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Speaker 1: All right, it is eleven oh one in h Down.

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Welcome to our number two of the Matt Thomas Show

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with Ross seven one three two one two five seven

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ninety seven one three two one two five seven ninety

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Time for us to spend twelve forty minutes with our

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good friend, the one and only Brian McTaggart. Brian, the

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last time I saw you, we were on the river

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Walk and joining life, breaking bread, getting ready for the

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big event. How has your life been in the last

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thirty six hours?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, probably a lot, but a lot like yours.

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Speaker 3: A bummer, just uh you know, thinking back on the

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game and this could have happened, and this could have happened,

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and uh yeah it stinks, doesn't it, just to get

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that close.

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Speaker 2: And uh not make it and uh yeah, just a bummer.

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Speaker 1: So what how did you How did you handle the

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post when all the confetti? Did you leave the same

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as fast as humanly possible? Are you stuck because of

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thirty thousand people trying to leave it? One time?

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Speaker 3: Uh yeah, I got out of there so quick when

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the confetti popped and I heard all we do is win,

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win that song or whatever we out here, and I

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walked out of there so fast, and I walked downtown.

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I wasn't even staying downtown, so I'd uber back to

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my hotel. I had no idea where I was going,

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and luckily I found an Irish bar and comforted myself

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for a couple hours.

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Speaker 2: So Alicia got to put.

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Speaker 1: I went to a Denny's and had chicken fried steak

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leathered in cream gravy untill like twelve fifty in the morning.

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There you go, it is what it is, all right,

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let's get let's get to some baseball. Obviously you've been

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home and you will be rejoining the coverage Friday of

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the Angels in town five nothing. No matter what the

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scenario is, you gotta hold that that's a stinging loss.

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Tell me as you or are now approached two weeks

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into the season, two plus weeks, kind of the state

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of things? First is bullpen usage? The concern for you

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right now is it bullpen actury? It could be a

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little bit of both. Where are you right now on

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where do you think Joe's trust factor is? Again saying

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what you want to say here. They also won a

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game going twelve innings and you have to have your

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bullpen then, So maybe we're just catching them on a

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bad day. Obviously, when you when you lose a five

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nothing lead.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean you're coming off, you know, the worst

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loss of the season out of only twelve. But uh,

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they did, you know, if you're looking at it glass full,

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they had a three and three road trip, so you know,

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you take that, but yeah, the chance to have a

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four and two road trip is right there. You know,

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I think coming into the season, and I think I

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told you that, you know, I think I thought the

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biggest issue was probably going to be the bullpen, and

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the bullpen had been pretty good up until up until yesterday.

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And yeah, the hater was down because you with Arraghetty

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being out and now you had a short start from Blanco,

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you're having to use guys more. You're already behind the

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eight ball a little bit in usage. So they really

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need the off date to reset things. It's kind of

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early for that to be happening, but that's the reality.

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And and they're already doing some bullpen shuffling. But you know,

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you know, Contreris came in and loaded the bases right away.

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And then uh, you know, Okert, who's been really good,

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you know, you're asking him just to you know, put

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out a four alarm fire at that point, and you

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know that's really tough to do.

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Speaker 2: And the Brave ones the head scratcher, because that's that's.

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Speaker 3: Where you're gonna need him sometimes to close games like that,

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but you're gonna need him an eighth inning, and you know,

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he can't come out there and just not command his

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pitches and allow them to you know, to to win

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the game like that. So that that's got to be

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a you know, troublesome still early. I mean a Brave's

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pitched the six games he's got, you know what, a

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five plus e RA got to clean that up a

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little bit.

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Speaker 2: You know.

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Speaker 3: Still the offense still looks like a big issue as

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well with the you know, several guys in the lineup

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just not hitting. But again still still really early. Uh

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and they're you know, they're five and seven. They're better

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off and we were at this point last year. But

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certainly there's some issues with this team.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, still in the in the key is still early

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and look, every team can turn it up or it

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could be a season long problem. We don't have we

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don't have a a crystal ball in front of us.

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Speaker 2: Here on that.

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Speaker 1: But was there any signs about a Bray. You look,

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we spent a lot of the off season talking about

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got to make sure his appearance count is reduced from

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a year ago. Is there any signs in spring training?

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He said, all right, the great Brian a Bray that

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was a part of last year maybe isn't on the

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plane just yet coming to Texas.

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Speaker 2: Well.

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Speaker 3: I mean, you know, it's really hard to tell in

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spring with you know, especially veteran guys who are established

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like him, they're always working on things. They're not necessarily

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going out there and trying to blow guys away and

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get out. So, I mean, he looked pretty good in

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the spring, but you know, they played twelve games, he's

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pitched six, so you know, you're right back at that,

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you know, eighty eighty one game pace that they wanted

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to try to avoid and they haven't been able to

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do that so far in the first couple of weeks

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of the season. But he's walked six guys in five

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in the third innings. I mean, that's that's just they

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that just can't continue. And so he's just whatever, whatever

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the control issues are, he's got to rain that in.

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He still has strikeout stuff, elite stuff, but the walks

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are just killing them right now, and so that's that's

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got to be corrected. But you know, Lewis Contreras has

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watched five guys and six innings, and you know he's

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he's not a guy that they're counting on as much

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as a bray you. But I think I think we're

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just gonna see a lot of shuffling in this bullpen.

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But they need the back end guys. Hater who's been

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really good I bray you and then you know, maybe

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Brian King's or seventh in a guy. They need those

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guys to step up and be consistent because I think

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we're going to see a lot of shuffling and inconsistency

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behind them.

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Speaker 4: I imagine we agree Brian that at the end of

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the day, whoever's gone out there has to get the

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job done.

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Speaker 2: And that didn't happen yesterday.

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Speaker 4: But just in the moment of the decision making of

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Joe a spot, how how have you been feeling about

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the way things have been handled?

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Speaker 3: I can't take qualms with with anything he's done. I mean,

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I think they knew coming in the bullpen was was

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probably not their strength. And you can only call on

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the guys you have down there to bring out there

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and go out there and pitch. I mean, losing Arraghetti,

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you know that that was a big key piece of

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the rotation.

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Speaker 2: So they're going to have to, you know, fill that now.

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Speaker 3: But I think as far as the bullpen decisions and

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his lineup, I mean, this is not a team that's

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five and seven because anything the manager has done. It's

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just because they haven't hit and some of their key

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relievers haven't gotten out.

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Speaker 2: It's at key times. I mean, that's it.

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Speaker 3: The starting pitch has been pretty good for the most part,

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but I mean it's you know, I'm not going to

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sit here and I mean watching these games, I haven't

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seen anything where I'm.

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Speaker 2: Like, oh, you know, what is Joe doing.

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Speaker 3: I mean, he's he's doing everything he can at this

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point to try to put.

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Speaker 2: Them in position to win.

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Speaker 3: And look, yesterday they were four outs away from a

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four and two road trip and the bullpen imploded.

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Speaker 2: So I mean, that's that's certainly not on him.

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Speaker 4: Brian McTaggart with us here on Sports Talk seven to ninety.

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Let's go to the offense side. We know that it

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will turn at some point. They are last in the

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majors in tem OPS. But I guess the question remains

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how much will it turn to Where we were hoping

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for forty plus bombs from yr on, we're hoping for

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for Jeremy Penion have the best offensive year of his career,

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and I just it's kind of in the balance of

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how close to those types of aspirations we had we'll get.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean they're I think their last and last

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of slugging. They're I think they're twenty six and runs

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last in doubles. It's just across the board. I mean,

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Peyya had a really really good spring just from start

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to finish. I mean he looked like a guy who

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was just ready to come out and have his best season.

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Still could but uh, you know, twelve games in he's

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he's got a six thirty five OPS.

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Speaker 2: You know. Alvarez is the one they got to get going.

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I mean, they cannot win.

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Speaker 3: If Alvarez is hitting one ninety five with a six

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hundred OPS, with one homer every two weeks, it's just

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they cannot get it done. Janner Diez is another one. Uh,

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he has two hits and thirty three bats. I mean

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just he's the guy that hits in the middle of

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the lineup, and it's just just killing them right now.

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So Peattie has been okay, you know, not bad. Brendan

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Rodgers has been you know, okay. All two Bay's burnt

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al two Bay, of course. I think Christian Walker another

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guy who has to get it turned around a little bit.

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I mean, there's three key bats. Dias, Walker and Alvarez

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are just not getting it done right now. That is

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the reason they're at where they're at. Yes, and they

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can turn this around with one big weekend and everyone's

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back on track. Cam Smith book out on him a

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little bit. You know, he's coming around a little bit.

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Of the bats look a little bit better. But you

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really weren't. You know, you didn't know really what you're

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going to get from him. But those key big three

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bats in the middle have to get going.

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Speaker 1: Brian mctagger at MLB dot com with us year on

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Sports Talk seven to ninety. I want to go back

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to the bullpen for a second, not necessarily the group,

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but the Montero trade to Atlanta. Do you think in

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your mind this has been in works for a while

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that maybe a change of scenery would be better to

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get something back in return, get a little bit of

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financial savings on that or do you think that Dana said,

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you know what, it'd be best serve if we moved

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to somewhere else.

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Speaker 2: My guess is they've been trying to do it for

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a while.

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Speaker 3: I mean, if you look at the moves they've made

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over the last few months, I mean this this team's

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in a little bit of a penny pinching mode. I

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mean they traded it, uh, you know, Presley for you know,

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financial reasons, and Tucker because they knew they wouldn't resign him.

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So it only makes sense that Montero guy making the

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money he's making eleven plus million, would be you know,

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on the market as well. Maybe you know, some teams

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wanted to wait to see how he did the start

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the year, but certainly this was you know, may to

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you know, a reliever. I think they can do without

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who is expendable. The Braves can pay some money and

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they you know, they can call up somebody else like

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Bennett SUSA, who might be able to do you know,

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a better job than the Montero. So I think it

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was all you know, financially driven. They're just they're just

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trying to save as much as they can I mean,

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I think they'll have a lot more payroll flexibility of

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this year, but they're just in penny pinsion mode right now.

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And I say that they still have a you know,

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a top five payroll. Penny pinching mode's relative here for

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what the Astros do. It's not like they have a

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small payroll, but they're trying to you know, avoid going

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over the luxury tax and and you know, next year

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they'll have a lot more money to do some things.

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Speaker 2: But that's just kind of the reality they're in right now.

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Speaker 1: Any's surprise about the amount of second base that Josel Twoba.

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Speaker 2: Has played that he hasn't played. Does that he has

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played so far has plays?

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Speaker 3: Uh No, because I you know, Joe's never really said

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he's gonna, you know, play this much or this much.

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I thought he might play once a week. I don't

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know how many as he started out there, two or

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three maybe, so, uh you know, Brandon Rodgers is doing

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a pretty nice job out there, not only defensively but

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with the bat. But you know, Joe's been hesitant to

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say exactly how he's gonna split that playing time between

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left field and second and and maybe he really doesn't

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know it's it's just gonna have to be on matchups

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and parks are playing in and everything, and maybe there

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is something to you know, they they maybe we should

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playhim a little bit more at second base, but they

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seem still committed to him being the everyday left fielder

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out there.

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Speaker 2: Man.

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Speaker 3: You know, as long as he's hitting, you know, you

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get him in the in the in there somewhere because

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he's the one bright spot in this lineup and that

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you know, he's Hoseal two bay.

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Speaker 2: He shouldn't be surprised.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and look, let's go glass half ale to wrap

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this up. As many things as there have been with

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bullpen issues and line up being you know, bottom and ops,

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it's five and seven. I mean, if you were not

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a consumer of Astros baseball and you listen to a

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conversation among fans and maybe to a certain extent this visit,

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you think this team was two and ten so far,

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and that's not the case they You know, it could

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be a lot worse. It really could be. And starting

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pitching for the most part has been pretty good. The

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bullpen did do its job in that twelfth inning game,

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and you know, on Jose A two bay, even though

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the left field experiment has been a little bit of

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a mixed back so far, and it's probably always going

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to be that way. Is tearing the cover off the

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ball right down.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, you're right, it's five and seven. I mean, you

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look back at Astro starts the last ten years. I mean,

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you know, it's not uncommon for them to be, you know,

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floundering around five hundred after two weeks, still trying to

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feel things out. I guess if you know, going back

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to the three main guys I was talking about, Walker,

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Diaz and Alvarett, I mean, those those guys are gonna

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come around. I mean, they're not gonna put up these

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numbers forever. They are going to play better at some point.

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So you're right, it does feel like they're two and

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ten and doom and gloom. But they're five and seven

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with you know, one hundred and forty plus games to

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go and a chance for you know, still to do

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plenty of damage.

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Speaker 2: Are in a way worse situation than they were last year.

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Speaker 3: But I know it's frustrating for Astros fans who all

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they hear all spring training or positive things and we're

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gonna do this and that, and then you know they

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come out and get off a little bit of a

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slow start. Look around the league, I mean there's a

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lot of teams right around where they're at, and this

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thing will sort itself out here in the next few weeks,

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we'll get a better idea where they're at.

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Speaker 1: Good staff has always tag Talk to you next week.

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Thank you for the visitors. Always all right, guys you Yes,

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Brian mctagger at MLB dot com. Eleven fourteen, Here on

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the Matt Thomas Show at Ross coming up at the

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bottom of the hour.