00:00And, yes, I'm buying that they can right the ship
00:03and be a playoff team in the American League right now.
00:06I'll buy that.
00:06I think they certainly can be a playoff team.
00:08They're a half game out of the division.
00:11I'll continue to be a bit of a wet blanket, though,
00:13when it comes to the Astros and the line I've started to use now
00:16is that they're not a good team, but they're a fortunate team.
00:18And fortunate in the sense of, as you alluded to,
00:21this American League, it's the worst it's been in two decades.
00:24And the division they're in is historically one of the worst.
00:28I looked this up, and feel free to fact check me.
00:31I might have missed a year, but since they changed to the current layout
00:34of the six divisions, which was 33 seasons ago,
00:38only twice have we hit July 1st where a division had nobody over .500.
00:45Right now in the AL West, nobody's over .500, and we have two days until July.
00:50So if no one gets over .500 in the next 48 hours,
00:53this will be only the third time ever that on July 1st
00:57there's a division in baseball at nobody over .500.
01:00That's the Astros division.
01:02This Astros team, they are playing much better baseball.
01:04And as you referenced, specifically these last 16 games,
01:06even if you zoom out a little further than that,
01:08but they're still 42 and 44.
01:10They still have the third worst run differential in the AL.
01:14I keep comparing them.
01:15I keep saying the smartest kid in summer school where the AL is just so bad
01:20that the Astros aren't quite as bad as the other teams.
01:23It doesn't make them great, but they'll probably be good enough,
01:25should be good enough to at least make the playoffs.
01:27But, I mean, how far does that get you?
01:29Like, is that the end goal if you're an Astros fan,
01:31to just get to the playoffs and not ultimately compete?
01:34Right.
01:34Well, I think the question, right, and I don't have the answer,
01:37but I think the biggest question is, you know,
01:40how much does Hunter Brown getting healthy change what you just mentioned?
01:44How much does Josh Hader getting healthy change what you –
01:50how much does Brian Abreu getting more to –
01:53closer to the Brian Abreu that we knew before this season
01:56instead of whatever the hell we've watched early in the year
01:58with how sporadic he's been?
02:01You know, Amai, obviously, with the exception –
02:04I think a couple starts ago he blew up again,
02:06but with the exception of that, you know, he's been significantly better.
02:10Now Christian Javier's right around the corner.
02:12It looks like he's pitching better.
02:13How much of those things really changed the dynamic of
02:17are you just a good team in a really bad year
02:22surrounded by a bunch of subpar baseball teams
02:26or as guys get healthy and you insert guys back into whether it be the lineup
02:31or – by the way, by the way, Tyler, typically when I go on vacation,
02:35I don't even think about radio.
02:37I'll be completely honest with you.
02:38I was chomping at the bit to be on Monday.
02:41Do you know why?
02:43Monday.
02:44Today?
02:45Monday or last Monday?
02:46You sons of – you – no, last Monday.
02:49Oh, okay.
02:49I got you.
02:50It had something to do with Al-Tubay.
02:51You got dang right it did.
02:53These suckers – hey, man, like, I mean, they – I mean,
02:56and Show, of course, took it and made two days out of it
02:59and disrespected the Strogoat two days.
03:02Tyler co-signed it.
03:03And then my man went out there and carried the team.
03:05I mean, I don't know, but I mean, may have started this hot streak there.
03:09I don't know.
03:10But, I mean, but, yeah, I needed to be on that Monday.
03:13I needed to be on that Monday to make you boys eat a little crow.
03:20Now, he quickly cooled off that weekend.
03:23He hadn't done much since.
03:24But, boy, that was some great timing right there on the Altuve front.
03:27But getting him back, whatever he is, he's just a good five-hole hitter.
03:31I know he's not a leadoff guy anymore.
03:33But if he's just a five-hole hitter, some of the complementary pieces that –
03:39because all the other big pieces that were injured,
03:42we haven't even had time to talk about, you know,
03:44Jake Myers not getting a lot of run, Bryce Matthews not, you know,
03:47having to play multiple different positions.
03:50The different guys right now, Loprefito, he's had some big moments of late.
03:55Like, he was injured.
03:56Like, those complementary pieces towards the back of the lineup
03:59have been just as injured as the start and rotation was at one point.
04:03So, I think that's the question, Luke.
04:06They can make themselves relevant, obviously, through this run
04:09and make themselves relevant by the All-Star break and by the trade deadline.
04:14But the question – I agree with your point.
04:17The overall question is, are they really going to scare anybody in the playoffs?
04:21And right now, I think you've got to poo-poo and say,
04:24yeah, probably not, but if they continue to trend in this right in the direction
04:28and getting guys – getting a couple more guys healthy,
04:30if they come out and are good to great versions of themselves, man, you've got something.
04:37I think you've got a real chance there to change the narrative.
04:39They are certainly a better team now than they were a few weeks ago,
04:41not only based off of performance, but like you said, getting some of these guys back.
04:44You have Hunter Brown back, Josh Hader, who outside of a couple of walks yesterday
04:48has been nails at the back end of that bullpen.
04:51And now we're getting Christian Javier back, who looked really good Saturday in the minors.
04:56Maybe Lance McCullers Jr., maybe Blanco.
05:00And we'll get to that later on of how the Astros try to fit all these pieces now
05:04into the starting rotation.
05:05But the Astros win another series over the weekend with the Tigers.
05:09They started tonight.
05:10So this just continues of going through this AL where, yes, they've won five series in a row,
05:15but two were against the Royals, who are 15 games under .500.
05:19One was against the Tigers just now, 14 games under .500.
05:23And tonight they start with the Twins, who are five games under .500.
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