Speaker 1: Mea am Amina right now.
Speaker 2: Now it is the A team Sports Talk seven ninety
Speaker 2: Space City Home Network at the top of the hour.
Speaker 2: But in the meantime, Bennett SUSA joining us on the
Speaker 2: phone lines as promised Astro's relief pitcher. Uh, I hate
Speaker 2: that we're having to talk to you after a type
Speaker 2: of loss such as the one you guys suffered last night,
Speaker 2: But let's just start right there. When it's a game
Speaker 2: like that, do you do you enjoy those games as
Speaker 2: a pitcher where it's more of a and obviously a
Speaker 2: pitcher's matchup for the majority of that kind of evening.
Speaker 3: Yeah, guys, Well, first off, thanks for having me on.
Speaker 3: I appreciate it. You know, Yeah, last night was a
Speaker 3: tough one. Uh. You know, we're in this thirteen game
Speaker 3: stretch right here, you know, flying to California last night.
Speaker 3: You know, the boys are just you know, we're trying
Speaker 3: out there give it her all. But as a pitcher, yeah,
Speaker 3: you love that, especially with our bullpen. You know, we
Speaker 3: feel like, you know, if the game is decided by
Speaker 3: our we're gonna come out on top. Most of the times.
Speaker 3: Last night just wasn't our night.
Speaker 1: That was a very good answer, saying you like those
Speaker 1: type of games, considering that seems like all that you
Speaker 1: guys play recently, Yeah, I.
Speaker 3: Mean for sure. I mean they're a lot of fun. Obviously,
Speaker 3: you know, we we like to win by ten runs,
Speaker 3: you know, all the time. But that that, you know,
Speaker 3: that's not baseball. And you know, like I said before,
Speaker 3: we like having the game in our bullpen's hands.
Speaker 1: Well, now that you and the team have made their
Speaker 1: way to George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa and now
Speaker 1: to Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, what are your
Speaker 1: thoughts about playing Major League baseball at an exhibition stadium
Speaker 1: and a minor league ballpark.
Speaker 3: You know, it's it's definitely an adjustment to say, but
Speaker 3: you know it's it's it's part of it. Like we
Speaker 3: we got to get over it. These games count, they matter,
Speaker 3: the stats matter. We gotta go out there and and
Speaker 3: play and win these games.
Speaker 1: So, if I asked the simple question with maybe a
Speaker 1: complicated answer, what's the simplest reason you would say you're
Speaker 1: enjoying your most success thus far as a Major leaguer
Speaker 1: this year?
Speaker 3: Oh, I mean the guys in the bullpen. I can't
Speaker 3: say enough about him. I mean, we just have such
Speaker 3: a tight crew down there that is just a lot
Speaker 3: of fun. We keep it super relaxed, you know me personally,
Speaker 3: Like I'm a pretty relaxed guy. So it helps out,
Speaker 3: you know, when things can get pretty stressful in that bullpen,
Speaker 3: just having the guys support and the coaches support, and
Speaker 3: just going out there and really just showing what I
Speaker 3: can do. Well.
Speaker 2: I can tell you the part of last night's game
Speaker 2: that I enjoyed the most, and that was Jose al
Speaker 2: Tuve coming up to the plate, getting booed all of
Speaker 2: maybe two pitches and then taking that ball just rocketing
Speaker 2: it over into the over the fence and left field.
Speaker 2: I have to ask you a question, because you know,
Speaker 2: you haven't been here very long, but a lot of
Speaker 2: us have and we see that. Does that make someone
Speaker 2: like you who's kind of new to this relatively speaking,
Speaker 2: as mad as it does everyone else who knows what
Speaker 2: kind of guy in that clubhouse Jose Altuve is and
Speaker 2: probably the you know, the least participant if you will,
Speaker 2: during that whole cheating scandal, just because you know who
Speaker 2: he is. Does that kind of irritate you as much
Speaker 2: as it does a guy like me?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it's kind of just funny. I mean
Speaker 3: it's he's the only guy left from that that era
Speaker 3: of Houston Astro baseball, and we hear it all the
Speaker 3: time in the bullpen. I mean it's it's the number
Speaker 3: one shirp we get right, the trash can trash can uh.
Speaker 3: And you know, Jose, I can't say enough good things
Speaker 3: about him. He's one of the best teammates I've ever had.
Speaker 3: He talks to everybody in the locker room. He's such
Speaker 3: a big part of this team, and he has been
Speaker 3: for so many years. You know, it sucks going to
Speaker 3: away stadiums and hearing him get boot all the time,
Speaker 3: But I think at this point, you know, he he's
Speaker 3: used to it, and he enjoys it, and when he
Speaker 3: gets his revenge like he did last night, it's even sweeter.
Speaker 1: Well, let me take you back, I guess on the
Speaker 1: long way too, when you first got to to see
Speaker 1: what kind of team Jose al two they had twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three when you joined the Astros. But I want
Speaker 1: to ask you about your twenty twenty three year. First,
Speaker 1: does it seem even possible that you were bouncing around
Speaker 1: as much as you were that year with the Reds
Speaker 1: and White Sox and Brewers and Tigers and Astros ultimately
Speaker 1: pitching really really well for a month month with the Astros.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean that was a that was a crazy
Speaker 3: year for me. I I always, you know, you got
Speaker 3: to believe in yourself, obviously, in this in this sport
Speaker 3: with so many highs and lows. And I always knew
Speaker 3: because I had I had really good numbers in the
Speaker 3: minor leagues always going through I always knew that if
Speaker 3: I just got a steady opportunity and chance and took
Speaker 3: advantage of it, that that, you know, my career could
Speaker 3: really take off. And I just always believed in that
Speaker 3: and and and never straight away from that. And then
Speaker 3: when I got to the Astros at the end of
Speaker 3: that twenty three season, you know, I had some early success,
Speaker 3: and I had some some coaches that really that really
Speaker 3: believed in me, and and and saw my potential and
Speaker 3: and you know, I only I know, I only threw
Speaker 3: seven innings that year, but I was battling injuries for
Speaker 3: like two years with with the thorscic outlet stuff, and
Speaker 3: I felt finally kind of normal at that time. You know. Obviously,
Speaker 3: the following year I ended up having to get the surgery.
Speaker 3: But I just knew that, you know, if I just
Speaker 3: had my steady chance and took advantage of the opportunity
Speaker 3: that that good things could happen.
Speaker 1: I certainly want to pick Bright back up there, But
Speaker 1: I had already asked, what what did you think of
Speaker 1: this clubhouse and jose L Twovey's role in it when
Speaker 1: you first arrived that last month of the regular season
Speaker 1: in twenty three.
Speaker 3: Well, immediately I knew why the Astros have been so
Speaker 3: good for so many years. And it's that locker room.
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, it's changed now a little bit
Speaker 3: since twenty three to now, but but the the idea
Speaker 3: and the culture is still there. And it's just, you know,
Speaker 3: we played for each other. We're all we're all a
Speaker 3: tight knit group.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 3: There's not one personal locker room that you know is
Speaker 3: going against the grain. It's it's really it makes it
Speaker 3: fun when you're playing for your brothers. Uh. And that's
Speaker 3: what I really enjoy about this team in this locker room.
Speaker 2: Well, and in that van. It kind of sets me
Speaker 2: up for this question. You know, you talked about what
Speaker 2: a leader Altuve is from a pitching perspective. Is there
Speaker 2: anybody that you gravitated towards. Is there anybody that kind
Speaker 2: of helped you out, maybe even you know, unprovoked. I
Speaker 2: don't know how it goes, obviously, and everybody's different. Is
Speaker 2: there somebody that you can point to, some buddies that
Speaker 2: have kind of taken you under their wing, helped you out?
Speaker 3: What have you? Yeah, I mean there's a couple of
Speaker 3: guys for sure. The first one is Josh Hater. I
Speaker 3: mean he's my catch play partner, being the best lefty
Speaker 3: in the reliever in the league. Uh, you know, I
Speaker 3: try to I try to do everything that guy does
Speaker 3: because I want to know, I want to be like him.
Speaker 3: And he's just he's he's an open book. He's always
Speaker 3: trying to help. Uh, He's picks my brain, I pick
Speaker 3: his brain. And and he's just a great leader for
Speaker 3: that bullpen, especially, you know, a bullpen with four lefties
Speaker 3: in it. Him leading us all is awesome. And then
Speaker 3: last year, you know, I was rehabbing a lot, and
Speaker 3: I was here in Houston for half the year, and
Speaker 3: I spent a lot of time with Lance because he
Speaker 3: was rehabbing as well, and just seeing how that guy,
Speaker 3: you know, because he was real, he was rehabed for
Speaker 3: a long time and just going through you know, just
Speaker 3: seeing what he was doing, trying to you know, come
Speaker 3: to the park with a with a positive attitude every
Speaker 3: day even though you know you can't contribute to the team.
Speaker 3: That helped me a lot last year. So Lance was
Speaker 3: a big part of that for me.
Speaker 1: What was it like when I assume this happened, when
Speaker 1: one of your pitching coaches Josh or Murph came to
Speaker 1: you and said, we got some data on your slider.
Speaker 2: They don't hit it.
Speaker 3: We'd like you to throw it more. You know, It's
Speaker 3: funny because because every team, every stop that I've had
Speaker 3: like that, that is the that's the one thing they
Speaker 3: always say, like, hey, throw your slider. But with these guys,
Speaker 3: for some reason, like they really they really trusted it
Speaker 3: that like you know, this is a really good pitch
Speaker 3: and and you know it might take some time for
Speaker 3: us to for it to really play on the big leagues,
Speaker 3: but like when it does, it's gonna be worth the wait.
Speaker 3: And uh, you know, I love Josh and and and Murph.
Speaker 3: They're they're they're the two best pitching coaches for me personally.
Speaker 3: They keep things light, uh, and they really know how
Speaker 3: to to the scoutter reports and things like that. Uh,
Speaker 3: for us to all succeed.
Speaker 1: Well, I feel like we keep getting the opportunity to
Speaker 1: ask this question of our astros pitching guests.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 1: And it's the first time in all of our years broadcasting,
Speaker 1: we've ever been able to ask it. What's it like
Speaker 1: having a a pitching staff and a bullpen so overrun
Speaker 1: with left handers.
Speaker 3: I mean, guys, it's amazing. You know, you don't see it. Uh.
Speaker 3: You know, we we we take a lot of pride
Speaker 3: in being left handed in that bullpen. Uh, and now
Speaker 3: in our starting rotation as well. Uh. But you know,
Speaker 3: we gotta give some love to our right he's down
Speaker 3: there in the bullpen too, you know, Brian and Bray
Speaker 3: who's Brayhe? I know, he he. He had a tough
Speaker 3: one last night, but he's been unbelievable all year long. Uh.
Speaker 3: You know, just it feels like the eighth and ninth
Speaker 3: ending are just lockdown endings for us every time. Uh.
Speaker 3: And then you know, we got Sean Duban, who you know,
Speaker 3: I know he was hurt the first couple of months
Speaker 3: of the year, but I mean he's been he's been
Speaker 3: a workhorse for us. Uh, out of that bullpen and
Speaker 3: and those innings you know might go unnotice to some people,
Speaker 3: but to us in that bullpen, I mean, we see
Speaker 3: what he's doing, and it's incredible.
Speaker 2: As a fellow left left handed person. Uh, in in
Speaker 2: an erow where everybody wakes up and figures out something
Speaker 2: they need to come complain about it every single day.
Speaker 2: Are you with me that you feel like we are
Speaker 2: more discriminated against than most people in society with things
Speaker 2: like spiral notebooks with the binding on the left hand side.
Speaker 2: That's crap, isn't it?
Speaker 3: Yeah? Yeah, one hundred percent. Uh, you know, we get
Speaker 3: I think Josh Josh is a fake lefty, and I
Speaker 3: think DK is a fake lefty too. I think I
Speaker 3: think Steve and I are the only true lefties where
Speaker 3: we do everything left handed. So you know, I I
Speaker 3: hear you on that. With with all the the other
Speaker 3: stuff that we got to deal with, makes.
Speaker 1: Me curious, is Chaz or or Jake are they fake
Speaker 1: lefties or real lefties?
Speaker 3: I you know, I think, well, Chaz Bat's right handed,
Speaker 3: so you know, but but uh, you know, I don't know.
Speaker 1: I mean they go left and Bat right. I'm just
Speaker 1: trying to dump both those. I'd call him fake lefties.
Speaker 1: Even if I don't know the answer.
Speaker 2: We know that Bennets Susa is a true lefty.
Speaker 3: That's all that matters, all right. Yeah, but hey, I'm
Speaker 3: not I'm not as weird as most lefties.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you that, No me, neither are you asking
Speaker 1: us to ask you who the weirdest lefty on the
Speaker 1: team is?
Speaker 3: Sounds like it, I mean, I mean, that's an easy answer.
Speaker 3: It's Steve. I mean oker, He's the he's the clown
Speaker 3: of the bullpen. We love him a lot. You know,
Speaker 3: he's been such a such a great addition to this team.
Speaker 3: He's kind of I mean, he's a leader on the team.
Speaker 3: He really is. He keeps everything light and he's definitely
Speaker 3: he's our He's our clown lefty for sure.
Speaker 1: I have to admit his body language when he hums
Speaker 1: his way through a three pitch, three swings and misses strikeout,
Speaker 1: it's legendary. Oh okay, I did it again, back to
Speaker 1: the dug out.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, Bennett, we we appreciate the time, especially the
Speaker 2: left handed conversation.
Speaker 3: I appreciated that the most.
Speaker 2: You are welcome on the show anytime, good luck the
Speaker 2: rest of this season, and we're happy to have you
Speaker 2: here in Houston.
Speaker 3: Appreciate it, guys, Thanks so much, The A team on
Speaker 3: Sports Talk seven ninety