Houston Sports Talk: Astros Lead AL West, Texans Prep for Season

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00:00Always good to hook up with

00:07Sean Pendergast from 610 AM

00:09Sports Talk in Houston in

00:12H-Town. He does the morning

00:13drive show and you can follow

00:14him on X at Sean T Pendergast

00:17P-E-N-D-E-R-G-A-S-T on X and

00:20it's good to get him back on

00:21Coast to Coast. He was just at

00:23Texans Camp. We'll talk about

00:26them in a second. I want to

00:27start with the Astros because

00:29they've had six in a row.

00:32Bregman and Alvarez co-player

00:35at a week in the AL. You just

00:37told me that Verlander has

00:40looked good in his rehab and is

00:42close. So, they took over first

00:47in the West last night from

00:48Seattle but that's kind of been

00:51going back and forth. I thought

00:53you know, the big series in

00:55Seattle was going to be more

00:57beneficial to him. It really

00:58But here they are a half game

01:00up and they're hot and they've

01:01won six straight seven of ten.

01:03What do you think of what

01:04you're seeing from him lately?

01:06Yeah, it's it's been good

01:08Scotty. They they went through a

01:10little bit of a lull with the

01:11bats. Uh you know, a week or so

01:13ago, they actually play much

01:15much better this team on the

01:16road than they do at home and

01:18that goes all the way back to

01:19the end of last year when they

01:21were in that dogfight for the

01:22division and it looked like boy

01:23the schedule was real favorable

01:25They had the A's and the Royals

01:26a whole bunch of games at home

01:27and then they were down to nine

01:29on a homestand down the stretch

01:31for whatever reason this team

01:33plays better on the road and

01:35they play up to and down to the

01:37level of their competition this

01:39year. You know, some of the

01:40series of late that they've

01:41actually had a lot of success.

01:42They won a series against the

01:43Dodgers. They swept the Orioles,

01:45you know, about six weeks ago.

01:48They they uh you know, they

01:50they they took uh they they

01:52they've beaten a bunch of teams

01:54that would be in the play. They

01:55swept the Red Sox in Boston this

01:57year, the biggest offense in

01:58baseball. So, it's not record

02:00wise. It's not where the Astros

02:02are used to being but you can

02:04see kind of the you can still

02:06see somewhere in there. The team

02:08that that has made it to seven

02:10straight ALCS and a lot of the

02:11things they were dealing with

02:12early in the year were injuries

02:14to the pitching staff and they

02:15just had some huge performances

02:17over the last couple of months

02:18from some of the young pitchers

02:19Hunter Brown in particular has

02:21really been like an ace over the

02:23last couple of months and now

02:25you start to see Spencer

02:26Arrigetti putting some good

02:27starts together. Ronald Blanco

02:28has done some good things.

02:29They're going to get Verlander

02:30back here pretty soon. He's

02:31obviously an older guy but um

02:33and then we'll see with

02:34Kikuchi gets his third start

02:35tonight. So, it's come together

02:37in a very strange way for them

02:39but as you talked about, I was

02:41listening to you guys uh in the

02:42previous segment, it's still the

02:44old guard of Altuve and

02:46Bregman and Jordan that getting

02:48it done with the bats that are

02:49ultimately going to be what

02:50probably carries this game.

02:51What's the deal with Tucker?

02:54Man, it's I wish II wish we knew

02:57that at the Astros are this

02:59this era of Astros baseball of

03:01all the teams that I've not only

03:03covered but rooted for might be

03:04the most dodgy and kind of

03:06dishonest when it comes to

03:08sharing information on injuries.

03:10We've been given a roller coaster

03:12ride with this Tucker thing with

03:14this foul ball off the shin

03:15which I was at that game sitting

03:16in the second row about ten feet

03:18from where it happened and he

03:20actually tried to stay in that

03:21game in June 3rd and now here we

03:23are. We're coming up on

03:24September soon and he's he's

03:26still out. So that injury is

03:28obviously pretty serious. We got

03:30kind of our first glimpse. I

03:31guess what the truth might look

03:33like yesterday because some

03:34video surface of him working out

03:36in the outfield in Tampa before

03:38the game between the Astros and

03:39the Rays. He's obviously on the

03:40injured list, but he's traveling

03:41with the team again and he still

03:43looks like he's limping around

03:45on that thing. So I don't think

03:47if we see Tucker this year at

03:49this point, it certainly won't

03:50be until September because he's

03:52still limping around and even

03:53once he gets fully healthy, he's

03:55going to have to go do some

03:56rehab baseball in Sugar Land or

03:58Corpus Christi with a minor

04:00league affiliate. So, so that's

04:02a that's a big one Verlander and

04:04Tucker. It's you know, it's like

04:06you're getting back, you know, a

04:08quasi ace and an MVP candidate

04:10if they're both able to come

04:11back healthy. You talked about

04:13some of the big games they've

04:14won against good teams and this

04:17streak started when they won the

04:19series against the Rangers at

04:21Globe in Arlington. Then they

04:23went to Fenway as you mentioned

04:26and swept. Now, you're in the

04:29trap down in Tampa. You're

04:31seeing this kid coming Yarrow

04:32tonight and Kikuchi's going

04:35tonight and then I think they

04:37wrap it up there tomorrow. Then

04:39they go back to Minute Maid and

04:41they have the lowly White Sox

04:43who kicked the Yankees ass last

04:45night, but you got the lowly

04:47White Sox who you should crush

04:49and then you got Boston again in

04:52Houston. Do you feel as I told

04:55you before like on this show,

04:56I've been riding the Astros for

04:58two months that they're going to

05:00win the West. I said over and

05:02over on his shoulder of the best

05:03team. They're the best team in

05:04the division. They're one of the

05:06best teams in baseball when they

05:08get their act together. They're

05:09going to they're going to win

05:10that division and to me being up

05:12a half game is I'm chewing

05:14nails. Are they going to come

05:16through and win the division

05:18with all these games? They got

05:19coming up at home. Yeah, I think

05:22they are and I say that even

05:24after talking about how they've

05:25kind of struggled at home of

05:27late and then late in the season

05:29last year, but I think they're

05:31just I they're just too

05:32talented and they've had to

05:33overcome so much just to get

05:35here. They started out 12 and

05:3724 this year. So I mean that

05:39that's that obviously that chunk

05:41of baseball is an outlier for

05:42this team. I rarely have big on

05:4412 and 24 if ever during this

05:46run going back to 2017. So

05:49that's a total outlier since

05:50they started 12 and 24. They've

05:52given up the least runs in

05:54baseball and now they're

05:55getting Verlander back. The

05:57bullpen is starting to round

05:58into form and at least two

06:00starts in the Cucucci trade, you

06:02know, even though they got

06:03widely panned for it for giving

06:04up the prospects. They gave up

06:05two starts in the Cucucci trade

06:08looks pretty good. Now. We'll

06:09see what happens what happens

06:10tonight, but the Astros have

06:12done an amazing job this year in

06:14terms of coaching with the

06:15pitching and with like from

06:18Valdez. They started to have him

06:20use his curveball more when

06:21Hunter Brown had a 10 era

06:23through May Alex Bregman sat

06:25down with him on the team plane

06:26and said, dude, you need to

06:27throw your sinker more and he

06:28started throwing a sinker more

06:29and now the guy is a quality

06:31start every time he goes out

06:32there Cucucci comes into the

06:34building and they said dude, you

06:36know, I'm oversimplifying it

06:37here Scotty, but they he threw

06:39his change up like 10% of the

06:40time in Toronto and they said

06:42you need to throw that change up

06:43more and use it more and do it

06:45strategically. He's basically

06:46tripled the use of his change up

06:48and now he's come in and he's

06:49given them two really good

06:50starts since coming into the

06:52building. So they've been able

06:54to kind of piece the thing

06:55together and kind of muck it

06:56through June. And then, you

06:57know, since the start of July,

06:59they've been one of if not the

07:00best teams in the American

07:01League if they're fully healthy

07:04and they've been playing the way

07:05they're playing, especially if

07:06they get Tucker back, then I

07:07think you're, you know, if

07:08you've got them winning the

07:09division, I think you're in

07:10really good shape. I think

07:11you're in good shape anyway,

07:12they've seen this movie, you

07:15know, so many times now down the

07:16stretch in September. No team is

07:18more battle tested in September

07:19and October than the Houston

07:21Astros. So you were at Texans

07:23camp. I got a couple minutes

07:25here. Respectfully. They they

07:28kicked the Steelers ass. The

07:30expectations are through the

07:32roof for this football team

07:34after what Stroud did last year.

07:36Can they live up to all of it?

07:39The schedule is really tough.

07:40They step up big time in weight

07:42class this year in terms of the

07:43quarterbacks that they play and

07:45just the teams that they play.

07:46They're getting a first place

07:47schedule now and those three

07:49variable games in the schedule

07:50for them are Baltimore, Kansas

07:52City and Dallas and they're all

07:53primetime games and Christmas

07:55games and things like that. I do

07:57think they're built for this

07:58though. CJ Stroud, you watched

08:00him. He's mature beyond his

08:01years. You know, he's battle

08:03tested from back at Ohio State

08:05and the rookie year he had. I

08:06think the big key is D'Amico

08:07Ryan's who just does a really

08:10good job of filtering out all

08:11that noise good and bad with

08:12this team and they've even

08:14though they play a harder

08:15schedule. They've made major

08:16upgrades on offense with step

08:17step on Diggs who has fit in

08:18incredibly. He's been their

08:20best offensive player in

08:21training camp. I've been to

08:22every practice so far other

08:23than the three they had in Ohio

08:25last week. He's been their best

08:27player offensively and Daniel

08:29Hunter has been an absolute

08:30monster defensively for them

08:32both in practice and in that

08:33Steelers game on Friday. So

08:35there they put a roster together

08:37that is absolutely up for this

08:38challenge. No question about it.

08:40Yeah, I watched the game as you

08:43know, I'm a Steeler fan. I

08:44watched the game. I wanted to

08:45puke. I mean, I thought the

08:47Texans pushed him around. I

08:49mean, I they roughed up fields

08:51they, you know, he fumbled a

08:53couple snaps. I thought Houston

08:55like didn't care about the

08:56preseason. Meanwhile, I thought

08:58they look fantastic. I will

09:00tell you I don't trust Steph

09:03Diggs. I think he's cancer

09:05waiting to happen. He's going

09:07to snap at some point. The

09:08leopard doesn't change his

09:09spots. I worry about him. He's

09:11fantastic. Great player does it

09:13but once he's not happy, he

09:14turns into a jerk. I hope he

09:16doesn't ruin that team.

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