The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Joe Espada Talks Astros Current Stand Ahead of Angels Series

Episode Date: August 18, 2026

Joe Espada Talks Astros Current Stand Ahead of Angels Series

1231 on Sports Talk 790. I'm Matt, Ross, not here today. Let's spend 10 quality minutes with the manager of the Houston Astros, who I know enjoys a home off day. Did you take the girls to school yesterday? Yes, I sure did, and I picked them up. It's hot out there, that little walk, not very far from the house, but it was warm.

So you walked your kids to school? How nice is that? Yeah, yeah. Welcome to school And It's fun It gives you a good Ten minutes to catch up and talk

And Little father-daughter relationship You know, bonding It's always good I don't have many Don't have much time You know Don't really have a ton of moments like those

So I take advantage of those At that time Did you get any managerial advice from moms and dads And the pickup line No I try to avoid the parents and the high schoolers. Those kids are very opinionated. Oh, is that right?

Oh, yeah, they are. They all are. Everyone has something to say, even at the grocery store, where I went in the afternoon. I got a shade today, and I told him I was talking to you, and it's like, can you ask about why Yordaun Alvarez was Pinch Ran for? I'm like, I'll ask him, but I kind of get it. So let's get that out of the way first. To me, you were going to make the defense. of switch anyway, right, if the run

would have scored, correct? That's the way you would think of it, right? Correct. And, you know, he's spot was probably was coming six, seven, maybe in the 10th. And, you know, trying to score in a ball in a gap, trying to score on a single,

trying to maybe steal a base, you know. That runner, you know, that runner got to second base. Actually got two third base with bases loaded, you know. So yeah, trying to score one run in, and And we have to. We don't, you know, you have to go for it.

And if the back comes up, that back came up. But I can't be thinking that far down the road when, you know, the game is on the line. You're trying to tie the game. You're trying to give a hater an opportunity. And you just go for it. And frankly, you want to win the game in regulation. Nobody wants to go to extra innings. Let me.

Nobody wants to go to extra innings, especially when, you know, bullpen is a little bit shortened by how much I've used it. last couple of days. So, you know, I wanted to win the game in regulations. Let me ask you this. Do you find yourself managing with a little bit of more urgency, not necessarily because of the standings, but the games, the importance of September, the notion that these are one-run games, I mean, even with the Giants, there were very close games. Seattle games were obviously close on Friday and Sunday. And I know that you don't sit there and diagnose yourself. Well, I was different in April than I was today, but Is there any subtle changes in the way that you're maybe approaching things here with about a month left to go?

Well, you know, there isn't, you know, Matt, there isn't that many games left. So you're trying to win as many as a game as possible. Any time you've got an opportunity to win a game, a one-run game or you're down one run with the way our team is always capable of coming back like we did in game one of a series and putting runs into board. Like you're trying to keep your team in the game. You're trying to give on every opportunity there is to win. And we have 30-something games left, so you have to manage a little bit more urgency.

And always, if you have the pieces to do it, you know, you don't want to run some of these guys to the ground. But if they're available and they're strong and they're, you know, we're going to use those guys. We're going to go for it. You know, you did not start the cam on Sunday. It's a rare off day for him. Was he surprised? And I know that you want to give guys off because you're about to hit a massive stretch of games, and the very important ones, but what are you seeing from him now?

Do you feel like this is the best for him to come? Is there a comfort level that he's not only showing at the play that maybe he didn't show earlier in the year? Yeah, he is. He's in a much better place. You know, definitely he's developing. He has come a long ways. You know, and like you mentioned, you know, we also have some good left-downer hitters that I want to match up, especially like somebody like Wu, who is very tough against righty.

So the opportunity is not to only get him off his feet, but give some of my left-ander hitters, give him a different look on that particular day. But it's part of, you know, the process of getting Cam fully developed and getting him of his feet. And we have a long stretch of games here where I'm going to have to give some of these, some of the everyday players, you know, maybe a DH day or an off day. So it's, you know, it's go time. And I need these guys to stay healthy and be available for us. You know, the hardest thing about baseball is that momentum just doesn't carry over much.

I thought the Friday win, and I did the post-game show on Friday and Saturday, the three-run blast that Dick Christian had to win the game. I mean, the place was rocking. You guys were very excited. And then Saturday was flat and then Sunday was like a game of missed opportunities. that's got to be hard because you are thinking about a marathon. You are thinking about a very important stretch, but it felt like you were one step closer to bearing the Mariners

and then they come back and win the next two games of the series. Yeah, you know, we had the momentum and we came out with energy and we were, but, you know, we ran into two really good pitchers. You know, Hancock's good pitcher. And, you know, he's pretty good, man. And I thought for Seattle for a team who hasn't been performing offensively very well throughout the year, they came out and they swung the bats really well against us. So, you know, but that's in the past, man.

We know an off day and we have six years at home and then we, you know, we endure September where we have a long stretch of games. I would hope. And look, you're always looking for good offense. Your bullpen has been solid much of the year. I would hope that you would like to see some settling of your starting rotation. that hasn't happened yet. Here we are about to hit September. You're going to go with Valdez today.

It has been reported you're going to go with Ethan on Wednesday. Is that a dreamless for you is to figure out at some point in the next two weeks who you can go with every fifth and six day? And now have to series have these long conversations with you and your pitching staff about who's going to go next for you. Yeah. You know, we, you know, Havi, the last time he pitched, he started a game against the Angels is one of his best starts of the year. Six innings. He punched out seven. So this is a lineup that he has done very well in his career.

So hopefully we could get him going because we need some stability in our rotation. We really need those guys to take it deep in the game. We need those guys just to keep us in the game. And they're very much capable of doing that. But we need it. You know, it's late in the season. And it's been a roller coaster. And we're just trying to find some stability.

and we have the talent to do it, but we need the performance. We need the performance to match the talent on the field. A few more minutes here with Joe Espada, manager of the Houston Astros. You used Emi as your second pitcher or third pitcher in that game against Giants earlier this week. When you talk with him, how did he like coming in second inning as compared to being on the mound in the first? You know what, he did not mind. You know, he's really trying to, he's been working on things. He's been trying to help us win in any capability there is.

You know, he's really trying. And I don't, I think he was okay with it. I thought he threw the ball, he threw the ball well. But this is, this is the position that we are in right now. We're going to try to do the best we can and put guys in a position and succeed. And if there is opportunities for him to come out of the bullpen and help us, we're going to do that. There's an opportunity for him to start a game. We'll do that.

But right now we are, it's just one game on the time. time. You were talking about off days a little bit ago, Joe. Do you have the macro view of the month, knowing you've got some really good games. Atlanta's coming up, Philadelphia, you got Tampa Bay. You need some guys off your feet, some D.H days. When do you start having those talks with your veteran players about spacing out the final 30 days of the season? Yeah, but now, you know, I have having my conversation this week. Some of Jordan, you know, the days that I need them to play left. so I could have some of those guys to have D.H. stage, and, you know, September, we do play quite a few games at home.

So there's, there's, there's that window for that. And, you know, getting some of these guys off their feet will be great. So it's just, you know, winning some games, trying to get on a winning streak, and me using, you know, a good winning streak just to get some guys off their feet. You know, when Carlos suffered his injury, Correa, we're speaking of, obviously we're all disappointed about that. You lost a veteran. You lost a guy that was your left side of the infield.

And I know he is trying to come back, and you're not a doctor, nor am I. But when have you been told about the next step for him progression? How often do you get updates? And I'm sure he's like your de facto coach, especially at home. But when did you, we should start asking more about whether or not this is a realistic possibility that he returns before the end of the year? Yeah. So, yeah, so he's here, you know, he's here every day.

So I have conversations with him every day. And he's doing, he's doing super, super well. I'm progressing. He's ahead of schedule. I'm running. He's hitting. He's doing his defensive work right there on the side. I think one September, you know, I know he has an appointment here to see the doctor pretty soon, the four-month checkup.

And once we do that, he could be clear to, you know, put a little bit more pedal to the medal here on his recovery. But he is doing, he's doing really well. Well, I am not surprised because how hard he works and how well he takes care of his body. But, you know, we do not think that he was going to be able to play this season. But the way he's gone about it, I will not be surprised if he shows up here at some point towards the end of the year. It's absolutely crazy. And the progress has already made. It's been quite astonishing.

All right. To wrap things up, you've got a very young pitching staff. you're about to get younger on Wednesday, even though Javier has been around a while, he's sounded like he's an aged pitcher, and you've had to use Wiesniewski. So if you were to pull all of your guys, let's say less than three years of major experience,

and pull him in a room and shut the door and say, you know, we're about to hit September. What advice would you give to those guys? Because not only are they trying to get back from injuries, or if you bring Mike Burroughs back by some reason, and, you know, he may be used before the end of the year, what do you say to those guys? Hey, want you back, need you contribute,

want to get your spot? By the way, we need you to go deep, because I didn't get my bullpen arrest. No, no, no, no. I think that will create a little bit of anxiety, and I avoid those things. I just remind those guys just to pitch you their strength. Be yourself.

We have the information to prepare you, but don't try to be someone that you're not. You know, pitch to your strength. You know what you do well. We're going to help you use your best pitches to exploit their opposing offense. and that's all I can ask for it. The September, the, you know, win a job, that, all that nonsense right now, it's, it puts extra pressure, you know, guys who just gone to the big leagues.

They, they know where we are. They see the standings, and right now I just want them to be the best person. If they do that, they'd be fine. So you don't bring anxiety into life. I need you more of my life if you're not going to bring anxiety of those guys. I appreciate that. There's plenty. There's plenty.

they can, you know, they have that Twitter stuff and they do all that kind of stuff and they read enough stuff where I try to avoid that. I want them just to have fun when they walk in here, man. It's an environment where I want them just to be themselves and just have a good time. Thanks, get for the visit. We'll see you tomorrow night. Good luck this evening against the halos. All right, guys.

Thank you. That's Joe Espite, manager of the Houston Astros with us here at 1244.