The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Brian McTaggart Joins The Show Talking Line-Up & Lack Of Offense

Episode Date: June 5, 2025

Brian McTaggart Joins The Show Talking Line-Up & Lack Of Offense

Our number two of the Matt Thomas show with Ross here on Sports Talk 790. Without Matt Thomas, he is out today. He will be back tomorrow. Got a lot of stuff coming up, including I Just Don't Get it at 1130. But right now, pleased to be joined by our weekly Thursday guest, Brian McTaggart, covering the Astros for MLB.com. Astros in a three-game series against Pittsburgh Pirates. First couple of games, Brian, just like we expect. They beat Paul Skeens and they lose to some guy named Mac Burroughs.

Yeah, just like we all drew it up, right? I mean, I think it had more to do with who the Astros had on the mound probably than who the Pirates would throw. I mean, Skeens, they had no business one in that game, but I mean, McCuller, you know, had to him to McCullors because he matched him for six innings and then they got the big swing from Walker. So nice job there. But, you know, when Gusto has pitched, it's, you know, his last four or five starts, it's, you know, he's not getting deep in the games, not giving them much of a chance. But, hey, they got Frumber today and a chance to win a series on the road. How much longer do you think Gusto is going to stay in the rotation? And then who do you think would be the next man up?

Yeah, I mean, I think they might be getting close to that point. They're also going to be entering a stretch coming up where they have a bunch of games without a day off again. Not as long as they did last time, but like, you know, I think about, you know, two weeks worth. So that might be an area where they want to go to six-man rotation. But who do they put in the rotation at that point? I mean, they're pretty much at the end of their pitching depth right now. You know, do you bring up Uola who's throwing really well? I mean, again, he's a rookie.

You don't know what you're going to get. Blue Ball was here before. Do you bring him back? So they're in a bit of a bind here, I think, starting pitching-wise, because you feel really good if you're the Astros when you got Hunter Brown or Framber Valdez gone. And I mean, I'll even put Lance in that category now. And then when Gusto and Gordon go, you know, not so good. I mean, not that you can't win those games. And Gordon's pitched a little bit better than Gusto at this point.

But the point is they're just at the end of their pitching depth right now until they get Arrogati back. Maybe they get Garcia back in August or they make a trade. So they're in a bit of a tough spot with their pitching depth, just with all the injuries. Yeah, you mentioned McCullors and what a godsend he's been the last couple of starts out there, quality starts, and 102 pitches, 96 pitches, to say that that's where we are, where you're kind of putting him in the safer or reliable category where not even a month ago against Cincinnati, he was out there getting shelled and you're like, is this guy about to get DFA in a couple of starts? It has been crazy that he has turned it around that the way he is.

and you're saying, Brian, you think that, hey, going forward until further notice, we can kind of trust this guy in the rotation? I think so. I mean, yeah, I mean, it's only been a, you know, three, four start sample here. But when, I mean, if you look back at Lance's entire career, when he's been healthy, he's been good. So it's not like this is a guy who hasn't done it before. And you're like, oh, okay. But it, it thinks healthy.

He's a really, really good starting pitcher. You know, he pitches a little differently than he did before. But, you know, he can still be very effective when he's landing both of those. breaking balls and, you know, his fastball is good enough. And so, you know, I'm not ready to put them in the Fromber Hunter Brown category. But I think if he's pitching you, the Astros, you're like, we got a really good chance to win today. Brian McTaggart, astros.com, MLB.com with us here on Sports Talk 790. Brian, when, as we often do on these segments, ask you to get out your crystal ball in, let's say three months. How are we viewing?

Christian Walker, and where is he in the Astros lineup? Like at the end of the season? Yeah, or just in a few months. Is he still in the cleanup spot? Do you think, I mean, can he turn this around? Is this who he is? Is this decline? I mean, we're way too far in the season to blame the oblique thing from the start of the year. Yeah, you can't say he didn't have a, you know, a spring training anymore or any of that stuff. I mean, you know, you're past the third point of the season, so, you know, you start to say, well, maybe this is who he is. He's declined. He's not Jose Abrae, you decline, but he's declined quite a bit. You know, his numbers, you know, the last month or so aren't just terrible. They're not what you want them to be. You know, if you're the, I think his last, you know, 30 games, he's, you know, he's still hitting like 219. I mean, you know, you need that to be higher. He's on base percentage is, you know, like two. 67 so you know I'm not defending them but yeah the deeper you get into this you're wondering well this this is who we have I mean the good part is he's still playing a very very solid first base but

yeah I mean it depends how else the lineup shakes out too I mean if you know when Alvarez comes back I mean I think Alvarez is going to hit cleanup that's that's pretty clear Joe said that he likes the one two three at the top of the lineup like they are so that's going to bump him down to fifth you bump him down a little deeper you know maybe put somebody else in that fifth spot I mean, that's probably conversations that they have to have. And I think Walker's enough of a pro where, you know, they get to the midway point of the season. You know, he's still got a, you know, OPS of, you know, around 700 or whatever it is

that he'll understand what they're doing. And because he's, you know, I know this is not what he envisioned either. So, but yeah, we'll see. I mean, you know, he could get hot and turn it around. You know, he's but so far through a third of the season, especially the money they're paying him, he's been a disappointment. at the plate. Yeah, we kind of saw with El Tuva. He had that hot five game of stretch

and it just brought up his season numbers so much. So you're hoping that for Christian Walker. And really, I think we'd be talking about Yanor Diaz and the way that he struggled at the plate if it weren't for Walker. He did get a couple of hits yesterday, but it just he seems to be another bat that just

hasn't woken up fully either. Yeah, you just wonder if they would have got Janer Diaz production from last year, Christian Walker production from last year, I mean, they, they would have a pretty good little cushion in this division, I think. You know, I mean, look at their last few games just offensively. They're just struggling to score runs. And the games are winning is when, you know, Hunter Brown just pitches his tail off or, you know, Framber Valdez throws a complete game on 93 pitches. And it's just good enough

for a one-nothing win. There's just very little margin for error with the offense right now just because, or with pitching, just because the offense is just not getting it done. They just have too many guys underperforming, you know, for everything Jeremy Pena's done and the strides Jake Myers has made, you know, a step back for Diaz at the plate, you know, a step back for Christian Walker at the plate. So that sort of negates those things. And then you have the injuries to Alvarez and, you know, Cam Smith's up and down. So it's, it's not a great offense. They're going to need their pitching to carry them. And like we said, their bullpen's been pretty good, you know, a couple of warts against the race. And the starting pitching, their death is being tested.

This is certainly a sort of a tenuous part of the season, I think, for them. Yeah, and you mentioned Cam Smith. I wanted to get to him. An 0 for 14 stretch for him. He started to see some signs alive, a lot of hard hit contact. He had that three-hit game in the Seattle series and looked like he was kind of coming around. Back down from him, just overall. If you kind of zoom out and look at the forest of his season, how would you evaluate?

Of course, very good defensively, but sputtering and up and down offensively. I think it looks like a rookie who's. played 50 games. I mean, he's had his ups and downs. You know, defensively, he's become a very, very good right fielder. I mean, no one really even talks about it anymore. Like, okay, Cam Smithson, right. I mean, this is a third baseman when they traded for him and came to spring training as a third basement. And then, you know, remember, he was hitting so well, like late in spring training, like, we're going to try him in right field just because he thought that's where they could get him in the lineup. And they did. He's their opening day right fielder. And he's done a really nice job out there.

But, I mean, his overall numbers aren't bad. I mean, his OPS is almost 700 is on base. percent is 330. He's 22 years old. He's only going to get better. I'm not too worried about him. If I'm the Astros, he's going to have ups and downs like this. And he had a really good homestand against the Mariners and the athletics, not so much against the race. But, you know, he hit a ball really hard yesterday to the pole side. A diving catch was made. That's a really good sign for him when he's pulling the ball. That means, you know, he's on time and he's where he needs to be. So if I'm the Astros, I'm not worried about Cam Smith at this point. Brian McTaggart continuing with us here on a sports talk 790.

As far as lineup configuration goes, now with Jacob Melton up, with him and left, Myers and center, Cam Smith and right, then Jose Altoove, back to the old second base. How much, and of course, barring health and guys getting up and down and stuff like that, how set in stone do you think that would be, especially with all this talk about Altova being in left field and then getting some work in second base and really being a natural fit there, especially with Melton up with the club. Yeah, I'm not in Pittsburgh, so I haven't had a chance to ask this question. If the riders up there might have asked it, and if I missed it, I apologize.

But, you know, that's a very big left field in Pittsburgh. I mean, it's one of the biggest in baseball. So I'm wondering if that's, you know, the reason that, you know, he hasn't played, you know, left field these two games and is a second base just because so much ground to cover out there. And you do have Melton now another left-handed bat. He's been in the lineup twice against a couple of right-handed pitchers. So, you know, I think probably both of those things play into that. I mean, you know, before they got to Pittsburgh, Dubon was still playing, what,

three out of every four games at second base. Brendan Rogers' playing time is dwindled here in the last couple of weeks, probably for good reason. So, but I just wonder if it's just park-related that we've seen Altovae at second base the last couple of days. Yeah, okay. That'll be certainly something. that we are monitoring. Brian McTagger continuing here on Sports Talk 790.

So we keep on saying this in the season. And like the Astros kind of have, maybe they haven't played their best baseball, this and this and this has gone wrong. And then, of course, the good news continues that the division is very winnable for the Astros. Despite all these struggles in pitch, we talked about basically this entire interview,

this is an issue, and the batting is an issue, and the pitching's an issue. And they're in first place in the American League West. Yeah, you're right, Ross, I mean, we sit there and list out all these issues that they have and like, oh, yeah, they're in first place. You're like, what? This doesn't make sense. I mean, yeah, number one, this is a weak division. I mean, the Mariners are underachieving, you know, the changes they made to their offense or it's just not enough.

The Rangers aren't very good. You know, the angels have slipped back to being the angels. The athletics, you know, are pretty bad. So it's a winnable division. Astros are, you know, have a half game lead. here. Only two teams in the division have a positive run differential, and the Mariners barely do. Heck, the Astros only have a plus 15 run differential, so it's not like they're killing it either. But a very winnable division that I think once the Astros start to get some pitching back,

you know they're going to make a move at the deadline. I think it's a division they should win. Also, their schedule is pretty easy here coming up the next few weeks. I mean, they've got the White Sox coming in, the twins come in, but they're playing really, really well. Then they go to the A's and Angels. I mean, two series that they should win on the road and be able to fatten the cat a little bit. And, you know, have Rockies coming up in early July. So a chance to, you know, to stack some wins and put some distance between you and the Mariners

before the trade deadline. Yeah. I believe by opponent's strength of schedule, opponent win percentage, they have the weakest schedule in baseball remaining. But with that being said, you mentioned a possible move getting made. And we talked about the starting rotation.

Do you think Dana Brown is scuffling around trying to do anything or you just kind of hold the glue? until Aragetti gets back and you can get closer to the deadline when hopefully there'll be more potential sellers. Yeah, I think if they do anything, it's going to be closer to the deadline. You know, got to wait to see how it all shakes out a little bit, see who's really in, who's really out. You're right.

You are going to get Arogati back. Maybe, you know, it's going to be closer to the deadline than not, unfortunately, for the Astros. So, you know, they're probably going to be in the market for a left-handed bat as well. Maybe someone they, you know, they can plug in to help at second base. I'm not sure, but every team is going to be in the market for starting pitching. Anytime Dana Brown talks, he's like, we're always in the market for pitching, but I think that's true almost for any team. If you look up and down, Yankees are going to be in the market for pitching.

Tigers are probably going to want some pitching. Every team is going to want some pitching. So you're going to have to wait closer to the deadline before that plays out. But if they get Arrogati back and if they believe that Garcia is on a better track, maybe to join them shortly after the All-Star break, they'll feel a lot better about their starting pitching. Brian McTaggart Astros.com, MLB.com with us here, our weekly guests on Thursdays. Brian, appreciate the time and let the folks know what you got going on at the website.

Yeah, Astros.com. We have coverage from Pittsburgh. I'll be in Cleveland this weekend. So, yeah, just keep tuned to Astros.com. We'll have you covered all weekend on the road trip. And it's no paywall, Ross. I don't want your money. Just click on and read.

It's all free. Thank you. Well, then why are you always asking me for a 10? No, well, that's that's a different issue. We'll talk up here. I'm sorry, my bad. I didn't mean to bring that up. All right, thanks, Brian.

Appreciate it. We'll talk to you down the road. See it.