The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Joe Espada Joins After Astros Take Game 1 vs Rangers

Episode Date: September 16, 2025

Joe Espada Joins After Astros Take Game 1 vs Rangers

Pleased to be joined by one Joe Espada here on Sports Talk 790. It is the Matt Thomas show with Ross. Matt is out today, Joe. So we're going to give you a break from him. You just got me today. How about that win last night? Very important. We know this is a big homestand.

It had to feel good to start it off with a win. Yordon Alvarez situation notwithstanding. Yeah, Ross. Thank you for having me again. Yeah, it was big win, big week here, big homestand for us at home. every game matters. And I think yesterday we, you know, we prevailed through a very difficult, you know, the injury to Yordan, obviously took the air out of us early in the game, but we were able to push through it.

And Zach Cole came out big. And we came out with a big win, big game won. But again, it's hard to ignore the injury to your Don and what it means to our club. But hopefully we hear from a doctor. Hopefully we get some good news and we could get him back on the field. So no update as of this moment? No. He just actually, he's seen the doctors right now.

He came in, got some treatment done before seeing the doctor. So hopefully in a couple hours, we'll find out, you know, the extent of this injury. What did you see on that play? It was so weird. It looked like there was like there was a banana peel on home plate. It was just such an odd play. How did you see it? Yeah, it was.

It looked like Keith's foot just slipped, you know, slippery from home plate. You know, I know that usually early in the game, the first, you know, the first inning or two, you know, when they water the infield, when they water the home plate area. You know, our guys usually put a towel on the, you know, like on top of the plate to keep the home plate from getting wet. Maybe he spikes kind of slip from underneath him. I don't know. It was really weird the way it happened. So hopefully we hear some good news here in the next hour or two. And yeah, also on that play, Tony's Parachica, did you, I know you mentioned in the post game,

didn't see the play. We're able to see that he put up the stop sign and I'm just curious you know about that type of process. We know that hitters work with hitting coaches, pitchers work with pitching coaches, stuff like that. What is that like with you talking to Tony Parishcheica and the decisions to where it seems like

sometimes guys go through his stop signs and score and that was another situation like that last night? You know, for me it happens throughout the league you know, one thing that I've always told our our base runners is, you know, Tony is there to help you, but the group base runners are the

one that don't need a third base coach. So, for example, in that particular play, I did see that Tony put his hands up, but Yodan did look over his left shoulder. He did pick the other ball up. He saw that, you know, what's his name, Mar Garcia was taking his time and kind of running the ball in, and, you know, Yordaun kind of instinctually used his instincts and he's, you know, score on that play. So obviously we'll have a conversation as a group, but we always encourage our players

that wants to get to that base, find the ball. You could make decisions based on your momentum, where you're at and what the defender is doing that particular play. Astros manager, Joe Espato, was here on Sports Talk 790. Well, let's get to some positive news. Zach Cole coming in to replace Jordon in the lineup. How about that guy? A couple of hits.

another big home run, three runs driven in. I mean, how fun has that been to see to watch him and put him out there and having the kid OPSing over 1,400? Man, it's been fun. And he got better throughout the year. And he did some things in the Mono League that, you know, obviously open our eyes and put him on the radar. And we have been looking for a little offensive spark here the last couple of weeks. And, you know, he was knocking on the door. He was loud enough where we thought that, you know what, this might be the right time to do this.

And he has provided that spark. He has provided that energy, the power, the hit tool, getting some big hits. And, you know, we need some spark the next two weeks. and hopefully he can provide some of that, some of that and can, you know, trickle down to everyone and, you know, good hitting is contagious. So hopefully Zach Hall provides that energy that we've been searching for.

On that home run at bat, I thought it was extremely impressive. He gets down to two strikes, and we know that pitchers like to go with four seamers up in the zone. Those can be tough pitches to get to. And it was up in the zone by Jack Lerner. throws a good four seamer, and he got around on it. Yeah, he, you know, Jack Leiter, he executed his pitch, but Cole was ready for it. He had a nice swing top of the zone.

And I'm telling you, it was, it was very impressive how he's been able to make adjustment in the small sample size of our bats he's gotten. But everything starts with his preparation. He comes to the ballpark. He understands what pitcher are trying to do. He knows his strength. He knows his weaknesses. He's making an adjustment of bad to a bat.

So hopefully we keep that going, man. We need some of that. Also, good news in the game last night. You were able to stay away from Brian Abrae you for a few games and you got him to close the game out. Got into a little bit of trouble, but was able to get out of there and close another game for you. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

We've been, you know, our offense in Atlanta allow us to, you know, stay away from Abraeo and King also, and I was able to use King for five outs last night. Hopefully, we would go out there. We score some runs today, and we could give those guys a blow. But, yeah, you know, Albreu has been good for us. A few rough outings to last week, but he's the guy that we lean on. He's been good for us for many years.

This guy has been lights out in the postseason. This guy is one of the best relievers in the game. So I feel really good when he's out there. Shroats manager, Joe Spott, continuing with us here on a sports talk 790. A.J. Blue Ball on the Hill getting the start for you tonight. Do you have any expectations as far as a pitch count? And also, I'm just curious about what you've seen from him when he first came up to now, to where, to me, just his body language and everything on the hill. He just looks like he's full of more confidence.

Bob, 100% and you nail the, you know, the nail on the hat there. It's just the level of confidence that he's pitching with. Every outing, he stuff, you know, gets better. Execution gets better because he knows that, you know, what pitches work with him, works for him against certainly hitters. We've been, you know, he started games for us. He has been a really solid reliever, wanting him to go out there and give us a couple of innings today.

Pitch counts, you know, we open to see how far he takes us, right? We really need them to cover some innings early. And hopefully we can hand the ball to our bullpen with the lead. And we can, you know, we can win a back-to-back series. And most importantly, Joe, how do you feel about that old-school look with the pants up to the knees for blue ball? I like that. It looks old school. Yeah, I do.

You know what? I do too, right? This generation of players, they kind of like that look. I don't mind. You know, the player's swag. It's something that goes with with these age. And I'm all about players expressing themselves and being themselves. And it's great for the sport.

As long as we continue to respect the game and play the game the way it's supposed to be, I have no problem with it. Jose Altovae, missing some time over the weekend with the foot played yesterday. How's he doing? He's doing well. We're still monitoring the foot. You know, this is something that is not going to go away immediately, but he is good enough to go.

And he knows the importance of having him on the field and where we at in the season. So we'll continue to monitor his foot and make sure that, you know, we get him ready to play. He communicates very well with us, letting us know how we feel. But right now, you know, right now he's good to go. Are you, of course, a lot of important games, basically every game, very important down the stretch. What is that like for you now and a manager in your second season as far as wanting to, do you treat these like playoff games? Do you want guys that's got to be loose and free and easy?

What is your approach as far as a managerial style down the stretch here? Both, you know, I want my players to be relaxed and loose. These players know what we're playing for, while we're fighting for, the purpose of every game. They know. I don't need to remind them. And for me, well, of course, there's going to be a level of, you know, more intensity and more, you know, pedal to the metal, if you will. You know, it's kind of like a playoff atmosphere right now. The next two series are huge for us. So there's going to be more quicker, you know, earlier moves, more aggressive moves, trying to keep.

our lead or trying to extend our lead in a game, just trying to give us the best chances to win a game. All right. Astros manager, Joe Espata, our weekly guest here on Tuesdays on the Matt Thomas show with Ross. Manager is Joe Espada. Appreciate the time. As always, we'll talk to you down the road, and good luck and get a win at Diking Park tonight.

All right, bus. Thank you. All right, there you go. Astros, manager, Joe Espada.