- 5 hours ago
Seth and Luke discuss the Astros getting a 6-3 win vs the Nationals, explore Houston athletes who play/played here that did and didn't end up working out, and assess if they feel any better about the rotation with some guys making their way back soon and Burrows getting sent down.
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00:00Got them. Ball game over. Astros hold on to win it 6-3 as they take the middle game of
00:06this three-game series against the Nationals and get back to within two games of 500.
00:12Didn't come easy against this Nationals offense plumber, but that's a nice win on the road.
00:16It is a nice win on the road. Yeah, this offense has the potential to come back.
00:19It took a little extra effort out of that bullpen to finish this thing off, but what a beautiful thing
00:24to be able to have the bottom part of your order do all of that damage.
00:28That's right. Astros get the win series with the Nationals. Happy Wednesday, especially after that Astros victory.
00:37Payne and Pendergast, I'm Luke Morrow in for Sean alongside Seth Payne. Seth, how we doing?
00:42I'm good. You know, every morning I eagerly check the standings to be sure if the sub-500 record hasn't
00:49actually vaulted the Astros up into the division.
00:53There's still two games back from the Mariners, and the Rangers are a half game back from the Mariners.
00:58So I'm happy about last night. Also happy to see that the Yankees struck out 17 times for the second
01:06straight day in a row.
01:07Yeah.
01:07So I'm actually more invested in the Yankees falling than I am right now with the Astros in the AL
01:16West.
01:17Is that bad?
01:18No.
01:18Is it me being too focused on negativity?
01:21No. I'm with you.
01:23Look, I grew up in Connecticut. We grew up a family of Red Sox fans, and so there's been years,
01:29especially recently, where, yeah,
01:31your championship is just making sure the Yankees don't have success because you're having a down year.
01:35So you're preaching to the choir right now.
01:38We watched growing up as many Yankee games as Red Sox games just to simply root against them.
01:42So I'm all for it.
01:43Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bastards. I think the, okay, so when you and I last talked, we were very down on
01:51Burroughs, and Burroughs himself is now down in the minors.
01:53Yes.
01:53And we were just saying, okay, but Emai, there's hope that Emai might be the one. And how are you
02:02feeling after last night?
02:04Maybe the same. I mean, a little bit better. Like, he didn't pitch terribly. Obviously, he gave you a chance
02:10to win. And I don't know what the analogy would be. Like, you still couldn't get to the fifth inning.
02:16They're paying you, what, $18 million a year.
02:18Here, you're coming off a start where Burroughs had to tax the bullpen a little bit. It'd be nice if
02:24you could count on him a little more. And too often we get these starts where he's just like not,
02:27he's not giving you the length or the innings.
02:29So, yeah, I mean, he, his final line last night was two earned runs, four hits, three walks, three strikeouts.
02:36That sounds fine until you zoom out. You're like, oh, it was only three and two third innings. It's almost
02:40like an opener.
02:40And you've got to burn through all these relievers. I mean, so Okert, De Los Santos, Brian King, Brian Abreu,
02:49Alan Bear Santa, and Josh Hader all pitched last night.
02:54And all of them used the bullpen cart except for Hader. Okert started the trend of using the bullpen cart
03:03because the Nationals are one of those teams that have one.
03:06And every single reliever after him used the bullpen cart as well, which is, I mean, they are, that is,
03:12and they deserve it.
03:13If they're going to be used that heavily every time somebody like Emi comes in, then by all means, save
03:18your legs.
03:18I miss that tradition of the bullpen cart. That kind of ended like in the late 90s, I think it
03:23was.
03:25And it would always be funny to see them, you know, drive in, especially how quickly sometimes they drive in
03:29the reliever.
03:30And then back in the day, like when you go back to the 70s or 80s, whenever it was, where
03:33they had the cart that was an actual baseball that did sit in,
03:36or at least one of the teams had that, I'd be pretty embarrassed if I'm coming in to like close
03:40out a one-run game in the ninth inning
03:42and I have to sit into this mini baseball to get driven out to the mound.
03:46There's only, I think there's only four teams, give or take, the bullpen cart.
03:52And then a lot of guys just don't, most guys don't use it because it's either out of the routine
03:56or they just think it's soft.
03:57I think that was a veteran move by Okert.
04:01This is not the first time he's done it, but I applaud him in a throwback to old school baseball.
04:09Old time baseball, when people were softer.
04:11Yeah, that's right.
04:13Yeah, and he's been pitching well, so he deserves it.
04:15I like Santa, but it's tough where you can't get through the ninth inning and it forces Josh Hader to
04:21have to come in just to get that final out.
04:24And granted, Hader wasn't entirely sharp either and has to leave the tying run on base in the bottom of
04:30the ninth.
04:30Yeah, it made that game a little sweatier than you had to at the end.
04:34And then also with Josh Hader, I mean, you know, you don't love to use him on back-to-back
04:37days and multiple innings and whatnot.
04:39They try to be careful with him.
04:40So to have to burn him in that game, so to speak, when you were up 6-2 heading into
04:45the ninth, that was the one.
04:46If I'm nitpicking, because the bullpen was good again, but if I'm nitpicking, having to run Hader out there too,
04:51along with all those other arms you mentioned, that wasn't ideal in what was a nice 6-3 win on
04:56the road.
04:57Yeah, and I think seeing some life out of the back end of the lineup in the last couple nights
05:02has been big.
05:03For sure.
05:03And Bryce Matthews is really just maybe he's turned a corner or something.
05:10We'll wait and see.
05:11But they've got to do – I mean, Dana Brown's been talking very openly about trying to get a left
05:19-handed outfielder out there.
05:21And I just – we'll hold our breath, I suppose.
05:26Yeah, which gives me another chance to bring up what I think is one of the worst moves the Astros
05:31have.
05:31And I bring this up all the time because it still irks me a bit for the Astros.
05:35But when they traded Willier Abreu for half a season of Christian Vasquez a few years back,
05:41and Vasquez posted, I think, a negative war that year with the Astros.
05:44And now Abreu is a multi-time Gold Glove winner in Boston, left-handed hitting outfielder.
05:49It'd be nice to have that guy.
05:51Hits 20-plus homers a year, but I digress.
05:55Hey, you mentioned Bryce Matthews and, you know, turning a corner.
05:59Maybe it's just simply a road trip.
06:02But the fact that they're on the road – this became a talking point yesterday, his splits.
06:06Yeah.
06:07And it actually came up on In the Loop, and then the fellas on the drive also brought it up,
06:11how Bryce Matthews on the road has pretty good numbers.
06:15265 average, five homers.
06:17His OPS is like almost 800 on the road.
06:20Those are good numbers.
06:21You'd sign up for that.
06:22But at home, he's hitting just over 100, and his OPS is like 300.
06:29He has two runs batted in at home and nearly 100 at-bats.
06:32It's such a big discrepancy, and the guys were wondering why yesterday on the radio.
06:39And I said, at least on social media, you know, when I worked in baseball, teams didn't like –
06:44and, Seth, I'm sure you can speak to this as a professional athlete yourself –
06:48but, you know, teams didn't like when guys would go play in their hometowns
06:52because of all the distractions, and this is like – it's always a –
06:58he's living and playing constantly in his hometown.
07:01This isn't just a road trip to the city he grew up in.
07:03Bryce Matthews obviously grew up here.
07:06This is his hometown still for his baseball career.
07:10And you worry, you know, between having to get all the tickets,
07:13and the family and friends are in attendance.
07:16You have a big crowd every night, so now you're pressing, and the pressure,
07:18and, you know, then you go out to lunch or dinner with your aunts and uncles
07:21and high school friends and family and all this – just all the distractions.
07:25You know, I know when I was – like I said, when I was in baseball, teams didn't love it.
07:29And for Bryce Matthews, I mean, that's now half his season.
07:31Yeah, I guess the thing is, though, when you're traveling and you're on the road,
07:34it's such a big disruption to your routine where if you live and play in your hometown –
07:41and, you know, he went to a Tascacita –
07:45that you should be able to get into some kind of routine
07:47where it's not necessarily as big a deal.
07:50And I, like – yeah, I don't know.
07:52We'd have to ask Clyde Drexler if it was ever –
07:55was it ever a distraction having so many family and friends around?
07:59You know, James Harden going to L.A. every now and then,
08:01that was always a concern because was he going to just –
08:06was he out enjoying too many of the spoils of his hometown?
08:11I don't know.
08:12No, I would – I'd be hard-pressed to – I'd be hard-pressed to blame that on Bryce Matthews
08:18right now
08:19or that being the reason.
08:20I just – when they were talking about it on the broadcast last night,
08:23the first thing I thought of was the 2023 Astros.
08:26Remember where they were – I think they were 51-30 on the road in 2023,
08:32and they were just about 500 at home.
08:34And it's – it was just one of those – one of those flukish things
08:37that probably didn't really – it might have been just random chance or circumstance.
08:42You try like hell to dig for a reason for it.
08:45But I'm not – I can't – I can't buy it as an excuse right now
08:48because it's – there's just too many people that are able to form at home.
08:53Yeah, and you brought them up earlier of Clyde Drexler, as you mentioned,
08:57Nolan Ryan, Roger Clements, Andy Pettit.
09:00So, you know, there are a lot of examples.
09:02Yeah, Nolan and Pettit would be both guys that were already pros
09:06when they came back to play in Houston.
09:08That's true.
09:09So then it's – you've already got more of it nailed in.
09:12The young athlete, like Jalen Petrie.
09:14Jalen Petrie had an up-and-down first couple of years, and now he's figured it out.
09:19Jalen Petrie it's worked out very well for.
09:21But I guess football – you know, football is not as much of a –
09:25you're more insulated around the games than you are when you're in baseball.
09:29Yeah, well, you know, Boomer Sison always said – obviously he's from Long Island.
09:32He went to the Jets later in his career in the 90s, and he has said since now,
09:36look, those Jets teams are not good.
09:37I believe that was like the Rich Cotite years.
09:40And Boomer has since said that he regrets it.
09:42He wishes he didn't play for the Jets, and he encourages NFL players
09:46to not go back to their hometowns because, as I was laying out before,
09:50like the distractions, having to get a suite for the family for every game.
09:53And then for Boomer specifically, because those teams weren't very good,
09:58he said family members always bring up the bad news.
10:00Like, hey, I saw what they wrote about you on the front page.
10:03And he'd be like, hey, I'm trying to ignore that.
10:05Stop telling me all the terrible things people are saying about me.
10:08The worst is when somebody tries to let you know that they're in your corner.
10:11Like, hey, I was online battling for you yesterday when this guy said this
10:16and that guy said that, and then this guy said this.
10:18Yeah, you don't need to – guys, I think, though, again, back in the day,
10:24if you were geographically removed from a situation,
10:27you just didn't see a whole lot of it, where now it doesn't matter
10:31because they forwarded you an article or something from the local paper.
10:36This is why – you know what?
10:37You know I'm hesitant to really buy into this as a potential theory
10:40because what's the solution?
10:43You know, like, oh, okay, oh, oh, all we need to do is go back in time
10:49and make Bryce Matthews not from here, and then it'll be all just fine.
10:53So I don't know.
10:55Unless people in Atascos can perhaps weigh in on –
11:00is Bryce Matthews having to entertain too many people all the time?
11:04Are you over at Bryce Matthews' parents' house,
11:06and it's just a steady entourage,
11:08a steady procession of third cousins walking through with their hands out,
11:13asking for tickets?
11:14I think the way to solve it, just go on the road.
11:18Keep them on the road.
11:19Ten game road trips.
11:20Only play them on the road?
11:22Yeah, apparently.
11:23His numbers are almost three times as good on the road.
11:26You don't hear about the LED lights as much anymore,
11:28except that's – I mean, I feel like that's still a factor for some people,
11:32just adjusting to the lighting at Dyken Park.
11:35Yeah, and I know, like, there's been complaints in the past
11:37about the batter's eye in center field being an issue.
11:40So maybe that's – for somebody like Bryce Matthews,
11:42maybe that's more of a problem.
11:43I don't know.
11:44It is odd.
11:45It is odd to have such polar opposites where he's batting 100 at home,
11:49but on the road, like I said, his OPS is nearly 800.
11:51That's really good.
11:52Maybe it's an Atascosita high school thing.
11:55You know, Kenyon Green.
11:56Kenyon Green didn't make it in Houston either after –
11:58he's a teammate of Bryce Matthews, if I recall correctly.
12:01I might be mixing up my athletes here.
12:04But Kenyon, it wasn't as much of a home or away issue.
12:07It was just staying healthy and playing football in general.
12:09It was, yeah, it wasn't any issue.
12:12So, anyways, Astros get the win last night.
12:15And if you're an Astros fan, you might have felt like it was two wins
12:18because Mike Burroughs gets sent down to AAA,
12:20like Seth had mentioned, before the game starts.
12:22So you get the Burroughs demotion.
12:24You get the Emei start last night where the Astros win the game
12:28and Emei doesn't get knocked around too bad.
12:30And then you also have Lance McCullers and Blanco make what's supposed to be
12:34their final rehab appearances last night for Sugar Land.
12:37Are we feeling better?
12:3924 hours later, do we feel better about this Astros starting rotation as a whole
12:44or is it still – you know, is that just breadcrumbs here the last –
12:48Yeah, I don't – yeah, when it comes to – when we talked about it yesterday,
12:53all right, we know what the – we know that –
12:54we know that Emei has a whole bunch of potential,
12:57but he's just got to – he's got to start going deeper into games more consistently.
13:01And he's had some good performances.
13:03I think the biggest – the biggest hopefully positive sign from last night
13:07was that he had James Wood take him deep very early
13:13and it didn't spiral out of control for him there,
13:16that he had to work his way through some difficulty.
13:18He had – it looked at one point there like they were performing open hand surgery
13:22on him on the mound.
13:23It was in the first or second inning.
13:25He was bleeding profusely from his pitching hand.
13:27And you're thinking, oh, that's it.
13:29This is it for him.
13:30But it was just his fingernail had sliced a little gash on his ring finger
13:36and it didn't end up being a huge deal.
13:38But it's – like it ended up being yet another atypical thing
13:42that we're talking about with Emei after a game.
13:44There's always – it's almost like every single week
13:47or every single bad performance there's a different explanation for it.
13:52And he fought through it, so there's that, and you give him credit for that.
13:56But he's just – they can't keep using six relievers every time that Emei's in the game.
14:03Yeah, what are you paying $18 million for?
14:05He can't even get through the fourth inning.
14:07Well, you talked about, yeah, potentially trading away Bluebaugh
14:10or somebody like that.
14:12I mean, you need guys like Bluebaugh who can give you some middle relief
14:16if you've got guys like Emei as your starting pitchers.
14:19Yeah, so I think that's why they do love – or loved Mike Burrows,
14:22where they would always compliment, like, he's an innings eater
14:24because then the very next day it's like, well, we're going to need our bullpen tomorrow for Emei.
14:29So at least Burrows saves us from having to use too many relievers.
14:32If your goal is to lose as many baseball games as possible
14:36while preserving your bullpen, he's a hell of a guy for that.
14:40He's one of the best all-time at giving you bad outings
14:44but just being willing to stay out there and muddle through his bad outings.
14:49And I don't want to be, I don't know, pessimistic here to start the morning,
14:54but, like, Burrows' next turn in the rotation, he gets sent down to AAA.
14:57So his next turn in the rotation will be Sunday, the final game before the All-Star break.
15:02The Astros can find a way to fill that spot.
15:05You can just plug in Christian Javier for a spot start if you like
15:08or blue ball or do a bullpen game because you're going to have almost a week off after that.
15:12And then, because of the break of the All-Star game,
15:15you can then start your rotation again, you wouldn't need Burrows' spot in the rotation
15:19until it would be July 21st, so essentially two weeks from now.
15:23My point being in all of this, we saw the Astros already try to demote Burrows
15:28out of the starting rotation just to put him right back in.
15:31I am on July 21st, which would be the next time you would need that Burrows start.
15:36If he actually is back up in the big leagues, and this is just an opportunity to,
15:40hey, let's send him down to AAA for two weeks, try to freshen up some things,
15:44and in the meantime, we can use an extra bullpen arm for those two weeks
15:48because we don't need the Burrows' starting spot.
15:50I'm curious how long-lasting this demotion will be,
15:53if this is it until Burrows really turns a corner down to the minors,
15:56or if this is more like a strategic type of play
16:00while also allowing Burrows to take a breather in AAA for the next two weeks.
16:03Yeah, I think they've got to figure out ways to, you know,
16:06send him to the bullpen for that one game.
16:08All right, did he figure anything out?
16:10It doesn't appear so.
16:12But it also, you know, I think it was in Chandler Rome's article,
16:16it paints a picture of, man, you know, between his arm slotting
16:21and some of the other things that he's tweaking in his delivery,
16:24it sounds like he's a mess.
16:27Like he's just, whenever you hear about a pitcher working on multiple things
16:30at the same time, it just feels like you're grasping for straws there.
16:33And if you can't just dial in on one thing and fix it.
16:39So this flux that you're going to have as McCullers and Blanco
16:45and Wisniewski start to come into the fold,
16:48you're going to be burning up some minor league options along the way.
16:51As long as you're just so unstettled, but you have so many numbers,
16:54it's a potential starting pitchers.
16:56Yeah, McCullers and Blanco at those final rehab appearances,
16:58I believe, supposed to be final last night.
17:00So we'll see if one of those guys gets plugged in for Sunday's game
17:05before the All-Star break.
17:06And then Jeremy Pena began his rehab assignment last night.
17:09They hope he returns this weekend for the Rangers series.
17:12To go to Sugar Land last night where, you know, probably $10, $15 tickets,
17:16and you could see three Astros in that game last night.
17:19Not bad.
17:21But the Astros get the win last night, 6-3.
17:23They'll try to win the series now tonight against the Nationals,
17:255-45 first pitch here central time.
17:28So good that they got back in the win column,
17:30but still two games under .500.
17:32What, two games out of the division still?
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17:41Xfinity, imagine that.
17:43By the way, Seth, I stayed up later than I wanted to last night.
17:46Obviously got to get to bed early to get up early these days,
17:49filling in for Sean while he's on vacation.
17:51There was a thunderstorm, and I had to shower before bed.
17:55And, you know, I was always told you can't shower during a thunderstorm,
17:59a lightning storm, because you could get electrocuted from the lightning.
18:03Do you ever, was that ever a wife's tale in your life?
18:05Do you follow that at all?
18:07I think it's if you've got copper pipes, that's when you have to worry about it.
18:10Oh, okay. I don't know what pipes we got.
18:11I just don't have copper pipes anymore, so I might be completely wrong on that.
18:15Nobody listening right now take my advice and, like,
18:18just start brazenly showering during a thunderstorm,
18:21especially because there's a good chance that there's 0% truth to what I just said.
18:25I waited.
18:26But that's all, yeah.
18:27If you've got copper pipes and, like, right up from the outside,
18:32right up to your shower, I think that's where it's an issue.
18:35So you'll shower during a thunder and lightning storm?
18:38Oh, I'll shower, yeah, any damn time I please.
18:41I'll shower in an open field during a thunderstorm.
18:44I'm not, I await the superpowers that will come to me if I ever do get struck by lightning.
18:52That's another thing.
18:53As I understand it, that's what happens.
18:54You're a daredevil.
18:56Yeah.
18:56I waited, like, an extra hour.
18:58I was like, I got to get to bed.
18:59Well, this lightning ends already, so I can hop in the shower.
19:01Jeez.
19:02I know.
19:02You're not supposed to stand extra.
19:04I've always, that's one of those things, kind of like with CPR.
19:06You know, like, I got CPR certified however many decades ago.
19:10And if it came up right this moment, I'd be screwed.
19:13Everything would blank out other than just, I might be able to do the chest massage or whatever.
19:18But likewise for lightning storms, you're not supposed to stand near a big tree,
19:23but you're also not supposed to stand in an open field.
19:25And I don't know, if you're stuck out in nature, I don't know exactly what you're supposed to do
19:30other than, like, try to get to the woods, but not near any big trees, but not in an open
19:36field in a clearing in the woods.
19:38You just got to have your head on a swivel the entire time.
19:41That's true.
19:41Yeah.
19:42We were always told the car is the safest place.
19:44Get inside a car.
19:45Yeah.
19:46You can join the conversation, 713-572-4610, or in the YouTube and Twitch chats.
19:52Do you shower during lightning storms?
19:54Are you as crazy as Seth is?
19:55The CDC is saying it's not safe to shower during a thunderstorm.
20:00Yeah, I spared my life last night.
20:01Yeah, don't bathe or do the dishes during a storm.
20:04Oh, wow.
20:05I didn't know about the dishes.
20:07I got to add that to the list.
20:07I'm already neurotic enough.
20:08Now I can't even do the dishes when it's raining outside.
20:10I'm glad we figured that out.
20:12I almost killed somebody just now.
20:14That's going to be my excuse.
20:15Honey, sorry, I can't do the dishes.
20:17I think there's some rain coming in.
20:18Yeah, yeah.
20:20Sorry, I can't help you out.
20:21It's one of the benefits of living in Houston.
20:23That's right.
20:24Large swaths of time where you just simply can't do the dishes.
20:27Yeah, exactly.
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