00:00Remember, he said they're going to do something.
00:02They're going to do something to keep us open.
00:03They're going to do something to keep us hanging on.
00:05They're going to do something to kind of stem the tide here, if you will.
00:07Just when I thought I was out.
00:09And what did they do?
00:10They pulled me back in.
00:11That's right.
00:12What did they do?
00:13They win 5-0-6.
00:15They're two games back to the division, two games back to the wild card.
00:17That's after dropping one embarrassingly yesterday.
00:21But they're right there.
00:23They're right there in a bad American League.
00:25They're right there in a bad division.
00:26And we're going to get there.
00:28A wet blanket, Luke.
00:29Luke, I don't want to – don't throw the wet blanket on it yet.
00:32The biggest thing from this weekend – this was a big relief weekend for me, boys.
00:36Because, Tyler, I don't know if I voiced it.
00:39Luke wasn't here.
00:40Luke's been out of pocket for about a week.
00:41But I don't know if I voiced the proper level of concern that I actually had
00:46for Hunter Brown.
00:50Again, the reports initially when he came back from his injury were the velocity
00:55wasn't the same.
00:56It was down a little bit, right?
00:57And then you watch him pitch and he's walking as many – walking more batters
01:03than he's striking out.
01:04It's not ideal.
01:05I mean, he's walking four, five, six guys.
01:07And it just wasn't Hunter Brown.
01:09And, by the way, giving up runs along the way as well in starts.
01:13But it just wasn't.
01:15And I was really concerned that this was some level of injury.
01:19The shoulder's not right.
01:21Something's holding him back.
01:23And we were fixing to get hit with another injury bomb.
01:25It's not ideal.
01:26I did not think it was.
01:28You're right, Joe.
01:29But you guys had – y'all got this one right.
01:30Y'all hung with him, obviously, which what the hell else you going to do.
01:34But Hunter Brown is back.
01:37I have zero concerns about his health, obviously, Luke.
01:41We're talking about – it was a big outing for him.
01:45Sending – no walks was the biggest piece.
01:48I think he gave up two hits.
01:51What did he have, seven strikeouts?
01:53Something like that.
01:54But watching the game more than once, he hit 97, 98 miles an hour.
02:01And then while the opposing pitcher was on the mound throwing off-speed stuff
02:06and was getting a lot of movement on his off-speed stuff,
02:08they compared it to Hunter Brown's off-speed.
02:10And they were talking about getting 17-plus inches of break on his off-speed stuff.
02:16And so I think the biggest thing that happened this weekend for the Astros was –
02:20and I don't care what they do moving forward.
02:23The biggest thing that happened this year, this weekend for the Astros,
02:27was Hunter Brown appears to be back.
02:29Whatever happens this season, yes, you've had a start.
02:33That guy was never gone.
02:34But your ace, your guy that can shut down and change the momentum of an entire series,
02:39appears to be fully healthy and locked and loaded, and he showed it this weekend.
02:44Yeah, for sure.
02:44You're not doing anything this year,
02:46even just making the playoffs in a bad American League without Hunter Brown.
02:50So it was promising to see him return to form over the weekend.
02:55Because, yeah, to your point, you get that ace back for this season.
02:59It deepens your rotation slightly, where now you have Lambert and Hunter Brown you can feel good about.
03:04Still have to figure out the rest of it.
03:06And then also, most importantly for me, is also just the idea of, like, okay,
03:10that peace of mind of here's the Hunter Brown that we've been expecting or that we know he's capable of.
03:17Because when he comes off the injury and he was pitching poorly for, I think it was, what,
03:22five starts he made off the IL before this past weekend.
03:25Big enough sample size, like, oh, man, maybe it's just going to either take longer
03:28or maybe there's going to be further issues.
03:32The real skeptics might think that what we saw from Hunter Brown was a bit of a flash in the
03:37pan.
03:38So your mind can start going to these dangerous places.
03:41And when you get to see Hunter Brown over the weekend pitch like that,
03:44did have the seven strikeouts, like you said,
03:48it provides that peace of mind that old Hunter Brown is back.
03:51And that's what the Astros need if they want to be able to do anything this year.
03:55I think it's all moot.
03:56I think they should be sellers anyways.
03:57I've made that clear, but it's exciting to see Hunter Brown pitch well.
04:00And for Dana Brown and company, that's what they need,
04:02that ace to try to ride here to the postseason, the final two months.
04:06You're right.
04:06You made it clear, wet blanket.
04:08You made it clear.
04:09No, just regardless of what happens the rest of the season,
04:12getting Hunter Brown back and knowing that he's fully healthy
04:14and capable of doing what he was doing before the All-Star break,
04:17again, touching high 90s, getting big-time movement on his off-speed,
04:21even if it's just for the viewing pleasure the rest of the way for the Astros
04:24to get to watch him once every five games is going to be big.
04:28You think he heard – I don't know if you heard it last week.
04:30You may have been out of pocket, but Ojoa Spada referred to Peter Lambert as the ace.
04:36I didn't hear that.
04:38Yeah, he's been our ace.
04:39He's been our ace.
04:39He's not intimidated to attack people, yada, yada, yada.
04:42He's been our – I wonder, which the only way, right – I mean, come on.
04:45The only way you mention Peter Lambert and ace when Hunter Brown's in your clubhouse
04:49is if you're trying to send a message.
04:51Yeah, yeah, it's true.
04:52I mean, good Lord, this wasn't – this isn't a good Lance McCullers
04:56or a good Frambois Valdez or a good, you know, Cole or Verlander.
05:01I mean, this is – I mean, are you kidding me?
05:02It's Peter Lambert.
05:03Yeah, I guess the only thing I would say in defense of Astros
05:06is if he did say he's been our ace because, you know, he has pitched.
05:10He's been their best and most reliable starting pitcher.
05:13If he did say – and this might be semantics – but if he did say Peter Lambert is our
05:17ace,
05:18then I think that's more offensive because Hunter Brown is still the alpha dog.
05:21I don't remember exactly how he phrased it, but it was almost – it seemed like –
05:26Peter is kind of being that guy for us.
05:28It seems like he's – he was kind of being a little bit catty about it.
05:35Yeah.
05:35It seemed like it.
05:36Well, who knows, but it seemed like it.
05:38Speaking of, Hunter Brown was great, so that's a huge plus.
05:43But the – I believe – was it the following day or was it before Hunter Brown?
05:45But either way it goes, Spencer or Getty, one inning.
05:51To the IL, some kind of foot issue, I believe it is.
05:55But to the 15-day IL, so same weekend where Hunter Brown does his thing
06:01and appears to be back, you know, we lose at least for 15 days.
06:06We lose the guy that we expected could be the two- or three-starter
06:10in this rotation as well.
06:11Your thoughts on Spencer or Getty and what that means the rest of the way?
06:15Yeah, it's tough.
06:16That's a tough loss and really does shorten the rotation.
06:20Now the hope is that Hayden Wisniewski comes back and fills that spot.
06:23So you're just replacing, like, one now injured guy for another guy coming back.
06:28And, oh, by the way, we just saw Blanco pitch yesterday who was lousy again.
06:32And I'm tired of this idea now of the last two to three years
06:36where the expectation is just like, oh, we're just going to get these guys back
06:40from injuries and we'll be fine.
06:42But it's guys coming back from lengthy injuries who also had questions about
06:46before they even got injured.
06:48It's not a great plan.
06:49So Errogetti's a tough loss because at least at one point this year,
06:53he was pitching like an all-star.
06:55And if you could get Hunter Brown, Lambert, and Errogetti all on the same page,
06:58then you got a good one, two, three punch for especially a playoff series.
07:02But they just can't seem to get all these guys on the same page at the same time.
07:06One's injured or one's not pitching well or this or that.
07:08And now Errogetti goes down and he hasn't been the same pitcher recently
07:12like he was to start the year.
07:13So, yeah, it's just it hurts the depth.
07:17Now you rely on another guy coming back from injury.
07:20But then right after that whole thing happens, you get Blanco going out there
07:24who's another guy you're hoping to pitch well off of injury.
07:27And he's continued to be lousy.
07:29If the Astros are going to be buyers, I continue to say that starting pitching,
07:33to me, is still the biggest need.
07:35And that was only amplified even further this weekend with the Errogetti injury.
07:39Yeah, it definitely doesn't change or actually changes the need significantly.
07:45We need more.
07:46We need more.
07:47It was pitching, starting pitching, starting pitching, and starting pitching.
07:49We need more if Spencer Errogetti is going to be out.
07:53Hopefully it's just short term and he can get back.
07:56We'll see.
07:57But, yeah, good weekend for the Astros.
