- 10 months ago
The Astros are struggling to score runs or even get hits five games into the season. What's it going to take to wake these bats up? In The Loop talks about that here.
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00:00It's still early. Yes, but uh
00:02What's early guy? That's right. We're all it's early. You got to be it's early guy
00:06Cuz what do you feel like is gonna be the catalyst to get the bats going cuz another another, you know
00:13Offenseless showing basically. Yeah for your Astros in a 3-1 loss to the Giants
00:18They're now sub 500 sitting at third in the AL West behind. Yes the Rangers, but also the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
00:27I don't know why that
00:30All right, like just the Angels being even at this very very early juncture
00:35The Angels having a better record than you makes me mad and it shouldn't it's a rational
00:40I understand that but I'm gonna be sitting here in my
00:42Irrationality and be upset that they just have a better record than you and it's because
00:46You're not able to hit swing the bats and hit the ball and get runners on the base pads and bring them in
00:51Yeah, yeah, look look. Let me ask you both this and our lovely listeners
00:567 1 3 & 2 4 6 10 and of course
00:59YouTube twitch the whole nine yards. It's early. We've just agreed on that
01:05But I have questions. I got questions that the early questions. All right early questions is what I'll call it
01:11Okay, early questions. Go ahead. I've got let's see three six seven. I got seven questions for you based on the Astros
01:18I'm looking forward to all of these questions all seven. Well, I'm gonna say that the over is that yeah
01:24Probably I'll probably be interested in for good ones. That's right. The 7 1 3 said Willie. What's it sounds like a bookie? Absolutely
01:30Oh, that's true
01:32But I'm just I like an old name from the 70s. Yes, Willie whistles
01:36I do wonder like what kind of Willie whistles book. That's right this that's why they call it juice
01:44Willie whistles was a bookie back in the 70s. Can you say bookie? Willie whistle said watch your knees
01:54Runaway fast. There's Willie whistle. Willie whistle said when I said every Tuesday, I meant every Tuesday. I
02:03Didn't realize that that was the Wednesday energy we were bringing breaking knees caps
02:08Willie Wilson driver Willie whistles driver pink Cadillac. Yes. Oh, that's a different Willie whistles
02:15And Willie whistles doesn't have a cane. That's a walking stick. That's right. That's right
02:20Why is Willie whistles wearing all those rings? All right, we certain Willie whistles into a bookie. Oh god. All right. Oh god Tim. Why?
02:28I feel like we need to get to the quiet
02:33Let's get back on track I got
02:36Seven questions. We're gonna be all right. Let's talk about the Astros
02:39That's right. Sean's taking the under Willie whistles. We'll check on that. Um,
02:44Did this look like a club waiting for someone else to do something?
02:48He explained a little bit further like i'm watching this game, uh, I was texting with you guys a little bit because I think I texted back
02:53Uh, it's okay. I I get it. Uh, no, not really. Uh, I think y'all were uh at the steak night warm-up
03:00I know I was yeah, I was at the bar. I don't know what he might as far as I knew
03:05He might have been reading to the kids all day. I was at I was at the house. Okay, very good
03:08All right, let me let me explain. So i'm looking i'm looking at at this squad
03:11So i'm looking i'm looking at at this squad, uh, obviously as you know, they lost three to one correct
03:17Uh, as you may know, uh, their offense was putrid again. I think that's nine runs in five games
03:24Uh, that sounds correct, but I will double check to make sure they had a season high in hits seven
03:30um
03:32They just look like every time someone was stepping up. Go ahead. Sorry
03:36No, when you said the season high of hits with which was seven I was sitting next to t mill
03:42Um at the bar. I looked up at the you know at the tv when they show, you know, the final final lines
03:48And I was like wait, when did all those seven hits happen? It didn't even feel like it three double plays
03:54Oh three double play. Yeah
03:56Which is one of the things and that's kind of what what ties in with my first question every time someone stepped to the plate
04:02Uh, it was almost as if they're like obviously they're focused and they're trying to get a hit
04:07But they're waiting for someone else to do something. They get a hit and boom double play
04:12Okay, uh, you know, they they get come up with runners in scoring position
04:17Hey
04:17And with two outs on there and nothing happens with two outs
04:20The I think it was the two three and four batters coming up in the ninth inning
04:24Nothing, it's a lot of times that's the case with teams like it's like well, we'll get going we'll get going
04:30Somebody will get this thing going. It's like they're waiting for someone else to do it
04:35That was a question I had
04:37I don't I don't know that I have a great answer to that because
04:40Yes, I I guess in a way. Yes, they're all waiting for someone else to do it and I imagine specifically jordan
04:45I'm, sorry, uh, jose altuve is waiting for doing it because he is he's not the only one
04:49He's got a 400 batting average and I think the the next closest guy
04:53Was uh, jake myers with a 200 batting average and then everybody else is either in the hundreds or below
04:59Yeah, yeah, it's just like nobody's really doing it and even like you had the one game in your opening day
05:05Where it felt like you built innings, right? You had
05:08guys that you know
05:09Here's a hit and here's another hit that can actually bring someone in other than that
05:13I think I made a joke at one point. I think chas mccormick got a hit and I turned to t mill and I was like
05:17Well there that's your hit for this inning. Yeah, because that's that's what i'm talking about
05:21That's absolutely the way it's so you do kind of feel that even though you didn't recognize. Yes
05:25It's very it's very isolated and it really just all comes back to
05:29I don't
05:30nobody's able to nobody's able to like make really good contact and
05:35Find spaces even the instances where you have a dude and when you have a dude, you know
05:38Making good contact like obviously christian walker has done in a pretty solid way. They're not made. They're not finding gaps
05:44you're not finding the spaces for the ball to get down and so
05:48it's weird because
05:51It feels anomalous. Mm-hmm. Not everybody is
05:54Not getting on base
05:57In the same way, I know that that's the cleanest way of saying it but everybody's having different struggles
06:01But it all amounts to the same thing, which is struggling exactly, which is very weird and makes me almost
06:07weirdly enough it eases my concern because i'm like what are the chances that everybody
06:11Is off in the same way at the same time, you know, we'll get to that. All right
06:16Another question for you again. We're not we're not bashing them. We're not saying this or that about the season
06:21We're just asking questions because it's early my next question. Do they miss alex bregman already?
06:27Huh, I mean probably miss him miss him as far as what though maybe as it refers to the offense maybe the reverse
06:35just someone being able to
06:37Wake up the bats, so okay because he's been known for starting off slow
06:42I know that but also known to help the pitching staff help other batters, you know
06:45Get the guys keep the keep the team focused when things are going bad. Do they miss alex bregman already?
06:51I mean
06:52Probably but I don't think I mean, yes the notorious slow starts are there but I do wonder if he
06:58And maybe this is adding too much like giving too much credit because we've we've been in that place where you look around and you go
07:03Uh, you start building the guy up
07:04We've talked about the ways in which he's helped hunter brown and so on and so forth and various players on the team
07:09uh, but he does feel like a guy where
07:13He had the respect of the team. Maybe he could say something or galvanize the guys to get them in a place
07:18Where you know that you know rejuvenates the bats, but that might be adding too much credit
07:22But I don't know maybe because we talked about
07:25Who christian walker probably being one of the guys that's best situated to step into that role?
07:29But it's still very early and he has his own things that he's dealing with like I don't know
07:33How easy it is for him to step in and immediately be that kind of?
07:37Yes, and if they're starting they're trying to find some of that. But yeah
07:41A32 is right
07:41You're probably missing pal tucker way more than you're missing alex bregman as has been evidenced by the fact
07:46Well, maybe in terms of like the actual hitting and i'm talking about everything, you know, like just everything
07:51All right. I mean the hitting is what we're talking about in particular
07:53It doesn't seem like dudes are necessarily hanging their heads per se right, but you're just not seeing the production
08:00I would say right now I would use this right now. It's early
08:04I think right now it's a little bit early to kind of have that type of conversation
08:08Because especially from looking at last year how they started and then where they end up finishing
08:14But but I think it's early for that part as far as the bats and all that stuff
08:19I don't think they miss alex bregman right now. I got another question for you then are there too many holes in this lineup?
08:26I mean as of right now, it sure looks like it
08:29um, but
08:30I think that that's that's a good question where you look at who are the guys that are going to be tent poles like are
08:35Going to be
08:36The established guys on in your lineup and you would have hoped that isak paredes would be one of those
08:41Yeah, um, and he just seems like he's just been just barely off in a lot of aspects. I know he hit the
08:47uh, he hit the double, uh
08:49Yes, not yesterday the night before
08:51Um, and he had a hit in this one as well
08:54But like you would anticipate that he would be one of those guys that's relatively consistent
08:58Christian walker's another guy that you would look at to be relatively consistent
09:01I would have hoped I was hoping that yanair diaz would find a little bit more consistency, especially as a dude who
09:06um who last year had so much responsibility both catching and then going and
09:11playing first base as well and all the added responsibilities
09:15I do wonder if
09:17You know
09:18And last year also he had just a lot of new pitchers that he had to learn over the course of things like as a
09:22Catcher, right, which I think there's a level of mental
09:26Strain and stress that that also requires I would have hoped that
09:29Coming into this year having a little bit more stability and consistency would have helped him be more consistent with the bat
09:33This just feels like it might be one of those weird anomalies where a lot of people are having their downs
09:38They're down stretch and it all happens to coincide at the beginning of the season
09:41Well that ties in with another question I have then uh, and you just mentioned one of the names
09:45What if jeremy pena yanair diaz and cam smith?
09:49are just
09:50Okay
09:51They have their normal year that we've we've become come accustomed to we've been kind of counting on them stepping up at least
09:58Pena for sure certainly cam there's optimism and yanair with another year under belt. A lot of people are saying maybe he needs
10:04what if they're just
10:06Man, that's gonna be a problem. It's a big problem
10:08Like it's just going to be flat out a problem big problem like your your your pitching has been phenomenal
10:12Yeah
10:13It absolutely has but you're not going to get anywhere if you're not able to put up
10:17Some runs on the board and I don't think that you can do it just off of the strength of altuve paredes alvarez walker
10:24I I mean I think that it's fair to assume that those guys will stabilize to some degree
10:27Maybe the lowest of those being paredes because there was some projections on how his particular bat would uh,
10:33You know increase with the dimensions of the ballpark, but I think you could say altuve alvarez walker
10:38Known commodities proven guys at the plate, but you can't be a three hitter
10:42lineup, well
10:44Exactly, you know and that that's what I was going to say like you're you're accustomed in the major leagues to giving away
10:48Maybe one or two outs at the bottom of your lineup. You're you're used to that
10:52but if those three guys on top of
10:55brendan rogers
10:57And let's say, you know, don't say chas mccormick because apparently he's hitting 500 on the whomever the center fielder is
11:03Uh, that's four or five outs you're giving up you can't give away four or five outs
11:08No can't do it. Absolutely. Not. Yeah, especially because
11:11even with those guys at the top they're not going to
11:14it's not going to be every day and then your don has a penchant for being hot and cold at times like
11:18And we're seeing a cold stretch as of right now for all of them
11:21Yeah, no, you're just going to be you're not going to be a good team
11:23Yeah, and I hate to say it that flatly but it's just impossible
11:27A certain level what ifs these are what ifs these are pertinent questions even though it's early
11:31And you just mentioned another question I had
11:34Very basic very straightforward. What's up with your don?
11:38I don't know and it's really weird. What's up with your don because it's not just that he's batting
11:42Sub 100 like literally it's a 0-6-3 batting average
11:46Uh for him his ops is a 325 which looks like a batting average, which is really problematic
11:52It's also that we see him with juicy pitches keeping the bat on the shoulder
11:57And then yesterday you saw him expanding the strike zone and sliders and breaking balls down the middle where he would normally crush
12:02Yes
12:03But then on top of that like he's also you saw him yesterday
12:06Expanding the strike zone and like swinging at a pitch that was never that was never on line to be
12:11Within the strike zone and it's just like this feels so anomalous for your don a dude who is
12:18menacing in the batter's box like he's not even looking like
12:22Himself where he makes he's making pitchers pay for giving him a a hittable pitch
12:26And that's the thing. It's really weird. You tend to read too much into things when players are slumping
12:31Uh, so I fully acknowledge that I might be reading too much into this but even his body language seems a
12:37Little weird sort of no, he's always he's not exactly mr. Excitement. Anyway, you know straightforward, but it just kind of seems like
12:44He's not
12:45all together
12:46Into it, you know like he's normally is and one of the questions that I have
12:51Is it's something that we talked about with rafael devers of the of the red sox where he is starting in a terrible
12:55What is it 15 strikeouts?
12:57Thus far or to start the season where we've talked about hey guys playing the field kind of helps keep people keep in
13:03Keep in the you know flow of things
13:05Are we seeing a jordan who you know, maybe?
13:08Is dealing with dhing consistently all the way through? Yeah, like is that a possibility here?
13:14And is that something he's gonna be in left today? I believe I have not seen I think i'm just using logic
13:20Uh altuve afternoon game after they play a three today, you know, sure about time to mix them up in there
13:26Just just my projection just I can see that and maybe that's maybe that's something that helps
13:31Jump start them in some ways. But yeah
13:33Now because of how poor you've been and of course, it's five games out of 162
13:38It makes me wonder like all all these other things like what are the things that could be factoring in here?
13:42And that was one of the things that I came up with jordan
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