00:00What does Houston look like without Jordan Alvarez? We've seen it. They look good. You and I both agree that this is the team that could come out of the American League, not just the West, but the American League. Now, Jordan Alvarez, yet to resume hitting because of the hand issue. Is this just a waiting game? Because if you drop Alvarez in this lineup at the end of August, I mean, the whole league gets turned upside down. What's going on here?
00:24I think you're 100% right. I think that's absolutely true, which is if he comes back in August, plays healthy August and September the way he is capable of playing, which, by the way, he hasn't played. But he hasn't played that way at all this year because of that hand. And the fact that he doesn't have a timetable is concerning.
00:40He is. He is. But hand issues, they zap the power. We know this, right? So he hasn't been right all year. So this Alvarez situation, to me, if you're the Astros, you need some sort of insurance policy because I do think that the Astros are the most dangerous team in the American League. And the reason I think that is because they're going to have more pitching at the end of the day than anybody else.
01:00So you've already got Valdez, who is probably, I don't know, the most underappreciated pitcher in Major League Baseball every single year. You got Hunter Brown at the top of that rotation, right? So you're good there. You're getting Spencer Arrighetti returning soon. He's already working his way back. You're getting Garcia coming back pretty soon.
01:17Look, you can talk about the Gordons and Walters and McCullers and all those guys. You know, they're just filling in right now. At some point, you might even have Christian Javier by the end of August or middle of August, who's either helping you in the bullpen or helping you in the rotation.
01:32So you're going to have a lot of arms here and a lot of depth. Now, can you flip one of those guys from that? Maybe because a lot of teams are looking for starting pitching. But what's been so great about Houston is Isak Paredes has stepped up. Christian Walker starting to hit a little bit.
01:45Cam Smith has been really good after a slow start. So all of a sudden, the Houston lineup has been pretty good. And you have Hader at the end, who is a lockdown closer, right?
01:56But you need another bat in this offense. Like Taylor Trammell is a fun story, but I don't think that's going to get it done.
02:01If they can go out there and acquire one more bat, and then Alvarez is like a bonus if he comes back healthy, I think the Astros are going to be a ton to contend with. I really do.
02:10Because you look at that Tigers lineup, and I'm still just not, I'm not intimidated by any of those bats.
02:15Like Riley Green's a great player, Torkelson, Javier Baez having a good season.
02:18Like, what are you scared of those guys in a big spot in October? I just don't know if the answer is yes to that at this point.
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