00:00I'll tell you where things might not be looking up altogether this season
00:02on the diamond for the White Sox, but they may have found a gem here.
00:06Murakami, power surge, 11 home runs.
00:08And I get angry at this too, Craig,
00:10because the fandom always is going to come out in me.
00:13During the offseason, Alec Boehm is going to be my third baseman
00:17in Philadelphia, don't need to see and go out and get another player.
00:19Murakami is killing it right now.
00:21Is the average there at 242?
00:23Not necessarily, but 20 RBIs and tied for the league in home runs with 11.
00:28This guy's been everything and more from what they even expected here in Chicago.
00:32Yeah, let's call it a great job by the White Sox organization, right?
00:37Like we haven't said that, Donnie, in a long time, but this is a great job.
00:40And, you know, a lot of teams were like iffy on him, passing on him,
00:45not really sure what to expect.
00:46He kind of bet on himself to some degree, got the shorter term deal.
00:49And Donnie, when I watch this guy swing,
00:52I don't understand how these balls are flying out of the park.
00:54It looks like this guy's not even swinging the bat.
00:56It's just like he's, this guy is like the best barrel placement
00:59I see going right now in the big leagues.
01:01He just literally like he puts it out there.
01:02Somehow this thing flies over.
01:04Good job.
01:04Also, Colson Montgomery, White Sox can swing it a little bit.
01:08They're not going to be a good team this year,
01:10but I hope that the White Sox look at this and say,
01:14hey, maybe next year it's time for us to really make a push for this thing.
01:19Because look, I find it hard to believe that they're going to beat out Detroit
01:22or beat out Cleveland, but KC may be taking a step back.
01:25Maybe Chicago taking a step forward here.
01:28You're right.
01:29Morikami was arguably the best hitter in baseball this week.
01:33Athletics looking to go to Las Vegas there with a brand new spanking stadium.
01:36But before they get there,
01:37they got a pretty good hitting stadium of their own in Sacramento.
01:40Nick Kurtz, we asked a couple questions here early, Craig.
01:42Are we worried about Nick Kurtz?
01:44Oh no.
01:45Second year back.
01:45Sophomore slump.
01:46They know how to pitch him.
01:47Home run stroke seems to be coming back.
01:49He's up to five home runs here to 242 average OPS of 865.
01:53We'll see if he can get hot as the warmer weather comes in,
01:55but a little bit of worry early in the season.
01:57Not so much right now.
01:59No, he shouldn't be worried.
02:00And the other part that the A's are just so smart with him
02:02is they have him leading off a lot, you know?
02:04So eventually, Donnie, what's going to happen is
02:07they let him work his way out of the slump
02:09with getting the most played appearances on the team
02:11on a night in and night out basis.
02:13So you knew that eventually that he was going to get hot.
02:16Kurtz had a great week.
02:17He had a bunch of home runs,
02:18and he's going to continue to hit home runs.
02:19So I really didn't have any concerns for a few weeks,
02:22and now he's getting going.
02:23How about this one, Craig?
02:25Let's go down to Houston,
02:26because you might say to yourself,
02:27well, the Astros are 10 and 18.
02:28Oh, they're all injured.
02:29Nobody's playing well at this point.
02:30When a lot of my handicap on the Astros was,
02:32well, let's see what they can do.
02:33But boy, I'm really interested in what Jordan Alvarez
02:36is going to give us this year,
02:37because if he can bounce back from his injury played,
02:39no power season last year,
02:40that's going to really help out that Astros lineup.
02:43Craig, through April, 353 average,
02:4511 bombs, 26 RBIs, and 36 hits,
02:49and they're in dead last place there out in the West.
02:52Unbelievable.
02:53He's back in full force.
02:54Just the Astros,
02:55I don't think they're going to have a great summer here at this point,
02:58because if you have your big wagon hitting like that,
03:00and you can't win games now,
03:01ouch.
03:03Donnie, is this guy going to be on the Dodgers in October?
03:05I hope not.
03:06Oh, come on.
03:06Don't do it.
03:07That would be depressing.
03:09That would be,
03:09I mean, put this guy in Cincinnati,
03:12isn't that a great fit for him right now
03:14to take the Reds over the top?
03:17Donnie, I think the Astros may be forced to trade this kid.
03:20I think they may have to do it.
03:22They may have to be in a position to rebuild.
03:26They have so few young players,
03:28him, Cam Smith.
03:30It's not that they have no one,
03:31but they have so few.
03:33I don't know.
03:34I'm sort of thinking that this is going to be the hot name
03:37at the trade deadline.
03:38Jordan is still fantastic.
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