The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Brian McTaggart Breaks Down the Astros Sweep of the Marlins

Episode Date: July 23, 2026

Brian McTaggart Breaks Down the Astros Sweep of the Marlins

is the Matt Thomas show with Ross. Three Sports Talk 790. Let's spend 10 quality minutes with our friend Brian McTagher. You hear him every Thursday here on Sports Talk 790. You hear them Friday's on the on deck show where the Astros will be headed to Chicago to take on the White Sox for a three game series and then three with the Anaheimers after that.

And McTaggart was there at the Dinkin part the last three days. So Brian, we as Astro fans and followers are riding the ebbs and flows of this season. What's the clubhouse like right now? I'm going to assume frustration kicked in with the Baltimore series, not winning any of those games, but I'm assuming they're also not throwing a championship parades after beating the fish three straight times.

Yeah, I think that's accurate. I mean, I think if fans were in the clubhouse on a day-to-day basis, they'd be surprised at how just every day is pretty much the same. I mean, you wouldn't know if they were on a five-game winning streak or five-game losing streak. You know, guys are very routine-oriented. They do the same thing. I mean, the only thing, you know, after a win, there's music pumping,

and the mood's, you know, lifting a little, and after a loss, it's quiet in there. But when they come to the park, the next day, it's over, and they're looking forward to, you know, the next day's game. But I did think it was interesting after they got swept by the Orioles. Jeremy Pena, who has become a leader on this team, sort of for the first time I can remember, really, speaking out about the direction the team was headed and said, it's time we go on a run.

And there were no team meetings or anything like that. But there were words that probably didn't need to be said, but he said them publicly. And, you know, they turn around and sweep the marlins. So it's been a really, really weird season. I mean, three days ago, they looked like it was over. They were going to be sellers or stand pad or whatever. And now it looks like, hey, they're right there. Maybe they're going to be big-time buyers.

You know, I've been in the clubhouses for a long time around this time of year. You get the group of guys that may say, hey, we're good enough as it is. Let's not bring somebody in here. Then you have a certain group that says, we need help, get us something. And then there's another group that says, I'd like to improve as long as I'm not the one being moved. So I'm going to assume that if you went to each individual player privately, they know this team cannot rely on the top three of its offense, which did largely this three games against the Marlins for any sort of run.

And that the thought is, because the outfield has not solidified itself offensively, that's what Dana's got to go get before the deadline. Yeah, you're absolutely right. I don't think any of the players would say publicly, oh, we need outfield help because, you know, you're dumping on your fellow teammates. You know, you don't want to do that.

I think what they would say is, you know, we believe in one another, but privately behind the scenes are like, hey, are we going to get somebody? I mean, we got a chance at this thing. If you remember in 2017 at the trade deadline, the Astros traded for Liriano, and that was all they did. And Dallas Keiko popped off and said, hey, we have a chance to win the World Series and we should have done more. Well, lo and behold, a month later, they get Verlander, and that woundered up being what they needed. But, yeah, I mean, I think the players are wondering what they're going to do. I think some players are probably wondering, hey, am I going to be traded?

It's going to be a very tense, 10 days, I think, for a lot of the players who not only have jobs, a couple of the outfielders, but some of the pitchers who might be traded. So there's going to be a lot of whispers behind the scenes publicly. You know, they're all going to say the right things for the most part. What Keikel said in 2017, it was pretty rare for a player to say something like that. What do you think about, I mean, how the trade market is going to go? with the potential impending labor strife and the fact that like people were talking about sunny gray and redsox players well the red sox have won a bunch of games and now they're in the race and you just have so many teams that are in it and so few buyers just how do you feel like this this trade market could play out yeah there are only a few teams out of it like you said so and those teams that are out of it are of course holding everyone hostage for the players and the prices are really really high just because there's so many teams that are interested And the Astros are in a little bit worse spot just because two things,

they just don't have the prospect list that a lot of other teams do. And the two guys that are in their top 100, I'm guessing Nions and Alvarez are probably untouchable. And then also they want to try to stay under the luxury tax, which creates another set of problems. I mean, they created a little room trading McCullors. So it's going to be difficult, I think, to fill definitely all their needs. to be I think the moves, I tend to lean towards any moves they make are going to be on the smaller scale, just because of the limitations money-wise.

So I don't think they're going to go out there and get a front-line starter or another team's closer. You know, Mason Miller's not coming here. They're not going to get a big-time bat, but they could get a player that could help. And for me, if you ask me what they need most more than anything else, I think they need the left-handed bat. I just think they need another bat in the offense. bullpen I think you can figure it out a little bit. You know, a bray who looks like he's turned the corner and it might be back. And you're going to get West Nesky back.

Maybe you could move another starter to the bullpen. They need another bat, if you ask me. Brian McTaggart with us here on Sports Talk 790. And yeah, if they are going to stick with this rotation, I mean, somebody's got to step up. But just the way you see it, one turn through plus Lambert being good last night, how are we feeling about the rotation? Yeah, I think it's, you know, trending up post-all-Star break, like you said. I mean, everyone pretty much held their own the first turn through.

You know, Lambert's been their best starter all season. Hunter Brown's the guy that, you know, really needs to step up at this point. I mean, you, you know, he's your race. You need him to go six or seven innings. And, you know, he had, what, a career high six walks his last time out. So that's not ideal. So I think he will, I think he'll get it ironed out. but you need him to pitch at close to the level he pitched last year,

or I think he could be in some trouble because you're almost like it's a given that Hunter Pence is going to give up 100 Pence. Hunter Brown is going to give us a chance to win every time out. And so far, a couple of cases, that's not been the case. But the other guys have pitched pretty well. You know, Eric Getty's a start-to-start thing. You're not sure what you're going to get, just like EMI. You can count on Lambert at this point. Blanco came back.

It looked really good to me. I mean, he looked, he was throwing strikes. He looked confident. I think you feel good about him. And then, you know, maybe next week you get West Neske back, who's looked pretty good in his minor league rehabs. We saw Nate Pearson got moved yesterday to the Royals. Obviously, they're trying to open up some space.

So if every, if Wessniewski comes back, who's next to the bullpen? Who could be moved? I mean, is A.J. Blueball's name still being talked about with potential trade target? Do you need a guy for leverage? Or do you, does Kai Wei Tong assume that? that spot. What, what, how is this, if we don't see the Astros make a move for a pitcher, how do you see things being crafted out post-decline?

Well, if they don't make a move for a pitcher, yeah. Yeah, that's a, that's a good question. I mean, what's Neski, I think, is for sure going to get a shot to come back and pitch in the rotation. You know, we saw, we saw Javier being moved to the bullpen. And I think Javier, I, that the Astros would like to move. move if they could just because he just does not seem to have a role here. And of course, you get the money, you know, the contract.

I mean, they would have to eat some of that. But, yeah, I think AJ Bluebaugh's name is going to be mentioned. I think any young, controllable starting pitcher for the Astros could be moved. And I think they're going to probably have to move a pitcher off their Major League roster to if they're going to make one of these deals. If they don't, if they don't make a move with a pitcher, you have a little bit of a logjam. But it's going to become, you know, who's pitching best? What have you done for me lately?

And I guess that's what you'd rather have than, you know, coming up short on some of these arms. But, yeah, Pearson getting DFAed and then trade. I mean, trade it. He's the fourth pitcher they acquired in the offseason that they DFAed this year. So not exactly. They went out and acquired all these pitchers. That was a big storyline, build up the depth. And four of them have been DFAed.

And then, you know, Burroughs is hurt. You know, EMI has been totally hit or miss. You have Lambert that's been good. So, you know, not a great offseason for the Astros in terms of adding pitching. And like I said, I think I told you last week, there's some in the organization that think adding another reliever is the number one need. So I don't know. It's going to be interesting 10 days. This club could go a lot of different ways.

That's funny because I think Brian Abraeu, and what he does, I think impacts whether or not you have to go get that eighth inning guy because Brian King did it for a while and obviously kind of ran on a gas on that. I let you run Cam Smith did not play much in the series. He's had a woeful second half of the season. I mean, the whole year has shown some glimpses of real power and excitement, but other times a lot of old firsts. What's going through his mind right now? What's the Astros state of mind on him as they tried to give him some time off to kind of decompress? And, you know, again, with nobody really fighting for outfield playing time,

he's going to be given another opportunity to get his bat back in the line up for the Astros. Yeah, I mean, I think he'll be in the lineup tomorrow in Chicago. Yeah, I mean, it's been a rough go here post-all-star break. But really, you know, all season, I mean, he's shown glimpses, and there were times I thought he'd turn the corner. And he does look to me better at the plate, taking better swings that he did last year. But I think this was just a reset. I think it was just, hey, let's give him a blow.

He worked on some things with the hitting coaches. And also the matchup with some of these pitchers that the Marlins were throwing just were not good for him in his swing path. So I think everyone just agreed, you know, let's just give him some time off here. And, you know, maybe he can regroup and work on some things and take four days off in a row. And, I mean, if he could just pick it up a little bit,

I mean, that would be so huge for the Astros because they're just searching for anybody in that outfield to be a part of this lineup. I mean, Lucas Spence's and bats have been pretty good. You know, Lamont Wade is drawing some walks and getting on base. But they're just missing another dude in the outfit. They just need another bat they can put in the middle of the lineup in the outfield.