00:02Emai has been called up after two minor league starts.
00:08And if I'll remind you, his major league season, Luke,
00:13is eight and two-thirds, 7.27 ERA.
00:18Holy mother of God.
00:2013 Ks against 11 walks in three starts.
00:23He then made two minor league starts.
00:26What did he have, dead arm?
00:28Yeah, tired arm.
00:29Tired arm.
00:30That and meals at the wrong time, yeah.
00:32Tired arm at around April 7th or something.
00:36It was interesting.
00:37But his two minor league starts, two games, five innings, 10.80 ERA,
00:45seven hits, six earned, eight walks, five Ks.
00:48And after that performance of back-to-back starts,
00:51he then is called up to face the Seattle Mariners.
00:54Welcome home.
00:55And I am not going to lie.
00:57I am nervous and scared to watch what's going to happen in this.
01:04Because I think people are going to lose their minds.
01:06I think people are on edge anyway with how he has handled things,
01:12how he has become a bit of an explanation slash excuse maker.
01:20Mixes all nervous.
01:21From things of the weather to the firmness of the mound to the timing of when he should eat
01:30to the game plan, to how they game plan, to the rest.
01:37Pitch clock.
01:38Pitch clock.
01:39That's another one.
01:39Like, he's had a lot of those in there, and his performance has stunk.
01:43And I am concerned and nervous for him because I think the noise will get louder.
01:49And it is hard for me.
01:51I hope I am getting proven wrong.
01:53But it is hard for me to see what he has done and his inability to be able to get
02:00through innings,
02:01get guys out, and not walk double-A and triple-A guys to think he's going to walk up here
02:06and put it on the Seattle Mariners.
02:08I just feel like this is probably going to go very similar to what it has been for him.
02:13He can't find the strike zone, man.
02:16I know it.
02:16And when he does, he finds it.
02:18And he gets tattooed.
02:21And I just, like, I am nervous, Luke and Tyler, to watch him tonight.
02:26As you should be.
02:27Because I don't think it's going to get good.
02:29And, like, there is a part of me that feels bad for him because I know that I would imagine
02:34the transition is difficult.
02:38And then I get the feels he's probably going to come out with an excuse afterwards
02:41if the game isn't up to where he wants it to be.
02:44But, like, I don't feel good at all about this.
02:48And I think a lot of people are going to look bad.
02:50I don't think he should be pitching up here based off what he has shown.
02:55Yeah, maybe you should be worried or afraid for, like, Dana Brown.
02:58Because if things don't go well, I wonder what the excuse will be.
03:01And if it is pointed towards, like, being rushed back or what am I doing here.
03:06I'm more intrigued than anything.
03:08It's curious to see how it goes and if there is any difference after some time away
03:12and a couple of rehab starts.
03:14But remember, the last time we saw him in the big leagues was against this Mariners team.
03:18And he walked five of seven batters he faced.
03:21So, we'll see how it goes.
03:25Maybe there's, you know, he was just getting warmed up against those guys.
03:29Now he's going to be ready to go.
03:31But, yeah, it's not great.
03:32It's intriguing to see.
03:34Yeah, I think it's intriguing to see how he does.
03:37How much worse can it get?
03:39And is there some improvement tonight after this time away?
03:43He's been gone from the big league roster for about a month.
03:45Pitched twice in rehab, like you said.
03:47Those were a disaster.
03:48So, it's kind of like a train wreck.
03:50I don't know.
03:50Like, let's see what we get tonight.
03:52Like, I feel like they're forcing him into this.
03:57I'll find you a few more excuses.
03:59Like, I'm sorry.
04:00I don't, maybe, and they know more than I do.
04:03I don't think he was down there just working on stuff.
04:06And this is what it led to.
04:08Because the manager, Joe Espada, said before his start in AAA,
04:16hey, man, we're looking for him to go four or five innings,
04:18and we want to see him throw strikes.
04:20That was literally what he asked of him.
04:23That was a no-brainer for me.
04:24And he did not.
04:25He could not.
04:26He continued to walk people.
04:29He continued to.
04:31It was wild.
04:31He threw 27 strikes off of 63 pitches in that game.
04:40Like, I just, I don't know, man.
04:41And what makes me feel bad, because I feel like this will kind of,
04:46this would push even closer to this,
04:48is he is so comparable of the 20, 26 Houston Astros to me.
04:54In which I know it's early.
04:57I know it is.
04:58I know it's early with the Astros.
05:01And I heard the promo from our guy, Patrick Creighton,
05:04Area 45 every night, 7 to 11,
05:07where he said it's just silly to start talking about packing things up
05:12and going, well, no, I don't.
05:13I've got a few suitcases, and I've got a few things to get ready to pack.
05:19It's a long season, y'all.
05:21Like, I look at this team, man.
05:22I know it's early.
05:23I know it's just May, in May 12th.
05:25And I know they've made comebacks in 05 to make the World Series
05:29and what they did the first year of Espada.
05:32But you can look at this team, guys.
05:34Right?
05:34Hunter Brown feels like a month away.
05:37We'll see, you know, how long some of these other guys are.
05:40Like, this is, it's early, but you can look and see the way this team is playing.
05:44It's not getting any better.
05:45They're not, this is not a team that's about to go on a huge run
05:49to get themselves into playoff contention.
05:52And just like I know it's early, Luke, it is hard.
05:57It is hard to look at this kid and think, not just on the field and his performance,
06:03but everything that's around it and how he is so uncomfortable
06:07and how he is struggling so much with not just on the field stuff,
06:11but off the field stuff.
06:12It feels like a long shot that he is going to become the successful pitcher
06:18that they looked and thought he could be.
06:20And his numbers were amazing in Japan.
06:22But it, like, I know it's early, but it feels like, man,
06:27and I know it's just been three starts at the Major League level and five total,
06:30but this, this doesn't, this don't look like he is going to get himself comfortable enough
06:35to make this thing swing.
06:37Yeah, I'm with you.
06:38I was on the air the day that he did sign, and PC earlier in the day had said he
06:44was,
06:44his pick, PC had said he's going to be the Rookie of the Year or whatever.
06:48But, you know, I said curb the enthusiasm because it is a big transition.
06:55And for me, the concern wasn't so much the on the field stuff or on the mound,
06:59but it is that transition of coming up.
07:00It's so different for these pitchers, and he just hasn't seemed to acclimate well
07:05or handle any of this stuff.
07:06And the big thing in Japan is, you know, Bobby Valentine, who managed there for a long time,
07:11said that these pitchers strive for full counts.
07:15And that's why a lot of the hitters that come over, you see, have these great eyes
07:18because the pitchers are used to nibbling and using all of their pitches.
07:22They only pitch once a week.
07:23They don't throw in between outings, and the seasons are shorter,
07:25so they can throw a lot more pitches, and they can take their time and use the counts.
07:29And it's just the whole philosophy over there.
07:30And for him, you know, I think it's been a big problem where he just hasn't been aggressive enough
07:35or hasn't been in the strike zone enough and walking too many guys.
07:38You can see some of that ability.
07:40He did have that one good start where he had nine trackouts, no walks.
07:43You can see that he has that ability there.
07:45It's just all these complaints and all this other stuff.
07:48He doesn't seem to have the toughness.
07:51This is hard for me to say just sitting here, but to have the toughness to get through this big
07:56change
07:56of coming to another country, not knowing the language.
07:58You know, it's essentially a different type of the sport.
08:01We handle it differently here.
08:03Throwing in between starts, all this different stuff, he just hasn't seemed to be able to handle it.
08:07And I don't know if that's going to get any better.
08:09You're not worried so much about the arsenal, but can he handle all this other stuff off the field?
08:14And it's why I said in crosstalk, it's like, you know, I would treat it, I say this tongue-in
08:19-cheek,
08:19but if I'm the Astros, I would pretend like I'm playing now in Seinfeld where they couldn't fire
08:24George Costanzo, so they were trying to make it as awful as possible for George to just quit.
08:29And if I'm the Astros, I look at this and I think like, oh man, we have him for three
08:32years.
08:33But he can opt out at the end of this year.
08:36Yeah, opt out or in.
08:37Let's try to make things so miserable on him that he doesn't want to be in Houston any longer
08:42and he'll opt out to try to go somewhere else after just one year.
08:46Because this could, and I know it's only been a month, but this is turning out like
08:51this could be a disaster of the three years.
08:54This could be a Hideki Arabu situation.
08:56That's what I'm saying.
08:57I know it's early, but it just couldn't, it could not be going any worse in terms of
09:03your thinking of he's going to spin this thing around.
09:05Right.
09:06Like it could not be going any worse from that situation.
09:09So we'll see.
09:11He gets the ball tonight, but I'm, I am not, I'm not, I'm not feeling 100% great about
09:17this anyway.
09:18Other news, Jeremy Pena, he and Jake Myers will begin minor league rehab assignments
09:26tonight at double A Corpus.
09:29Yeah.
09:30They will be joined by left-handed reliever and closer, Josh Hader, who has had a rehab
09:37assignment in Corpus as well.
09:39So those three are huge pieces that they could get back soon.
09:45Although I'd like to see Bryce continue to play in center field, but those are three
09:48that are big pieces.
09:50They could get back soon.
09:51Jeremy Pena, Jake Myers, and Josh Hader are all in double A Corpus.
09:56And we'll see if they rush them up here like they're doing.
10:01Oh, E-My.
10:05Text line coming in.
10:06And it's early.
10:07Gives you enough time just to right the ship.
10:10You could.
10:11I hope he does.
10:12I do.
10:13I hope we come in here and he steps up and he, and I mean, he pitches.
10:19I don't even need a gym, but like what did Lopez say earlier?
10:23Boy, can you give me five?
10:25Well, the over-under on his outs is set at 13 and a half.
10:29So that would be what, three and a third innings?
10:32Yeah, I'd push the button on five right now.
10:35Four innings.
10:36That'd be four and a third innings, right?
10:37Push the button on him right now.
10:39On the over-under?
10:40You think he's going to make it through the fifth?
10:42Well, I'm saying if you could guarantee me, if you could guarantee me, I'd push the button
10:45right now on them 13 outs.
10:47Get on the mound, little b****.
10:49No, I don't.
10:52I mean, I think he's going to throw 47 pitches in the first two innings.
10:57Makes us all nervous.
10:5835 of them out of the strike zone?
11:02He's got it like he is.
11:03It sucks the talk.
11:04And I would imagine the Mariners understand what it is.
11:08Hell, they watched him.
11:09What'd you say?
11:10He walked five of the first seven batters?
11:12Yeah.
11:12So they've experienced him.
11:14So I just, man, I feel bad, man.
11:17And I feel like he's being thrown to the wolves because he's a guy that they have got to make
11:21work.
11:22And I just don't see how he is ready to perform right now the way that he is performing.
11:27I mean, I think he needs two, three more outings.
11:32Like, you got to at least get me down to two walks before we go ahead and throw you to
11:36the
11:36wolves.
11:36So we'll see what happens there.
11:39Didn't have more than 63 pitches in those rehab outings.
11:43Oh, they couldn't keep going.
11:45But my man can't find the strike zone and this guy's starting a major league game.
11:50Wake up.
11:50My man threw 59 pitches in those two innings.
11:53That first rehab start against those double A players because he could not get the ball
11:58in the strike zone and they couldn't let him go longer.
12:01Oh, it seems like a prerequisite.
12:03You should probably have.
12:04I don't think the hell of this is where it is.
12:04Let's go.
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