The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Brian McTaggart Joins The Show As The Astros Are Finding Their Groove, Being 1 Game Away From #1 In AL West

Episode Date: May 29, 2025

Brian McTaggart Joins The Show As The Astros Are Finding Their Groove, Being 1 Game Away From #1 In AL West

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This is Sports Talk 790. From the Parsons that Match in Next Studios. Hi there. Yes. Is the Matt Thomas show. With Rob. One, I'm Sports Talk 7.90. This is hour number two of the four-hour get-together.

We call them at Thomas Show with Ross. Ross with today and tomorrow off. Cole Thompson's going to come on and hang out with us for a couple hours, starting at 1130. We have the news at noon in one hour. I just don't get it at 1230. And all things, Shaggildgis Alexander on today's edition of, believe it or not, which would be headed your way at 150. Right now, 10.

Maybe even 11 quality minutes with Brian McTaggart, MLB.com, and the Astros Beat. Tag, the Astros woke up this morning a half game out of first place. Congratulations, the Nationals, for knocking off the M's last night, 9 to nothing. Yeah, the Astros gained a game on everybody in the division yesterday. So a very good day. And, yeah, Astros can actually be in first place today. If they win and the Mariners lose tonight, they're in first place, and it'll be a full-blown panic in Seattle if it's not already.

I'll give you the opening and in question. what are we seeing today in the last six games that we didn't see in the previous 20 or 25? The offense has been much better. Defense remains solid. Bullpen's been really, really good. I wouldn't say the starting pitching has been anything. Well, I mean, you're getting six from Lanchestered. That kind of helps.

So I'll throw it to you. What are we seeing now that maybe we didn't see even two or three weeks ago? Yeah, well, I think you hit it. I mean, it's offense. They had, what, five games in a row where they had at least 11 hits, which they hadn't done in about six. years. You know, the series over the weekend, they were getting a lot of singles.

You know, they finally started driving the ball a little bit here the last couple of games. But yeah, they're just score more, getting more guys on base, hitting bare with runners and scoring position. I mean, starting pitching has been good enough. You know, Hunter Brown was really good. And, you know, Lance giving you six. The big question, Marcus, what are you going to get now from the two rookies that are in your rotation now, probably for at least, I don't know, probably for until you get

Eric Getty back in Gusto and Gordon. But yeah, I mean, we've said all along the one area where they got to pick it up is offense and they've done that. Really in the month of May. I mean, they entered the month of May, I think 20 into 20, like 21st maybe in batting average, not the batting average is everything. And I think they lead the majors in batting average in the month of May. So they've really turned it around here from, you know, top to bottom. I know that Jose had a goose egg yesterday, but he has had a really, really good homestown.

overall. What does he think he attributes that to? Yeah, he's, you know, starting to drive the ball more, trying to hit the ball anymore. I mean, he was his ground ball percentage rate, at least about a week ago was probably the highest of his career. He was over, over 50% of balls off his bat that were in play with ground balls, which is not ideal. So he's really started to drive the ball here in the last week. You know, he's worked a lot with Alex Centron. He said he started to come in early and just really putting the work at the cage to, you know, what he said was told us is just, he tries to focus on one pitch instead of trying to, you know, cover the whole batters box or the whole strike zone and, you know, leads him to chase a little bit.

He's sort of honed in on one pitch and that's helped him, you know, make better contact and turn it around a little bit. You know, his numbers really this year overall have been to nils. down from years past. And it's hard for us because you've been with that him every bit of his major league baseball career. You know, I've been here as well. But you see him a lot more in face-to-face than I do. There's a part of me that would be sad if we started to see the dramatic drop-off because he has been, in my mind, the greatest astro of them all, because I do include the postseason as part of it.

But it is kind of nice to see him get his mojo back a little bit because I think there were some legitimate concerned about what was left in Jose's tank. Yeah, but I always thought in the back of my mind, I've seen him do. this before where he has these streaks where he I mean for two or three weeks and just you know swings at everything swings out of his shoes out of the zone and you're like good grief and then you know boy when he gets hot you know he'll have four games where he's you know 11 for 15 or something like that and then you look up and his numbers are about what you expect and I'm never going to count this guy out I mean you know like you said I mean I've covered him his entire career from you know day one when he got called up and, you know, everyone knows what he went through and all the naysayers,

people who told him he couldn't play and look what he's done in his career. So I think at the end of the year, Jose Al-Tube is going to end up having some pretty solid numbers. He's never going to be 2017 Jose Al-Tuva anymore, but he's 35 and he can still make some good contributions to this offense. Last thing about him, how often do you ask him or is it even discussed about 3,000 hits? because we have lost in baseball because guys take time off and the 300 win number is, it seems like it's never going to happen for pitchers.

Does he venture into that conversation very much with you or for anybody that covers a team? Yeah, I actually talked to him about it a couple times a year just when I'm in his locker just talking and he, you know, he knows us out there and he, you know, he certainly wants it. You know, one thing he said to me, I think it was earlier this year is how much that the pandemic shortened season cost him. and then the season where I guess it was 22, 23, where he broke his thumb in the World Baseball Classic. It cost him, you know, 50 games.

So those two things combined cost him about a season's worth of games, which to him is, you know, 150, 160 hits. So he would be a lot closer if those things hadn't happened. But he should get his 24th 100 hit this year. It put him 600 out, which, you know, he could get in four or five years. I mean, you're still going to have to do 150, 100, 60 hits a year. But he knows it's going to be tough, but I think he knows he's got a real shot at it if he can

stay healthy. Ryan, McGagger with us here, Sports Talk, 790 for his weekly visit. Tag, how is Christian Walker's hand today? Or how did it feel or how did he feel about it after the game last night? Yeah, we talked him after the game last night. And he said it was really sore. He said he couldn't grip the bat. X-rays were negative.

But he said, I'm good to go. So we'll have to see when we get to the park later today. how he feels that he said it's just going to be a matter of handling the inflammation, which immediately I was like, uh-oh, because we know Yordon Alvarez has had inflammation for like three weeks now. So, but if you remember in the college world series a few years ago, Walker got hit by pitch in the hand, I believe Brooke's Hammett bone and played the next day. So I fully expect Christian Walker to be in the lineup today. Injuries have been obviously a huge part of this year with the ailments to pitching

staff in particular. Ronell Blanco's announcement yesterday that he's going to have the Tommy John. Is anybody doing, and we, you know, I've kind of briefly talked about this. Are the a asteros catching this at a bad time? Obviously, there's no good time for it. Are we finding T.Js hitting every team it feels like, or are this the Astros in a situation where they've got two guys right now already going through it? And then you've got another guy in Arredetti who's out with that injured thumb. No, it's a league-wide issue. And I think last week I was on here, I talked to you about the study MLB did last, that came out last December. And basically, I mean, guys are chasing spin and chasing velocity more.

And at earlier ages, it's just taking toes on the elbows. I mean, the Astros aren't unique in this. You know, I haven't gone around to look at everyone's IL to see how many TJ guys. But I'm sure each team probably has a few. The Astros right now have six starters on the IL, four coming off, or including Blanco, who hasn't had surgery yet, four. that have had T.J. surgery. So, you know, Garcia and Javier, you know, they're quite a bit removed from it, but not back yet. So the Astros may be a couple more guys than most teams, but I don't think they're unique.

Too much an outlaw. The Astros have also played way more games than most teams in the last decade. And guys like Javier and Garcia have pitched deep into the postseason for a couple years in a row. And I think that's got to be a factor as well. I know the Astros aren't overly forthcoming with injury updates, but it sounded like there was some news with Luis Garcia. What do we know and what do we do interpret off of what has been said the last 24 hours or so? Well, he's, you know, he's out there at the park every day, and he's throwing some bullpins. I know Dana Brown said on your station that he thought he'd be back in late July, early August, so he's still got a couple of months to go. I mean, you know, he's done this a couple of times now.

I mean, he's two years removed almost from Tommy John surgery. So he's had a couple of setbacks. So he's going to have to ramp up again and do the whole process of, you know, taking some live BP and then, you know, getting in some minor league games. And, you know, he's going to need the full gamut four or five starts. So that whole process is going to take him a while. But he's done this a couple of times and he's had a couple of setbacks. So until I see him pitching, you know, in a minor league,

minor league game on minor league rehab i don't think we can you know get too excited about garcia returning brian i spent some time in the first hour of the show first of all plotting what lance did yesterday 12 strikeout six innings 102 pitches and then i was talking to myself about you know does it still make you nervous when he goes out for that fifth inning or the pitch count gets up to the 80 90 now 100 number range it's always the bounce back that you think about the next morning how does he feel? And so far through three turns to the rotation, he feels obviously very, very good. When you watch him,

I don't know if he'll ever be all the way back, but as you watch him now, especially after yesterday, are you even a little amazed that he's able to go as deep as he is in games? The strikeout numbers are astronomical at this point. He's still looking for a first decision either way, but to give you six after being gone for as long as he has, I mean, it came in a good time for an astro rotation that has not been able to give you a whole lot of length

the last three or four weeks. Yeah, for me, it's not so much him going six innings and 100 pitches. I mean, I think it's just sort of surprising just because we haven't seen it from him and so long. I mean, that was his longest start since 2022. But the strikeouts to me were really just really blew me away, 12 strikeouts and six innings. I mean, there was a lot of width. I mean, he had those guys really full.

I mean, his slider and curveball were just fantastic. You know, he's throwing, what, 93, 94, maybe with a sinker. Even after the game, he says, I'm not going to throw 97, 98 anymore. So he's sort of figuring new ways to get guys out. And so you have to tip your hat to him. I mean, you know, he grinded for a couple of years to get back. And for him to go out there and strike out 12, to me, was the biggest surprise. I mean, I think they're going to need him to go six innings, throw 100 pitches every time out.

But other than that one start, I mean, his results have been pretty good. And, you know, maybe there's more left. Maybe he can get seven. Maybe, who knows, maybe he can pitch even deeper into a game. But he's got to be really encouraged with what he did. But, yeah, I mean, there's always going to be a little bit of hesitation as the season goes. And, you know, let's see if he can do this over the final four months of the season. Are there certain pitches that are easier and less laborsome for him to throw than others?

I'll say, you know, probably fastball is the easiest thing for him to throw. grow or change up just because you're not putting, you know, much, much pressure on your, your elbow or your forearm. I mean, when these guys are coming back on the rehab, and the first, one of the first thing they do, they get on the mound. And I got on the mound and, you know, I threw 20 fastballs just because, you know, it's easy for them. They've been doing it all their life.

And when you start spinning it, you know, that's when, you know, you have to exert a little little more on your arm. So, but, you know, like I said, Lance had no problem, you know, throwing that curveball a bunch of times. He got, what, 10 of his 18 whiffs on the curveball through a bunch to lefties. So he's always had a lot of confidence in that pitch. But the slider's been a big pitch for him. And, you know, his sinker can still, you know, get up to 94.

If he can spot it, it can still be an effective pitch for him. All right. And as far as Fromber is concerned, do you feel like it's going to be a day where you get to the ballpark? You put your computer up and you go downstairs and all of a sudden you see Fromber's name on the lineup car? I mean, where is this ultimately going to be, is it going to be? is it going to be he wakes up and feels great ready to go is it a night in the cage the next day he is in the lineup how is this going to ultimately play out what we're going to see him back in the lineup on a semi-regular basis do you think yeah i mean i mean i i think i mean you know joe spotted said we're close we're close but i think

it's real interesting that um when you ask joe spotted now he says we're waiting for yorda down to tell us he's ready and even dana brown said that yesterday on the Sean Salisbury service, we're waiting for Yardana to tell us he's ready to go. They put the ball in his court to where you just need to tell us when you can play. And so as far as we know, he's taking BP every day. We don't see it because he does it in the tunnel. He's not going to got hit on the field much anyway. You know, he has been out there a few times running and throwing and he looks fine.

But it's a matter of gripping the bat and hitting off velocity and how that hand feels. So, yeah, I think there'll be one day we just say, we just, yeah, like you said, we get to the park. and they're like he's been activated off the IL. I mean, that's anybody's guess. Could be today. Could be next week. Who knows? It's just truly is a day-to-day thing.

And as awkward as this season has gone from injuries to subpar play to hanging around 500, it's incredible. They're a half game out of first place. They're in there. A three-way tie for the wallet card. And a long way to go. But the early thought of trying to move players and be sellers, I don't think it's in the, in the,

in the mindset right now, the team, and frankly it shouldn't be because it feels like the American League is wide open right now. Yeah, totally wide open. I mean, if they were in the National League, it would be maybe a little bit different story. I mean, that's where the, you know, probably four of the five best teams are, maybe five of the best six teams in the major leagues. But, I mean, we always knew the Astros, this division,

they were going to have a shot at it. I mean, it's not a great division. The Mariners are showing their warts. Rangers can't hit. Same old problem that they had the last couple of years. Very, very winnable division for the Astros. So I totally think they're going to be buyers in some way, shape, and form at the deadline. Starting pitching is going to be on the radar.

They need a left-handed bat, too. I mean, they could really use a left-handed bat to put somewhere in their mix just because they're so right-handed. I mean, look what happened the other day. When they face a left-ee with their all right-handed lineup, they absolutely, you know, destroyed JPC or so. You know, when right-handers pitch, they have the advantage just because the Astros can only put one, pretty much one lefty in the lineup. So, but, you know, Cam Smith, a lot of credit to him. I mean, he looks like he's here to stay. You know, some other guys have turned it around a little bit.

So they're not without their issues, but they're getting it done. And you got to, you know, Astros are inevitably. You hear that all the time, but here they come again. Thanks for the time, as always. We'll talk with you tomorrow. You and I will be doing the on-deck show from the ballpark. It'll be an amazing conversation with the return of the Friday tidbits to the on-deck show. Oh, they're back.

Okay. I can't wait to hear it. I mean, I'm going to assume that nobody has asked you for a tidbit during the Yon-Dec show this season. So I'm going to do it. I'm going to do something out of the box. All right. Let me get in the lab and see what I can get. All right, get out of here.

Thank you, Brian McTaggart. MLB.com on the Astros beat.