00:00And I want to start here because Patrick, I look at the Astros and I would say this to the
00:10people as well.
00:12I look at them and I think even though they have an outfield that is to me just horrid.
00:18I mean, when I look at it, it's just like, whew, my man Zach Cole's got about 47 at-bats
00:23and he seems to be a shoo-in in one of these spots that they really, really like.
00:27Like in Cam Smith and Jake Myers, we'll see if he can respond.
00:30But you look at an outfield, that is not exactly a championship type of outfield that you think about.
00:37That's not the outfield that you think about when you say, oh, it's going to be AOS champs.
00:40There we go.
00:42But even within that, PC, I think that they have enough bats in their lineup
00:49where they can still do what they need to do offensively.
00:53They may not be coming from the outfield.
00:55You hope that it would, but when you got Payne and you got Yornan and you got Altuve and you
01:02got Correa
01:03and you got Yiner Diaz who does need to bounce back, but Yiner Diaz ain't pathetic.
01:08And you've got Christian Walker who had a really good second half,
01:11still led your team in home runs and RBIs last year.
01:14Like you got, I feel like you got enough bats, right?
01:17Go take a look at that Toronto Blue Jays lineup at the end of the season.
01:21I think that they could match what that is.
01:25To me, it is all about do they have enough pitching to be able to play with the Mariners
01:30and play with the top teams in the A in the American League.
01:33That's to me is what this is about.
01:35Like if you are going to argue and think they don't have enough bats, all right, that's your thought.
01:39I don't know where you are, PC.
01:41I think they have enough at the plate to be able to compete.
01:44It's to me about the pitching because I feel like they got one and then a bunch of hopes.
01:49And so that's where I start this out.
01:51713-572-4610.
01:53Do you believe the Astros have enough pitching to be able to overtake the Mariners
01:59and be a real player in the American League?
02:01Your thought.
02:02Well, number one, let's keep in mind, once upon a time,
02:05the Mets got to a World Series with an outfield of Timo Perez, Jay Payton, and Benny Agbiani.
02:11Jay Payton, wow.
02:12Now, Benny Agbiani would come up big.
02:15Now, don't do that to Benny.
02:16Benny was nice.
02:18Do you remember Benny?
02:19He had an offensive lineman number, didn't he?
02:21Was he 53 or something?
02:22He was 58 because Hawaii, 50th state.
02:24There we go.
02:25Benny once handed the ball to a fan after making a catch,
02:28not realizing that there was only two outs.
02:31That's all right, man.
02:32It happened.
02:33Yeah, then tried to get the ball back.
02:35Didn't quite work that way.
02:38Do they have enough pitching?
02:40You know, do you feel good about Hunter Brown?
02:43Oh, he is.
02:44Like, I feel like, I feel great about him, but also, he does have pressure.
02:50He's got to perform, right?
02:51Like, because of what they have behind him.
02:53But I feel like the Hunter Brown we saw last year
02:57and the second half of the year before that, I think, like, that's the guy.
03:00I feel good about Tatsuya Imei.
03:02You do?
03:02I feel good about Imei.
03:03I think that, look, this is a guy who was a dominant pitcher in Japan.
03:07And we have seen, often, when guys first come over from Japan, they dominate.
03:14Now, a couple of years later, that might not necessarily be so true.
03:18Guys coming over from Japan, guys coming over from Tatsuya.
03:20But usually that first year, those young guys who come over their first year,
03:25they pitch great.
03:26And this is a guy who, coming into the offseason,
03:29was considered one of the top three free agent pitchers in the market.
03:33And they just happened to get him on a discount because, well,
03:37everybody coming over from overseas this year was kind of on this curve
03:43where they all signed at discounts.
03:45Even Murakami came on a discount.
03:47And that dude's supposed to have, like, generational power.
03:49So, I feel good about him pitching, like, maybe a two, at least a three.
03:57That's what I was going to say.
03:58What's your expectation of what he is?
04:00Because, PC, I love the stuff.
04:03But I do have concern, like,
04:05is he going to be able to translate over here immediately?
04:09I think there is a deal of people having seen him for a little bit.
04:12And that might help with them.
04:14But so, you think he has – you're confident he's got front of the rotation type.
04:19That's what he's going to potentially bring to the table.
04:21That's the case.
04:22That changes the game to hell.
04:23Yeah, they got enough.
04:23I think legitimate possibility he pitches like a two.
04:29I think possible Christian Javier returns and looks like a two.
04:34Might be more probable he looks like a three.
04:36But if Javier at least pitches like a three,
04:39I think you're getting a lot of Christian Javier,
04:41who will then be another, you know, a full season removed
04:46from having Tommy John surgery and maybe gets that feel back.
04:50He – you saw last year he had really – he had games where he had really good stuff
04:55and he had other games where he seemed to struggle with his command.
04:58And now being a full year removed from that surgery,
05:02is he able to, you know, look like his old self?
05:05And if he is, that's a really big deal for him.
05:08No, that's the – like Christian Javier has had moments where he's looked like an ace.
05:13He's pitched – there have been moments where you could argue
05:16he was the best pitcher in postseason runs.
05:18He's come up with combined no-hitters going six innings, no-hit ball
05:23at Yankee Stadium, at the vet.
05:27Well, not the vet now.
05:28I don't think it's the vet.
05:29My God.
05:30Jesus, Bang Clark, but you can tell I've –
05:32Jesus, PC, the vet?
05:33You know, I once got thrown –
05:34They tear ACLs at the vet.
05:35Was that Willie Galt who ran a – he ran a – this is before your time, Tyler.
05:39Willie Galt ran a – ran a go-route and got in one of them seams at the vet
05:44tore both his knees up.
05:46I almost got murdered at the vet.
05:48Two Phillies fans tried to throw me over a rail.
05:52Why?
05:52What did you do?
05:53No, no.
05:53What did you do?
05:54I wore a Mets jersey.
05:55You wore a Mets jersey and they tried to throw you over the rail.
05:57And they tried to throw you over somebody.
06:00Dude, there was a cop right there looking at us, just didn't do nothing.
06:05So how did you not go over the railing?
06:07Because, I mean, no offense.
06:08I feel like if two people tried to throw you over the railing
06:10and the cop was going to let it go.
06:14I got all the way down to the ground and I blasted one of them in the sack.
06:20And then what happened?
06:21They just walked away?
06:22That's when things – other people started getting in and I was able to escape.
06:29I blasted one in the sack.
06:30I blasted one in the sack and that drew a crowd.
06:33And as the crowd came in, I was able to sneak out.
06:35Okay.
06:36Well, all right.
06:37So you do think – so with all that being said, you do think they have enough pitching.
06:42I think they – I think it's very reasonable to think they have enough pitching, right?
06:48I think Mike Burrows is going to look a lot better after the Astros get him in the lab
06:53and show him very much like they did with Garrett Cole.
06:55You know, Garrett Cole's first day with the Astros, like, hey, look, need to –
07:00after just playing catch, just get the catcher asking him, hey, is this how you want the ball coming out
07:05of your hand?
07:05Do you like when the ball comes out of your hand this way?
07:07Nobody ever asked him these questions before.
07:09They're like, okay, look, you need to go in and do some film review.
07:11And he's like, film review?
07:13It's my first day.
07:14Like, what are we reviewing?
07:15They pulled up all kinds of film on him.
07:17Like, this is when you look at your best.
07:19This is when you don't look at your best.
07:21This is how your pitch looks.
07:22This is your pitch shape.
07:23This is your piece point.
07:24The Astros break everything down.
07:27And he's going to get that here probably for the first time in his career.
07:31And at that point, I think Mike Burrows will probably be a better pitcher.
07:35The Astros are excellent at maximizing the most they get out of a pitcher.
07:39I think Mike Burrows will feel that.
07:41Then you've got Spencer Arrighetti coming back from just a lost season with injuries.
07:47You have Ryan Weiss who just threw nearly 180.
07:49See, now you're getting a little too far down.
07:52I'm glad you hadn't brought up Lance yet.
07:53We've got to hear from Lance McCullers here in a little bit.
07:55This is getting rough.
07:57Listen, you have more confidence than I do right now.
08:00My biggest space of confidence is I do believe that they'll be able to figure out the pitching part.
08:08Because even if it comes up, I think, as you said, they have been pretty good over the years with
08:15getting the best out of guys.
08:16So I think they will get some of these guys to step up to be quality starters.
08:21I don't know if they're going to be.
08:22And now this all goes with Hunter Brown, right?
08:24Being Hunter Brown.
08:25But I think they will be able to get enough.
08:27My biggest, if I'm an Astros fan, positive feel I feel about the pitching, because I do think most of
08:34it is more hopes and unknowns,
08:37is they legit have a clear piece or a clear pieces that at some point they could trade if they
08:44needed to get what they need to get.
08:47Right?
08:47Like, we understand the influx of the infield, which means they have a move to make to go get a
08:54quality pitcher.
08:55So even if it doesn't, it's like, to me, they're not just screwed with what they have here.
09:00They'll be able to get somebody if they need to.
09:02My biggest concern about the pitch is not the rotation.
09:05Oh, it's the bullpen.
09:06It's Josh Hader.
09:06It's getting to him.
09:07It's Josh Hader.
09:08Oh, it's Hader.
09:10It's Josh Hader.
09:11Because everything, the entire pen is built around Hader and Abreu.
09:16And if you lose Hader, and then you have to accelerate Abreu to the ninth, right now, there's not really
09:26a bridge to Abreu.
09:29And that really, you look at last season and how this Astros team managed to overcome injuries time and time
09:36and time again.
09:37What was the injury that broke them?
09:40It was Josh Hader.
09:41If they lose Hader, it accelerates the whole pen up an inning.
09:47And they don't have enough depth in the pen right now that you can say they can withstand that.
09:52Josh Hader coming off of what they called a sprained shoulder capsule.
09:57Now, a sprain can be anything from a sore muscle to a torn ligament, right?
10:02A sprain encompasses so many different things.
10:04And he's coming in now still not right.
10:07And he's coming in with, oh, he had a setback.
10:10He's got bicep tendinitis.
10:12And, look, no way to know whether or not that's in any way related to the fact that he had
10:19this sprained shoulder capsule.
10:20And was he compensating?
10:23Did he make an adjustment to his delivery?
10:25Because you remember back, was it late November, he had that toy drive at Dyken Park.
10:31And he said, yeah, you know, I'm throwing.
10:33I've been up to 85.
10:34I'm on the mound.
10:35And now, all of a sudden, he's throwing on flat ground.
10:39So, there was a setback.
10:41And as we learned, he developed this bicep tendinitis.
10:44If Josh Hader can't go to start the year, that's a big concern.
10:49And no matter what happens this year, because you're talking about shoulder capsule being a very serious injury.
10:55That's the kind of injury that when you tear a shoulder capsule, it can end your career.
11:00Because it is an injury that historically diminishes a pitcher's stuff.
11:06If Josh Hader is at injury risk all year, and I think you have to call him that, they really
11:11need to find another leverage arm, preferably right-handed leverage arm, for that bullpen.
11:18Whether that guy is on the team or not yet on the team, they need that.
11:22You sound really concerned about Josh Hader.
11:24I'm concerned about Josh Hader's health, yes.
11:27We'll see.
11:28We'll see.
11:29Hopefully, because what they're saying is that's not what the problem is right now.
11:34But obviously, as you said, if he loses some miles off his fastball, if that breaking ball is not breaking
11:43the way that we're accustomed to seeing it, if he has lost anything, that is a big, big change.
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