense
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is just struggling. And you know, this is the
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formula too, where normally they start off slow offensively and
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then, you know, eventually they'll get things rolling.
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And so I'm optimistic. I think that I think it'll be a
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good year. One of the big bats that the
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Astros acquired in the offseason was Christian Walker.
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And, you know, a lot of people were ecstatic about it, you
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know, preventing the fact that what he's done for Arizona last
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year, he's off to a slow start. And I know that teams or or fans
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are concerned about the way he's started to seize it.
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But how much confidence do you have in him for bouncing back?
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And also, do you think that, you know, where he's batting right
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now? Do you think he needs to move
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down or he has to move in a different spot?
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Or what do you think about that? Yeah, it's been tough, I know.
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Like again, it's a long season and early on I felt like, you
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know, he was struggling and he was still hitting the ball hard
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like every at bat. Like his exit dealer was like,
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like almost everyone was like 100.
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And I and I haven't followed as closely as far as if it's been
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bad luck or it's been bad hitting.
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I think it's starting to be bad hitting.
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And, you know, also to like, US fans have memories of last year
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when we signed Jose Abreu, another old ageing first
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baseman. So there is that part of it,
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too, where, you know, we can't help but think about, you know,
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the past. And I don't think he's anywhere
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nearly as bad as what Jose Abreu was.
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That was just absolutely horrendous.
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But I think he, you know, he is struggling.
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But, you know, I'm optimistic he can figure it out.
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Again, it's a long season. I mean, you look at this like
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Alex Bregman on the Astros last year and every year before that,
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like he was somebody who was always struggling early and then
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would turn it on late. So, but I get it.
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Like, you know, you will believe it when we see it.
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But I think he can turn around. And like the good thing is like
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I just mentioned how Joran hasn't really produced and
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Altuve, like Christian Walker hasn't produced and we're still
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in this position. So I mean, if you can just
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slightly turn it on, that could be a big benefit for us.
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So I'm not quite as alarmed and freaking out as others, but I
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definitely get the frustration. There was a big development a
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few days ago to Jordan Alvarez in this scenario.
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There was a recently updated report on his injury.
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Initially it was right hand inflammation but was upgraded to
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a strain now. But it wasn't great coming from
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the slugger himself. Espada just this past weekend
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suggested that he could be returning in short order.
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But Alvarez kind of snuffed that out a little bit saying that
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he's he's getting better, but he's still having a lot of pain
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when he swings a bat off the tee.
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It was it was a it was expected it originally to be a short IL
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stent, but it's turning into a pretty lengthy one.
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So the question now is how is the offense picked up the slack
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in his stead? And can you think that they can
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keep afloat in his offense? And are you concerned about the
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injury? This is, I don't know how much
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you guys know about the Astros, but like, this is what they do,
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man. Like injuries and Astros is
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always a mystery. I mean, you never get a clear
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answer. You get you get conflicting
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stories. You look at back at Kyle Tucker
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last year, it goes from bone bruise to this to that, to
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fracture to who knows what. And he's out for forever.
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So we're not surprised to hear these mysterious things.
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You know, I'm optimistic. You know, it's not as bad as we
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may hope and and he'll come back, but you know, I think
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we'll be fine. Obviously we need him back
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sooner than earlier, but I mean, honestly, he was probably
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struggling the most out of any hitter we had.
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So I mean, yes, you're missing him, but like we're not missing.
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We weren't getting the production prior.
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So hopefully, you know, while he's heard, he can also figure
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out his struggles, but you know, I don't I'm not optimistic.
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There'll be some, you know, great offense, but I think you
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know that it can at least be, you know, a chance for us to to
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remain afloat, so to speak. And and the way they've done
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that is y'all mentioned Esock for 80s.
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That guy has turned it on. And it's funny, I guess up up
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until this Padres, the Rays series, all of his homers had
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been at home at Minute Maid. And I feel like all of them were
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in the Crawford Boxes, which is like a reason why we got him.
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Like if you look at the spray charts like you know his pull
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chart. Pull hitter.
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Yeah, and and we, you know, and so that's something you look at
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like we gained X amount of homers, but like even then.
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And maybe that's like a confidence thing too.
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Like, maybe you get these homers that should be outs at home and
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like now it carries over to on the road.
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Like you just have like, this subconscious confidence.
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So Esock for 80s Jake Myers has been a surprise.
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You know, he gets a lot of, you know, crap from fans, but he's
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been pretty steady. Jeremy Pena batting lead off has
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been a nice revelation. So, you know, I think they can
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do enough. And again, I guess tough to have
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to continually lean on pitching, but we have the pitching.
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I mean, we can win a lot of games, three with three or four
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runs, honestly. So the next question I want to
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ask you is about Jose Altuve. And it's been a it's been an
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adventure for him to play at left field, right, given the
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fact that he he is a franchise, I mean franchise player for this
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future Hall of Famer, right? He's well known to be a second
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baseman and, you know, sacrificing the fact that he
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want to play left field. So he gives, you know, other
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guys opportunities in the infield.
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Like do you think he should be at left field or do you think he
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should move back to second base and give the other guys
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opportunities in the outfield? I think left field is is where
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he needs to be and I think it's gone way better than anyone
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expected. I feel like there hasn't been
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very many blunders. I've been a couple things here
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and there, but you know, relative to our other options, I
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don't think it's like anything crazy.
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And to your point too, like, you know, there's a couple elements
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to this. I think one it points to the
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fact that how unselfish he is, like what a great pros pro slash
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teammate. You know, he knew that he wasn't
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playing. You know, there's all this talk
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about him playing left field, but like outs above average and
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all the stuff. He was one of, if not like the
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worst defensive second base in the last couple years.
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Like obviously he, you know, had great years prior in his career,
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but up until recently it was it was pretty bad.
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So you know, I believe, I don't know the exact numbers, but I
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believe he's playing better defensively at left field than
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he was at second base. So now that allows you to get
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other guys there that can give us better production there,
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which can lead to morals, double plays, all that stuff.
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So it's very selfless. I think it's worked out good.
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He also had another selfless maneuver when he was the one who
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volunteered to move out of the lead off spot, which is like,
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just like second base. He's known for lead off.
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He's known for second base to allow Jeremy Pena to have lead
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off, who had been hitting well and now hitting even better, you
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know, being in that spot. He also said it was partly due
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to, like, having more time to get, you know, back to left
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field. But I think the big thing was
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being a better teammate. So I can't speak enough about
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him, man. He is.
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I understand, you know, for opposing fans, there's a whole
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cheating scandal and he somehow has got engulfed in that and
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become the face of it when he's someone who was never even
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involved in it. But I mean he is just like you
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couldn't ask for a better pro player than him in my opinion.
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Absolutely. Yeah, definitely.
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Hunter Brown's been off to this remarkable start.
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He's 1. You know, he's just unbelievable
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right now. He's I'd say he's, he's top two
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in the AL right now next to Max Freed.
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Right there with Max Freed actually, I guess stats are just
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eye popping. You know, he's only given up two
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home runs all season. His K percentage is the highest
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of his career at 32.2%. His walk percentage is the
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lowest of his career at 6.7%. And his hard hit percentage is
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also the lowest of his career at 29.1%.
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So it's like he he's, he's an early Sion candidate, no doubt.
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Can you tell us what's what have you seen from him compared to
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last, compared to last season, what he's doing so differently
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that's made him so successful this season?
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Yeah, and it's really been since middle of last year because he
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had a horrendous start to last year.
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And I think it's a couple things.
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I know he had a new pitch. I, I, you know, I'm a big
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football guy. I I watched the Astros and I'm
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so locked in on the Texans that I may not be as sharp on
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baseball right now as far as like in depth analysis.
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But I want to say he added, he added like a sweeper or he may
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have added a new pitch that had some rise to it or something
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like that. But I think it was a change up.
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But he added a pitch that basically unlocked everything
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for him. So it was that it was adding a
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new pitch, which the Asher is pitching staff is like notorious
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for, like, you know, adding things to guys and, you know,
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getting them to try new things or or maximize, you know, skills
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that they have. So it was adding a new pitch.
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And to me, he was just a young pitcher.
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He had a lot of games, you know, his first year in the first half
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of last year where, you know, you may get a bad break with an
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infield single or an error, this or that or a bad call.
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And it's a walk, much like how Fromber Valdez is.
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And it would start to snowball like, you know, rather than, you
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know, lock in and get out of it. It would go from, you know, a
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couple bad breaks to all of a sudden a blow up spot, 5678 runs
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in an inning. And so I think now mentally he
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has strengthened and you'll see it now like it happens pretty
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often. It happens a lot of pitchers,
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but it's happened to him where you get bad breaks here in
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there, but rather than get flustered, he just locks in and
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moves on. And then, you know, the rest of
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the way just puts up zeros the whole way.
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So I think it's, you know, adding a pitch and I think it's
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the the mental fortitude. Maturity is another factor as
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well. So looking at looking at the
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injuries that's going on right now, which is very unfortunate.
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I know that Rommel Blanco is the latest 1.
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Unreal. It's you just can't make this
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stuff up and you look at the injuries that's going through.
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However, one thing the Astros do well is pitching and they have
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the depth. And if you look at Brandon
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Walter, he pitched the other day, hell of a game for a guy
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who just got called up. Cut, cut.
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Colt Gordon's another one who's been stepping in some big shoes
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and AJ Blue, but I know he's a little bit shaky, but I like I
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like his potential where this Astros rotation is moving for.
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What do you what do you think about all that?
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Like, what is your thought process when you see an injury
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go down? It's like, oh, here we go again.
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And you know this next man up, right?
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Like, you know, what are your what are your thoughts about
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that? Like talk a bit about that.
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It's literally that. I mean, I tweet a lot and you
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know, the gift with the Jim Carrey from me, Myself and
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Irene, and it's like, oh boy, here we go again.
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I got to literally the thought, yeah, I mean, you know, we've
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had how many guys get Tommy John surgery?
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We just said Hayden was Neski, who we got in the trade with
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Kyle Tucker, who was playing well for us.
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He's getting Tommy John. And and you know how it goes
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too. It's like so and so as elbow
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soreness. Oh, Yep.
14:29
OK. I'm going to wait for the Tommy
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John tweet here in about a week. So Ronald Blanco was a guy that
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we based, and we get these guys out of nowhere too, is what's
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crazy for the most part. Like Ronald Blanco, you know, he
14:40
was someone who was crucial for us, but like, he was just
14:44
supposed to be a long relief guy who we threw into a starter role
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and he flourished. So that would be a huge hit.
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And then Spencer Araghetti, he doesn't have Tommy John
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obviously, and he might come back soon, but I mean he got
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hurt so and I forget to like, you know, I think it was like
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2020 or 2021 when they had the graphic of all of our guys on
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the IL, we had like 6 or 7 starters that were like all top
15:08
three starters. And I think this year it's it's
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a similar graphic. I can't remember all the names
15:13
on the top of my head, but we got 5 or 6 guys that are all
15:17
legit starters on the IL. And then the guys you mentioned
15:20
like Colton, Gordon and Walker, like these are guys I had never
15:25
even really heard of to be honest.
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I mean, I mean I know Gordon obviously being in the system,
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but for them to come up and, and, and pitch well is is crazy.
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But even with that being said, like if we just get with all
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this a little bit healthier, I know we got guys coming back.
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I believe Luis Garcia might be coming back later in the year.
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Obviously Mccullers is back and seems to be somewhat getting
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back to form. You know, the other recipe to
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this team that has made it successful in the past decade or
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so is the amount of depth at starting pitching.
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And you know, second-half of the year they go to a six man
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rotation. And I think we'll be able to do
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that again once we get some of these guys back.
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And I think that is what allows them to stay fresh going into
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the postseason to make a deep run.
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Let's talk about some of the some of the young offensive
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depth that's either in the majors or close to the majors.
16:20
Who who's bounced around you got Zach Disenzo, SOP, Shay
16:24
Whitcomb. He's back in the minors, but
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he's, you know, he's up and down.
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Cam Smith, obviously, Yeah. Einar Diaz has been good lately.
16:36
So tell us about just a job that the Astros seem to do year in,
16:41
year out, just having this offensive depth that seems to
16:45
get get them through tight spots.
16:48
Yeah. And I would just say it's like
16:50
across the board, just, you know, their farm system and it,
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it's funny too, like you had these trades or proposed trades
16:56
of the trade deadline every year and like, Oh, you're giving up
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this prospect, that prospect. And you know all this and you
17:02
have all these rankings from MLB pipeline or whatever it may be
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about, you know, the asterisk farm system has ranked this and
17:08
that. And it's like, okay, well, like
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you look at the actual results of like the players making it up
17:12
and playing and US winning. Like it doesn't match up to me.
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So it's always funny to me when you make these trades and people
17:19
are worried about prospects this and that.
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It's like we we seem to find a way to produce and develop guys.
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And and I don't know if that's just a combination of the scouts
17:27
finding stuff in players and then the development of them and
17:30
the minors. But I agree.
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I mean, Yoner Diaz was a guy that no one really, he kind of
17:36
was somewhat of a surprise, I guess you could say, although
17:39
he's been somewhat struggling this year, but I mean, he's got
17:41
a lot of the raw ability and we've seen it happen.
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So and then like even like you mentioned too, like even guys
17:47
like Disenza, like I don't think a lot was expected out of him,
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but I mean, he stepped up. So I don't know what that is in
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the sense like maybe they just are willing to give guys chances
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regardless of where you're hyped out or not, you know?
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Even Jeremy pained you man like. Yes.
18:05
You know, he, I think he's just, he's an important, really
18:07
important part of your team ever since, you know, drawing a
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blanket, his name. Carlos Correa.
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Carlos Correa, left. That's right.
18:17
Ever since Korea left, yeah, you know, he's been such an
18:20
important part to your team, right?
18:21
So. Rookie are World Series MVP,
18:25
right? I mean, could you have asked for
18:26
a better replacement year one from Korea?
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Absolutely. Yeah, no, it's, I mean, it's got
18:34
to be development like it's, it's an organizational wide
18:37
thing. So I don't think that a team has
18:39
the sustained success of the Astros has by a fluke like it's,
18:44
it's a well run organization from top to bottom.
18:46
It's got to be. Alright, son, the next question
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I want to talk about. He's been on fire.
18:54
Probably the most consistent hitter on that lineup is Jake
18:58
Myers, and he's been coming through in big moments this
19:02
year, especially, especially when they're down.
19:05
And, you know, I know the Astros are trying to figure out what's
19:10
the center, center field position, but I know that Chaz
19:13
Mccormick's been struggle bad. I don't know where to see.
19:17
I want to know what you think about this because Jake Myers
19:20
looks like he's running away with it.
19:22
However, he does struggle after June and right now he's batting
19:26
over 300. I think that's the first time
19:28
he's ever done that in his career.
19:30
Could you see him succeed the way he's doing right now the
19:34
first two months, or do you think there's a little leeway
19:38
saying that Chaz McCormick is still going to have the
19:41
opportunity at support later in the year?
19:44
I think Chaz like a DFA man, he's been playing bad, bad, bad.
19:49
And then on top of that is getting picked off, you know, on
19:53
the base pass. We had the game against the Rays
19:56
the other day where right, we lose on a SAC fly and like his
20:00
approach to that was just absolutely terrible.
20:02
He kind of just stood there like he could have either gotten the
20:06
guy out or had a like a pretty good chance to do it.
20:08
So it's just tough because he's kind of like a legend in these
20:12
parts. You know what?
20:13
That crazy catch he had against the Phillies in the World Series
20:16
where his jersey was implanted in the on the warning track.
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And I actually met him one time I was getting an IV at a place
20:24
here and I saw him come in and talk to him.
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He's a great dude, but I don't know, man.
20:29
Like I wish he could do better and but like right now, Jake
20:33
Myers. And that's a fair question to
20:35
ask if he can sustain what he's doing now.
20:38
But at this point, like, I don't think you have any other
20:41
options. Obviously you want to try and
20:43
have some backup plans, but he's been a pleasant surprise, man.
20:48
I mean, you know, all the talk that was the big talk, you're
20:51
like, Oh yeah, what are we doing in center field is going to be
20:53
terrible. We're going to platoon guys.
20:55
And Jake Myers is taking the bull by the horse.
20:57
So we just got to hope that he keeps doing what he's doing.
21:00
I mean, even if his offense of production dips a little bit, I
21:05
think it's still more than viable because his defense is
21:07
elite. So, you know, I'm optimistic he
21:10
can at least, you know, give us enough production at that spot
21:14
to to keep us in contention. Talked about your Diaz a little
21:19
bit. He struggled this year, but he's
21:22
had some moments lately. This past month, yeah, the
21:25
Astros drafted a guy named Waka Janek from Sam Houston State who
21:30
I'm really high on. Could you see him as a long term
21:34
guy and a possibly a solution going forward?
21:38
Oh, man, I mean, honestly, I wouldn't know enough about him
21:41
to to say one way or the other, but that would that would be a
21:44
pleasant sight. I mean, I will say with Yanir,
21:47
you know, I know there's been questions about, you know, we
21:51
had Maldi before and there was a big, you know, debate about
21:54
playing Yanir more, you know, in that series against the Rangers
21:59
and the ALCS and, you know, playing or maybe I don't know if
22:05
that was that series or not, but I know like in the playoffs with
22:08
Maldi's last year, he was batting like below 100 or
22:11
something crazy. But his defense was good in his
22:13
pitch framing and you know, I think there is a little bit of
22:17
truth to that. Like I don't know if Yoners
22:20
pitch frame has gotten better, but I will say that one area is
22:25
the Astros have to be the worst team as far as base running on
22:29
both sides of the ball, as far as getting stolen bases and
22:33
getting caught stolen when running.
22:35
And as far as on defense, having runners stealing us at will.
22:40
Like we're giving away runs left and right with small ball kind
22:43
of hidden things. And it's the most frustrating
22:45
thing to me. So if Yanir can improve at that,
22:49
and maybe Yanik is someone who can bat decent enough down the
22:53
road and can do that and maybe move Yanir to ADH or first base
22:57
or something down the road, I would welcome that solely from
23:00
the defensive aspect. All right.
23:05
The next question I want to ask you is who has been a pleasant
23:09
surprise we mentioned about Jake, Jake Myers stepping out of
23:14
nowhere. Who, who else would you say has
23:18
been spread like in the overall aspect?
23:20
You look at this Astros team in the general, the bullpen, the
23:23
starting rotation, the offense, who's caught you in a in a
23:28
glimpse and say like, oh, this guy's going to be something this
23:32
year. Yeah, so obviously Jake Myers
23:36
was a big one. Ryan Gusto has been a crazy
23:40
pleasant surprise, guys. I mean, that kind of goes back
23:43
to what we were saying earlier, like these random starting
23:46
pitchers come out of nowhere and just and playing well, you know,
23:50
the the bullpen, you got guys like Caleb Ort and Stephen O
23:54
Kurt who have done pretty well. Like the bullpens been crazy.
23:57
So I think those guys have been pleasant surprises and continue
24:01
to do well. As far as offense, you know, we
24:04
talked about Jake Myers. Yeah, I think that's and Cam
24:09
Smith, you know, I guess I wouldn't be a pleasant surprise,
24:12
but I know he's had some struggles, but I think relative
24:16
to how he hung that guy is he's playing pretty good man.
24:18
And I feel like he's only going to get better too.
24:23
Right now as it stands, you have a Jose Altuve, Jordan Christian,
24:28
Javier, Josh Hader, all signed 2 extensions right now.
24:36
Who is in line next for an extension in your opinion?
24:39
Could it be Pereides, Pena, Hunter Brown?
24:42
Who's the next guy that you think's going to get an
24:44
extension? And school deserves extensions.
24:48
I don't know about who would be in line, but guys that I think
24:51
deserve it is absolutely Jeremy Pena.
24:53
And I want to say I don't know if Altuve.
24:55
I feel like somebody's been campaigning for that, but Jeremy
24:59
Pena is the cornerstone of the franchise.
25:02
He's a guy you want to build around not only by his play, but
25:05
his leadership and his character and Hunter Brown.
25:09
I mean, you got to lock him down, man.
25:11
Like like we talked about, like I said before the year, I think
25:14
he can win the Cy Young and he's he's on track to do so.
25:18
He's got a legit shot. So a parades is a good question,
25:23
you know, since we got them via trade.
25:26
But you know, for sure I would say that those two guys would
25:30
definitely be guys we need to extend.
25:33
And you know, maybe there's some other guys coming up in the
25:35
bullpen. I don't know what a Braves
25:38
contract looks like or or what a hater even though we just signed
25:42
him and paid him a bag and luckily he's living up to it
25:45
this year. I think Bob Braves has one year
25:49
left after this year, so I think he'll be another important part
25:52
right, I believe when it comes to extensions.
25:55
Yeah, he's still pretty young and he's a big part of the
25:58
success, I think. It's Speaking of which, you look
26:03
at the bullpen and they've been the strength, you would say,
26:08
with the Astros, of course. And you look at the names, like
26:12
you said, the Brian, the Braves, the Josh Haters, the Stephen
26:16
Okert big great. Besides that one blip with the
26:19
start. Brian King came out of nowhere
26:22
last year and he stepped up in a big way.
26:26
You saw that Taylor Scott, that DFA that got DFA, Forest
26:30
Whitley. I know that he's been with the
26:32
Astros organization for quite a long time, and I know he's been
26:36
going through a lot of obstacles in his career.
26:38
He had Tommy John surgery. I think he went through a blip
26:41
with PD and he's been struggling with injuries.
26:44
But could you see him as part of part of team?
26:47
But yeah, talk about the bullpen itself.
26:50
Yeah, no, like you mentioned, I mean, just looking at it now, I
26:52
mean, we have a 2.86 ERA, second best in the league.
26:58
And you know, it's, it's a great.
27:01
I think it's symbiotic between starting pitching and bullpen.
27:05
When you have good starting pitching, you can go deep, you
27:08
take pressure off the bullpen to cover a lot of innings.
27:10
So I think it's it kind of marries well in that sense.
27:14
But I mean, kind of like you said, it's similar to the
27:16
starting pitching to you just like get these guys that no one
27:19
expects like Brian King, Stephen O, Kurt, Caleb or like those
27:23
three guys alone or guys that no one really had on their radar.
27:27
And then even this year you got Bennett Sosa who's pitching well
27:31
as well. So I don't know if it's just
27:32
like as far as the pitching in, like if they just we're just so
27:37
far advanced in our coaching, like whether it's a mental
27:40
thing, getting them the right approach or just getting them in
27:43
better pitch selections. But they've been great, man.
27:46
So I mean, it probably is between that and starting
27:50
pitching. I mean, I guess you can get the
27:51
nod of the bullpen is a strength of our team.
27:53
And then Josh Hader being the guy that we paid him to be is a
27:58
welcome sight. You know, he's got a 1.71 ERA
28:01
right now. The last year was tough.
28:04
So you know, the way the the year ended last year with all of
28:07
our big name guys, I'm looking at Brian Abreu.
28:10
He's got a 1.270 RA. So he's living up to the hype.
28:13
And again, like when you get upset when these guys do bad,
28:16
it's because you've seen them pitch at a certain level, so you
28:19
hold them to that standard. But that's what was frustrating
28:21
about last year in the loss to the Tigers.
28:25
The bullpen was not what it was supposed to be last year.
28:29
And so they got away from the formula that I've talked about
28:31
that they've used over the years.
28:34
And so now in a big part of that was a Bray U and Hater.
28:38
You know, our two big dogs didn't live up to it.
28:40
Obviously Presley was there last year and he's gone.
28:42
But you know, those three guys last year in the playoffs
28:46
against the Tigers blew it. They lost a series of Bray U,
28:48
Presley and Hater, But now it's looking looking good.
28:51
So yeah, it's, it's that's definitely a good feeling when
28:55
you you know, you can, if you have a lead late, you can more
28:57
than likely secure the win. Joe Spot is in the second year
29:02
of his tenure. Just would like to ask you about
29:06
the job that you believe he and his staff has done the past past
29:10
year plus the the just the job that he's done and and let just
29:16
what he's going forward, what the job that they've done and
29:20
developing some of these young kids.
29:24
Yeah, so I was, you know, I was one of the people that was
29:27
proactive to move on from Dusty and, and hired Joe Espada,
29:32
although Dusty, you know, won us a World Series.
29:34
Like, you know, that last year it was kind of rough.
29:37
But I will say too, you know, last year, 2-3 months in, I had
29:42
Joe Espada on a very, very hot seat.
29:46
You know, in hindsight, you know, injuries obviously are a
29:49
big factor and he he turned it around.
29:52
You know, I like him. I'm still not like 1000% and on
29:55
him. I still have questions here and
29:57
there. You know, some of the lineup
29:59
stuff he was doing last year, you know, kind of messing with
30:01
the lineup. I believe it like batting your
30:03
on in a 2 hole a lot was kind of somewhat of a head scratcher.
30:07
Again, obviously easier in hindsight, but and just nitpicky
30:12
stuff like I understand too baseball, they say that managers
30:15
relative to other sports are probably, you know, some of the
30:18
least impactful. But there's been times for
30:20
decisions throughout last year and this year that I kind of
30:24
questioned as far as bullpens or pinch hitter stuff like that.
30:28
It does seem like they did change.
30:30
One big thing that myself and a lot of Astros fans didn't like
30:33
from last year was an overall hitting approach, which was they
30:36
were way too aggressive way too often, way too early, Especially
30:40
after, you know, we would go 3 up, three down or we would, you
30:44
know, have a our starting pitcher pitch a 20 to 30 pitch
30:47
frame. And then we would come back out
30:49
on the next half and and give them like a A7 to ten pitch
30:53
frame. Like the awareness of the game
30:56
and, you know, taking pitches and and part of that is line up
30:59
and hitters. But I think that Dana Brown
31:02
mentioned early in this offseason that they made a
31:04
concerted effort to get guys like Perez in there that can
31:07
kind of mix up between aggressive and patient hitter.
31:10
So that's part of it. But one nitpick gripe that I
31:14
have with the spot of which seems to be getting better as I
31:16
feel like, you know, and everyone is who they are.
31:19
Like I feel like he's maybe too low energy, not passionate
31:22
enough at times. Like I felt like he would never
31:24
get fired up. But I mean, already a couple
31:26
times this year, he's kind of, you know, bucked that trend.
31:29
He's gotten ejected. Not that you like, want guys to
31:31
get ejected, but you just want guys to get pissed off,
31:33
especially when things are going your way.
31:35
So overall I'm pretty satisfied. This is going to be a two-part
31:41
question. I know you're Astros like her,
31:43
but I want to talk about Dana Brown in his tenure as the
31:47
Astros. I mean, he used to be the
31:51
assistant GM for the Blue Jays when the thought was just
31:53
running the team went to and then he joined.
31:56
He ended up joining Atlanta once Alex Athopolis was the president
32:03
of the Braves. And January 25th, 2023, he was
32:08
hired as the Houston Astros GM. And what are your initial
32:14
thoughts? And he stole one of one of the
32:16
assisted years from the JS2 Brussel Pope as well.
32:19
Gavin Dickey's been in this organization since 2011.
32:22
He's been promoted to assisted GM at the same time Dana Brown
32:25
was hired and Charles Cook has been around.
32:27
How would you look at Dana Brown so far being the Astros GM?
32:34
Yeah, he's kind of had some mixed reactions from the fan
32:37
base. And it's tough too, in any
32:40
sport, especially baseball, because you want to like, you
32:43
know, make these proclamations on any move they make right
32:47
away. And and really they take time to
32:50
pan out. Like, you know, last year, I
32:52
myself and a lot of fans were hard on him for the you say
32:56
Kikuchi trade, you know, giving away the prospects that we
32:59
thought were, you know, going to be world beaters.
33:01
But you look back now, I mean, obviously you cashed out for,
33:05
you know, a run in the playoffs. But Kikuchi lived up to the hype
33:08
and then some. And, you know, the prospects
33:11
that we thought we missed out on, you know, haven't quite been
33:16
as much as we thought. So I thought I think he's done a
33:19
pretty good job. Like, I think it's in between.
33:21
I know some people really think he hasn't done a great job.
33:25
Some people think he's done a really good job.
33:26
I think he's done like an above average job.
33:29
I actually, for one, was a fan of the Kyle Tucker trade.
33:33
I mean, I know that is by no means an easy decision, but you
33:38
know, you basically, it's similar to our discussion
33:40
earlier in the Texans and, you know, Eagles GMs getting out in
33:44
front of things. You know, you're not going to
33:46
extend Kyle Tucker, so you might as well trade him now and get
33:49
something rather than wait until it's too late to get nothing.
33:53
And the return I thought was pretty damn good we mentioned
33:56
was Neski. Unfortunately, he got hurt, but
33:58
he was playing really well. Cam Smith.
34:01
I mean, yeah, it's one of the fastest rises, but I mean, he's
34:05
produced. He forced your hand.
34:07
He's a baller. He kind of reminds me of
34:09
painting in the sense as far as like the character and
34:11
leadership, Like that kid is mental makeup is outstanding.
34:14
He will be a cornerstone for this franchise for years to
34:17
come. And then he saw 480.
34:19
So I mean, he's like our best hitter right now.
34:20
So, yeah, Tucker had a a hot start.
34:24
But I mean, you know, they got him for one year and I'm going
34:27
to have to sign into a massive extension if they already have.
34:30
And I can't remember, but we got a lot of years of club control
34:33
with other guys. So I think he's done a good job.
34:37
So the second part of the question is how would you
34:41
compare Dana Brown to the past GM's with James Click and Jeff
34:45
Luno? I know that Jeff Luno did the
34:48
complete tear down and built this team into a winner and then
34:53
James Click was inherited in that situation in 2020 and ended
34:58
up winning the World Series. How do you compare those GMs to
35:01
Dana Brown right now? I would say Click was good, but
35:05
I would have Brown ahead of him. I feel like Click, a lot of the
35:09
stuff, you know, was somewhat inherited.
35:12
And then Luna. Luna has a goat dude.
35:14
I mean, I still can't get over the fact that he was a scapegoat
35:17
and, you know, got let go. I mean, that guy was a baller.
35:21
I mean, he built this thing like a lot of success we're still
35:24
having is because of him and what he did like whether it's
35:28
players or the process and foundation he laid.
35:32
I mean, that guy is unbelievable.
35:34
I I wish that he never got let go, but you know, it is what it
35:38
is. So, but yeah, I think Dana's
35:40
doing good. I think I would definitely have
35:42
him below loon How? But you know above click.
35:48
Let's talk about the landscape of the division being the AL
35:51
West. You guys sit second right now.
35:54
There's about six games spanning the entire division.
35:57
So it seems a little bit wide open this year, maybe a little
36:01
bit more than years past so far. It's early.
36:04
I mean, I don't even look at the standings so like July, but I
36:07
mean, just talk about the landscape of this division and
36:13
you know, how, how do you see things going forward?
36:18
Yeah, so I mean, it's I guess it's kind of the same as what
36:21
it's been in years past. I mean, maybe a little bit
36:23
different, but pretty competitive.
36:26
Obviously Seattle's playing the best.
36:28
They're playing pretty well. I believe they're pitching is
36:31
doing really well. And then obviously they're
36:32
batting is fine. I feel like they've always had
36:34
pretty good pitching and they've had no offense and there's a lot
36:37
of talk about them getting a a new hitting coach and improving,
36:41
you know, so I think it'll be a tight race.
36:44
I think that the Rangers, they're volatile.
36:48
I mean they got some good arms, which is kind of odd.
36:50
Like it feels like the make up of their team is the opposite of
36:53
years past. It seems like they got good arms
36:56
and bad hitters were normally they're more of bombers and bad
36:59
pitchers. So that'll be interesting to see
37:02
how they shake out. And then the A's, I mean, they
37:05
started out for a while looking pretty decent, but they seem to
37:07
be regressing back to the A's that we know.
37:09
And the Angel have kind of been up and down.
37:12
I know they started decent and had a really bad stretch and
37:15
they've been playing decent as a late.
37:17
So, but I would expect it to be between obviously the the
37:21
Mariners, Rangers and Astros and more than likely between the
37:24
Astros and the Mariners. But obviously it's still early.
37:30
The last question I want to ask you is looking at the payrolls
37:33
that they went under the tax because they felt like that they
37:37
want to start drafting guys and having more assets and they
37:40
don't want to get penalized. How do you look into that?
37:45
Because the reason why assets I would expect the Astros should
37:49
be buyers at this trade deadline knowing the fact that they've
37:52
been contending basically every year the last decade.
37:55
So if they were to go to to make additions, what do you think
38:01
they would address and do you think payroll will be in effect?
38:07
It's hard to say now is because injuries happen, but at the
38:12
current moment, it would maybe be another outfielder or middle
38:17
infielder. If there is, I don't even know
38:20
what the market would be. But I mean, if you could get a
38:22
better second baseman because right now that's kind of a
38:26
patchwork slash platoon. And then depending on, you know,
38:30
we talked about Jake Myers, where he's at, maybe something
38:33
there to add a bat out there. But you know, and I agree, I
38:37
mean, they're contenders. We've been buyers every year.
38:41
And I don't ever get the argument to not do it because of
38:45
money or, you know, penalties. You may have this and that like
38:49
we've figured it out for the past decade.
38:51
Why would it all of a sudden not work?
38:53
And I think the reason it does work for us to be aggressive
38:56
like that is because of what we talked about earlier is our farm
38:59
system and development. Like we, we offset that by
39:02
bringing up no name guys year in and year out.
39:05
I mean guys that, you know, no one has any expectations for and
39:10
well exceed, you know, their contracts and their, you know,
39:13
their hype. Well, the another question I
39:17
want to ask you is, well, I mean, I know we're, we're near
39:20
the end, but we saw that Dana Brown went to get used to
39:24
Kikuchi, as you mentioned earlier in this episode.
39:27
And, and I know that pitching is a dire need in today's baseball,
39:32
especially. Do you think the Astros have
39:35
enough pitching to not go after another starting pitcher or, or
39:40
do you think they have to go for another starting pitcher?
39:42
But, and I know that fans were scrutinizing about that Kikuchi
39:46
trade last year. But, but could you see, could
39:49
you see a trade like that happen again?
39:52
But I don't know if they're going to give up all that assets
39:54
like they did last year. I guess it depends, you know, if
39:57
it's a rental or if it's more of a long term option.
40:00
But as it stands, you know, I think we got a pretty good
40:04
rotation. Hunter Brown as your ace and
40:07
then Framber Valdez as your number 2 and then you got guys
40:11
like Mccullers. I know we have injuries.
40:14
Like the roster right now is, you know, you hopefully have
40:16
Luis Garcia Junior coming back. I'm trying to remember who else
40:20
we got another couple arms coming back but depending on how
40:23
all that shakes out. I could definitely see them
40:26
doing that at least just adding depth.
40:29
But I'm the same man too, though.
40:31
I mean, again, I'm kind of blanking on all the names, but I
40:36
feel like when I've looked at it, you know, if we get the guys
40:38
back that were projected to get back, I forgot about Eric Getty
40:41
as well. We could be a six man rotation,
40:44
so we could have a surplus. So it's just, it's hard to say.
40:48
I mean, I wouldn't be surprised, but it really would be dependent
40:50
upon injuries, which we know how those go for the asterism
40:53
pictures. She says Dressens, we thank you
40:58
for being here in this episode, taking your time and effort to
41:02
give the best information you can.
41:04
Great insight, great information.
41:06
Where can we find you in social media and everywhere else?
41:10
Yeah, appreciate it. It's been fun, man.
41:11
It's been a good talk. You can find me at Texans
41:14
Commenter on X and TikTok and YouTube, and then you can find
41:19
me at Houston Stressens STRESSANS on Instagram and
41:25
Facebook, as well as my website, houstonstressens.com.
41:29
Yeah, I've enjoyed the talk, you guys.
41:31
You guys really know all your stuff.
41:34
Thanks man for joining us. It was fun.
41:37
I really enjoy your work, man. Since I followed you, you put
41:40
out some great content and I love learning about other teams
41:44
and other organizations. So yeah, it's been fun, man,
41:48
really fun talking footballs and baseball.
41:50
And yeah, thanks for joining us today, man.
41:53
It was great. And hopefully we can get you
41:55
back in the future sometime. Yeah, I'd be more than happy to.
41:58
I appreciate it and and I think this is the way that I like to
42:02
consume sports is from fellow fans.
42:04
I mean, you know, you listen to national media pundits, but they
42:07
only have so much time in the day to look at every team.
42:10
So I mean, you know, I think us fan to fan is the best way to
42:13
learn about other teams and really know what's going on.
42:18
We will place the description below where you can follow
42:20
Houston stress ends, but till next time, take care, be kind to
42:24
each other. Signing up for the Sports Ave.
42:26
Twister podcast on Thursday, May 22nd, 2025.
43:15
None.