- 15 hours ago
Seth and Sean talk with Alex Faust, play-by-play announcer for Apple TV's MLB coverage, about tonight's Astros-Angels game.
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00:00Astros coming off a shutout loss on opening day yesterday,
00:06three to nothing to the Los Angeles angels are back at it again tonight.
00:10Game two of the season here on a Friday night out at Dykin park.
00:14The game will be on Apple TV tonight.
00:16So looking forward to Apple's Friday night coverage of major league baseball
00:19here in Houston,
00:20joining us right now to talk about tonight's game and the coverage from Apple
00:23TV,
00:24the upcoming season as well is the play by play voice of tonight's game.
00:28Alex Fouts joining us here on sports radio,
00:31six 10 Alex.
00:32Good morning.
00:32How you doing?
00:33Appreciate the invite guys.
00:36bright and early,
00:36I guess,
00:37relatively speaking for,
00:38uh,
00:39for sports television people,
00:40but,
00:40uh,
00:40we're ready to go.
00:41Good,
00:42good,
00:43good.
00:43Yeah,
00:43no,
00:43it's,
00:43and you do hockey as well,
00:46which,
00:46I mean,
00:46some late nights for you too.
00:48So,
00:48well,
00:49I mean,
00:49we're,
00:49we got the playoffs around the corner,
00:51so,
00:51you know,
00:522 a.m.
00:52triple overtime.
00:54I'm ready and waiting for that.
00:56Oh yeah,
00:57absolutely.
00:57I got big respect for people to call hockey games,
00:59man.
00:59That action is fast and furious.
01:01Um,
01:02but we got baseball coming up tonight.
01:03So let's talk about,
01:04let's talk about this,
01:06I guess,
01:06just Alex,
01:06big picture on the Astros before we dig into tonight's game.
01:10Um,
01:10it's strange.
01:11It's,
01:12it's a kind of a strange feeling here in Houston because it feels like
01:14things are winding down on the era of dominance that the Astros
01:18have when you see them on all these power rankings and they're
01:20hanging around in the upper teens.
01:22Where are you on this Astros team right now as someone who's about to
01:25call this game tonight?
01:25Well,
01:26you know,
01:27every baseball season,
01:29you walk in with a whole bunch of ifs.
01:31Well,
01:31if this,
01:32then that,
01:33and I feel like with the Astros,
01:36they're kind of in that space right now.
01:39Well,
01:39you know,
01:40if the acquisitions to help bolster their rotation pan out,
01:45and if Josh Hader comes back,
01:47the dominant closer that,
01:49that we expect him to be,
01:51if they can figure out their infield glut,
01:54if they can sort out what's going to happen in the outfield,
01:56well then,
01:57okay,
01:57you know,
01:57the Astros are right there with any of the team.
01:59And I'd say the AL West is,
02:01you know,
02:01not exactly going to be lighting the world on fire.
02:04But I think that's kind of where they're at right now.
02:06There are still a lot of unsettled questions about this Astros team,
02:11not in a hugely negative way,
02:14but in a way that does,
02:16you know,
02:16pose a question even to the manager of how you're going to sort through some of
02:20these personnel challenges.
02:22You know,
02:22and Sean and I have kind of,
02:23you know,
02:25playfully yelled at each other this week because Sean is the eternal optimist.
02:30And he's,
02:31he's a little upset that people aren't giving Mike Burroughs more,
02:34more respect.
02:35And I've been the one that's had to point out that Sean,
02:38he's,
02:38he's played 24 games in the major leagues.
02:41And this Astros ability to get the most out of pitchers isn't always a
02:46foregone conclusion.
02:47Where are you knowing that you might face the ire of Sean,
02:50if you don't answer this,
02:51right?
02:51That's right,
02:52Alex,
02:52look the hell out.
02:53Where,
02:54where are you?
02:54Are you expecting Mike Burroughs to pitch eight innings of shutout
02:57baseball tonight?
02:58Are you a little bit more realistic about it?
03:01Furiously looking at my calendar to see when the next Astros game I'm on is
03:05and just making sure that I,
03:06okay,
03:08you know,
03:09like the,
03:09the,
03:09the thing,
03:10this is again,
03:11one of those question marks,
03:12right?
03:12You know,
03:13outstanding spring.
03:14I mean,
03:14you could not find a single guy in the Astros organization who had anything other
03:19but extreme optimism around Burroughs,
03:23but you know,
03:24there's,
03:24there's a reason why he's involved in a transaction in the off season and,
03:28and Houston,
03:29let's,
03:29let's point this out.
03:29They have a track record here of working with pitchers and,
03:33and tweaking pitch mixes and finding strengths that,
03:38that have turned guys who have otherwise,
03:40you know,
03:41not been as successful in other places into really good pitchers.
03:45So I think from an optimist point of view,
03:48absolutely.
03:49Mike Burroughs could be another one of those examples.
03:53You know,
03:53I,
03:54I think,
03:54you know,
03:55what we saw yesterday with the angels is they answered at least,
03:58you know,
03:59one question early on about their pitching,
04:01you know,
04:02with a tremendous outing from Jose Soriano.
04:06Right.
04:07So it's what it comes down to,
04:09I think for both of these clubs really is how their rotation sets the tone.
04:14And,
04:14and Burroughs is going to be a huge part of that.
04:16Alex Faust play by play guy for Apple TV on the game tonight between the
04:19angels and the Astros joining us here on sports radio,
04:24six,
04:2410 just one more Astros question for me,
04:28Alex is just,
04:29I know as you prepare for these games and things like this,
04:31you talk to people in the organization,
04:33probably talk to Joe Espada,
04:34some of the players and whatnot.
04:35Are there any themes that you're getting from talking to guys in there,
04:39either,
04:39you know,
04:40behind the scenes in the clubhouse or how they're viewing this season that
04:43you're getting from talking to people within the Astros organization?
04:47Yeah,
04:48I,
04:48I,
04:48I get the sense from,
04:50you know,
04:50even up to the general manager.
04:52And I haven't spoken personally with Dana Brown,
04:54but just,
04:54you know,
04:55some of his comments,
04:55even over the off season about the,
04:58the Astros offense had lost its identity.
05:02I mean,
05:02that's a,
05:03that's a strong statement to make.
05:04I mean,
05:04the numbers back it up based on the drop in homers,
05:07OPS and slug,
05:08but that that's the big thing that I'm looking at more than anything else with
05:11this Astros team.
05:12And I think Joe Espada would probably tell you the same thing that,
05:15you know,
05:15not only do they need to get those,
05:16you know,
05:17top line numbers up and counting stats in a better place,
05:19but situational hitting was not in a great place last year.
05:23I think there were a lot of guys on this team that were pressing a bit,
05:27trying to do too much,
05:29you know,
05:29driving in runners from second base with less than two outs.
05:36I mean,
05:36they're,
05:36they rank near the bottom of baseball runners in scoring position.
05:40Overall,
05:40they were bottom seven or eight.
05:42I have here in my notes.
05:44So,
05:45you know,
05:45that those to me are the two big things to watch is,
05:48you know,
05:49and this circles back to personnel as well,
05:51you know,
05:51making sure that everybody can get it.
05:52That's what the glut that they've got in their infield right now.
05:55Jeremy Pena,
05:55you know,
05:56on the active roster is can they put together the same kind of offense that
06:02you guys have come to expect and,
06:04and has been the standard here in Houston for so many years that this
06:07has been such a dangerous team.
06:10And,
06:11and I looked at the opening day line and I'm like,
06:13okay,
06:14that's a pretty long lineup right now.
06:16Like there's so many guys in here,
06:17like on paper,
06:18like,
06:18okay,
06:18you know,
06:19I've got,
06:19you know,
06:20Diaz and Myers and the eight and nine holes here.
06:23Like,
06:23okay,
06:23I'm feeling pretty good about this.
06:25If I'm an Astros fan and Carlos Correa,
06:27you know,
06:28who's,
06:28who's talked at length about,
06:29you know,
06:30he's tried to,
06:30you know,
06:31sort through his health issues and just knowing the vibes around the
06:35team.
06:35When Correa came back,
06:37that's an intangible,
06:38right.
06:38But I do think for this Astros team,
06:40it has to come down to the offense.
06:41They have to be better.
06:43They have to,
06:43to reach that standard that they set years ago.
06:46Otherwise,
06:46yeah,
06:47you know,
06:47maybe,
06:48maybe the pessimist side of you is going to be right in the end.
06:50But I do think that there are a lot of things for this
06:53Astros team.
06:53If they just check a couple of boxes that they'll be right in the
06:57hut.
06:57We're speaking with Alex Faust.
06:59He'll do the play by play for Apple TV.
07:00The game's on Apple TV tonight,
07:02Alex,
07:02Sean and I try really hard not to turn into grumpy old men.
07:05And,
07:06and,
07:07and we try to embrace all of the kind of the gimmicky stuff that the
07:12streaming services will do with sports.
07:14I like,
07:15I like the experiment.
07:16I get nervous about in-game interviews when you're talking to
07:21fielders.
07:21Do we have any in-game interviews tonight?
07:24We do have the managers that we do an interview with.
07:27And part of it for our broadcast is that they're sponsored.
07:32So,
07:32you know,
07:33we have to,
07:33we have to get them in.
07:34We make people.
07:35We get that Alex.
07:37Yeah,
07:37but what about players in the field?
07:40So none tonight.
07:41I mean,
07:42I can't speak for what we're going to do later on this year.
07:46I think,
07:46well,
07:47I had a great example,
07:48even on Wednesday night,
07:49which was just unfortunate.
07:50We had a coach interview and it went over top of a goal that was scored on,
07:54on a hockey game.
07:55And I was calling it,
07:55it just happens from time to time.
07:57I think what we're,
07:58what we're trying to do with those is just give a little bit of access.
08:02And sometimes it's,
08:03you know,
08:04well-timed and it,
08:05it works out great.
08:06And other times,
08:07yeah,
08:07you know,
08:08get egg on our face.
08:09And that's just from the broadcast industry overall.
08:13There was,
08:14yeah,
08:15there was a time and a place for it.
08:16And I think that's why we try to knock it out.
08:18If we're going to do a manager interview,
08:19it's always like,
08:20Oh yeah.
08:20Get that.
08:21I'm cool.
08:22I'm cool.
08:22The manager interviews.
08:23And I understand like,
08:24that's just a,
08:25I get nervous about the end game interviews just because I just,
08:28I,
08:28I always have the fear that somebody's,
08:31some of these guys don't have the attention span.
08:33I get nervous too.
08:34I don't want to be the guy on the air when the guy makes an error and I'm
08:37there just chatting with him.
08:39Yeah.
08:39So when we've done that in the past,
08:41at least,
08:42at least in our broadcast,
08:43what we've tried to do is just be as out of the way as possible.
08:47You know,
08:48if we're going to,
08:49if we're going to chat about something,
08:51it's in game or what I've tried to do,
08:53because again,
08:54I'm nervous when I'm doing these,
08:56what we call two way interviews.
08:59I would almost rather hear the sounds of the game.
09:02Like maybe I'll get,
09:02you know,
09:03a question or two,
09:04right,
09:04right off the top.
09:05And then I just want to hear,
09:06how are you communicating in the infield?
09:07Can we just,
09:08can we lay out and let you hear how you're communicating with the infield?
09:11I think that's where we get far more value from having those live
09:15microphones than me asking about his favorite flavor of ice cream.
09:20Yeah.
09:20You flipped me on it,
09:21Alex,
09:21because now I feel like you might actually improve some of the young
09:24players,
09:25especially who struggle to communicate sometimes.
09:27Yeah.
09:28You're like a coach on the field.
09:30You know,
09:30who one of the best that this is,
09:31is Carlos Correa.
09:32We had an interview when he was with the twins.
09:34We did an in-game interview with him.
09:37I remember vividly because it was usually I'm a skeptic when it comes to
09:41these sorts of things,
09:41but it opened my eyes like,
09:42okay,
09:43this dude's like,
09:44you know,
09:44he's,
09:44he's very active in the field,
09:46communicating with his teammates.
09:48And it really opened my eyes to how these guys work and how,
09:53you know,
09:53they're,
09:53they're locked in.
09:54Every single pitch,
09:56which is hard to do in 162 game season,
09:58but he's one of those few guys that is constantly talking out on the
10:01field.
10:02And it was really an illuminating experience.
10:04And,
10:04and we basically told him like,
10:06we're going to ask you maybe one or two questions.
10:08Then Hey,
10:08have at it,
10:09man.
10:09Like,
10:09we just want to hear how you do your job.
10:11That's a really,
10:12so well.
10:12Yeah.
10:12That's a great approach,
10:13especially with him.
10:14That's a great approach.
10:15Cause I,
10:15he's a student of the game,
10:17man.
10:17Like he is fun to listen to.
10:19He's fun to listen to talk about the game,
10:21but I would imagine,
10:22you know,
10:22it's fun just listening to him,
10:23go about his business out there.
10:25Good call.
10:25Good call by you,
10:26Alex on that one for sure.
10:28And looking forward to a good call tonight.
10:30Apple TV,
10:31Alex Faust on the play-by-play for tonight's game between the angels and the
10:35Astros.
10:35Alex,
10:36hopefully you get to see a run scored by the Astros tonight.
10:38How about that?
10:38Well,
10:38you know what?
10:39That would be,
10:40that would be a good start.
10:42You know,
10:43game two,
10:44you know,
10:44you got to get at least one there.
10:45That's exactly right.
10:46Hey,
10:46we appreciate you making some time.
10:48Have a great call tonight.
10:49Welcome to Houston.
10:50Appreciate it,
10:51guys.
10:51Thanks for having me.
10:51Thanks.
10:52Alex Faust of Apple TV.
10:54I enjoy some of the,
10:56you know,
10:56the,
10:57the,
10:57the other streaming games.
10:58I like,
10:58you know,
10:58I think our guys,
10:59you know,
11:00Callis and Blum and Julia do a fantastic job.
11:02I love the studio shows as well.
11:04It's always fun to drop a little something new in there every now
11:07and then all right.
11:08And that'll be tonight on Apple TV.
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