The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Voice Of The Astros Robert Ford Talks About The Start Of The Season

Episode Date: April 11, 2025

Voice Of The Astros Robert Ford Talks About The Start Of The Season

It is 1101 here on Sports Talk 790. Matt Thomas with you from Los Angeles. Rockets and Lakers tonight, we'll have the broadcast for you. I believe we're going to KTRH tonight. I don't even know. We're KTRH or 790. I don't know which one it is, but we're 930. The other station will have the Astros on.

That was where Robert Ford will be. He's a longtime friend, and we usually have him on opening day, but I was not working opening day, and I'm thinking, well, with Ross being gone, I've got to get the voice on here. Robert Ford, you have already been to Seattle once. You're going on the road back to St. Louis. Do you even know what a lengthy homestand is at this point? I do not.

As a matter of fact, I just started packing after getting back, what, Wednesday night. So, yeah, that's just the way it goes sometimes. Yeah, for sure. Hey, I got an interesting question earlier today, and I couldn't answer because I'm not around the team like you are to the level that you are. tell me about the relationship in general with hitting and pitching coaches about nuances about time in the video room, the subtleties, because, you know, I think there's the lowest hanging fruit is if something doesn't go right, you have to get rid of people. And I've never believed in that under any circumstance. I think it's about the player.

But you are an opportunity to see a little bit of that behind the scene stuff. So what can you tell us about in a major league level, the role of pitching and hitting coaches about just getting guys out of slump or making. subtle adjustments. Well, I mean, those coaches, the hitting and pitching coaches probably are the ones who are the busiest on any team in any clubhouse.

Whether it's hitting coaches with guys in the cage, looking at video pitching coaches obviously out there when guys are throwing bullpins or even when the pitchers are playing catch before the game just to see how guys are feeling. They are constantly in motion and constantly on the move.

You're right. At the end of the day, it comes down to the player getting the job done. And it also comes down to when a player is struggling to seek out the hitting or pitching coaches or seek someone out who can help them. I think that's a part that a lot of people don't understand who may not be around a team on a regular basis is a lot of times a hitting coach and pitching coach or pitching coach can see what, you know, what's going wrong with someone, what somebody needs to adjust. But if that player is not interested in listening to that coach at that given time, there's not really much that you can do as a coach in those situations.

It's a little easier with younger players, obviously, than it is with veteran players, but really with all players, it comes down to they have to be ready to listen to feedback and get information. I always think about something, Brent Strom, who, of course, was the Asherst. pitching coach for a long time. Something he used to say, and I don't think he came up with it, but I always liked this expression. He always said, when the student is ready, the teacher appears. And I think that's what it really comes down to for hitting and pitching coaches.

Yeah, that's some good insight. Robert Ford, the Voice of the Astros with us here on the Matt Thomas show with Ross on 790. Cam Smith makes the roster coming out of spring training. Wide-eyed and bushy-tailed, excited about it. And the numbers haven't been great. He's had, what, three hits in the last couple of days. what's it like watching him in the small sample size? And I look, Desenzo's played some right field as well,

but kind of watching him learning and going through the growing pains right now, at least for the first 12 games of his major league career. Well, you said it. I mean, it's growing pains, and this is something that he's never really had to deal with. I mean, only played 32 games last year after getting drafted. I mean, he was at Florida State, you know, this time last year. So there's a lot that has to be learned.

And then you throw on the fact that he moved from the infield to the outfield the last couple of weeks of spring training. So there's been a lot thrown at Camp Smith, and honestly, he's handled it all about as well as you could hope. And I think when it comes to playing right field, he's looked great out there, honestly. He's looked very comfortable. And talking with Dave Clark the other day,

As for a space coach who works a lot with the outfielders. He said, he described Smith to me as a sponge, was the word he used. And he said that you tell him something once, and he's got it. And he's able to implement it. That's what he's seen working with him on defense. And I actually had a conversation with Joe Espada a few days ago about Cam.

And I just asked him, I was like, hey, what are you seeing? And he said, you know what? The thing about Smith is, yeah, he's struggling, but he hasn't looked like he's overwhelmed. He hasn't looked like the moment's too big for him or anything like that. He's just trying to figure it out. But it hasn't been a situation where he just looks overmatched or overwhelmed. And that's encouraging. And it certainly seemed like the last couple of days after sitting for the two days,

before that, he started to swing the bat a little better. Peridius and Walker were built for Minutemate Park in particular, and they neither have not had a great start offensively. What are you seeing from those two guys? Is it just misses? I know the, and I don't like this stat, but I hear the XBA is incredible. But give me your thoughts on why those guys have not been able to click just yet. I think the biggest thing with Christian Walker is in the game on Wednesday in Seattle.

He walked twice. and that's after not having walked at all before Wednesday's game on the season, which was the most glaring thing. I mean, the strikeouts were up, but to me, the lack of walks. I mean, you're talking about someone who saw the 10th most pitches per plate appearance of the big leagues last year, and he hadn't drawn a walk for the first, you know, 11 games of the season. So I think that's encouraging. He also, and he did strike out in that game as well, but he worked to count full and, you know, struck out on a pretty nasty pitch. So he's starting to see more pitches.

So I think that's good for Christian Walker. And he even mentioned in Minnesota about how, yeah, when you come over to a new team, you know, especially in his situation as a free agent, sign a big contract, you know, it's kind of natural to put a little pressure on yourself. You want to show what you can do. You want to prove that you're worth what they're paying you. But I think we saw signs that Walker may start to be figuring some things out. As for Parades, I mean, he has hit.

so many loud foul balls. I mean, he is just missing pitches right now, like just out in front, still seeing a lot of pitches, still having very good plate appearances. You know, he was number one. Richard Walker was 10th. Parades was number one in terms of pitches

for plate appearance in the big leagues last year. And that certainly has carried over. But it seems like he's just maybe just a click off. And sometimes with guys like that, it can take one game, one swing to kind of get them back to where they need to be. And also, like, on the defensive side for Parades, I hadn't heard, not that I'd heard bad things about him,

but I had heard great things about him defensively. But he's better than I thought it would be over at third base, honestly. Very sure-handed, handles everything that he can get to. He's been a pleasant surprise for me on the defensive end. Visiting with Robert Ford for a couple more minutes here on the Matt Thomas show with Ross here from Los Angeles. Robert, it was such an even-keeled, clubhouse for all these years.

Never too high, never too low. And look, five and seven is nothing in the big picture of things. But you don't have Tucker anymore. You don't have Breggman. You don't have Presley. I mean, there are some veteran influences that are now elsewhere. Have you noticed anybody taking that next step up,

or is that just kind of going to be organic? And when you start seeing guys be a little more demonstrative, it's maybe because the season is a little more impactful. And you're looking for guys to kind of take over and, you know, those leadership roles that obviously Braggs and Tucker, some of the folks did. I've seen some little things.

I mean, I think, you know, I've noticed that, you know, Christian Walker has been in almost every mound meeting when the pitching coach goes out there. And a lot of times even when it's just a catcher who goes out there, you know, it's a small thing. But I think, especially for someone who, you know, has a track record, but is new to the Astros, it's certainly noticeable. So, you know, I've definitely noticed that. I think Pena probably has stepped it up a little bit.

He's probably a little more comfortable, maybe not necessarily as a big time vocal leader, but I think certainly leading by example. I mean, he and Altuve, to me, are the hardest workers on this team. The guys, at least that I see who are out there, not to discount anybody else, but those are the two guys that stand out for me in terms of the work they put in. And then you just think about what Altuvei has done, you know, didn't, he could have said, even the Ash was approaching about moving to the outfield. He could have just said, no, I want to stay at second base.

and that would have, that's what would have happened. But for him to be willing to switch to the outfield, be willing to potentially embarrass himself, be willing to maybe potentially fail more than he has in the past, I think that says that speaks volumes. I mean, if that's not leadership, I don't know what is. All right, Robert. Lastly, let's get to what has been like just being with this team right now,

12 games into the season, mentioned a lot of road trips so far. We're also talking about a situation where you've got a lot of young men who are trying to play for playing time. Brendan Rogers probably wasn't on the radar even a month before the start of the season. He's playing some time. Zach DeSense was getting some movement. Are you as curious about what the starting lineup is every day at this point? Or is that a situation where you think Joe is just trying to kind of figure out what fits right now? Yeah, I think it's a situation where he's just trying to figure out what fits because, I mean, it's a combination of things.

One, you have a lot more turnover from last year this year than the Asher's have had in quite some time. So a lot of guys to kind of figure out. And then also the team's gotten off to a slow start offensively. And so not that you're trying to reinvent the wheel, like he's been pretty consistent with the top four hitters and things like that. But you're trying to get guys going and figure out where guys are most comfortable and what works best for different players in terms of how much they play. we're in the lineup, they are, things like that. So I think there's just been a lengthy period of adjustment with this ball club, particularly on the offensive end,

which is so many new position players compared to years past. Robert, great hearing your voice, man. I will be out at the ballpark when the rockets are done. Hopefully it will not be for a significant long period of time. And we thank you for joining me on the show today. Thanks for having me and go rockets.