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Space City. Great, great,
great, Welcome to another Space City Saturday

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on Sports Talk seven ninety Michael Cunners
live and local h Town breakdown on the

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world that matters to you, does
Houston four World? All these great using

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fans here, we love you all. So finish up on that to do

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list, loot up the cooler,
because you can't drink in talk sports all

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day if you don't start now.
This is Space City Saturday. Here's seven

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nineties astro's insider Michael Cunner. Let's
do it for the next two hours here

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on Sports Talk seven ninety. I
mean you can do the drinking. I'm

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drinking the coffee. You can do
the sports talking as well with me.

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Michael Connor seven one three two on
two five, seven ninety on a Space

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City Saturday, on a day where
we're gonna talk about a baseball team that

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can't hit a baseball right now,
We're gonna talk about a basketball team that's

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got a lot of possibilities coming to
it, and then we're gonna also talk

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about a fake battle that will be
coming in training camp here for the Houston

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Texans. So much to get into, including some non Houston things as well.

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But you can join us at seven
one three two on two five,

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seven ninety. As I mentioned on
Twitter at MC seven ninety, the station

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is at Sports Talk seven ninety.
But let's kick things off with the baseball

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team that, um, well,
they're back in a rut. They are

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just three and seven now in their
last ten ball games. The good news

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this morning, I'll start off with
the good news. The Rangers also stink

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right now, So it's not just
the Astros the stink right now. Both

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teams are playing bad baseball. Both
teams are three and seven in their last

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ten games. It's unfortunate for the
Astros that they're playing poorly at this point

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because this would have been a period
of time where you could have taken back

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a division lead. But this is
kind of how this season has gone.

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They have not found any ability when
that team, the Texas Rangers, gets

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themselves into a funk or something to
make up some room in the standings.

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And that's not what they did right
there. That's not what they did last

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night once again, as they lose
to the Cincinnati Reds, the Cincinnati Reds

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team that has won six consecutive baseball
games. Now and then Astros will look

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to snap that winning streak. Today
the Reds are only a half game out

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in the NL Central because they're now
this is how embarrassing that division is.

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The Reds are five hundred at thirty
five and thirty five, and they're tied

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with Pittsburgh who's thirty four and thirty
four for second place in the NL Central.

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They're a half game back of the
first place, one game over five

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hundred Milwaukee Brewers. While you got
the Astros over here now they're not playing

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great. They're now thirty nine thirty
one. Texas sits at forty two and

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twenty seven. But watch out,
objects in the rear view mirror are closer

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than they appear. The Los Angeles
Angels are red hot. They are now

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technically tied in terms of games back
with the Astros. Astros do have a

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tiebreaker over them, and they are
just ahead in the winning percentage column.

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So right now, technically the Astros
are in second place. But you lose

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again to night and or this afternoon, then the Angels win again, then

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we're talking about the Angels being ahead
of you in the standings, and then

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you're having to climb pass two teams, and one of those teams Red hot,

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and today the pitching matchup does not
favor the Astros. Brandon Black against

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Hunter Green, you can go look
at both guys and say, hey,

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well they both got a four h
one r a. Hunter Green's a better

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pitcher, he's got more stuff,
And based on the way the Astros bats

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have swung, they've been swinging those
bats for the last two days. You

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don't feel great about that about them
beating a guy that has thrown more one

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hundred minor pitches than anybody else in
baseball this season. It's not comforting.

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It gets back to the point that
I think has really continued to be driven

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home. Dana Brown is not hidden
from it at all. They need bats

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at the deadline. They're gonna need
a few things, but they have to

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find some sort of addition to this
lineup. It's gonna make a difference now,

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of course. Look, things are
difficult when you're best hitterer out and

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you're Don Alvarez. He's been gone
and he's gonna be gone for at least

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through the All Star Break, probably
a little bit longer, which sucks.

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Some guys are starting to step up
in certain areas. Josea Brews had some

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moments recently, Kyle Tucker's played a
little bit better. Alex Bregman is quietly

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going back into the funk overall that
he was in before. His numbers have

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dipped back down, back to numbers
that you don't want to see. How

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Alex Bregman. He's only slugging three
seventy six this season. It's not good.

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Jeremy Paania has been okay, it's
been better than Bregman so far,

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but like they need more out of
him. Du Bond's gone into a tailspin

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his I mean, I know,
batting averages and everything, but he's creeping

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at going back into the two eighties
with another bad day if he's playing a

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day and then Jose out two bas
since he's been back, and I can't

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rush to judgment completely on josel two
because he missed so much time in the

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ramp up period was so quick.
It's gonna take him a minute. He's

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seventy five at bats into his season. He's gonna take a second to get

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going. But they do need him
to get going. It's the same point

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that I feel like when we do
these you know, big picture conversations with

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this baseball team all this season,
the same point every single time there they

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are offensively not good enough and nothing
is necessarily going to change based off of

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the players that they have on this
roster. Slight improvements in some areas,

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sure, but offensively not good enough
to compete every single night, and you're

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getting shut down by the Likes.
And now look again, I know they're

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back at five hundred. They only
have four fewer wins than you do the

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Reds. But in a normal scenario, there's no business, there's no world

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where the Reds have any business being
as good as you and honestly shutting you

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down like that. I know that
these teams don't see each other. And

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you just go look at the Astros. If you believe in the Pythagorean win

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loss, which is based a lot
off I mean it's based off of runs,

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runs, score runs aloud, their
records should be way better than what

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they are. They should be forty
one and twenty nine compared to I mean,

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that's not way better but thine thirty
one. But there's been some games

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recently that you look at and it
goes back to the road trip that they

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were on that was very very poor, a lot of mental errors, a

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lot of kicking, yourself. Washington
series starts off really well, they sneak

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by in the second game, and
then game three they just get shut down,

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and you always, you know,
I know, it's easy to get

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mad and to say us, you
know a lot of things about baseball players

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and teams when when things aren't going
like for us, it's easy to do

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this like, oh, well they're
just terrible, Like how could you not

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get any hit? Some nights there
are pictures that you're facing that you know

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you gotta tip your cap to and
say, hey, that guy just went

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out there tonight and he kicked our
ass. It happens, and maybe that's

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you know, you do that with
Abbott last night. That guy's three and

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zero now in his big league career
with a flat zero er. He's been

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awesome, one of their top prospects. Maybe there's a lack of familiarity,

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of course, between the Astros and
some of these teams that they're gonna be

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playing here on this homestand because it's
Cincinnati who they never play. They see

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the Nationals in spring training, which
helps, and then look at the Mets,

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who they see in spring training,
which he would think help as well,

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which, by the way, setting
things up Monday, and it's not

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official yet. They won't announce anything
for the next couple of days, but

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Monday should be lined up to have
Justin Verlander pitch against the Astros. He's

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coming off of a good one the
other night when he faced Garrett Cole.

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I would expect, unfortunately, him
to pitch a lot better than he has

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this season when he plays the Astros
back in the ballpark. And it's actually

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not Monday. I'm sorry, Scherzer's
lined up to pitch Monday. I believe

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Verlander is gonna pitch Tuesday. But
that's even if that Mets team that's gonna

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be coming to town after this is
a complete underachiever. Yea poor baseball and

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this is a home stand that we
all looked at and went, hey,

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this is where you gotta clean up
to the first four They two and two.

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This is the reality of the situation
that cannot lose the next two games

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of this series. Can't. And
then they got to find a way to

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take two out of three against the
New York Mets. But even with the

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Mets struggling like they are, they
still have guys that are a Verlander and

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Sures are pitching in the series.
Those are guys that can absolutely shut you

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down, even if they haven't played
great baseball this season. I hope it

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doesn't go poorly because there's been too
much lately that's just been kind of blah.

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I'd rather watch the good clearly than
the bad, and we're watching a

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lot of bad and it's frustrating again. But because this is a period of

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time where you go look at what's
going on around them with Texas and you're

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saying, you need to fix this. Now they're finally floundering are the Rangers.

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They're playing bad baseball. They've been
getting their ass kicked at home all

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week long as Texas. They lost
three or four to the Angels, they've

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lost, they lose last night to
the Blue Jays. It couldn't be a

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better situation for you, which,
by the way, you need to figure

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in that you want to talk about
timing. You know how it usually goes

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is the ebbs and the flows of
the season. Both these teams are down

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right now. They'll both probably pick
it up and start playing well here in

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a couple of weeks, and they
face each other here at the end of

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the month for a four gamer up
in Arlington, But I don't know about

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you, guys. I'd prefer them
to go into that series a little bit

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closer than three and a half games
out, just from the standpoint of you

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don't want to lose three out of
four and suddenly be further back in your

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division race. Would really really like
to see them gain some ground, and

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it's just like they just can't find
a way to do it. But again,

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right now, you gotta worry about
the Angels too. They're playing good

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baseball even if you go watch them, and you know, we've seen the

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Astros kick their ass already a bunch
this season. They're not that good,

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but they're hot. Sometimes he even
get hot and play about their talent level.

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I think that's what's going on there. But I would just like to

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come on here one day and do
this. And I don't have any of

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your Astros coverage this weekend, by
the way, Matt did last night,

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and Ross will have you today for
the three ten first pitch two o'clock on

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deck show here one game two of
this three game series. But I would

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just like I would really enjoy doing
a show whatever it is on Deck tenth

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ending this any of the show where
I come in and go. Man.

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You know, the Astro's offense,
they just they're They're an absolute machine that

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nobody can stop. It's been a
minute, it has been a minute since

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they've done that, and it's frustrating
to watch seven three two on two five

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seven ninety again, that's the number. To join us this morning here on

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Space City Saturday, let's dive into
the news of the week for the club

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that is not play related. I
guess it is play related, but it's

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not really play related. The injury
for Lance mccullor's contract. Let's discuss it

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all next here on seven ninety Space
City Saturday on Sports Talk seven ninety.

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It is Space City Saturday. Right
here on Sports Talk seven ninety. Michael

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Connor back here with you. You
can get in here this morning with us

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at seven one three excuse me,
two one two five seven ninety seven one

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three two one two five seven ninety. Plenty to get into today, including

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the Astros of course not being very
good as of laid into the loss last

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night. They'll look to bounce back
today Game two of the three game series

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two o'clock on Deck Show. Ross
will have you for that. The game

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first pitch I should say, starts
at three ten today, Brandon Black up

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against Hunter Green. We're gonna get
into the Rockets coming up in just a

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bit because there's another name out there
on the market that they've quietly, sort

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of I guess, been linked to
in terms of a potential trade scenario for

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the team. So we'll get into
that and what's going on with them,

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because it's about to get busy.
Draft this week. By the way,

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they will make the fourth pick in
the draft. We will have a draft

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show coming up this week at the
Rockets draft party. We'll have complete details

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on all that later on in the
week, but keep keep an eye because

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the Astros have a night off that
night that Thursday, so we will all

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be downtown, or at least a
lot of us will be. I know

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I'll be down there and part of
that show on Thursday for Rockets draft party,

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which again hopefully involves a trade up
or a falling of a player to

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them at number four, whatever it
might be, whoever they get, whatever

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it is, it's always an exciting
period of time to add somebody, and

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hopefully, again like usual, I
think we will probably be joined by whoever

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it is they take at number four. And number twenty on the phone at

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some point during that show. So
again that's Thursday night. More details coming

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up for you later on in a
few days with the exact people times,

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All that stuff coming for you here
on Sports Talk seven ninety. But the

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Astros, as I mentioned losers last
night, where we can discuss all that

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is throughout this show today, where
you're at, how you're feeling, you've

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done be and frustrated some of the
poor play, Like we're just just checking

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on you guys, your mental health
with the Astros this Saturday morning. One

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thing that of course did happen this
week that has been a topic of conversation

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for the entire season to this point
has been the name of Lance mc colors.

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He's done for the year, and
before it even became a thing,

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him pitching on the mound for the
Astros, which sucks. Flexor tendon surgery

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had that also had a bone spur
remove that. As Dana Brown put it

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was the size of a lima bean. Not an encouraging thing to hear.

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It's better than I would I would
assume it's better than hearing that he is

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having Tommy John for a second time
in his career. I think we all

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kind of feared that, and I
mean, that's the easy assumption when it

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comes to a pitcher who has a
forearm issue or whatever's going on, is

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that it's going to be the elbow. But they're gonna be without him for

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the rest of this season for sure, even though he never pitched for him

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again. But they also they might
not have him for the big beginning of

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next season. The timeline on it
is kind of weird. He'll pick up

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a baseball again in November. Dana
Brown said that they'll have a better idea

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of where he's at and what the
rehab process continues to be come January,

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so you know, it's going to
be interesting to see exactly how that goes.

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But here's the unfortunate truth for Lance
mcculler's and the Astros. They they

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took a gamble, which every contract
is a gamble. It has not paid

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off one bit signing him to that
five year, eighty five million dollar extension

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which ran which runs from the twenty
twenty two seasons, so this was year

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two of it technically through the twenty
twenty six season, and he's given you

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a total of eight regular season starts
and three postseason starts. As Dana Brown

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mentioned earlier this week with us when
we talk to him as a media members

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there or at minim part made credit
to Lance for grinding through it. You

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know, that's what he wanted to
do, was to grind through it,

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and he did that last year to
come back. It's a little bit frustrating,

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I think, because you've wasted such
a sting period of time and if

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this was an issue after the twenty
twenty one now look, he was also

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out of stage and I get it
where he wanted to get paid at the

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moment and wanted to get his get
his bag done, and get his long

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term future secured. He was coming
off of a really good year in twenty

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twenty one. Obviously came to an
end there in the White Sox series,

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but that's where this injury started,
was in twenty twenty one. I mean,

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you think about last season, and
last season was a huge success for

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this team, but they didn't even
really need Lance my colors. I know

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that he won a game or he
didn't win a game, but he pitched

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really well in that start in Seattle
and Game three. The other two starts,

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he wasn't any good in the postseason
last year, it's like, look

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back on it, they could have
survived without him, And if this was

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something that you knew was a possibility
last year, it's a little bit frustrating

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that you didn't do it last year. And it gets yourself healthy this year

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to come back and be a part
of this staff because the Astros need him

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more now than they ever have before. I mean outside of the twenty twenty

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one season, when obviously, you
know, Garrett Cole had had been gone

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now for a couple of years,
and you know, all these departures had

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happened to the staff, and Verlander
was out with his Tommy John recovery twenty

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twenty one that he needed and badly, and he came out and he gave

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him twenty one or twenty eight starts
that year. Last year they didn't need

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him so much and they they won
a lot of games without him last year.

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This is the year that they really
needed this guy, and they've paid

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over a thirty million dollars of this
contract and he's pitched again eleven games.

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So I mean, it's just it's
a it's unfortunately, it's a bad investment.

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It is a you know, it's
a it's a terrible return on your

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investment. And they have three more
years at seventeen point seven million dollars per

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year. In terms of the actual
cash left to go for the tax purposes

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on your money spent, it's the
average of the eighty five, so it's

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fifteen something. And I don't want
to do the whole hate for Lance and

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all that. Like, there's a
lot of people that just have this vitriol

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towards him, and I don't really
understand. He has been part of some

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really big moments for this franchise.
He's won some important games. When he

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pitches, he has got the kind
of stuff that he puts him at the

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top of any rotation in baseball.
That's just what his stuff is make him.

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I always the fascination with him has
always been, well, let's go

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make him a reliever. It's not
gotta change anything. I gotta change his

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body breaking down. He still has
to pitch a baseball. The best value

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for the Astros with him was always
to keep him as a starting pitcher,

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and that's why they always haven't always
will. It's never been a possibility him

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becoming a bullpen arm. All the
years of all the craft that people want

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to talk about it's never been on
the radar. I get as fans,

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you know, you look, we
look at the contract and we we want

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to have our assessments of it and
get mad about all they're spending this money

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here where they could be spending it
somewhere else. And this guy it's constantly

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hurt. But like I don't take
it like some people take it personally towards

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the Colors and it's like, you
know, it's not his fault. He's

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a human being that his body's breaking
down. It sucks. Yes, Now,

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I think this is where when we
talk about how the Astros handle telling

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us about injuries, this is where
a lot of the vitriol comes from from

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fans. Their lack of being upfront
with people and hiding things from the media

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I have never understood, because then
it breeds distrust and you just never know

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what's what's going on and what to
believe eve, and then it turns on

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the player and a player unfortunately with
mc Colors, I mean he's on social

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media and everything. It turns into
people tagging him and saying like so at

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the end of the day, like
that that gets where I get back to.

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There's an injury going on. He
just tell us about the injury.

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Is I don't think it's that difficult
and it's not gonna keep I always go

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it does, he'll say, and
give the other team an edge or something.

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If the players hurt, the players
hurt, they know the players hurt.

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How does that give me? So
that one always frustrates me. But

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flat out getting too far ahead of
it and saying you know, a bunch

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of bad stuff about Lance is silly, because I will say this through and

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through, this is an athlete.
We love our athletes to come to our

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city and become one of us and
never want to go anywhere. And this

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guy from day one has been one
of those guys Houston through and through.

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I hope he gets healthy and gets
back on the mount. I love watching

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him pitch when he's good. He
is awesome, and they're going to need

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him in twenty twenty four, at
some point Altt goes in terms of workload

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and his ability to pitch for an
entire season's gonna be interesting to see.

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You probably can't count a lot on
him that year. But this is the

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unfortunate spot that you're in with him, is that you're always going to be

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holding your breath with Lance mccullor's waiting
for the next injury. That's what his

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career has been is what his career
will probably continue to be. I hope

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that that trend finally changes for him
for all of us so we don't have

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to sit here and wonder about it, and you can count on him for

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a significant workload at some point to
fulfill his talent level, because his talent

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level is awesome. Seven one three
two one two five seven ninety. That's

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our phone number to join us here
on Space City a Saturday. We're with

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you until twelve o'clock. We'll get
into some of the Texans, what's going

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on with them this past week and
some of the storyline that they created.

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But the we'll get back to the
phone lines with you guys here in just

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second, and the Rockets and some
names involved or involved possibilities for trades and

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whatnot as we ramp up to the
draft this week. It is Space City

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Saturday right here on seven ninety.
We now return to Space City Saturday,

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Sports Talk seven ninety. Space City
Saturday here on Sports Talk seven niney.

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Michael Connor back here with you can
join us seven three two, one,

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two five seven ninety. We're talking
about your Houston Astros of course as we

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kick things off this morning. They've
been sluggish of late, not playing good

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baseball at all, and uh,
well, it just stinks to watch Lands

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mccolors. The injury that was announced
this week that we all knew it was

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probably coming in terms of he's not
going to pitch this season, but that's

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going to Uh that's official. Now
we'll get into the Rockets here and just

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a bit big week for them,
of course, the NBA Draft coming up

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on Thursday. We will also get
into some names that are floated about they've

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suddenly been linked to in the trade
world, which they have the ammunition to

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go pull off a big trade if
they want to. Let's go to the

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phone lines and visit first this morning
with Andy. What's up, Andy,

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Well, you sound like his agent? Do what you sound like Lands mccolor's

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agent. Why the fact the fact? Well, I mean you said,

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at the top of a top of
any league, any team's uh pitching staff,

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he's he's a six, he's a
six and four six wins, four

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losses. I mean, if you're
basing your thoughts on Lands mccolors off of

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a off of a winning loss record. I'm sorry, you don't understand how

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they've evaluate players anymore. Like it's
just his stuff, stuff that he has,

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pitches at the top of the pitches, at the top of anybody's rotation.

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It's just the facts, his stuff. I'm talking about his stuff.

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Let me ask you something. I
want you to pick five teams and give

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me their number one picture and tell
me what their wins and losses are and

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their era. You know what the
nastual guy last year was Lander? Do

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you know what his dra was?
One seventy five? Okay? What was

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Lancer color? What was it lancem
color r? When he came back last

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year? Andy? Oh oh,
so you want to you want to know.

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I'm going off your basis here.
I'm going off of your basis here,

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Andy, Andy, I'm going off
what you're telling me. What was

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m Okay, So you're going off? Okay, So you're gonna you're gonna

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00:25:37.599 --> 00:25:41.920
move the goalpost for Verlander. You
can just go off one year. But

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I ask you what the colors was
last season, and you can't tell me

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because you want to move the goalpost. Andy, I'm not gonna argue with

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you. I know your phone call. Thank you for the phone call is

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a good picture. Thank you.
I appreciate it. Andy, like all

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you ever do is call and argue
with people. You. I get it.

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You want to go off the simpleton
sitting here looking at wins and losses.

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I never sat here and was trying
to be Lance, but Color's agent.

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He has always been hurt. That
contract is bad. You're hearing needs

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to be fixed like I have been
critical. But I can also take that

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aside and look at the player and
go, oh my god. His stuff

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when he pitches is the stuff that
pitches towards the top of a rotation,

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which is all I said. I
didn't say he's the number one on the

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team, never have. All I
said was they needed him now more than

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ever, and if he was here
now, he'd be at worst the third

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starter on this team. I want
him to pitch at some point for this

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baseball team. I do. That's
the selfish side in me. I want

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him to go and pitch because they
need him and he's good. But I'm

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telling you, if you're going off
of ra and wins and losses, you're

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not evaluating pictures. That's just that's
not it. Wins and loss is a

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product of your team. So based
off of that, right now, Framber

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00:27:21.880 --> 00:27:27.480
Valdez is no good. Frauber Valdez
is six and five this season. That's

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no good. And I can I
can sit here and evaluate Ra and all

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that stuff like you can. You
can give me the RA for Verlander last

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year, But when I ask you
what the year? Hell of the previous

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two years from the Colors? Last
year's eight starts. The year before it

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was twenty eight in twenty twenty one, is Ra was three sixteen? Last

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year when he came back it was
two twenty seven. Is he perfect when

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he's out there? No? But
this is what I'm talking about with the

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just constant. There's just some conversation
that continues to go back, and it's

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silly. What has he done to
you personally? Nothing? You're not paying

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him. Why do you get so
mad about him? I get that you

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could be a fan of the team
and you want him to be out there,

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and it's frustrating that he's not.
I'm frustrated by two because they could

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have allocated these dollars somewhere else.
But it's we can't move goalposts on it.

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It's just the truth. If you
can't see that, the picture stuff

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is good enough to be a top
of the rotation guy in most teams that

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he would play on. I'm sorry, you just you're not watching baseball,

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right. Let's go to Martin next. Hello Martin. Hey, Yeah,

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I'm still really bleeped off about the
Rockets getting the fourth take overall in that

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00:28:42.519 --> 00:28:48.200
bleeping lottery. I'll never recover from
that. But I call really about Lance

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McCullers. You know, um yeah, ever since I think it started around

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when Jeff Luno took was a GM. They really keep their injuries like top

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secret information, like a classified document
with nuclear secrets or something, ever since

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then. But anyway, lets mccutters. I look at it in a positive

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way. I'm rooting for the guy. I keep hoping, maybe, pretty

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god, this is the last injury
and he can put it all together and

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be all that win nineteen twenty games. He has that talent. And he's

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only still twenty seven, twenty eight
years old. He's twenty nine now twenty

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00:29:33.160 --> 00:29:37.079
nine, Okay, he's still he's
still relatively a young dude. I mean

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I remember when JR. Richard after
he was like thirty one, thirty two

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00:29:41.200 --> 00:29:45.160
years old. That's when he became
a superstar. But anyway, I'm rooting

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for Lance, root for all of
them through their injuries. Luis gar see

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00:29:51.799 --> 00:29:56.279
it with his Timmy John and you
know, we can't predict these things.

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They unfortunately happened, and I'm rooting
for Lancha mccutter is all the way and

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all the others. Man, that's
all. Thank you, Martin. I

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appreciate it and good to hear from
you. Look that that's what I get

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back to. More anything is that. At the end of the day.

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As for as frustrating as we can
be, I'm still hopeful for the player

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because here's the thing too, The
player's not going anywhere. He's got three

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00:30:19.880 --> 00:30:23.759
years left on a contract. He's
here, He's going to be part of

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00:30:23.799 --> 00:30:29.440
this franchise. You want him to
be out there on the mound. I

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know that the Trackercker says he's probably
counting on him to do a lot is

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not reasonable. But I can say
that when he's out there, I know

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that his stuff is good. His
stuff is quality stuff that can get you

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00:30:42.480 --> 00:30:45.720
a lot of victories in this league. And you just have to continue to

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be hopeful that he gets to that
point because you don't want the last three

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00:30:52.160 --> 00:30:55.119
years of that deal. Overall,
there's gonna be some of it that's definitely

406
00:30:55.160 --> 00:30:57.559
gonna be missed next year. I'd
be shocked if he's starting the season on

407
00:30:57.680 --> 00:31:03.880
time. But and you want that
player to be back out there, simple

408
00:31:03.920 --> 00:31:07.279
as that. Seven one three two
one two five, seven ninety. That's

409
00:31:07.319 --> 00:31:11.359
our phone number to join us here
on Space City Saturday. You can find

410
00:31:11.400 --> 00:31:14.880
me on Twitter at MC seven ninety
as well. We'll discuss more on the

411
00:31:14.960 --> 00:31:18.079
Astros as I mentioned the Rockets and
some names that are out there. We'll

412
00:31:18.079 --> 00:31:30.960
get into that next year on seven
ninety the Space City created, Decreted,

413
00:31:32.039 --> 00:31:40.440
Decreted. Welcome to another Space City
Saturday. I'm Sports Talk seven ninety,

414
00:31:40.720 --> 00:31:45.079
Michael Cutter's live and local h town
breakdown of the world that matters to you,

415
00:31:47.359 --> 00:31:51.160
Houston, Fourth World, all these
great Houston fans here. We love

416
00:31:51.200 --> 00:31:56.519
you all. So finish up on
that to do list, lout up the

417
00:31:56.640 --> 00:32:00.519
cooler because you can't drink and talk
sports ald Hey, if you don't start

418
00:32:00.599 --> 00:32:09.079
now, this is Space City Saturday. Here are seven nineties Astro's insider Michael

419
00:32:09.200 --> 00:32:15.480
cunner Ki. Welcome back to Space
City Saturday here on Sports Talk seven,

420
00:32:15.519 --> 00:32:19.079
I mil Connor back here with you. You can get in here with us

421
00:32:19.160 --> 00:32:22.240
seven one three, two one two
five seven ninety. We're talking astros,

422
00:32:22.279 --> 00:32:24.119
we're talking rockets. I got some
texts and stuff to get into. We're

423
00:32:24.200 --> 00:32:29.720
with you until twelve o'clock. Stros
back in action this afternoon three ten first

424
00:32:29.759 --> 00:32:32.440
pitch over at Minimate Park, Cincinnati
Reds in Town, Ross via Real.

425
00:32:32.559 --> 00:32:37.359
We'll have you for the on deck
show coming up at two o'clock this afternoon,

426
00:32:37.440 --> 00:32:39.400
tenth inning show after the ball game
as well. I'll be back with

427
00:32:39.440 --> 00:32:44.119
you on Astro's covered on a Monday. I was off last night. Ross

428
00:32:44.200 --> 00:32:46.720
and up Matt owed me a day
each, so we got we got a

429
00:32:46.799 --> 00:32:50.920
nice extended weekend for me here.
But I'm still working with you here today

430
00:32:51.680 --> 00:32:54.519
on a Saturday until noon. Like
I mentioned, let's go back to the

431
00:32:54.559 --> 00:32:57.839
phone lines though, and get to
you guys in and we'll actually you know

432
00:32:57.880 --> 00:33:00.039
it real quick. I know that
some of you might not listen as much

433
00:33:00.079 --> 00:33:05.200
as other people do, and you
hear the conversation Andy there a minute ago,

434
00:33:05.200 --> 00:33:07.240
and it's probably gonna you're like,
why would I call him if he's

435
00:33:07.240 --> 00:33:08.720
just gonna do that, I promise
you I won't have that short of a

436
00:33:08.759 --> 00:33:13.119
lasher than anybody. And even to
Andy, Andy, even if I argue

437
00:33:13.160 --> 00:33:15.559
with you all the time, you
can still call back. And he's just

438
00:33:15.640 --> 00:33:17.720
been calling for years. I've been
working here for a very long time,

439
00:33:17.759 --> 00:33:21.240
and he does this every single time
he calls. He just wants to call

440
00:33:21.319 --> 00:33:22.799
and yell at you and tell you
that you're wrong. And I just don't

441
00:33:22.839 --> 00:33:27.079
feel like doing the back and forth
when your evaluation of a pitcher is going

442
00:33:27.160 --> 00:33:30.079
to be wins and losses in the
era, It's deeper than that. It's

443
00:33:30.200 --> 00:33:32.599
always been deeper than that. And
again, if you can't just do the

444
00:33:32.680 --> 00:33:36.599
homework to me, or if you
if I ask you a question you don't

445
00:33:36.599 --> 00:33:38.359
want to answer it because you're moving
the goalpost. I'm just not going to

446
00:33:38.480 --> 00:33:43.039
engage in the conversation in it.
Like it's just it's not worth my time

447
00:33:43.119 --> 00:33:45.319
to go back and forth and back
and forth and back and forth, you

448
00:33:45.400 --> 00:33:49.000
know. And I'm not saying that
we can't disagree. We're always going to

449
00:33:49.000 --> 00:33:52.559
disagree. This is what talk radio
is about, is disagreeing. It's completely

450
00:33:52.599 --> 00:33:55.839
fine to disagree. I'm just I
just my leash is a little bit shorter

451
00:33:55.920 --> 00:34:00.160
for Andy because he's done it forever
and you heard him he was gonna be

452
00:34:00.279 --> 00:34:01.720
stupid. That's okay. You can
call me stupid today, and tomorrow you

453
00:34:01.799 --> 00:34:04.920
might not call me stupid. Andy. I hope you're still listening. I

454
00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:07.000
hope that you will call us back
at some point. Let's go to Lewis

455
00:34:07.320 --> 00:34:13.800
and talk some strokes. What's up, Louis, Hey, I really agree

456
00:34:13.840 --> 00:34:16.280
with you that if you know,
these things are a lot deeper than they

457
00:34:16.360 --> 00:34:21.280
might look. I think there's you
know, there's always a little bit of

458
00:34:21.360 --> 00:34:25.000
room for perspective, right, And
something I think about with his injury and

459
00:34:25.199 --> 00:34:30.239
the way that you know, they
vocalized everything. At the start of Jordan's

460
00:34:30.320 --> 00:34:32.480
career, it was kind of a
concern with his knees, right, and

461
00:34:32.639 --> 00:34:37.719
that there was going to be like
an ongoing problem with his knees. Am

462
00:34:37.760 --> 00:34:40.480
I right about that? That that
an accurate perception? Um? I mean,

463
00:34:40.559 --> 00:34:43.559
yeah, I think that there was
some concern. I don't know if

464
00:34:43.599 --> 00:34:46.239
it was like a chronic concern,
but obviously getting the surgery done on both

465
00:34:46.320 --> 00:34:50.320
of them I think was done in
large part to clear some of the some

466
00:34:50.480 --> 00:34:54.679
of the worries for sure. Yeah. So whenever yourdon finally got you know,

467
00:34:55.199 --> 00:35:00.920
operation done and he got the debris
removed. That really helped him out.

468
00:35:00.239 --> 00:35:02.960
And that's something that we haven't seen
be a problem for him for a

469
00:35:04.039 --> 00:35:07.480
long time. And I'm hoping that
that's the case with the bones fur,

470
00:35:07.000 --> 00:35:10.199
you know, the fact that they're
talking about like it's bigger than we really

471
00:35:10.280 --> 00:35:15.320
thought it was, and you know, it's really opening our eyes like this

472
00:35:15.519 --> 00:35:20.079
is something that could have been you
know, the longstanding well at least like

473
00:35:20.199 --> 00:35:22.360
one of the long standing problems that
he's had with his help. And if

474
00:35:22.400 --> 00:35:25.920
that's the case, then you know, getting that work done that could really

475
00:35:27.280 --> 00:35:30.280
open some doors for him to be
healthy, you know, in the future.

476
00:35:30.679 --> 00:35:32.960
And I'm really hoping that that's the
case, and I'm optimistic that it

477
00:35:34.119 --> 00:35:38.599
is. I'm with you. Thank
you for listening this morning. Appreciate the

478
00:35:38.639 --> 00:35:44.280
phone call, Lewis. Look and
again that's maybe that's the Houston Astros fan

479
00:35:44.440 --> 00:35:47.440
that's been in me since I was
a child, still coming out like I

480
00:35:47.679 --> 00:35:52.280
want to be optimistic about everything.
That's how I've always operised, how I

481
00:35:52.320 --> 00:35:55.239
operate in general. I don't want
to be pessimistic about anything, and I

482
00:35:55.360 --> 00:35:59.400
want to see the player get back
out there, because again, I know

483
00:35:59.480 --> 00:36:04.559
it with the players stuff is,
and his stuff when he's pitching, its

484
00:36:04.599 --> 00:36:06.880
top of the level rotation kind of
stuff. I mean, he's got one

485
00:36:06.880 --> 00:36:09.079
of the best breaking balls in baseball. He's got always had an unbelievable sinker,

486
00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:14.119
one of the best groundball rates of
any pitchers in baseball every single year

487
00:36:14.159 --> 00:36:15.920
when he goes, he keeps the
ball in the yard for the most part.

488
00:36:16.000 --> 00:36:20.480
And the only issue that's ever really
been a thing for him when he's

489
00:36:20.519 --> 00:36:23.199
on the mount his pitch efficiency and
maybe walking guys too much. That's really

490
00:36:23.280 --> 00:36:29.000
been about it. That keeps his
whip number high most seasons. But he

491
00:36:29.159 --> 00:36:31.719
just he does a lot of the
things that you want a starting pitcher to

492
00:36:31.840 --> 00:36:35.599
do outside of that. I mean, I'm just looking at it real quick.

493
00:36:35.679 --> 00:36:37.400
Not again, home runs allowed aren't
everything. The most home runs he's

494
00:36:37.400 --> 00:36:43.199
ever allowed in a season's thirteen and
twenty twenty one, So I mean,

495
00:36:43.280 --> 00:36:47.280
like, I love pitchers personally that
give up nothing but groundball outs, gets

496
00:36:47.320 --> 00:36:51.920
strikeouts, which he gets a lot
of strikeouts, by the way, and

497
00:36:52.039 --> 00:36:54.639
he also, you know, does
a lot of important things in terms of

498
00:36:54.760 --> 00:36:59.559
not giving up hits. And you
can just go to his career's career numbers

499
00:36:59.599 --> 00:37:04.199
for hits per nine are always pretty
damn solid. Everything is pretty damn good,

500
00:37:05.239 --> 00:37:08.320
and they just need to find a
way to get the health situation right

501
00:37:08.360 --> 00:37:10.960
hopefully, and it might always be
a concern. It might not ever go

502
00:37:12.119 --> 00:37:15.320
away hopefully again. Yeah, like
you said, removing a bone spur is

503
00:37:15.360 --> 00:37:20.840
something that will help him fixing the
tendon. You know, some guys they're

504
00:37:20.880 --> 00:37:23.559
throwing motion, and he's got a
little bit of a different I think throwing

505
00:37:23.639 --> 00:37:28.199
motion than you know, most I
don't want to say most guys, but

506
00:37:28.480 --> 00:37:31.400
it's it's not it's not like I
think it's something that you would put in

507
00:37:31.480 --> 00:37:34.960
front of somebody that's like teaching.
Hey, I want you to throw up

508
00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:37.960
baseball like this. That's exactly how
he throw it. But you just never

509
00:37:38.079 --> 00:37:42.599
know. Bodies break down and that's
that's the life of sports. Let's go

510
00:37:42.679 --> 00:37:47.599
to JB next here on the Space
City Saturday to Himo JB. Hey,

511
00:37:47.719 --> 00:37:54.119
Michael, Hey, that's a great
take because I'm calling about a theory that

512
00:37:54.199 --> 00:37:57.599
I have and you follow the game
pretty well. I want to get your

513
00:37:57.639 --> 00:38:00.880
takes on this. Um, you
know, it seems like the thing I'm

514
00:38:00.920 --> 00:38:07.320
most frustrated about is Bregman Jose even
though you know he's still coming back to

515
00:38:07.400 --> 00:38:15.079
that phone injury and you know,
Chucker, I know they're young guys relatively

516
00:38:15.159 --> 00:38:22.440
speaking, twenty seven to twenty nine
thirty one for pose Amy, but in

517
00:38:22.599 --> 00:38:29.360
washing baseball for many years and decades, it seems like the teams, you

518
00:38:29.440 --> 00:38:31.599
know, we know we're on a
lucky not a lucky we're on a very

519
00:38:31.679 --> 00:38:38.800
special run of six years of ALCSS. And but you know, that's very

520
00:38:38.920 --> 00:38:45.440
unusual because I can't think of many
teams other than the Braves back in the

521
00:38:45.639 --> 00:38:50.880
nineties where it was just sustained greatness
for more than six or seven years.

522
00:38:51.000 --> 00:38:55.880
Because I think what I'm seeing is
that guys who get to their late twenties

523
00:38:57.039 --> 00:39:00.519
like Bregman or early thirties, like
I mean, you look around the league,

524
00:39:01.400 --> 00:39:06.719
you guys, you see guys uh
their productivity going down, superstars like

525
00:39:06.880 --> 00:39:12.119
Trout, Bryce Harper, and I
think, you know, the new normal,

526
00:39:12.239 --> 00:39:19.199
maybe that you can look at the
Korea and Springer um that once you

527
00:39:19.320 --> 00:39:23.480
start hitting your late twenties, after
you've performed for you know a great amount

528
00:39:23.480 --> 00:39:27.400
of time, you start losing it, and that this is just my theory,

529
00:39:27.440 --> 00:39:29.960
and I want to get your take
because you know, we have to

530
00:39:30.079 --> 00:39:34.159
look at history of baseball to see
but I mean, I'm shocked that Bregman

531
00:39:34.360 --> 00:39:37.599
is just so up and down.
And really, I think what you need

532
00:39:37.679 --> 00:39:42.320
as a team is you need the
young guys, you know, catch lightning

533
00:39:42.360 --> 00:39:47.159
in a bottle like we did with
Springer and Korea and Jose, because you've

534
00:39:47.199 --> 00:39:52.159
got that very small window between you
know, the mean twenty two to twenty

535
00:39:52.199 --> 00:39:55.280
seven maybe uh, to really kill
it. And that's where we are with

536
00:39:55.360 --> 00:40:00.440
your don He's in that window right
now. I mean you can talk he's

537
00:40:00.440 --> 00:40:05.599
starting maybe to lose it. So
I think we really have to look at

538
00:40:06.360 --> 00:40:12.280
baseball history to see if what the
Astros are going through now it's it's normal

539
00:40:12.800 --> 00:40:17.920
that you have this really peak period
where everybody's in their mid twenties, which

540
00:40:19.039 --> 00:40:24.320
is so young, but once they
start hitting late twenties, you see declining.

541
00:40:24.440 --> 00:40:30.920
And as I've sited with Harper and
Trout now in his thirties and you

542
00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:34.119
know, in pictures their own animal. I mean, pictures keep you in

543
00:40:34.280 --> 00:40:38.519
the game, maybe like they're doing
for us right now. So I just

544
00:40:38.639 --> 00:40:43.119
wanted to get your take on that. We know we're in a special run

545
00:40:43.239 --> 00:40:45.599
here, but we're all we may
be on the decline now. That is

546
00:40:45.760 --> 00:40:52.239
not unexpected in baseball history terms.
Yeah, thank yeah, thank you,

547
00:40:52.320 --> 00:40:55.079
Jab. It's always great to hear
from we're running up closer to the top

548
00:40:55.119 --> 00:40:59.360
of They are always appreciate you listening
making the phone call. I think that

549
00:40:59.480 --> 00:41:02.719
that's something that's definitely a possibility with
certain guys, obviously with where they're at

550
00:41:02.800 --> 00:41:06.519
their stages of their career. And
as you mentioned, you know these a

551
00:41:06.559 --> 00:41:08.119
lot of these guys now been doing
it for years. This is what Alex

552
00:41:08.199 --> 00:41:15.199
Bregman's into his eighth year technically because
he started briefly the year before. That

553
00:41:15.320 --> 00:41:19.440
mean, it's like there's definitely a
stage where I think you have to become

554
00:41:19.480 --> 00:41:22.519
a different player. I don't necessarily
know how, Like if some of them

555
00:41:22.559 --> 00:41:25.880
are declining yet, Kyle Tucker better
not be declining. He's twenty six,

556
00:41:27.079 --> 00:41:30.280
Like that'd be a problem if he's
declined. And he mentioned Jordan on same

557
00:41:30.320 --> 00:41:34.679
type of thing. Bregman's twenty nine, he'll be thirty soon. I think

558
00:41:34.760 --> 00:41:38.519
with him specifically, I go look
at things and I think the scariest part

559
00:41:38.559 --> 00:41:40.840
of his game this year that's not
been there, and again this is always

560
00:41:40.880 --> 00:41:45.639
a historically slow starter. Two seasons
and he got hot there for a second.

561
00:41:45.719 --> 00:41:51.639
But like in terms of the the
you know, his normal like hard

562
00:41:51.719 --> 00:41:57.440
hit percentages and eggit velocities and barrel
percentages and all that stuff, all the

563
00:41:57.559 --> 00:42:02.320
numbers are incredibly low, which is
not completely normal. He's still elite at

564
00:42:02.960 --> 00:42:07.159
getting on base, not chasing bad
pitches, not striking out, getting walks.

565
00:42:07.360 --> 00:42:12.079
I mean, like he's elite at
all that stuff, but there's just

566
00:42:12.320 --> 00:42:16.239
not been a lot of hard hit
stuff the last couple of years, and

567
00:42:16.719 --> 00:42:22.239
I think that's the that's the worrisome
thing with him. I also think that

568
00:42:22.320 --> 00:42:23.800
for players, and you mentioned al
Tube there as well, and you know

569
00:42:24.320 --> 00:42:28.800
al Tube had a great season last
year. I think Altub is one of

570
00:42:28.800 --> 00:42:31.079
those guys is just born to hit. But I think there's also an evolution

571
00:42:31.159 --> 00:42:35.480
of who these guys become like as
they get later into their careers and whatnot.

572
00:42:36.280 --> 00:42:39.639
At like for out Tube, he's
gonna become and he has become such

573
00:42:39.719 --> 00:42:46.039
a such a pull hitter, and
that's very important I think for him to

574
00:42:47.280 --> 00:42:52.199
get hits and to produce the power, and you know, other guys they

575
00:42:52.239 --> 00:42:53.760
get to deeper stages of their career. I think they do that. But

576
00:42:54.159 --> 00:42:57.719
yeah, I think, I mean, for sure, even as you get

577
00:42:57.760 --> 00:42:59.639
to thirty years old, and if
you've been doing as long as you have,

578
00:42:59.679 --> 00:43:00.559
in the eye, sus have been
on one hell of a grind.

579
00:43:00.719 --> 00:43:05.960
Like there's no telling what it physically
does to your body. Like we all

580
00:43:06.079 --> 00:43:08.000
know it. I mean, I
know I notice it now in my life.

581
00:43:08.039 --> 00:43:10.679
And I'm not a professional athlete,
but I'm an active person. Like

582
00:43:10.760 --> 00:43:14.199
I'm in the gym every day.
I do a lot of things. But

583
00:43:14.360 --> 00:43:16.360
like even at the age of thirty
two now, like I see things that

584
00:43:16.760 --> 00:43:21.519
I'm out playing basketball my nephews the
other day, and like, you know,

585
00:43:21.639 --> 00:43:23.719
I for I can work out and
eat right and do all these little

586
00:43:23.760 --> 00:43:28.599
things, whatever it might be,
and they're still like there's part of me

587
00:43:28.639 --> 00:43:30.800
when I go out and play basketball. I'm like, good god, I'm

588
00:43:30.840 --> 00:43:34.639
slowing down a little bit. Like
I can't handle this as much as I

589
00:43:34.760 --> 00:43:38.800
could five years ago. So like
if you play baseball every day for all

590
00:43:38.840 --> 00:43:42.400
those years, like I can't imagine, you know, at some point you

591
00:43:42.480 --> 00:43:45.920
do start to slow down, and
they're not you know, again, most

592
00:43:45.920 --> 00:43:47.960
of these guys aren't close to slowing
down completely like they're still gonna win at

593
00:43:47.960 --> 00:43:52.079
a really high level. I think
it's a lot of it is built into

594
00:43:52.159 --> 00:43:57.320
the culture that they've done and everything, and it's just been it's been something

595
00:43:57.400 --> 00:44:02.880
that they've they've always has been able
to handle. So that is something that

596
00:44:04.119 --> 00:44:06.199
you know, I feel confident and
today, well we need to grab a

597
00:44:06.280 --> 00:44:08.480
top of the hour time out.
When we get back, we'll get more

598
00:44:08.519 --> 00:44:16.800
of your phone calls right here on
Space City Saturday. Space City Saturday continues

599
00:44:17.440 --> 00:44:29.760
on Sports Talk seven ninety. Here
we go on Space City Saturday hour or

600
00:44:29.800 --> 00:44:32.400
two of the show. You can
join us this morning at seven one two,

601
00:44:32.440 --> 00:44:37.719
one two five seven ninety on Twitter
at MC seven ninety. I promise

602
00:44:37.760 --> 00:44:39.360
you we're going to get into that
Rockets discussion that I wanted to get into

603
00:44:39.400 --> 00:44:44.079
and the Texans in the second hour. I always appreciate I remember gonna you

604
00:44:44.119 --> 00:44:45.920
guys that we can't talk Astros baseball. Look, we are in the time

605
00:44:45.960 --> 00:44:50.800
of the year where they have the
most going on, and you know we're

606
00:44:51.039 --> 00:44:53.679
watching them every single night. We're
frustrated right now because they lost again last

607
00:44:53.760 --> 00:44:58.119
night to the since not again to
this team, but they did lose again

608
00:44:58.199 --> 00:45:01.719
last night. They lose the opener
to the Cincinnati Reds two to one for

609
00:45:01.800 --> 00:45:06.519
a team that the Astros just used
to beat the hell out of. I

610
00:45:06.599 --> 00:45:08.679
mean, and they ran the numbers
last night on a T and T sports

611
00:45:08.760 --> 00:45:14.599
Net. If you ever go look
at career numbers for how certain players play

612
00:45:14.599 --> 00:45:17.400
against certain teams, we know,
like Albert Poolholes for years just absolutely murdered

613
00:45:17.440 --> 00:45:22.559
the Astros. Go back and look
at what Lance Berkman, Jeff Bagwell and

614
00:45:22.840 --> 00:45:28.920
Roy Oswald did to the Cincinnati to
the city of Cincinnati and the Reds for

615
00:45:30.239 --> 00:45:36.800
just ever. I mean, those
guys Berkman specifically put up insane numbers against

616
00:45:36.840 --> 00:45:40.559
Cincinnati just destroyed them forever. And
you know that they had to be scarred

617
00:45:40.599 --> 00:45:43.840
by that. But you go back
and look at I think the last time

618
00:45:43.880 --> 00:45:45.119
and I need to I had to
check for sure, but I can remember

619
00:45:45.159 --> 00:45:50.000
the series in twenty nineteen when the
Astros were on the road in Cincinnati,

620
00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:52.360
because that's last time I can remember
playing them, I believe, and they

621
00:45:52.440 --> 00:45:54.920
had like I mean, it was
like Garrett Cole and Justin Verlander, I

622
00:45:54.960 --> 00:45:58.719
think, both pitching this years they
got swept and that was the year they

623
00:45:58.719 --> 00:46:02.239
one one hundred and seven games it's
like it's for some reason. Now Cincinnati

624
00:46:02.400 --> 00:46:06.400
might be getting a little bit of
revenge after all those years, but hopefully

625
00:46:06.440 --> 00:46:09.800
not today. They'll bounce back in
Game two of the series again three ten.

626
00:46:09.920 --> 00:46:14.840
First pitch here on seven NINEY Brandon
Black against Hunter Green, Ross v

627
00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:20.400
Real. We'll have you for the
on deck show starting at UM starting at

628
00:46:20.400 --> 00:46:22.840
two o'clock. For that one,
let's go back to the phone lines to

629
00:46:22.960 --> 00:46:25.400
seven one three, two one two
five seven NINEY. Danny is up next

630
00:46:25.440 --> 00:46:30.960
here on seven NINEY. Hello Danny, Hey, how you guys doing good?

631
00:46:31.320 --> 00:46:36.320
Hello? I'm sorry, um,
just working here. Uh first,

632
00:46:36.440 --> 00:46:39.000
first off, first time caller,
won't be the won't be the first time

633
00:46:39.039 --> 00:46:42.920
listener as well, won't be the
last time. But I just want to

634
00:46:43.000 --> 00:46:45.559
read. I just want to talk
about I'm not gonna beat a dead horse

635
00:46:45.639 --> 00:46:47.559
about mc colors or anything like that, but I do want to talk about

636
00:46:47.719 --> 00:46:52.639
the recent signing or extensions and I
just want to hear your thoughts about it.

637
00:46:52.800 --> 00:46:55.280
Yeah, I'm just gonna hang up
and listen. I'll bray you.

638
00:46:55.840 --> 00:47:00.480
How do you feel about that the
signing? Was it too much do you

639
00:47:00.559 --> 00:47:04.039
think? Or was it marcot?
Bryce? And how do you feel about

640
00:47:04.119 --> 00:47:07.599
Montero, do you think we paid
him too early? On that? And

641
00:47:07.880 --> 00:47:15.840
Pressley personally, I think that I
think we shouldn't have signed him. I

642
00:47:15.920 --> 00:47:17.159
mean, I think we should have
gave an extension, of course, but

643
00:47:17.719 --> 00:47:21.840
as much as he got, I
don't think. I don't know. He

644
00:47:21.960 --> 00:47:24.239
just to me, he just don't
have to exude that confidence. He doesn't

645
00:47:24.280 --> 00:47:29.320
have the stuff I think sometimes um
and then definitely he doesn't throw on the

646
00:47:29.400 --> 00:47:31.199
hundreds like some of them, some
of the other closures. And last but

647
00:47:31.320 --> 00:47:34.760
not least, I'm starting for all
these questions, but I'm not work right

648
00:47:34.800 --> 00:47:37.039
now. And last one, at
least the free agents that are coming up

649
00:47:38.639 --> 00:47:42.639
in the uh, the free agent
that are coming up, I just want

650
00:47:42.679 --> 00:47:46.159
to know, is there any guys
out there pitching and hitter hitters that maybe

651
00:47:46.199 --> 00:47:51.079
we could look forward to maybe picking
up. Thanks appreciate, appreciate your time.

652
00:47:51.519 --> 00:47:53.039
Thank you so much for the phone
call. So let's let's roll through

653
00:47:53.159 --> 00:47:58.840
some of it here with the We'll
start with a brave Now. Look,

654
00:47:59.400 --> 00:48:04.960
I think at time, everybody with
a bray you knew that he was a

655
00:48:05.039 --> 00:48:09.760
good player, and everybody was excited
for it, including myself. I saw

656
00:48:09.920 --> 00:48:15.280
the contract and knew like I think
most people did that. They went a

657
00:48:15.440 --> 00:48:20.039
year further on that deal than anybody
else was willing to go. The per

658
00:48:20.199 --> 00:48:22.880
year number that he got, He
would have gotten that anywhere, but the

659
00:48:23.039 --> 00:48:28.599
difference is that he was probably only
getting two year offers everywhere else, and

660
00:48:28.719 --> 00:48:31.239
he signed so quickly because the Astros
came in and offered the third year.

661
00:48:32.880 --> 00:48:36.880
That's what you have to do in
free agency to get players. You have

662
00:48:37.000 --> 00:48:40.000
to extend further in years than the
other teams are willing to go. You

663
00:48:40.000 --> 00:48:44.400
can go back to Josh Reddick.
When the Astros signed Josh Reddick, a

664
00:48:44.480 --> 00:48:45.920
lot of people in Baseball code God, why would they give him a four

665
00:48:46.000 --> 00:48:50.679
year deal? They give him a
four year deal because it took four years

666
00:48:50.760 --> 00:48:53.920
to get him, Like to guarantee
that you're getting that player. It was

667
00:48:54.000 --> 00:48:58.039
taking a four year deal. So
I was fine with it. Again,

668
00:48:58.159 --> 00:49:00.639
he was a great player last year
for the White Socks. He's a former

669
00:49:00.760 --> 00:49:04.199
MVP. There's really no reason to
be upset with it at the time.

670
00:49:04.960 --> 00:49:08.960
I mean, now, yeah,
it's it's not been good. Now I'm

671
00:49:09.079 --> 00:49:13.039
hopeful for the rest of his season. Now he's not going to get back

672
00:49:13.119 --> 00:49:16.800
to being the type of numbers that
jose A Brayu is typically at, which

673
00:49:16.960 --> 00:49:22.119
is, you know, eight hundred
plus ops. But if he can get

674
00:49:22.199 --> 00:49:24.559
himself back into a range and he's
back over six. I know he's back

675
00:49:24.599 --> 00:49:29.280
over six hundred for his ops right
now, that doesn't mean a lot.

676
00:49:29.639 --> 00:49:31.440
If he can get back to that
range, like though, get him over

677
00:49:31.599 --> 00:49:38.400
seven hundred, that would be an
encouraging sign. And he's done a lot

678
00:49:38.559 --> 00:49:40.760
lately in terms of the last night. You look at the end of the

679
00:49:40.800 --> 00:49:45.039
game, his lasted bat, he
rips that double off the wall out there

680
00:49:45.079 --> 00:49:49.920
and left to turn on a fastball
like that that was inside off the plate

681
00:49:50.599 --> 00:49:53.679
and barrel it up and smoke it
like he did. It's very encouraging,

682
00:49:54.480 --> 00:49:58.800
very encouraging, and it's it's another
positive sign. That's been a good month

683
00:49:59.360 --> 00:50:01.960
of June him so far. I
feel a lot better about the player now

684
00:50:02.000 --> 00:50:07.559
than I did a month ago.
Montero, Look, I am always fine

685
00:50:07.679 --> 00:50:12.920
with keeping you know, keeping your
team together. That just won a World

686
00:50:13.039 --> 00:50:15.639
Series, Like, you're really not
gonna get me mad on that one.

687
00:50:15.679 --> 00:50:19.480
Everybody knew it was an overpay.
I didn't love it. I don't think

688
00:50:19.519 --> 00:50:22.559
many people did like it. Three
years thirty four and a half million dollars

689
00:50:22.639 --> 00:50:24.320
whatever was he wasn't getting. He
was gonna get paid on the market.

690
00:50:24.360 --> 00:50:29.000
I don't think he was getting that
much. He's the eighth highest paid reliever

691
00:50:29.159 --> 00:50:31.760
in all of baseball. He has
a career track record that, outside of

692
00:50:31.840 --> 00:50:35.880
last year, was a guy that
gave up a ton of runs, walked

693
00:50:35.920 --> 00:50:40.760
a bunch of guys, and was
on multiple teams. It's a bad contracts

694
00:50:40.880 --> 00:50:43.880
as simple as it gets. It
was a bad contract. It was a

695
00:50:43.920 --> 00:50:49.239
bad decision. They should not have
done that. The Pressley thing, and

696
00:50:49.320 --> 00:50:52.599
I think this is a is a
bigger picture topic, and we did this

697
00:50:52.760 --> 00:50:55.360
last weekend. Now, look,
Ryan Pressley right now is not pitching well.

698
00:50:57.320 --> 00:51:00.760
Facts are the facts. He knows
that team knows that he has been

699
00:51:00.920 --> 00:51:07.079
bad recently. And when I say
bad recently, I'm talking about his last

700
00:51:07.239 --> 00:51:12.639
and I'm pulling up his game log
at this very moment. It is his

701
00:51:13.079 --> 00:51:21.280
last couple of games. Here one, it's this month of June, and

702
00:51:21.440 --> 00:51:25.119
you could go back, I guess
to the end of the month of really

703
00:51:25.159 --> 00:51:29.360
the end of the month of May. He had a blown save against the

704
00:51:29.440 --> 00:51:32.800
Twins, bounced back and got a
save in his next one, gave up

705
00:51:32.840 --> 00:51:37.199
a run in his next outing blow
a save against Cleveland, and his next

706
00:51:37.239 --> 00:51:44.639
one got a save in his next
game against Cleveland. After that, gave

707
00:51:44.719 --> 00:51:47.360
up a bunch of unearned runs in
the next one that came back, and

708
00:51:47.480 --> 00:51:52.360
that was another blown save opportunity,
even though they were unearned. And then

709
00:51:52.440 --> 00:51:54.159
he of course gave up the home
run a couple of nights ago against the

710
00:51:54.320 --> 00:51:58.320
Nationals. And I had channed the
room of the Athletic wrote this the other

711
00:51:58.400 --> 00:52:01.079
day and he acknowledges as well.
The difference in Ryan Presley right now is

712
00:52:01.119 --> 00:52:06.039
that he's been so dependent on a
slider, and he's throwing a slider more

713
00:52:06.079 --> 00:52:08.440
than ever, and teams are going
up there knowing he's just gonna throw sliders,

714
00:52:08.920 --> 00:52:12.280
and a lot of them are being
left over the plate and they're getting

715
00:52:12.280 --> 00:52:15.440
crushed at the moment. So he's
got to get back to establishing his fastball.

716
00:52:15.480 --> 00:52:17.559
But number one thing in this game
is establishing your fastball. And if

717
00:52:17.559 --> 00:52:21.440
you can establish a dominant fastball early
in the account, it allows you to

718
00:52:21.559 --> 00:52:24.480
go to breaking stuff and it makes
you more lethal, and we're not seeing

719
00:52:24.519 --> 00:52:29.440
that at the moment. I think, unfortunately, this is the life of

720
00:52:29.519 --> 00:52:31.599
the closure. And you brought up
a great point of it too, that

721
00:52:31.760 --> 00:52:38.320
he doesn't throw one hundred miles an
hour. We have this mindset as baseball

722
00:52:38.400 --> 00:52:42.960
fans that you're not a good closer
unless you throw one hundred miles an hour,

723
00:52:43.039 --> 00:52:47.159
and this is not fair to any
pitcher that's out there. Some of

724
00:52:47.199 --> 00:52:50.960
the best closers in the history of
this game didn't throw one hundred miles an

725
00:52:51.000 --> 00:52:53.920
hour. I mean Ririann Rivera,
the greatest ever through at ninety two to

726
00:52:54.159 --> 00:52:59.280
ninety three mile an hour cutter for
twenty years and is the greatest closer ever.

727
00:53:00.760 --> 00:53:04.639
Trevor Hoffman was an amazing I think
he's second all time, and saves

728
00:53:06.039 --> 00:53:09.239
he got by doing it on a
changeup. He never had an electri fa.

729
00:53:09.400 --> 00:53:13.199
Ryan Pressley, though, has a
good fastball. Ryan Pressley can run

730
00:53:13.239 --> 00:53:17.320
it up ninety four to ninety seven, so just because it doesn't hit a

731
00:53:17.440 --> 00:53:22.360
hundred doesn't mean anything. I think
it's completely unfair the way that people have

732
00:53:22.440 --> 00:53:25.199
talked about Ryan Pressley as of late, like should like you bring up shouldn't

733
00:53:25.199 --> 00:53:30.880
have given him the contract? Why? Because he's been a lead at closing

734
00:53:30.920 --> 00:53:34.159
out games for three years, like
that, they shouldn't have done it.

735
00:53:35.360 --> 00:53:40.159
He's still effective and he's going I
heard Ross bring this up yesterday and it's

736
00:53:40.239 --> 00:53:44.079
yeah, I know, it's it's
hot topic right now to where people are

737
00:53:44.079 --> 00:53:46.119
gonna, oh, you're you're wrong. He's going to be fine. I'm

738
00:53:46.159 --> 00:53:49.480
telling you he's going to be fine. He's going to be getting back to

739
00:53:49.559 --> 00:53:53.119
being Ryan Pressley. And you're never
going to think about it when closers have

740
00:53:53.360 --> 00:54:00.480
blips because it's the end of the
game. We overreact to it. I

741
00:54:00.559 --> 00:54:02.920
mean, you just go back to
save opportunities every single year and what the

742
00:54:04.000 --> 00:54:07.199
player does in closing out baseball games. This year so far, he's twelve

743
00:54:07.239 --> 00:54:12.119
out of fifteen. Last year he
was thirty three out of thirty seven.

744
00:54:12.440 --> 00:54:15.119
Year before he was twenty six out
of twenty eight, and then in twenty

745
00:54:15.199 --> 00:54:17.280
twenty when he took over the closer
role, he was twelve out of sixteen.

746
00:54:21.440 --> 00:54:23.199
Throughout these years, I just go
look at earn runs and the innings

747
00:54:23.239 --> 00:54:30.159
pitched that twenty twenty season eight ern
runs and twenty one innings pitched. Twenty

748
00:54:30.239 --> 00:54:34.880
twenty one, sixty four innings pitched. Gave up sixteen runs all year.

749
00:54:35.480 --> 00:54:37.079
Last year sixteen runs and forty eight
and a third. This year he's at

750
00:54:37.079 --> 00:54:39.840
eleven and twenty eight. He doesn't
give up a lot of runs typically,

751
00:54:39.920 --> 00:54:45.000
is what I'm telling you. Opponent
batting average is always pretty low, in

752
00:54:45.039 --> 00:54:47.960
the low two hundreds. This year
it's at two twenty nine. Last year

753
00:54:49.039 --> 00:54:51.320
is at one eighty one. So
he's got to get a little bit better

754
00:54:51.480 --> 00:54:57.239
there. But I mean, here's
the facts. The numbers spell it out.

755
00:54:57.719 --> 00:55:00.119
He has been one of the best
fit sures of baseball games. Then

756
00:55:00.119 --> 00:55:06.679
you add the postseason to it.
What he did in the postseason last year

757
00:55:07.800 --> 00:55:16.599
was ridiculous. He was a perfect
eleven innings of shutout baseball. He was

758
00:55:16.719 --> 00:55:21.719
six of six and save opportunities.
And since he's been the closer for the

759
00:55:21.800 --> 00:55:25.360
Astros, he is eleven of eleven
in the postseason when it comes to saving

760
00:55:25.400 --> 00:55:30.800
ball games. The facts are just
the facts. He's been an elite closer

761
00:55:30.840 --> 00:55:34.440
now for multiple years, and he's
never going to get the respect that he

762
00:55:34.559 --> 00:55:37.719
properly deserves because, like you mentioned
there, he throws one hundred miles.

763
00:55:37.760 --> 00:55:40.920
He doesn't throw one hundred miles an
hour, because we as fans have this

764
00:55:42.199 --> 00:55:45.440
ingrained in our brains that you have
to throw one hundred miles an hour to

765
00:55:45.559 --> 00:55:50.239
be a closer. And it's just
not true. He's under contract, by

766
00:55:50.239 --> 00:55:54.000
the way, for next year at
fourteen million, and the twenty twenty five

767
00:55:54.079 --> 00:56:00.119
season he has a mutual option with
a two million dollar buyout option because was

768
00:56:00.119 --> 00:56:04.239
guaranteed with fifty games pitched in both
twenty twenty three and twenty twenty four.

769
00:56:04.840 --> 00:56:07.719
So far this year he has pitched
twenty nine games, so he'll get to

770
00:56:07.800 --> 00:56:13.440
that fifty mark barring something bad happening, and he will eventually guarantee that option

771
00:56:13.559 --> 00:56:16.960
year. And that's fine. I'm
beyond happy with Ryan Presley being their closer.

772
00:56:19.360 --> 00:56:22.159
I would like at the moment for
him to stop pitching poorly like everybody

773
00:56:22.199 --> 00:56:25.599
else. See three two one two
five se ninety that's our number. To

774
00:56:25.719 --> 00:56:30.920
join us here on Space City Saturday. When we return, let's get into

775
00:56:30.079 --> 00:56:36.559
the into the Rockets stuff and your
conversation of what is going on. It's

776
00:56:36.599 --> 00:56:40.639
big week for them as well.
That's next year in seven ninety. Welcome

777
00:56:40.679 --> 00:57:00.159
back to Space City Saturday. On
scort took seven ninety. Make City Saturday

778
00:57:00.320 --> 00:57:05.880
here on Sports Talk seven niney.
Michael Connor back here with you. You

779
00:57:05.960 --> 00:57:08.360
can get in here and join us
seven one three two one two five seven

780
00:57:08.480 --> 00:57:13.199
niney real quick before we start to
transition some of our discussion. The Astro's

781
00:57:13.239 --> 00:57:15.000
lineup for today is out and it
looks a little bit different once again.

782
00:57:15.079 --> 00:57:20.199
They again play three ten first pitch
today here on seven ninety two o'clock on

783
00:57:20.360 --> 00:57:22.199
deck show Ross by Real. We'll
have you for that and he'll have the

784
00:57:22.360 --> 00:57:27.920
for the tenth inning show afterwards as
well. But the lineup today has Corey

785
00:57:28.119 --> 00:57:30.079
Jolks at the top of it,
playing left field, so he is leading

786
00:57:30.119 --> 00:57:35.119
off today. Jose Al Twove at
second, bats second, Bragman at third,

787
00:57:35.159 --> 00:57:38.119
bats third, Kyle Tucker and right
field hits clean up. Jose A

788
00:57:38.159 --> 00:57:42.920
brave Us the designated hitter today,
he'll bat fifth. Yaner Diaz is catching

789
00:57:43.000 --> 00:57:45.920
today in batting sixth, Jeremy Painting
is shortstop, bats seventh, Jake Myers

790
00:57:46.079 --> 00:57:51.360
at in center field, bats eighth, and then Great Kessenger gets the start

791
00:57:51.400 --> 00:57:54.280
today at first base and bats to
night. So again that's your Astro's lineup

792
00:57:54.320 --> 00:58:00.840
today with Corey Jolkes leading off for
the first time time with the Astros.

793
00:58:00.920 --> 00:58:06.559
Here been a solid bat, solid
bat for the Astros pretty much all season

794
00:58:06.639 --> 00:58:08.679
long, maybe not the overall kind
of numbers that you would love in terms

795
00:58:08.719 --> 00:58:12.800
of the ops and whatnot, but
he's not been a detriment to the team

796
00:58:12.800 --> 00:58:15.079
as a reason made the team and
he's performed I think pretty well to keep

797
00:58:15.159 --> 00:58:20.800
his spot up here. But the
week ahead for the Houston Rockets is pretty

798
00:58:20.880 --> 00:58:24.480
important as well. NBA Draft coming
up Thursday. Again, we will have

799
00:58:24.599 --> 00:58:29.239
a draft show for you a Thursday
night. The Rockets gonna have an official

800
00:58:29.360 --> 00:58:31.320
draft party and everything. We'll be
down there for that. We'll get you

801
00:58:31.360 --> 00:58:36.880
all the details on that later on
this week. But kind of a big

802
00:58:36.960 --> 00:58:38.920
deal because the Rockets hold the fourth
pick in the NBA Draft. There's a

803
00:58:38.960 --> 00:58:44.719
lot of talk left and right about
who's going where. We know who's going

804
00:58:45.280 --> 00:58:50.400
number one to the Spurs Victor Woman. Nah, that's gonna suck, but

805
00:58:50.599 --> 00:58:52.079
it is what it is. And
you can't convince me that there's not some

806
00:58:52.159 --> 00:58:55.960
sort of conspiracy theory with a connection
to Tony Parker and all that. The

807
00:58:57.079 --> 00:59:00.400
NBA just seems how to find these
storylines rigged that they do. And now

808
00:59:00.400 --> 00:59:06.159
I'm kidding, but the we know
who's going one, we have an idea

809
00:59:06.320 --> 00:59:08.039
I think of who's going two of
three? Two and three of course,

810
00:59:08.159 --> 00:59:14.920
and be Brandon Miller and Scoot Henderson
and some sort of some sort of mix

811
00:59:15.039 --> 00:59:17.840
there. I think the overall consensus
for the Rockets if they are picking at

812
00:59:17.920 --> 00:59:22.119
number four, is going to be
of course, Amen Thompson. You know,

813
00:59:22.159 --> 00:59:27.119
it's a player that has a lot
of athletic ability that a lot of

814
00:59:27.159 --> 00:59:30.000
people are you know, really high
on. The question is going to be

815
00:59:30.159 --> 00:59:32.360
is he going to be? You
know, is he gonna be a top

816
00:59:32.519 --> 00:59:36.880
end type of star players. He's
just gonna be. Really it's the fourth

817
00:59:36.960 --> 00:59:39.679
pick, who knows. But it's
a guy that can go and get his

818
00:59:39.760 --> 00:59:44.320
own shot something maybe that the Rockets
are missing. If they end up at

819
00:59:44.360 --> 00:59:46.480
four and they take Amen Thompson,
I think that everybody should be happy about

820
00:59:46.519 --> 00:59:52.000
it and we'll see exactly what happens. Now. They could take this player

821
00:59:52.239 --> 00:59:55.880
and he never plays for the Rockets
if they and I think this is the

822
00:59:57.119 --> 01:00:01.159
interesting part of their of their office
season to see, you know, what

823
01:00:01.400 --> 01:00:07.960
exactly they're going to do here with
this roster build. We know that they

824
01:00:07.079 --> 01:00:10.079
absolutely nailed it in terms of going
out and getting the head coach that they

825
01:00:10.159 --> 01:00:15.320
wanted. They got Emyudoco, and
I think that that was a guy that's

826
01:00:15.599 --> 01:00:22.559
definitely that's definitely was wanted by a
lot of teams across the league, and

827
01:00:22.719 --> 01:00:29.880
for good reason. He's I think
that just kind of culture center with the

828
01:00:30.360 --> 01:00:34.960
discipline that he's going to bring in
that this franchise and a lot of franchises

829
01:00:35.079 --> 01:00:39.239
could have used. I've always been
curious of does he want to come in

830
01:00:39.400 --> 01:00:43.199
and build through it with the young
players, and like, is he the

831
01:00:43.280 --> 01:00:46.239
young guy that's going to take the
young players to that next level. We

832
01:00:46.400 --> 01:00:52.079
know about the links to James Harden, the you know, the latest reports

833
01:00:52.119 --> 01:00:54.840
have been that he's torn between Philadelphia
and Houston. You know, I know

834
01:00:55.000 --> 01:01:00.039
that a lot of us don't necessarily
want to see him back. I'm going

835
01:01:00.119 --> 01:01:05.400
to continue in my mind going about
every day thinking James Harden's coming back.

836
01:01:05.480 --> 01:01:09.599
I think there's just been too many
There's been too many stories that have been

837
01:01:09.639 --> 01:01:14.039
out there that tell you that this
player is coming back to the city of

838
01:01:14.119 --> 01:01:20.159
Houston. Whether it's a good thing
for this franchise or not. Except for

839
01:01:20.280 --> 01:01:24.280
debate, maybe overall it's probably not. But if it is that, then

840
01:01:24.400 --> 01:01:36.280
it is what it is. The
team, you know, could have other

841
01:01:36.440 --> 01:01:40.000
looks to it. Does he want
Emaudoko to have a more veteran laden team.

842
01:01:40.119 --> 01:01:44.559
I don't know, and if he
does, there's going to be options

843
01:01:44.599 --> 01:01:47.360
available out there in terms of players
you could go get. You know,

844
01:01:47.400 --> 01:01:51.440
I think a lot of eyes right
now are clearly on the Portland Trailblazers and

845
01:01:51.519 --> 01:01:54.679
what's going to go on there?
Are they sticking at three? Are they

846
01:01:54.719 --> 01:02:01.639
trading to pick away for another veteran
player? Are they getting rid of are

847
01:02:01.719 --> 01:02:09.000
they getting rid of Damian Lillard?
What are they doing? I don't know.

848
01:02:10.519 --> 01:02:15.639
I think that they hold a huge
a huge part of the of the

849
01:02:15.760 --> 01:02:22.760
off seasons, kind of held up
on what they're doing on Thursday. But

850
01:02:22.920 --> 01:02:28.960
the name that's been floated about out
there this past week that there's not been

851
01:02:29.039 --> 01:02:36.719
a lot of instant connections made for
people. You know, I know that

852
01:02:37.119 --> 01:02:39.280
when you see names pop up in
trade scenarios, you're always going to go

853
01:02:39.360 --> 01:02:44.239
look to the contenders and what if
this team win got this player or whatever

854
01:02:44.360 --> 01:02:47.559
might be. The name is Zion
Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans, still

855
01:02:47.639 --> 01:02:52.360
twenty two years old, just signed
last year a big one hundred and ninety

856
01:02:52.400 --> 01:02:55.320
three million dollars five year extension with
the Pelicans. Overall, so far in

857
01:02:55.440 --> 01:03:02.599
his career, I would tell you
he's a disappointment, not from his production

858
01:03:02.719 --> 01:03:07.039
that he gives you when he plays. When he plays, he is productive,

859
01:03:07.880 --> 01:03:12.239
He is a force. He is
a game changer on the floor when

860
01:03:12.280 --> 01:03:16.119
he's out there. But I saw
this number yesterday. Since he's been in

861
01:03:16.159 --> 01:03:21.960
a league, he has missed over
sixty percent of the Pelicans games that have

862
01:03:22.079 --> 01:03:23.840
been in that he has been there, that he could have played in.

863
01:03:24.159 --> 01:03:30.159
He missed an entire season in the
twenty twenty two season with the foot injury.

864
01:03:30.159 --> 01:03:31.920
He played twenty nine games last year. I think there's a lot of

865
01:03:32.039 --> 01:03:37.719
question about his desire to get back
out there when the injuries have come up.

866
01:03:39.599 --> 01:03:44.400
Now, if you've followed the name
Zion Williamson at all, you know

867
01:03:44.480 --> 01:03:49.719
that it's been a very interesting offseason
for him so far because apparently he's got

868
01:03:49.800 --> 01:03:53.599
a baby on the way. He's
been um, he's got a porn star

869
01:03:53.840 --> 01:04:00.559
that is apparently also in his life
that is putting his business there business out

870
01:04:00.639 --> 01:04:05.400
on Twitter constantly about a lot of
things that are unfortunately as that we just

871
01:04:05.440 --> 01:04:11.920
can't speak about on the radio.
There's clearly some baggage when it comes to

872
01:04:12.000 --> 01:04:16.599
Zion Williamson. There's been reports now
look at and if I'm looking at their

873
01:04:16.719 --> 01:04:23.119
roster and everything. If I'm a
New Orleans Pelicans fan, there's not a

874
01:04:23.199 --> 01:04:28.360
lot of them out there. Chris
Gordy and I did a New Orleans show

875
01:04:28.400 --> 01:04:31.079
there for a few for a couple
of years, and we would get some

876
01:04:31.280 --> 01:04:33.519
Pelicans phone calls when we do it. When we were doing that on top

877
01:04:33.599 --> 01:04:36.519
of Houston, we'd do Houston and
then we do New Orleans in the morning,

878
01:04:39.000 --> 01:04:43.320
and you know, so I started
to pick up watching the pell But

879
01:04:43.360 --> 01:04:45.760
you just go look at their roster. I mean, you have a team.

880
01:04:45.840 --> 01:04:48.119
If he's getting his thirties now,
CJ. McCollums a really really good

881
01:04:48.119 --> 01:04:53.159
player, really really solid player,
real really good shooter. Brandon Ingram has

882
01:04:53.199 --> 01:04:56.840
been been an All Star now since
he's been there in New Orleans, and

883
01:04:56.880 --> 01:05:00.000
he's a really good shooter as well. They a lot of talent on that

884
01:05:00.159 --> 01:05:04.599
roster. They have enough talent on
that roster to contend in the Western Conference,

885
01:05:05.599 --> 01:05:13.880
but they never get healthy. And
whether that's bad luck or the fact

886
01:05:13.960 --> 01:05:17.239
that there's always it seems like there's
always this storyline with them in their training

887
01:05:17.280 --> 01:05:21.239
staff, like they can't get players
healthy. I remember Eric Gordon was there

888
01:05:21.280 --> 01:05:26.239
forever could never stay healthy when he
was there, gets to Houston magically healthy

889
01:05:26.280 --> 01:05:28.800
for the most part. He'd have
his stuff here and there, but like

890
01:05:28.960 --> 01:05:34.239
way more healthy in Houston than he
ever was in New Orleans. So is

891
01:05:34.280 --> 01:05:40.320
there any element of that with Zion? I don't know, but I could

892
01:05:40.360 --> 01:05:44.360
tell you right now. I know
that there's concerns again for players and whatnot.

893
01:05:44.480 --> 01:05:50.719
I would if they wanted to,
I would make a trade for Zion

894
01:05:50.760 --> 01:05:56.719
Williamson. If I was the Rockets, I wouldn't have any issue with it.

895
01:05:59.039 --> 01:06:01.559
I think that you look at the
player and the talent level that's there,

896
01:06:02.880 --> 01:06:05.320
and you have a coach that you
brought in that you feel is so

897
01:06:05.559 --> 01:06:10.960
good at setting that culture and being
what you want as your next long term

898
01:06:11.039 --> 01:06:16.159
head coach here and getting you back
on that winning path. If New Orleans

899
01:06:16.239 --> 01:06:21.719
wants to deal, I'm making the
phone call. And again I know that

900
01:06:21.840 --> 01:06:25.880
everybody goes to you have to match
up salaries in what are you to do

901
01:06:26.079 --> 01:06:30.960
things for that and all that.
But like the Rockets have the ammunition to

902
01:06:30.039 --> 01:06:33.920
make a trade. They have all
the draft capital in the world, They

903
01:06:34.000 --> 01:06:38.239
have a high pick this year.
They have some young players that might be

904
01:06:38.280 --> 01:06:42.000
attractive to add to the deal.
Would you be mad if the outcome of

905
01:06:42.079 --> 01:06:46.599
this offseason is to go into next
season with some sort of combo of Zion

906
01:06:46.639 --> 01:06:50.119
Williamson, James Harden and let's just
say one of the young guys gets to

907
01:06:50.159 --> 01:06:56.679
stick around, either Jalen or Jabari
Smith plus whatever else you're gonna do.

908
01:06:56.920 --> 01:07:00.840
Would that be the worst case scenario
in the world. Are they instant Western

909
01:07:00.920 --> 01:07:06.519
Conference contenders to win it all?
Probably not, but they're a playoff contender

910
01:07:06.559 --> 01:07:15.599
without a doubt. I'd go down
the road and take a look at what

911
01:07:15.719 --> 01:07:18.880
it would take to get Zion Williams
and if New Orleans is willing to move

912
01:07:19.000 --> 01:07:24.159
him. There's some reports that are
conflicting it to saying, you know,

913
01:07:24.480 --> 01:07:28.840
they're not really shopping him. There's
also been reports that they only want to

914
01:07:28.880 --> 01:07:32.239
give him up in a deal where
they would land Scoot Henderson. So there's

915
01:07:32.239 --> 01:07:38.280
been there's been some thought that they
could trade him to Charlotte get the number

916
01:07:38.320 --> 01:07:43.239
two pick, gets Scoot Henderson.
If that's the case, the Rockets could

917
01:07:43.280 --> 01:07:48.239
be out. But they have everything
that a New Orleans team would probably want

918
01:07:48.280 --> 01:07:51.360
in this trade, given the draft
picks that they have at their disposal,

919
01:07:51.519 --> 01:07:56.960
especially for those ones coming from the
Brooklyn Nets here in the next few years

920
01:07:57.039 --> 01:08:00.840
where they can be pretty high draft
picks overall seven one, three, two

921
01:08:00.840 --> 01:08:02.639
on two five seven nineties number to
join us. If you want to give

922
01:08:02.679 --> 01:08:06.920
you our thoughts on the possibility of
Zion Williamson. Would you be happy with

923
01:08:08.039 --> 01:08:10.719
that if the Rockets could go down
that road to go and get that player,

924
01:08:11.199 --> 01:08:14.559
even with the history that he has
in terms of injury. We'll also

925
01:08:14.599 --> 01:08:19.239
get into the Texans because there's something
that they that a little tiny, I

926
01:08:19.319 --> 01:08:23.239
say tiny storyline that I don't think
it's real, and I want to discuss

927
01:08:23.279 --> 01:08:29.359
it here before the end of the
show on Space City Saturday. This is

928
01:08:29.439 --> 01:08:46.079
Space City Saturday on Sports Talk seven
ninety. It is Space City Saturday.

929
01:08:46.119 --> 01:08:50.039
As you heard right there on Sports
Talk seven ninety, Michael Connor here with

930
01:08:50.119 --> 01:08:54.520
you on a fun day of sports. To be honest with you, I

931
01:08:54.720 --> 01:08:58.279
love today, um now, I
will tell you it's because one, I'm

932
01:08:58.319 --> 01:09:00.399
a huge fan of the US Open
that is going on today and it's a

933
01:09:00.520 --> 01:09:04.439
later US Open. Now I'm not
the biggest fan usually when it's late,

934
01:09:04.479 --> 01:09:09.399
but I will say for the sake
of watching the Astros today and watching US

935
01:09:09.479 --> 01:09:13.520
Open golf, I like it.
The astros played three ten. A lot

936
01:09:13.600 --> 01:09:17.000
of the leaders don't tee off our
time here locally to like after five o'clock,

937
01:09:17.159 --> 01:09:20.840
so I know that it's never a
huge topic of conversation. But it's

938
01:09:20.840 --> 01:09:25.079
been a pretty good tournament so far. It's not a typical US Open to

939
01:09:25.199 --> 01:09:29.520
this point, if you've not paid
attention. The scores are pretty darn high.

940
01:09:29.600 --> 01:09:32.119
Usually the US Open, these guys
struggle to hit the par number most

941
01:09:32.239 --> 01:09:36.920
days. But Ricky Fowler in the
lead at ten under par, Wyndham Clark,

942
01:09:38.279 --> 01:09:40.079
even for me, the big golf
guy, I don't know a lot

943
01:09:40.119 --> 01:09:44.199
about Wyndham Clark, He's a nine
under, and then Rory McElroy and Xanders

944
01:09:44.319 --> 01:09:47.039
Chafflet at eight under a piece.
And I will say from this leaderboard that

945
01:09:47.119 --> 01:09:50.880
we have right here, and there
are some guys by the way that I've

946
01:09:50.880 --> 01:09:56.720
gotten out on the course already and
posted some pretty big numbers. Harris English

947
01:09:56.960 --> 01:10:00.880
menou Lee. Both those guys four
and five under hard today. They've propped

948
01:10:00.920 --> 01:10:04.239
themselves up into the top ten on
the leaderboard. So it appears and there's

949
01:10:04.359 --> 01:10:06.920
I'm looking at the scores for today
that if the guys that have been playing

950
01:10:06.960 --> 01:10:13.159
and there are that are playing.
There are some excuse me, that's this

951
01:10:13.319 --> 01:10:15.159
is from yesterday because they haven't played
yet. I'm sorry, I'm looking at

952
01:10:15.159 --> 01:10:17.720
the wrong part, but whatever,
you know what I mean, Like there's

953
01:10:18.920 --> 01:10:25.279
there's gonna be some scoring involved.
It looks like, um, I'm just

954
01:10:25.359 --> 01:10:28.399
looking at the top of this leaderboard. I'm really hopeful that Ricky Fowler gets

955
01:10:28.479 --> 01:10:32.039
himself very in the US hope.
And this is a guy that has forever

956
01:10:32.760 --> 01:10:35.800
been one of those guys that just
couldn't win one. And he's got some

957
01:10:35.960 --> 01:10:40.640
wins and he's he was always so
close, and he's now into his mid

958
01:10:40.760 --> 01:10:45.159
thirties, and he really has had
a tough last couple of years if you've

959
01:10:45.319 --> 01:10:47.520
paid attention to golf at all,
Like he kind of really lost himself.

960
01:10:48.039 --> 01:10:51.479
And it happens sometimes the guys in
their career Jason Days having a renaissance now

961
01:10:51.800 --> 01:10:56.359
and his career, getting his swing
back and everything. But Fowler, I

962
01:10:56.439 --> 01:11:00.279
mean, he wasn't he wasn't able
to play. He has not played the

963
01:11:00.359 --> 01:11:04.359
Masters, and since twenty twenty,
he's not played in the US Open since

964
01:11:04.680 --> 01:11:09.720
this is the first time since twenty
twenty he's played in the Open Championship.

965
01:11:10.239 --> 01:11:13.880
In twenty twenty one, but he
missed out last year, so like he's

966
01:11:14.479 --> 01:11:17.520
played to a point where he's not
automatically eligible to play in these things like

967
01:11:17.600 --> 01:11:19.960
he had been for years, And
you just go back and look at all

968
01:11:20.000 --> 01:11:25.119
the times, like just in the
Masters he's finished top or tied fifth,

969
01:11:25.239 --> 01:11:29.239
second, tied ninth. In twenty
fourteen, he finished tied fifth, tied

970
01:11:29.279 --> 01:11:31.399
second, tied second, tied third
in all the Majors that year. So

971
01:11:32.119 --> 01:11:36.399
I'm hopele for him. I hope
that he gets a victory and gets his

972
01:11:36.520 --> 01:11:40.720
first major. And I think that
that's always a cool thing for guys really

973
01:11:40.760 --> 01:11:44.560
well alike too, very popular on
the PGA two always has been, of

974
01:11:44.640 --> 01:11:48.520
course with his crazy orange that he
wears on Sundays. And I just again

975
01:11:48.800 --> 01:11:51.319
hopeful for him that he's able to
pull it off, because he's fun when

976
01:11:51.319 --> 01:11:55.800
he's playing good golf. So that'll
conclude most of our golf conversation. And

977
01:11:56.000 --> 01:11:58.640
this mean you're probably falling asleep listening
to it. But I'm a big fan

978
01:11:58.680 --> 01:12:00.359
of the game of golf, so
I will be watching that this evening,

979
01:12:02.399 --> 01:12:06.479
you know, after the astro's wrap
up. One astro's note real quick,

980
01:12:06.840 --> 01:12:11.399
Brian mctaggard just tweeted at the Jose
or Keaty is going to throw off of

981
01:12:11.479 --> 01:12:14.960
a mound tomorrow for the Astros.
They have of course been without him.

982
01:12:14.960 --> 01:12:16.279
There's been a lot of talk that
he would get back out on the mound

983
01:12:16.880 --> 01:12:20.920
during this homestand and according to Brian
McTaggart, who's I'm sure talking in the

984
01:12:21.000 --> 01:12:26.319
clubhouse right now to the players or
Keatie, we'll throw off the mound tomorrow

985
01:12:26.359 --> 01:12:30.279
for the Astros. Planning is to
throw about twenty fastballs at eighty five miles

986
01:12:30.319 --> 01:12:35.520
an hour. That's a very encouraging
sign and the Astros can absolutely use him

987
01:12:35.920 --> 01:12:40.960
having him back in this rotation student
rather than later. But I mentioned all

988
01:12:41.000 --> 01:12:45.920
the sports stuff going on Astros us
open. I will also shortly after we

989
01:12:46.239 --> 01:12:49.199
get done here. I know that
this is not something that everybody watches,

990
01:12:49.199 --> 01:12:51.920
but I will completely admit it.
I admitted it a couple of weeks ago,

991
01:12:53.520 --> 01:12:55.920
and the video game has got me
hooked on it. The new one

992
01:12:56.000 --> 01:12:59.640
came out yesterday, by the way, the f one game. We've become

993
01:12:59.720 --> 01:13:01.960
f people in this house in the
last few months because we started watching the

994
01:13:02.039 --> 01:13:05.680
Drive to Survive show. They are
in Canada, this week, so I'll

995
01:13:05.680 --> 01:13:09.920
be sitting down watching the qualifying here
in a bit to see how things will

996
01:13:09.960 --> 01:13:14.079
line up for tomorrow, and I'll
be watching that race tomorrow. I can't

997
01:13:14.079 --> 01:13:16.279
believe it. I live in a
world now where I want to watch cars

998
01:13:16.399 --> 01:13:20.800
drive around a track I never thought
I would, and the F one Drive

999
01:13:20.880 --> 01:13:25.359
to Survive show has gotten me there. But another thing that's been going on,

1000
01:13:25.520 --> 01:13:31.560
the Texans had their last look at
them on a field before training camp,

1001
01:13:31.600 --> 01:13:33.760
which, by the way, I
still there's still no official date on

1002
01:13:33.840 --> 01:13:36.359
it, but it'll be that last
week of the month of July, probably

1003
01:13:36.399 --> 01:13:41.039
around the twenty six, twenty seventh, maybe twenty eighth or whatever. To

1004
01:13:41.520 --> 01:13:45.279
start it, I just need to
pull the calendar real quick. I'd imagine

1005
01:13:45.479 --> 01:13:50.439
he had twenty six or twenty seventh
is when they get started. When they

1006
01:13:50.479 --> 01:13:54.039
get started out there for training camp. It is their last look at them

1007
01:13:56.479 --> 01:14:01.680
here this week before they as they
hit the summer break. But the storylines

1008
01:14:01.720 --> 01:14:06.439
there's not a lot of them for
this team that of course is so young,

1009
01:14:06.600 --> 01:14:12.319
first year of Damiko Ryan's At some
point it would be if if I

1010
01:14:12.439 --> 01:14:15.720
can get the ability to go out
and see one of these, maybe we'll

1011
01:14:15.760 --> 01:14:18.920
go out and taking the training.
Can't practice at some point because I would

1012
01:14:18.960 --> 01:14:21.880
like to do that and get the
vibe of what's going on. But we're

1013
01:14:21.960 --> 01:14:26.079
standing, Gordy, we're out there. This week, they came back in

1014
01:14:26.239 --> 01:14:28.520
and Stan told us when he came
in that, you know, he was

1015
01:14:28.560 --> 01:14:30.399
surprised at how like it wasn't as
you know, I guess, loud and

1016
01:14:30.600 --> 01:14:33.079
popping as he thought. But like, this is a new coach. They're

1017
01:14:33.119 --> 01:14:38.079
teaching a lot of things, so
who knows, maybe their style, but

1018
01:14:39.000 --> 01:14:45.880
they are intriguing this season. One
of the small, I guess small storylines

1019
01:14:45.960 --> 01:14:50.359
has been you know, who's taken
the first team reps at the quarterback spot

1020
01:14:51.520 --> 01:14:55.239
and they take c J. Shroud
second. Overall, we all know who's

1021
01:14:55.239 --> 01:15:00.000
gonna be the starting quarterback. I
think that this storyline of Davis Mills could

1022
01:15:00.039 --> 01:15:03.319
be the starting quarterback for this team
in twenty twenty three to start the season

1023
01:15:03.439 --> 01:15:08.279
is silly and it's a waste of
time. If CJ. Stroud is ready,

1024
01:15:08.920 --> 01:15:12.680
there's no world and he's ready compared
to Davis Mills. I'm sorry,

1025
01:15:13.000 --> 01:15:15.760
you're not going to convince me that
CJ. Stroud coming in as a rookie

1026
01:15:15.199 --> 01:15:20.279
is not better than two years in
Davis Mills, who all he does most

1027
01:15:20.279 --> 01:15:25.199
of the time is throw garbage time
touchdowns and interceptions to the other team.

1028
01:15:25.560 --> 01:15:28.800
He is not that good. He's
a solid backup. That's what he is,

1029
01:15:28.960 --> 01:15:36.600
a solid backup quarterback. And he
is definitely gotten him to It's definitely

1030
01:15:36.680 --> 01:15:44.199
gotten him to a spot where he
can make a very long career doing what

1031
01:15:44.399 --> 01:15:47.359
he's doing right now, which is
going to be holding the clipboard and watching

1032
01:15:47.920 --> 01:15:54.399
other guys play, and his long
term future is not here in the City

1033
01:15:54.399 --> 01:15:59.319
of US. It was a nice
thought to think that you could take this

1034
01:15:59.399 --> 01:16:01.640
guy in the middle rounds. I
think that that was when Nick Casserio lived

1035
01:16:01.640 --> 01:16:04.920
in a world of analytics and you
know, value and having to do the

1036
01:16:05.000 --> 01:16:08.840
Patriots way and all this credit like
he thought he could do it here.

1037
01:16:09.000 --> 01:16:13.000
You can't. Can't. It's not
something that you can replicate. For all

1038
01:16:13.119 --> 01:16:15.880
the all the talk, all the
years, like replicating the Patriots way of

1039
01:16:15.960 --> 01:16:19.680
doing things never gonna happen. You
know why, it's never gonna happen because

1040
01:16:19.680 --> 01:16:23.760
nobody else had Tom Brady, and
you can see what happens since he's left.

1041
01:16:24.039 --> 01:16:26.119
They don't have Tom Brady. They
can't do it the same way.

1042
01:16:26.399 --> 01:16:29.920
It's just impossible. They finally buck
up, they get a new coach,

1043
01:16:30.000 --> 01:16:36.800
the right coach after two mistakes,
and they bring in, of course c

1044
01:16:36.960 --> 01:16:41.119
J. Stroud. They trade up
to get Will Anderson. They go away

1045
01:16:41.199 --> 01:16:46.479
from the conservative line of thinking to
player acquisition, and I'm a huge fan

1046
01:16:46.560 --> 01:16:54.319
of it. But I'm even from
when Gordian Standing ro out there this week

1047
01:16:54.359 --> 01:17:00.319
and they came back in there talking
about how CJ. Stroud looks, this

1048
01:17:00.439 --> 01:17:05.319
is starting quarterback. You don't delay
the inevitable, because the inevitable is CJ.

1049
01:17:05.439 --> 01:17:10.359
Shrouds starting. I want to see
him from day one, and I

1050
01:17:10.399 --> 01:17:12.640
don't think if there's any chance that
we don't see him from day one.

1051
01:17:13.119 --> 01:17:18.119
I think this window dressing of a
competition is just to keep a young player

1052
01:17:18.239 --> 01:17:24.399
from getting too comfortable and too confident. You make him think that he has

1053
01:17:24.399 --> 01:17:27.399
to go out there and win it
and play to a certain level. You

1054
01:17:27.479 --> 01:17:30.159
always want there to be some level
of pressure on these guys so they don't

1055
01:17:30.319 --> 01:17:36.159
just fall into bad habits or something. And I get it, but I'm

1056
01:17:36.199 --> 01:17:40.840
not going to sit here as the
storyline will get into training camp and it'll

1057
01:17:40.880 --> 01:17:44.239
be who's taken the first team reps
today, Luke, who's taking the first

1058
01:17:44.279 --> 01:17:46.479
team reps in this drill? Demiko, what do you think about this?

1059
01:17:47.039 --> 01:17:56.239
It's a competition. It's not a
real competition. They can say it all

1060
01:17:56.319 --> 01:18:03.680
they want, it's not a real
petition. And if it is, if

1061
01:18:03.760 --> 01:18:08.720
he gets beat, then we have
a real problem. Like if CJ.

1062
01:18:08.840 --> 01:18:14.119
Stroud comes out and gets beat,
you are in trouble. But I don't

1063
01:18:14.159 --> 01:18:16.159
think that we're going to go through
a camp in preseason where we sit back

1064
01:18:16.279 --> 01:18:20.319
as fans and go you know who
looked better than CJ. Stroud, Davis

1065
01:18:20.720 --> 01:18:26.720
Mills. I think the real question
is gonna be is he gonna be on

1066
01:18:26.800 --> 01:18:29.600
the roster. I don't know how
many teams will be pining for him.

1067
01:18:29.720 --> 01:18:33.039
They're not just gonna release him.
There's no point. But if you can

1068
01:18:33.079 --> 01:18:38.840
go and get a sixth round pick
for him, seventh round pick for him,

1069
01:18:38.880 --> 01:18:41.680
I think you do it. You
have case Keenum and is what it

1070
01:18:41.800 --> 01:18:45.119
look at the Texans season. If
CJ. Stroud went down for some regent

1071
01:18:45.159 --> 01:18:48.760
to play your back up, your
season is already over. You're not at

1072
01:18:48.800 --> 01:18:56.479
the spot where you're competing. So
what they do with him, we'll see

1073
01:18:57.239 --> 01:19:00.640
seven two two five seven nineties are
fun number to join us. One final

1074
01:19:00.880 --> 01:19:04.039
break here on the show, when
we return back into some astros, get

1075
01:19:04.079 --> 01:19:12.359
you set for another day here with
them next year on seven Hinty Space City

1076
01:19:12.399 --> 01:19:29.239
Saturday continues Sports Talk seven nineties.
It is one of my favorite things red

1077
01:19:29.319 --> 01:19:32.720
wine here on Sports Talk seven ninety. I genuinely do love red wine now

1078
01:19:33.680 --> 01:19:38.680
here on a Space City is Saturday. I love my beer. We love

1079
01:19:38.840 --> 01:19:44.079
our Crawford Bock. I will be
having something from Carbock later today. I

1080
01:19:44.199 --> 01:19:47.359
cannot decide yet what it is because
I will have to and it's really really

1081
01:19:47.439 --> 01:19:49.840
hot outside, but I have to
go mow my yard this evening, and

1082
01:19:50.039 --> 01:19:57.079
every time you finish the mo you
have to have something in terms of a

1083
01:19:57.159 --> 01:20:00.479
beer, and I have a fridge
full of Carbok products, including the Crawford

1084
01:20:00.479 --> 01:20:03.600
Box, which, by the way, Crawford Box cast always up at Sports

1085
01:20:03.600 --> 01:20:09.279
seven One comments being Chris already talking
Astro's Baseball brought to you by Carbok Brewing.

1086
01:20:09.359 --> 01:20:16.840
But there will be something that I
will be having later today at some

1087
01:20:17.000 --> 01:20:20.319
point. But the red red Wine
song. I do love red wine too.

1088
01:20:20.359 --> 01:20:24.560
We just if I've talked about it
some of course, but we obviously

1089
01:20:24.680 --> 01:20:30.239
just got we just got married in
April. It's good, lord, it's

1090
01:20:30.239 --> 01:20:32.720
almost been. It's just coming up
on two months in a couple of days.

1091
01:20:33.199 --> 01:20:38.239
But we got married over in Italy
and we spent twenty one days over

1092
01:20:38.319 --> 01:20:42.600
there and it was unbelievable. And
I she got me into red wine like

1093
01:20:42.760 --> 01:20:45.840
a year or two ago, and
I never really thought i'd love it like

1094
01:20:45.960 --> 01:20:50.600
I do. But we have.
Well, we ordered a lot of wine

1095
01:20:50.680 --> 01:20:55.520
that is sitting in our house now
from Italy. That's here, so I'm

1096
01:20:55.560 --> 01:20:57.880
gonna be having some bottles of red
wine between now and the end of the

1097
01:20:58.000 --> 01:21:00.359
year. I tell you that we've
already had a few. But it's a

1098
01:21:00.720 --> 01:21:01.960
it's a nice beverage that I never
thought i'd get into. It makes me

1099
01:21:02.000 --> 01:21:05.640
feel old, I say old,
but like as I'm getting older, like

1100
01:21:05.760 --> 01:21:10.680
I like different things like that,
and it includes the red wine. But

1101
01:21:10.840 --> 01:21:15.319
today, you know what I would
like as an Astro's victory over the Cincinnati

1102
01:21:15.399 --> 01:21:18.279
Reds game number two of the three
game series this weekend. If you missed

1103
01:21:18.279 --> 01:21:24.920
it earlier, the lineup looks a
little different today, Corey jokes leading off

1104
01:21:25.000 --> 01:21:28.600
playing left field today. So I
know that a lot of people have worried

1105
01:21:28.760 --> 01:21:30.680
or wondered, like, what what
does dust are you doing with the lineup?

1106
01:21:30.760 --> 01:21:34.680
Putting somebody ahead at Tuba every day. I think this is a product

1107
01:21:34.960 --> 01:21:43.479
of the current spot of not having
your on Alvarez and wanting to get somebody

1108
01:21:43.600 --> 01:21:47.600
on base ahead of Jose Altuve.
Maybe get him some pitches, get him

1109
01:21:47.600 --> 01:21:51.039
a little bit more protection. You
know, they've been slotting du Bon ahead

1110
01:21:51.079 --> 01:21:55.159
of him quite a bit, and
you have him there and then you have

1111
01:21:56.159 --> 01:22:00.560
Bragman behind that can back him up
a little bit. But you know,

1112
01:22:00.760 --> 01:22:03.399
al two Va could have a guy
get on base and hit a two run

1113
01:22:03.479 --> 01:22:08.079
home run instead of a solo home
run. I think if they get back

1114
01:22:08.079 --> 01:22:13.079
to the spot where Yourn's back and
playing and good, you put out two

1115
01:22:13.239 --> 01:22:16.239
in the lead off spot, you
put Jeremy Painting in the two hole,

1116
01:22:18.479 --> 01:22:21.359
and you just go back to winning
that way. And I think that they'll

1117
01:22:21.399 --> 01:22:30.760
be completely fine with that outcome for
this team every single day. But I

1118
01:22:30.840 --> 01:22:34.920
can understand the oh, you're just
tinkering the tinker. They're not. You

1119
01:22:35.039 --> 01:22:41.479
know, they're not doing this to
just mess up what they have going on.

1120
01:22:44.760 --> 01:22:46.560
It'll be all right. What I
know is that this they have to

1121
01:22:46.680 --> 01:22:53.439
have more offensive production than they had
of late. Today's gonna be a difficult

1122
01:22:53.479 --> 01:23:00.880
one again, Brandon Black. This
Red's lineup's hot. It's a little Hunter

1123
01:23:00.960 --> 01:23:04.119
Green is gonna go for Cincinnati.
Astros don't have a I don't even think

1124
01:23:04.119 --> 01:23:10.199
that They've definitely not seen him.
But he throws. He's thrown more more

1125
01:23:10.239 --> 01:23:16.520
one Hunter Monar pitches than anybody else
in baseball this season. He can be

1126
01:23:16.920 --> 01:23:27.279
a problem today. I'm hopeful that
he's not, but he could absolutely go

1127
01:23:27.439 --> 01:23:35.479
out there and give them some issues. But the likes of Josea. Bray,

1128
01:23:35.560 --> 01:23:39.680
you, Jeremy Paintings, and we
gotta get you, gotta see Alex

1129
01:23:39.760 --> 01:23:44.680
Bregman get back to being Alex Bregman
again too. He had that brief moment,

1130
01:23:46.119 --> 01:23:49.279
but he's gone back into a little
bit of a tailspin. They need

1131
01:23:49.399 --> 01:23:55.760
him to get out of that tailspin
and start hitting, thumping a little bit

1132
01:23:55.960 --> 01:24:00.399
there at the plate over the and
I'm pulling up his numbers at this very

1133
01:24:00.479 --> 01:24:03.520
moment over his last i'd say week, it hasn't been that great over his

1134
01:24:03.640 --> 01:24:09.399
last seven games. Yeah, he's
hitting just one thirty three and thirty at

1135
01:24:09.439 --> 01:24:15.000
bats over the last fifteen games two
twenty four. So over those last fifteen

1136
01:24:15.079 --> 01:24:20.880
games, he's really struggled once again. They need more of it, many

1137
01:24:20.960 --> 01:24:25.680
more of that, and his strikeout
numbers in the last couple of weeks have

1138
01:24:25.800 --> 01:24:30.800
been up not normal for Alex Bregman. So they need that. They need

1139
01:24:30.840 --> 01:24:36.319
alt Twove to start getting comfortable and
start performing. Like Jose Altuve is capable

1140
01:24:36.399 --> 01:24:44.079
of performing, and they could find
themselves in a spot where they're feeling a

1141
01:24:44.119 --> 01:24:47.520
lot better, but the deadline is
getting closer by the day. It's going

1142
01:24:47.600 --> 01:24:50.439
to be active for them. Dana
Brown talked about it earlier this week.

1143
01:24:50.479 --> 01:24:56.840
We're going to continue discussing it basically
every single chance that we have the opportunity

1144
01:24:56.880 --> 01:25:00.039
to as fans, because it's something
that we would like to see upgrades in

1145
01:25:00.159 --> 01:25:04.760
certain areas. He Dana Brown has
continued to acknowledge that they need bats.

1146
01:25:08.640 --> 01:25:13.720
He brought up the other day specifically
based off the situation for Michael Brantley,

1147
01:25:13.760 --> 01:25:21.359
the desire and the need to probably
get another left handed bat in this lineup.

1148
01:25:25.359 --> 01:25:30.399
There's been some early links in articles, nothing real out there about the

1149
01:25:30.479 --> 01:25:35.079
name Cody Bellinger, because he's a
rental type of bat. Cubs probably move

1150
01:25:35.159 --> 01:25:40.119
on. I know that there's the
history that he was playing well before getting

1151
01:25:40.199 --> 01:25:44.960
hurt this season. There's a history
that he has said a lot of things

1152
01:25:45.000 --> 01:25:46.760
about the Astros. I don't know
if that'd be a real possibility. I

1153
01:25:46.800 --> 01:25:53.479
can't. I don't think that this
regime would hold it to hold it back,

1154
01:25:53.760 --> 01:25:57.079
or hold that player, you know, be too worried about getting that

1155
01:25:57.159 --> 01:26:00.479
player based off of something like that
years ago. I don't know. I

1156
01:26:00.560 --> 01:26:05.960
could be completely off on that,
but I think that, yeah, getting

1157
01:26:05.960 --> 01:26:11.159
a left handed bat for this team
would be something that is necessary because I

1158
01:26:11.199 --> 01:26:14.359
don't think that you can still operate
in a world where you believe Michael Brantley's

1159
01:26:14.359 --> 01:26:20.039
playing for you this season. You
know, I want to be optimistic,

1160
01:26:20.159 --> 01:26:23.840
like like I am, like I
was saying earlier about everything with them,

1161
01:26:26.319 --> 01:26:28.960
But again, this is like the
mcclors thing to me, where there's all

1162
01:26:29.000 --> 01:26:33.319
these setbacks and now that you know
they're starting to rant Brantley back up.

1163
01:26:33.479 --> 01:26:38.439
He's been hitting in the cage,
he's been throwing, he's been doing all

1164
01:26:38.479 --> 01:26:42.159
the drills and everything, and so
far apparently there's not been a lot of

1165
01:26:42.199 --> 01:26:45.640
pain, or there's not been pain
the day after, where it's how the

1166
01:26:45.680 --> 01:26:48.760
body responds. I believe, more
than anything is how he responds the next

1167
01:26:48.840 --> 01:26:53.359
day, how he feels. It's
his right shoulder, it's the one that

1168
01:26:53.399 --> 01:26:59.279
he leads with as a hitter.
But you had this whole process where we

1169
01:26:59.479 --> 01:27:03.359
I mean, look, we left
Florida, and everybody was led to believe

1170
01:27:03.399 --> 01:27:08.000
it it'd be the end of April
when he'd be playing baseball games. I

1171
01:27:08.079 --> 01:27:13.319
mean, it's June the seventeenth,
and he's back to just ramping things up.

1172
01:27:15.640 --> 01:27:18.640
But I don't know if there's a
reason that you can believe necessarily that

1173
01:27:19.720 --> 01:27:25.840
all of a sudden he's gonna get
out and start playing games again. And

1174
01:27:25.960 --> 01:27:30.520
why would his body be any different
this time. I mean, it's not

1175
01:27:30.600 --> 01:27:32.079
like it was a lengthy of a
period of rest. I get. I

1176
01:27:32.199 --> 01:27:34.840
don't know. I don't know how
any of that works. Like I know,

1177
01:27:34.880 --> 01:27:39.039
I can only know how my body
responds to certain things, like if

1178
01:27:39.119 --> 01:27:43.000
we all have our little small knicks
and bumps and bruised or whatever. But

1179
01:27:43.119 --> 01:27:45.600
like you give it rest, and
sometimes it doesn't work. Like I've been

1180
01:27:45.680 --> 01:27:49.600
dealing with a I've been having a
forearm strain recently in my right arm,

1181
01:27:51.079 --> 01:27:55.760
and I kind of went lighter on
some things for about a week in terms

1182
01:27:55.800 --> 01:28:00.640
of weightlifting with that arm, and
it feels better. But if I know,

1183
01:28:00.720 --> 01:28:03.279
if I do one thing bad,
there's still a twinge to it too,

1184
01:28:03.319 --> 01:28:08.000
like I could reaggravate the thing and
go through weeks of waking up the

1185
01:28:08.039 --> 01:28:11.239
middle of night my damn elbows on
fire. So I don't know how a

1186
01:28:11.319 --> 01:28:16.399
shoulder is and I don't know how
it's going to respond to that. But

1187
01:28:16.560 --> 01:28:19.359
I just don't think that you can, especially when it comes to operate at

1188
01:28:19.399 --> 01:28:28.760
the deadline, you can count on
that bat being part of your team at

1189
01:28:28.800 --> 01:28:31.560
any point this season. Hope that
that's not the case. Hope that this

1190
01:28:31.720 --> 01:28:36.560
player is part of it because they
could use him every single day that he's

1191
01:28:36.560 --> 01:28:41.239
out there. Thank you to all
of you that listened this morning here on

1192
01:28:41.319 --> 01:28:44.479
Space City Saturday. All of you
they called, even Andy, and we

1193
01:28:44.600 --> 01:28:47.279
argue with Andy, I still love
you all. Thank you to Adam back

1194
01:28:47.319 --> 01:28:51.960
in the studio doing his thing as
well. Astros Today three ten, first

1195
01:28:53.000 --> 01:28:56.079
pitch, two o'clock on Deck Show. Ross Via Reale has you for that

1196
01:28:56.199 --> 01:29:00.279
one, so make sure you are
tuned in and ready to go for what

1197
01:29:00.479 --> 01:29:04.119
is hopefully an Astro's victory in Game
two of the three game series against the

1198
01:29:04.279 --> 01:29:10.359
Cincinnati Reds. We'll be back doing
this again next Saturday here on Sports Talk

1199
01:29:10.439 --> 01:29:13.319
seven nineties, so don't go anywhere. We'll be back to hang out with

1200
01:29:13.439 --> 01:29:16.479
you. Hopefully some good things to
talk about between now and then when it

1201
01:29:16.560 --> 01:29:20.439
comes to your Houston Astros and Houston
sports in general, with the draft coming

1202
01:29:20.520 --> 01:29:24.399
up this week as well for the
Rockets. Enjoy the rest of your Saturday.

1203
01:29:24.800 --> 01:29:27.640
I'll talk to y'all Monday right here
in Sports Talks seven ninety