00:00I'm typically one of those guys that says, hey man, especially for proven players, I think it was Bregman one year with you and I, Ron, doing a live broadcast from down at what was Minute Maid Park.
00:10I remember going, hey man, be patient with Bregman. Now in the playoffs, when you get in the playoffs, now it's time to make some moves. We're in win or go home mode.
00:18That's right. Dusty eventually just dropped into the seventh.
00:20Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:22In the World Series.
00:22I'm typically a firm believer in that, especially when it's proven vets, y'all, but I am very, very fascinated with this Christian Walker situation.
00:31Christian Walker today was one for four today, got a hit late. He's hitting 199 right now, and it's not been good.
00:42Would you say he's three for his last 38, which that makes him four for 39, I believe, if I heard you right.
00:46He did get a hit today.
00:47Yeah, he got the hit today.
00:49He got a hit in his last at-bat, so he's...
00:51Four for 39, right?
00:52Well, this is not good.
00:54But I know that the first-base situation with the Astros has the fans' attention.
01:00Look, it seems like even the first-base situation even has the fans' attention that are typically,
01:09hey man, it's a long season, be patient.
01:11A good chunk of that group, I think, is looking at first base with a little bit of a side-eye there.
01:16Christian Walker has been, I mean, it's just been an absolute just disappointment at first base so far with the bat.
01:28I mean, he is brought in in a time when you lose.
01:33I don't want to speak for everybody else, but for me, I expected him to fill in nicely with Altuve and with Jordan Alvarez
01:41and be a steady force as a veteran bat.
01:44He was supposed to be one of the top three bats in the lineup.
01:47Yeah, yeah, man.
01:48And instead, we've seen a struggle.
01:50Like, I think he...
01:51Y'all correct me if I'm wrong, but like, I think right now, he...
01:54Forget the expectations of who he is.
01:57Just the everyday starters.
01:58I think he's the one that has just continued...
02:00I mean, continued to struggle from jump.
02:02Yeah, it's gotten better.
02:03I thought he was pressing at the beginning, and then, like, after a bit, and I think he's continued,
02:09and I think moved down in the lineup.
02:11He dropped to the fifth spot.
02:13I bet potentially that pressing may get worse.
02:17How many multi-hit games does Christian Walker have this season, if any?
02:21Oh, I bet it's less than...
02:22I bet it's three.
02:24Because, like, I know I've seen him hit a homer or two.
02:27Maybe it is just that one.
02:28He had two hits.
02:30But it's just never consistent.
02:31The guy can't get multiple hits in a game.
02:33He had two hits, I believe, the first game in the Rangers series.
02:36I think that was the last...
02:38This is supposed to be our first baseman that could hit for the first time in years.
02:41I mean, they brought him in to hit behind your dog.
02:44Son of a bitch!
02:44Well, that's where I want to go with this, guys.
02:47I think, you know, we've watched and we've been frustrated with the first base situation
02:54since, I mean, I guess it was the last year Uli was here when he struggled all regular season.
02:59Luckily, when they got into the playoffs, he swung the bat well then,
03:02so we could at least justify with it when it mattered the most, he came around a little bit.
03:07But I think that year, first base was, you know, a disappointment.
03:13I think when you...
03:14Obviously, those two were disappointments, which got worse the longer he was with,
03:19the further along we got in that two-year span.
03:22And I only say all that to say there is a real PTSD, not just with the fan base.
03:26I wonder if this organization actually has a PTSD of like, hey, man, we can't...
03:32We just can't let our four- and five-hole hitter and our first baseman just all year long
03:38continue to be a dead bat in this lineup that doesn't come through for us.
03:43I wonder if the PTSD is real, like beyond just the fan base.
03:47Well, I think you're talking about in the front office, the decision makers.
03:51It may be there.
03:54And I think even bigger, though, is, see, you had Abreu, but you had Bregman and you had Tucker.
04:01Like, they were both in the lineup.
04:04Like, Abreu was not fraught here.
04:07You thought, all right, in this lineup, we're like, he's a complimentary piece.
04:11We've got Altuve.
04:13We've got Bregman.
04:14We've got Yordan.
04:15We've got Tucker.
04:16We've got four guys right there.
04:18And this guy's going to hit fifth or be the complimentary guy.
04:22That's not what Christian Walker is supposed to be.
04:25When you walked into this year, we got Altuve.
04:28You got Yordan.
04:30Maybe Diaz ahead of him, but I don't even think that is the case.
04:34I think, well, Christian Walker, you brought him in $20 million a year, just like you gave
04:39Al Abreu.
04:40You, he was, like, he's supposed to be one of your top three guys.
04:44You don't have, you don't have the luxury of having Tucker and Bregman here to offset him.
04:48Now, Paredes is trying to be in that space.
04:53But that makes this different to where I think Dane and them, they got to, they got to really
04:57look at it because this isn't your fifth guy.
04:59Yes, absolutely.
05:00He's playing a bigger role than Abreu and even Uli, obviously.
05:05So, is there a PTSD that's reeled beyond the fan base to the front office?
05:10And could that lead to the way they handle the first base situation, maybe with a little
05:15bit more sense of urgency than we've seen it in the past, right?
05:17And then I think there's a couple more things here, Ron.
05:20I think when you look at Zach DiCenzo and you look at Yainer Diaz, both of those guys
05:25can play first base.
05:26And I know DiCenzo has played above well done, has played better than expected.
05:32And Diaz has shown some flashes, but has still not made the stride that we all hoped.
05:38But you've got two guys there that can also play first base, right?
05:42Then you've got, stay with me here, you've got Caratini, who is a switch hitter, one of a
05:47handful of left-handed bats in this lineup.
05:50He's swinging the bat really well.
05:53And you may be in a position where you have to get his bat in the lineup sooner rather than
05:58later.
05:58And then you're going to have Yordan come back, and he's going to field the DH role.
06:01So, you're going to have less slots for all these guys to get swings.
06:07And so, I just wonder, Ron, ultimately, if the leash, which I think it has to be, if the
06:13leash is shorter, with Christian Walker and the lack of production at the first base position
06:19for the Astros, given all the circumstances that we just lined up, right?
06:25Christian Walker is more important than Uli was.
06:27He's more important than Abreu was.
06:29In this lineup, the Zinser's base and have swung the bat better than Christian Walker.
06:37Caratini is a left-handed bat and has swung the bat better than any of the above.
06:44And Yordan comes back as a DH, and you have one less position to get all these guys' swings.
06:50It seems like there could be a chance that Joe Espada and whoever the decision-makers are
06:57make a decision with a little more sense of urgency than we've seen them in the past
07:01at that first base position.
07:03My question to you, because I think Tyler looked it up yesterday and said, by this time,
07:08they had sent Abreu to the California Penal League, or the Florida Penal League at this
07:12point.
07:13Gulf Coast Penal.
07:14It was on vacation at this moment last year.
07:16Like, how far, because he's, we've already, we've already arrived here at May 21st, where
07:25he has dropped him in the lineup.
07:27He hit 35 times in the cleanup spot.
07:30We've now arrived to, he's in the five spot.
07:33Whenever Yordan's hand gives him the ability to come back, we're pretty sure that there is
07:38going to be a drop maybe there.
07:40Clint, how far away do you think, or how bad does it have to get, do you think?
07:45For Joe Espada, Dana Brown, because that ain't just a Joe Espada decision, before they have
07:53to act and, and, and maybe get more into the DeZenzo can play first, platoon situation,
07:59Diaz can play.
08:00I just think, Ron, that, that, I mean, you, you hit the nail on the head with it.
08:04That, that bat is, is more important.
08:08And if you're not going to produce at a, at a top level, you have to get more bats in
08:16the lineup.
08:16It's more important that you get the hot bats in the lineup.
08:18It's more important that you get bats in the lineup that have produced over the year.
08:23And because again, it's just not the same baseball team.
08:26I mean, you're not going to be, you don't have the luxuries that former Astros teams have
08:30had.
08:30At least I don't think you do.
08:31And so maybe, maybe a little different approach for all those reasons is warranted here.
08:37I've, I've got to believe, I know as a fan for me and I, and I'm a Christian Walker guy,
08:41I was hoping Christian Walker would come in here and I think everybody was hoping, but
08:44I mean, I wanted to be a fan of the guy and I want to stick in there with him, but damn,
08:49I mean, it is just, it's, it's, it's, I've gotten into the PTSD, like the, the PTSD of
08:56Abreu has become a thing with me and hell, I was a guy that, that was a little bit more
08:59patient with all of the above and it's, it's, I mean, it's starting to, to, to affect me
09:04as a fan.
09:05His importance and the injury to your Don has heightened.
09:09Yeah.
09:10Absolutely.
09:10And now Altuve is, is kind of, was kind of struggling.
09:13Now he did get a couple of hits yesterday, which is good, but yeah, it's, it's, it's
