The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Steve Sparks on the Devastating Homestand Against the Braves

Episode Date: September 21, 2026

Steve Sparks on the Devastating Homestand Against the Braves

8.02 on 7.90. Manon Ross in the morning, we go to Seattle, Washington, where our friend Steve Sparks is going to broadcast not hopeful. That's how do I say this. Hopefully not the last six games of the regular season. Maybe a playoff run. Sparky, it's, oh man, really, really rough weekend for the local nine. And sometimes you want to get on a plane and get to the next city and just have a couple of pops and just think about something else. but when it's a four and a half hour flight, it's hard to not think about what had just happened at Duyken over the weekend.

Yeah, you're right. I mean, but I think they got it out of their system. You know, we've all heard that Yordon, who I don't believe has ever done this. You know, set the guys down and voiced his concerns and opinions. And I think that's an awesome thing that happens. So I'm not sure, you know, what it's going to mean for the guys and it's going to help guys swing the bats. Who knows, man.

It's been a while that the offense. has been this cold now. But there's precedent, and it was two or three years ago, three years ago, 2003, they went on their last road trip of six games in second place, and they went five and one and won the division. So there's a lot of guys on the team that remember that, and hopefully they can replicate something like that. And just to score some runs, I mean, it's going to mean a lot,

and they've got to do it early and start to build some momentum early, this series. We'll get tomorrow on the offense for a second, but I do want to go to the starting pitching and look, the one, two, three combination, whatever it may be was out this weekend. And this has been a season long issue, Steve, not going deep in games. Have we spent too much time, whether it's in the sport or observers like we are? When that pitch count gets a 90, do we start to flip out? I mean, are we going to see a night where you go to Hunter or you go to Lambert and say, man, if you give me one more inning, I know the pitch count. can get to 105, 106, 107.

Or are we still because so many arms are so fragile in the number of innings that Lambert is thrown and that Hunter's coming back from his injury earlier in the year, that when that 90 number hits, we start to wig out a little bit and get that bullpen warmed up immediately. No, I'm with you.

I'd love to see these guys get pushed a little bit more. And I know a couple of the guys are getting into the situations where they're pushing their innings limit. But, I mean, they're 30 years old now. Lambert's vintends are painted. and he's built it up. I would love to see guys pitch people into the ball games.

And how do you do that? There's just so many foul balls, Matt, that I just trying to think, why don't they get guys out within three pitches very often anymore? You know, is there stuff too good, or are they pitch into the corners too much early on, that they can't get a two-seamer down the middle of the plate, get somebody to roll one over to the shortstop, and you've got one pitch, one out.

You just never see that anymore. So these pitch cans get big, you know, and then all of a sudden you get a guy on the other team that has a 10 pitch of bat, then you're looking at a guy that's not going to go six innings again. And I think that's problematic to think that your bullpen is going to stay solid all season long because you're relying on four different relievers. And, you know, odds say that one of them is not going to have it that day. You know, and that's typically what happens is you can't, you can't,

rely on four every night you hopefully just rely on two on some of these nights where a guy goes seven and then you lose two relievers but that just doesn't happen hardly at all anymore and i know these guys are a little bit you know aware of that even the starting pitchers and and they're thinking of ways that they can get deeper into these ball games and i'm not sure anybody has the right answer i say and i've talked about this a lot with you a couple times early in the counts i would love to see the catcher just right down the middle and just let their stuff play, you know, and you're trying to get ahead of the camp, but maybe sometimes you get a lot earlier routes. Can you just take us through also, you know, we've, the starting pitchers obviously haven't

been going deep in games. That means there's been a lot of a bullpen usage. What is it like for these pitchers down the stretch? I mean, trying to give it all they have, but it just seems like, you know, AJ Blueball, of course, giving some runs up over the weekend and some of the other guys, kind of running out of gas. Yeah, I mean, what you're thinking about every day, Ross, is that, you know, your arm's heavy, your arms hurting,

you go out to the outfield before batting practice, just to test it so you can tell the coaches, yeah, I can pitch tonight, you know, but you barely throw, and you're thinking about it until that phone rings and they point at you. And then your adrenaline gets you through it, you know, and you get up and you say,

all right, this is better than I thought. Just because of a bit of a, adrenaline and it gets you through that game and but you do that night after night the last six weeks of the season and it builds and it builds and it builds and it's really hard you know especially when when you've you've gone through stretches where you've pitched you know probably five out of eight or nine days and you've gotten up another one or two times in the middle of that too so all that adds up and you know the asteros certainly have missed ochre the last couple of weeks it's starting to rear its ugly head.

He was having such a great season. But these guys right now, I'm telling you, or going to the outfield before batting practice every day, lobbying a few just to let them know, thumbs up or thumbs down, whether or not they can go that night. Steve Sparks with us here on Sports Talk 790. Down the stretch we come, Team 77 and 79. How do you assess the job Joe Spot has done this year?

I think he's done a good job. I think the players play. hard for him. I think they're respecting him. And I think the coaching staff is put in countless hours. And, you know, we'll talk about certainly, it's easy to talk about their shortcomings, you know, and they're loud and apparent every time that the team goes to a stretch like they did against the Braves.

But it's not like guys aren't making adjustments, putting their heads together, trying to figure out the best combinations to face, you know, that certain, Knights pitcher and things like that. And I think that's all you can ask for is you run the bullpen well. You get guys to play hard and you maximize whatever you have on your roster to go out there and compete every day. So six games left in the season and they're just one game out. And I think he's done a nice job keeping everybody together.

So let's get back to the Yordon conversation. And I brought that the comparison, Sparky, too, when Andre Johnson used to speak for the Texans. You don't speak a lot, but when you do, you do listen. They're all wonderful human beings. You work with them. I've talked to them. They're good guys. But we've got some gentlemen that have had prolonged slumps that have been remarkably consistent at being inconsistent. My question is, forgetting about the a a asteros and life in general, and you've been in clubhouses all your life as a player and as a broadcaster. He can yell all he wants to. He can throw a gatorie bottle if he needs to. But if you've got guys

that are slumping that have guys that have been on three months of three home runs in five days and then going one for 27, I don't know if a late September meeting is going to mean a whole lot. So let me ask you this as being a part of this. What do some of those guys that have been underachievers? Think about a guy like Jordan Alvarez with a week left to go in the season saying the things that he said yesterday. I can't imagine anybody in that locker room having more respect than him. you know everybody

everybody reveres his talent and his demeanor so much and the fact that he doesn't you know say things very often I think means a lot you know just like Andre Johnson or Johnson

when they do say something I mean it holds a lot of weight here's the thing though the last week of the season are you really going to see any adjustments is something going to click for a couple of these guys offensively where all of a sudden they've got a little thing that they can key on to get them going again.

I don't know. I don't know if guys are afraid to make adjustments right now, move in the box, or just try something different. I don't know if it's too late in the season for guys to try that. I think I would. I think, like, if things keep going in the same direction, I try something. You know, Hunter's changed his breaking ball shape.

His last couple of starts, he struck out 20. in his last 10 innings. It's costing some pitches, maybe, because there's so much swing and miss that he's not getting six or seven innings like he'd like to. But the swing and miss is very evident, and he's made an adjustment late in the season. That's the thing for me is I've always wondered,

like if a guy's hitting, why he doesn't just move in the box a little bit more. I remember guys used to do that so often. Get on top of the plate. Just give yourself a little different perspective, and maybe you'll find your barrel more consistently. I don't know how hard that is for a position player. But at some point, in my mind, I would say, what do I have to lose?

Last question for if let you run. The Astros have had their troubles against Mariners this year. It's not been fun going to West Sacramento in the last couple of years. So give the audience a little optimism about two locales that have not treated the Astros very politely the last couple of years, overcoming this one game deficit. And then when you and I visit next Monday, we're talking about a playoff roster

and decisions to be made come wildcard time. Yeah, I don't know about predictions about whether or not they can turn things around. You know, I think it's going to start with Pena, you know, and him continued to have consistent of the bat to get things going for the Astros. And I know a lot of times, you know, the Astros haven't scored a ton of the first inning,

but when he gets it going for the Astros, it just seems like there's a different energy for the team. If things start to snowball a little bit. We're also to have two big, has five hits this last couple of games. I understand close to 3.40, I think, in the month of September,

it's starting to see it a little bit more lengthy. You take to the first inning, but I know it's not going to be easy to float in Gilbert. He's one of the American least best. I think if the asterisk can really jumpstart this last road trip

with a good first inning tomorrow night, I think that will go a long way. If it doesn't If it doesn't inspire, maybe these Starters Christian hobbyers look better. I don't know. Whatever you have to do. I think when you play teams that are out of contention, I think Seattle's pretty much out of contention now,

I think he'll give up at some point kind of early. It's kind of human nature this time of year. You start thinking about your off-season, and I think they can put them away early if they get off to a decent start.