00:00The Astros lose last night 5-1 to the Colorado Rockies, but the bigger news long-term is Hunter Brown.
00:08Grade 2 shoulder strain. He's going to refrain from throwing for a few weeks.
00:13That's the announcement that the team put out yesterday.
00:17I've already got all the skeptical texts coming in, Seth, on the base power text line.
00:23Astros few weeks equals after the All-Star break.
00:26Yeah, if at all. There's a well-earned pessimism amongst people.
00:31I will not judge any of you for assuming the worst.
00:35I won't judge any of you if you call Sean and I morons for not calling Hunter Brown's season completely
00:42dead right now.
00:43I'm more optimistic than that.
00:45And I do feel like, all right, on average, you're looking at a couple months, most likely.
00:52And anywhere from four to eight weeks, but probably on the cautious side of that.
00:59And it really just comes down to, all right, what the hell can they get out of the rest of
01:02these guys?
01:03Yeah, I thought Patrick Creighton laid it out really.
01:05I thought he did a good job of laying it out.
01:07I hate the information he's sharing, but I think it's good information and it's clearly well-researched.
01:13Patrick Creighton, who, of course, is co-host of Area 45 with Sean Bajani, Knights here on Sports Radio 610,
01:19kind of laid out.
01:21It just, his tweet just keeps stacking things that take two weeks.
01:26You know, shoulder strain involves partial tearing of a muscle and the shoulder stabilizer is usually the rotator cuff.
01:32Grade two strains typically involve the posterior rotator cuff.
01:36It can also involve muscles of the shoulder blade.
01:38This is when he starts stacking the weeks here, Seth.
01:41Grade two strains are usually treated with rest and anti-inflammatories early, first two weeks,
01:46followed by range of motion exercises and band work the next two weeks,
01:50increasing the light weights and movements the next two weeks.
01:53Then, in week six, you start a light throwing progression.
01:56For a starting pitcher like Hunter Brown, this is a six-week injury in a perfect world,
02:01an eight- to ten-week injury in a more realistic world.
02:04But as long as he gets through all the stages with no pain, you should be able to fully recover
02:08without surgery.
02:09That is Dr. Patrick Creighton on Twitter.
02:12So, okay, glass half full guy weighing in here.
02:15What if the Astros can figure out a way to get the most out of these pitchers?
02:20And I'm optimistic about EMI right now.
02:22I'm cautiously, I'm not pessimistic about Burroughs, but I'm not optimistic either.
02:28Yeah, I'm middle of the road.
02:29I know we joke about my love for Burroughs.
02:32I just want to be very clear.
02:32I'm very middle of the road on Burroughs right now.
02:34Javier, I'm petrified.
02:36Yes.
02:37Today's a big day, man.
02:38And Lance McCullers, I'm encouraged but also petrified.
02:42You guys know, I'll be petrified about Lance McCullers' health from now until game five of the World Series.
02:50You just never know.
02:51So, it's a dicey scenario, my friend.
02:54Yeah, and how many names did you just give us?
02:56Four, right?
02:57I only gave you four names.
02:58Four names.
02:58They're going to start up a six-man rotation on Thursday.
03:01Sorry, they're off Thursday.
03:02On Friday this week.
03:04So, Friday they start with a six-man rotation.
03:06So, two of the guys, they have a rotation that does not have Hunter Brown right now that has a
03:12guy in Mike Burroughs who's thrown very little in the big leagues, a guy in Emai who has thrown two
03:19games in the big leagues, a guy in Lance McCullers who was banished to the bullpen at the end of
03:24last year, a guy in Christian Javier who is really close.
03:27He would be really close to being banished to the bullpen on a good pitching staff, but now they've got
03:33to roll with him.
03:34Two of the six guys that you are going to be starting in the six-man rotation are likely not
03:40on this team right now as of today.
03:42Now, Spencer Arrighetti has been on the Astros on and off the last few years.
03:46He's going to be one of them, it would appear.
03:48Well, and that was the plan all along was for Arrighetti to come back.
03:51Yeah, no, I'm being a little overly dramatic.
03:53I get it.
03:54And then the sixth spot, who the hell knows what they're going to do?
03:57If you're looking for encouragement or encouraging news, Jason Alexander, who was one of the guys who kept them in
04:03the playoff hunt last year when they had all those injuries in the pitching staff, had a really good start
04:07last night at Sugar Land.
04:09He threw seven and I believe seven innings and change.
04:11He was excellent.
04:13Could be him.
04:13He certainly, of the guys whose names are getting tossed around for the sixth spot in the rotation, Seth, he's
04:21the one that's got the most recent body of work that's encouraging.
04:25Colton Gordon, I'm not that enthused about.
04:27Lambert was a guy who was in spring training this year.
04:30And then Blue Ball, until the appearance he had a couple of days ago where he got knocked around pretty
04:36good.
04:36Blue Ball has been a guy that, going back to last season, I think people, I think Astro fans have
04:42looked at it and said,
04:42look, if you get him stretched out, get him giving you four or five innings, that's a pretty good solution
04:46for a sixth starter.
04:47Well, and Ryan Weiss also originally was signed to be a starter, but he's been relegated to long relief.
04:53So they've got plenty of options.
04:54It's just nothing to get super enthusiastic about.
04:57Yeah, they're just not good options.
04:58Yeah.
04:59So that's what...
05:00Sean, all they need to do is continue, as they have been, as being one of the best three offenses
05:04in baseball.
05:05Yep.
05:06Which has led them to a 500 record.
05:08That's no joke.
05:09That's a problem.
05:09They're going to have to keep scoring at least six runs every night.
05:12And that's just to stay 500.
05:14Yeah.
05:16They've just...
05:17They're going to have these games where they allow 10 runs.
05:20Now, if I make excuses for them between playing in Sacramento, excuse me, and playing in Colorado,
05:29it's an easy place to get some lopsided scores.
05:33And they've been a victim of bad luck at times.
05:36The fielding was immaculate early on.
05:38They didn't have an error until Lance McCullers had that one a couple days ago.
05:42And now they've got four or five errors already.
05:45It hasn't been as immaculate as it was during the second golden era.
05:49Yeah, they...
05:50Have we proclaimed the second golden era dead yet?
05:52No.
05:52I feel like being a 500 baseball team can't be part of the golden era.
05:56I'm not declaring anything dead until we know more about Hunter Brown and when he's going to be back.
06:00He's not going to be an all-star this year.
06:02He will not be an all-star.
06:03Well, somebody asked me on the base power text line, how are you feeling, Sean, about your over-12 win
06:10prop bet on Hunter Brown?
06:12Remember, I gave my prop bets out last week.
06:14And honestly, in going over on Hunter Brown, I did something that I don't normally do,
06:20which is take overs on things or injuries could torpedo your bet.
06:23But he'd been such a workhorse and 12 felt so attainable that I took the bet.
06:29So, answer your question, Texter.
06:30I think you know the answer.
06:31I feel horrible about it right now.
06:33He's not going to get there.
06:34He won 12 last year and he pitched 188 innings.
06:37So, I feel terrible about it.
06:38Well, you've got a pretty notorious reputation for jinxing people.
06:41I mean, you could feel personally responsible about it.
06:45They're 2-0 when I go to games this year.
06:47All right?
06:48I've been to two games.
06:49They're 2-0.
06:50So, I don't know what you're talking about.
06:52I don't know.
06:53That's fake news.
06:54You're making stuff up, jinxing people.
06:56People accuse you of it.
06:57Yeah.
06:58Well, and they're incorrect.
06:59You injured Kyle Tucker.
07:01So did you.
07:02Only because I was there with you.
07:06I didn't even want to go that night.
07:08We were there.
07:09We were there the night that Kyle Tucker, we were like 10 feet away from him when he fouled the
07:14ball off his shin.
07:15So, yeah, I'll wear that one.
07:17But I've gotten better at not cursing people.
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