And you're able to hold on.
You're able to do enough in the Astros win last night, as you just heard Robert Ford tell you right there, and.
With that we say away we go.
Good morning here on the Sean Salisbury Show Sports Talk seven ninety it's Dan Matthews here with you, Ari Alexander KPRC two hanging out with us this morning here as Ari, did you push that red button right there that turns on the microphone. Gosh, there you are. Yeh, that's it? Man, morning, how about it?
Huh?
You TV guys, you usually have to stay up late, and you're waking up early with us.
I appreciate it. Man, didn't even know six o'clock existed. Man, this is get to the airport time. I was gonna say.
This is, you know, one of those that Randy McAvoy, hey man, you know need you to go to Cleveland, you know, follow the Texans up there. That's that's about my best Randy. The guy that usually sits in your chair in the afternoon. Adam Clanton, he does a spot on Randy.
Yeah, I'm not gonna do it right now, but I can rival Adam Clinton's impression.
You've got a pretty good one I've got. You know, it's only six oh three, so I like our chances of maybe being able to coax that value or the show is over there we go, but are gonna be with me tomorrow and also today? Obviously, I mean you're here right now, so we know that's the case. But I mean the Astros last night able to get the win. I guess we can kind of start from the beginning
to the end here. Colton Gordon much improved this time around and runs into a little bit of trouble there in the fourth and then the fifth, but able to get through five and a third last night.
Yeah, he Sawid works fast.
He's a guy that not gonna walk a lot of people, but he doesn't throw very hard. He's in ninety one miles an hour. Crafty lefty is how he's described what everyone describes him as, and he's a guy that he's there to fill in, but he's also not bad. So right now, where you have all these pictures injured, Hayden Wisnski out for the year with Tommy John surgery, You're
still waiting on Spencer Arraghetty to come back. You're still seeing how far into a game Lance mccullor Junior can go, and you had all these these pitchers, all this depth. Still don't know when Luis Garcia is coming back, still tracking Christian Javier after the All Star break, JP Franz potentially after the All Star break. If you can come in and get a guy like Colton Gordon to be solid, to be what he was last night five and a third.
You know, he gives up a couple home runs. These are good major league hitters, but struck out some guys, didn't walk anyone. If he can keep doing that, you stabilize that five spot. I like where he's at right now because they've done a great job of developing guys out of nowhere. He's a little less than out of nowhere, like a JP Franz was out of nowhere. Out of nowhere, Colton Gordon is a bit of a guy. If he can keep doing what he did last night, I think
they've been good. On the pitching side. The bullpen has been incredible this year. You have guys truly coming out of nowhere, which is bullpens are known to do, and you can sustain winning as long as the lineup can give you a little You don't have to be great. You're surviving without jord On Alvarez. But if you can get five and a third three runs out of a guy that probably shouldn't even be in the big leagues this year because you assumed you had all this depth, you're doing fine.
Yeah, and you mentioned the bullpen and they were fantastic again last night. You get in inning in a third out of Brian King, he gives up that inherited run but still scoreless to his ledger. And then Brian A Bray, you fantastic. And then Josh Hater. I mean twelve times you've called on him in save situations this year, twelve times he's answered.
You come into this year knowing you're eight to nine, is locked down with two of the best relievers in the game, even though they struggled a little more last year than you would have expected. Especially you pay Hater ninety five million, which present value the biggest closer contract in all baseball. But you put this bullpend together with the Steven Oker to the world, a guy that you signed off the street, a veteran who's coming off a
bad year. Brian King, late round pick, absolutely came out of nowhere, had a nice season, last year, but not a big enough sample size to be able to rely on him, and you maybe were looking at is Taylor Scott going to be your seventh thinning guy this year? He's not on the team anymore. He was just DFAD and Brian King has stepped up. I mean he's got a one something era. Steven Okert's got a one something era.
Caleb Ort now that he's back from injury, two oh eight era, Dubin is off of injury, is pitched nicely.
Filling in.
Gusto has been stronger in that long relief role than he has been as a starter. And suddenly you know that seven eight nine you got King a bray, you hater, and you have some other guys that can fit in there. And Forrest Whitley is not too long from coming back, and even though he keeps getting hurt, the guy does not give up runs at the major league level. I know the sample size is tiny, but the stuff is good. If he can ever stay healthy, you do have a
bit of length. And that bullpen there so much so that coming into this year they were relying on Miguel Castro to be a big piece of their bullpen.
They paid him one point five million in the majors.
They never made the majors, and they just traded him to the White Sox because they just flat out don't need him.
Yeah, I mean they've been fantastic, and I mean, I guess the part that has been a little less to be desired as the middle of the lineup. And that showed its head again last night where you move jose Al two bay to the three spot. Now, granted, just like Chas McCormick, it did look like he got one that had a chance to get out to left, but that wind just knocks it down, goes right into the left fielder's glove. He wears an O for four last night.
Christian Walker, same deal, no shrikeouts I'll contact from him, So I guess, I mean that's not nothing. And then Jiner Diaz, who, I mean, what is it with him in that low and away slider man Like he just he cannot lay off of that pitch right.
Now and you want him to learn eventually.
He's a guy as a catcher, He's sitting there seeing all that kind of stuff coming from his pitchers and it takes a while. I mean catchers develop later into their career he's such a free swinger and that helps you some of the time and it hurts you some of the time. And I'm not sure how much I like having him in Altuve in the lineup closer to each other.
You want to keep those guys are not going to take pitches.
You want to keep those guys as far away from each other in the lineup as possible. But right now, the way that they're built, Pain is looking really good at the top of the lineup and they have to move up east. Soak peretis because he's the guy that's going to take pitches. I think Christian Walker is a guy who you want to see take more pitches, who you want to see walk more. But he's at a point of the year where he's working out some of the mechanical stuff, and he hasn't had a good start
to the year. And it's shown in flashes. This is not a Joseo Bravey situation. It is shown and flashes and you are missing yord On Alvarez even though he wasn't playing well to start the year.
You have the benefit of the doubt there.
You know, how many years now has he been one of the most feared hitters in baseball that he'll find his I was just thinking about this morning, like we miss Dusty a little bit. Water finds its level. It's one of those things that you don't think about that you've heard Dusty say sixty times and then you're brushing your teeth in your morning, You're like, yeah, water finds its level. So that's that's what's gonna happen with jord On Alvarez. Eventually it should happen with al Tuo Bay.
You hope it happens with Altuo Bay because he is in the first of a five year extension. You hope that the decline is now. He's just a guy that you cannot be that close to the lineup to I and or Diaz. I want to see a little bit of those those different mixes. And I want to see Christian Walker take some more pitches because I know it's in there and you got it right now. They're moving east, soak up to the two hole for a good reason, because pain is that bats are quick.
He's a guy that likes to swing as well.
He doesn't walk a lot, even though he's been tremendous this year and the walk rate is up but there are some lineup construction things they can do. Yeah, that middle You're right, the middle of the lineup is not as dangerous as it could be. The good thing they're winning and half the team is not hitting even close to what they can and have done.
Yeah, it's something that Dana Brown every single week he joins us on Wednesdays, that he's been saying all along is look, you know, the lineup still kind of trying to catch up to what the pitching has given you. And I mean that's the thing. You close that gap just a little bit all of a sudden looking up at the Mariners, and I know that you've been, you know, neck and neck with the Rangers for right now. I mean those two teams. You wonder if Seattle's going to
continue to hit this way. They've had some pitching injuries too. Oh by the way too. I mean they're without a couple of their key guys right now and they're able to still pitch the way that they are. But then the Rangers, I mean, aside from the starting rotation, I mean, you're you're a Mets guy. You know the story of Jacob de Grom quite a bit that Yeah, he looked really good the other night, And yeah, he can look
really good. But just like people here complain about Lance mccullors, it's been the same thing with the Graham during his career.
Yeah, and you're the Rangers. You pay this guy one hundred and eighty five million, and it's because of the upside. The upside is the best pitcher in baseball, potentially the highest peak of any pitcher, like that night when he's facing Hunter Brown.
Yes, is a Mets guy.
I'm going back and I'm watching twenty twenty one to Gram highlights, which is the most insane pitching anyone potentially has ever seen. He's not that guy anymore. He's still really good at ninety seven. He's still really good with the slider. But I mean, you've wistful de Gram at one oh one with a ninety four mile slidering. You just don't know when it breaks. There's a reason he's ratcheted down this year. Jack Lyder had a nice start until the Astros were able to chase him.
They have some guys, they have the lineup.
I think the Rangers scare me more than the Mariners do, because this is now what the third fourth year in a row, that they've had the pitching and they don't have the lineup, and the lineup is finally hitting. How long can can it last? Cal Rawley has been incredible. They did a great job extending him. Julio Rodriguez is getting paid two hundred million. He is not hitting the way that you would expect him to. Ever since his
rookie year, he hasn't been quite as good. Jorge Polanco, who the Astros chased after this offseason and didn't offer him quite enough money, He's been really good. But if you're the Mariners and you're the Astros and you're looking at all, right, here's the guys we have that we're relying on the rest of the year to produce. And the Astros are waiting on Jose Altuve, a future Hall of Famer, and Jordon Alvarez, one of the best hitters in baseball. Those are the guys you're lying to regress
to better players. And then you're the Mariners and you're relying on Randy rose Arena, who has a massively wide range of outcomes. You're relying on Jorge Polanco, who's been hurt and is not as good as you ord on Alvarez, continue what he's doing, and you're relying on Julio Rodriguez, who's obviously a really good player. But now we're starting to go to a point where this is the third year of Julio Rodriguez being good but not quite what
we saw the rookie year. And to me, it just feels like from a trending standpoint, the Astros are in a better place than the Mariners are.
Rain, you're scaring me a little bit. The Mariners don't.
Yeah, I mean, it's still a long way to go as far as the season. I mean, you know, you're not into Memorial Day yet. And I've had numerous people that have been following baseball for years tell me, you know, looking at the standings, They're like, no, don't, don't do that yet. Don't don't. Don't even think about the standings right now. They don't even matter Becausemorial Day is almost kind of what Christmas Day is to the NBA. That
that's when the season in earnest gets going. In June and July, that's when kind of the pretenders and contenders actually start to separate themselves a little bit. Yeah, and you're so figuring out what your lineup is you're still figuring out how much left field can josel Tube play? How much can you move him back into second base? Is Brendan Rodgers going to be good enough to play their long term? Do you need to find someone else? Who else are you going to mix in? What's going
on with the rest of the outfield? Cam Smith had a couple hits last night. He's been better. Camp Smith is above league average as a hitter, and he's been playing a really good right field and even he's getting mixed in with Zach Dezenzo's had his good stretches and Chaz never plays. And he came off the bench and had had a decent game, got his first RBI.
It is May what was it twentieth today? And he got his first RBI on May nineteenth. And it's not for lack of playing well, he just doesn't play. They're such a weirdly built team sometimes because right now they're carrying says our salas are that love, says our salas are. But he hasn't had a bat. Couldn't you find someone who's going to get in that bat? And I get why he's there as the third catcher because Kartine has been playing a lot and he's been really good, which,
by the way, shout out Dana Brown. I know he gets a lot of criticism, sometimes it's deserved, and he gets some praise sometimes it's deserved. One of these moments where he gets praise and it's deserved, nailed the Victor Carrotini.
Signing absolutely, Yeah, there's no doubt about that. I mean, you know you're able to add him, and I mean he's been a plus with the bat that I mean, I think that's been the absolute added bonus you've been able to get out of him. And I mean he's been fantastic.
Last night.
You win that game huge part because of him six seven, eight, nine last night, accounting for six of the eleven hits that you got. So while we've talked about the middle of the order has had their struggles, those guys have also been the ones that have kind of carried this thing a little bit.
You want to guess where the best hitter resides in the Astros lineup?
It is Jake Myers batting seventh last night. It is the ninth spot in general. Ah about that, which is insane?
Why why is your ninth spot your best hitter that's where, like in literal league, you put the kid that plays right field who's like not growing quite as fast as the rest of the kids in fourth grade and is out there picking his nose and maybe carried his juice box in the back pocket to right field and it's spilling a little bit down his pants, and you think that might be something else, but it's just the apple juice.
That's your best part of your lineup. This is such a weird team sometimes.
Dan, Yeah, there's no doubt about it. And hopefully you can start to get to some of those other guys going because I know the Astros could really use them, no doubt about it. Again, Ari Alexander KPRC two hanging out with me this morning in for Sean Tripoli is still here and we'll continue the Astros conversation sebon one three two one two five seven ninety Again that's seven one three two one two five seven nine zero Game one Western Conference Finals between OKC and Minnesota tonight. They're
in OKC. Some potential Rockets news to get into here today as well as so we're already getting in the rumor season and the Rockets of course gonna be in the center of all of those. But coming up next, we finally got hear from Jordan. But is it necessarily the news that we wanted. We'll discuss that here. It is The Sean Salisbury Show, right here on your home with the Astros and the Rockets.
Sports Talk seventy ninety