The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Brian McTaggart Joins The Show After Astros Comeback

Episode Date: May 15, 2025

Brian McTaggart Joins The Show After Astros Comeback

All right, 1103, Sports Talk 790. Brian McTaggart is with us for his weekly visit. Now, Brian leaves in League City. He covered the game last night. We're going to try to guess where he is. He's on his way to Arlington right now. Closest without going over wins, Ross. We don't know where he left when he left.

No, we're just pure guess. So let's say he got home at say midnight. Okay, yeah, he's an established career, man. Probably gets up early. He said 30. he didn't pack so we packed quickly for this he's about a 50 minute pack he's about 830s 2 and a half hours and I'm going to say

he is I'm going to say Buffalo Texas I was going to say Buffalo Are you serious? Are you serious? I was really going to say Buffalo What's the place we're saying? Oh fair I'm going to go Fairfield Okay I'm going to say Corsicana? Nope too far Brian where are you I just posted a picture

on my Twitter, it tells you exactly where I'm at. Okay, here we go. So he's in Madisonville, then. If he posted it, it's got to be Buckeys. Yeah, you got to be at Buckees. Let me see. I just pulled in the Buckees.

Oh, Madisonville. Damn! Damn! That is a chalk picket. You know, we went off chalk, Brian. That's, we messed up. You did. You did. That was a layup for you guys. So what time did you leave

League City this morning? I left about 9, 10. Okay. Hit a little traffic around downtown. when 45 goes to two lanes for some unknown reason. And then, yeah, but otherwise, yeah, otherwise fine. Okay, good. All right, good.

Hey, the comeback kids are back in action. This is not a bad little serious performance for the local nine, especially with two back-to-backers. I thought yesterday was even more impressive because of the fact that it felt like Kansas City was on cruise control for much of the game. Yeah, I agree to take two or three with the pitching matchups that the Royals were throwing out there and, you know, come from behind win. I think what, only their second win this year when trailing after. after seven innings. So that was

probably one of the most impressive wins of the season. I mean, I was just thinking that they're squeezing every ounce they can out of this offense. I mean, two solo homers get it done a couple of days ago. You know, yesterday Dubom drops a couple of doubles. I mean, the offense is still

scuffling really badly and they're making the most of it, but the pitching's been so good for the most part, especially the bullpen that they're in every game pretty much, with the exception of a couple of those on the homestand that we're all aware of. But yeah, I mean, I think Joe said it a few times.

The fact that they have this record and their offense is as poor as it's been. I think it's pretty promising if you think once they get back to full strength and everyone starts hitting up to their level. I think you have to make an exception to your rule about everybody is struggling offensively except the leadoff man. Jeremy Payne. My God, is this OPS gone up like 500 points in the last two weeks? Yeah, he's done a nice job in that leadoff spot. And, you know, he had that great spring and made a few changes to his swing and got off to a little bit of a slow start. But he looks like now he's developing into everything they had hoped he would be. I mean, this is his fourth year now, so it's not like this is an overnight thing.

But, man, good for him. I mean, he's putting a lot of work to get to this point. And anytime you put someone in the leadoff spot, you know, you wonder how they're going to do. It comes with a lot of pressure. And he's done a very nice job, you know, just sort of like when you move somebody to close or you don't know if they're built for it or not. you know, Will Harris couldn't do it and, you know, Ken Giles really couldn't do it. But, you know, other guys can and they move Pena's a leadoff spot. And he certainly is, you know, a quarter, a quarter through the season is probably the Astros MVP at this point. Yeah, we've seen

hot streaks from him before, Brian. And of course, you always mentioned Memorial Day is kind of where you shake things out. We're only a couple of weeks out from that and he is still sustaining this. Yeah, and that leaves me to believe it's real. I mean, he's, you know, not striking out as much, walking a little more, and it just looks more confident at the plate. His swing just seems to be, you know, the word he's used as quieter. There's just not going, you know, a lot going on, a little toe tap, and he's got those quick hands. You know, yesterday I tried to, you know, sneak a ball by him, and, you know, he's able to get those hands in and just turn on it. And so, yeah, he's got a chance to make the All-Star game in the American League at Shortstop, add that to his resume,

which already includes a World Series, a World Series MVP, ALCS MVP. There was really only one poor reliever in the middle relief core, and Taylor Scott obviously got DFA'd yesterday, but I mean, Dubin, Ord, King, and then Abrae, who felt like the appearances have gone down. Where would this team be without this bullpen? Because not only are they successful, but man, Brian,

they're being used in the fifth any more than perhaps any other bullpen in baseball right now. Yeah, I'd be interested to see where they rank And as far as inning's pitch, that's something I'll look up after I finish my icy here at Buckees. But even the two games where they had the short starts in the colors game and the gusto game, the bullpen came in and shut the door. And both games, they had a chance.

You know, I think both games maybe had the time run at the plate at some point. So, yeah, and I've said it before. I thought the bullpen was the one area where they're going into the season. and I thought they were really thin, but so far it's been their strength so far. And Dubin's the guy we saw yesterday who can come in and sneak 96-97 by you before you know it. He's very durable, a guy that can pitch two innings. If you need to start him and get four in-ins, he can do that as well. So, you know, it stinks for Taylor Scott, who did a really nice job last year.

But, yeah, Dubin, I think, can be even a bigger weapon out of that bullpen. So, you know, props to all those guys for getting it done. but got to do it over the next four months as well because some of those guys are pitching a lot. You know, Bray is pitching a lot again. So we'll see how they do here as we continue through the season. Brian McTaggart continuing with us here on Sports Talk 790. Back to the lineup real quick. Continuing struggles for Christian Walker 0 for four, a couple of strikeouts.

Talked about Pena and hoping that's real. And we hope it's not real with the way that Walker's performing. Well, I went to Christian Walker Monday before the game and did an interview with him on how well he was hitting. And if you talk to him, I know Matt interviewed him after I did. A very stand-up guy. I mean, very honest, very candid. You know, he came as advertised. Just one of the best interviews you can have.

And he was great about a swing. And I think at that time he was hitting 225. He was coming around. And then I think he had a hitless series against the Royals. so he may never want to talk to me or Matt again. But just when I think that he's coming around and then he'll have a stretch where he looks like, you know, he's a little bit lost at the plate.

So, yeah, the deeper you get into this, you more you start to scratch your head. But, man, I still think there's got to be better days ahead for him. I just don't, I'll be shocked if Christian Walker's hitting 211 at Dall Starbreaker, 215 or even 220. We all know full well how Astros feel. fans can be, Brian. There has been a lot of talk about hitting coaches all year, especially now with the Jeff Pass and Alex Bregman article talking about adjustments he made. Just your opinion on that

whole narrative and any underlying possibility of a change being made there. Yeah, I don't see it. I mean, the same hitting coaches that, you know, in 2022 when they won the World Series, the same pitching coaches when they won the World Series, to me, I'm always going to put the blame on the player. I mean, bottom line, yeah, if you read the package, an article. One of the things that stood out to me was that one of the things that clicked for Bregman that he said was that he was getting the knob past the ball. He said the same thing last year. When he was struggling here, he had a big game and he's like, gnaw past the ball. That's what clicked. So this isn't anything new. I don't think I don't think Breggman's gone there and

just reinvented his swing. I think maybe he's made a couple of changes here and there. He was a guy that was constantly tinkering with his swing, always trying different things, always looking at video. I think he likes hitting at Fenway Park. That's one of the reasons he signed there is he thought he really liked the backdrop and the idea of the green monster. So I think it's just low

hanging fruit to say blame the hitting coaches, blame the hitting coaches. And I saw your tweet yesterday Ross that, you know, where's the praise for the hitting coaches for helping Pins? You know, come, have a guy that looks like he'd be an all-star now. The responsibilities on the players and yes, I mean, at some point

if there's a team-wide failure, you're in hitting philosophy, then yeah, maybe you make some changes. But you have some very accomplished hitters in the Astros lineup, not carrying the weight. And the onus is on them more than it is the coaches. To wrap up our conversation, Brian, what's going through the mind of Lance McCullors? Obviously, the last start was far from what he wanted. Only one third of an inning struggled in terms of pitch count. The first one.

And look, Arlington is a place. The Rangers are hitting well. It's an easy ballpark for hitting offensively. I'm not going to say how important is it, so I don't want you to read into that, but start number three, he wants to see some tangible improvement, I'm assuming, yes? Oh, yeah, I mean, it's got to be a case where, hey, if you Lance, after that start, you want to say, hey, that was a one-start thing, I'm back on track, get some quick innings, get some swing and miss, which he wasn't able to do, maybe even build the velocity just a little bit.

I mean, the Rangers aren't a great lineup. They just beat up on the Rockies who are just awful. Corey Seeger's on the IL again. He's, you know, by far their best hitter and someone who's really been a thorn in their side. But, you know, they have Jock Peterson hitting third last night. His OPS is under 500. So this is a lineup that I think he could have some success against. But if he does go out there, have another short start, gets knocked around, then maybe, you know, you have to have some, you know, real discussions about, you know, where do you go from here with Lance McCullors, Jr.

But if he has a good start on Friday, yeah, they're. you try to build on it. But, you know, we'll see it's going to be a very interesting start for him on Friday for sure. And lastly, any thought of maybe seeing Yordon on this road trip at some point? I would think we will. I mean, I know that Joe said we're close, and we've heard that over and over. I guess until maybe he's taking some batting practice on the field, I think they really want him in the lineup for this series. Maybe they get him back for the last couple of games, and maybe he's in there tonight. Who knows? but I certainly would be surprised if he is not in the lineup at some point during this road trip. And maybe we'll have more clarity on that when we get to Arlington and a few hours and we're able to talk to Joe.

All right. Last question. Ross, you and I will guess. What flavor I see did Brian McTaggart choose at Buckees? Now, the two leaders in the clubhouse are cola and cherry. Blueberry also sometimes gets in there. And I believe Dr. Pepper can be a flavor. Now that Buckees I've gone to has multiple machines. I'm going to go, you went cola.

What do you say, Ross? I'm going to go cotton candy. Cotton candy. Well, I actually haven't gotten it yet. I'm about to go in. But yeah, I'm definitely a cola guy. That's what I'm talking about. Go coogs.

Very good, man. You are Nostra Thomas? That is correct. It's Nostorongus. Mostorongus. And by the way, thanks for throwing me under the bus with the Christian Walker interview. People was like, oh, that sports MT curse is back in a play. I'm going to start calling the McTaggart curse.

That's what you got to him before I did. Well, I think if you wouldn't have talked to him, he probably would have been doing okay. He's been there for two World Series wins, Matt, so I don't think there's a Brian McTaggart curse. That feels fair. Tags really, really, really, really safe travels. We'll talk to you again next week. All right, guys. See it.

Brian McTaggart. Cola, icy. I haven't had an icy in the longest time.