Astros win as Hunter Brown and bats Crown Royals

wow that was a win a win is a win is a win you win one you lose it you win it again it was it was almost like a Lord of the Rings movie like you never knew what was going to happen next we're going to talk about we got a special guest Robbie Hyde from barreled up Podcast is gonna talk Astros baseball with us let's go right now J Diaz this is L on Astros hello and welcome to locked on Astros your daily Astros podcast here are your host Eric the man Heisman and BR H wheelhouse [Music] CH we are locked on Houston Astros and we hope that you join us for a daily lock on Astros podcast my name is Eric Heisman you find me on X Eric talkr you find the show at lockon Astros your team every day Brett where can they find you at they can find me at HT house on Instagram and Tik Tok they can find me at stros 411 on X and on Facebook and it back to the bullpen on X Instagram Tik Tok on YouTube as well and iHeart Radio look I'm always positive always stros and we got our special guest Robbie Hyde from the barreled up Podcast Robbie tell everybody where they can find you hey guys thanks for having me uh but yeah you can find me on YouTube just my name Robbie H you can find me on Twitter Jinger snaphide and uh myself and Jim Riley of ball cap Sports we do the barrel up podcast on Odyssey so if you're looking for more baseball content come on over to any of those Avenues uh speaking of baseball cont uh content thank you for making us your first listen on Apple odssey Spotify wherever you listen to your podcast go and check out the lock on Astros podcast we appreciate each one of you every dayers that make yourself uh us your first listen on Apple Odyssey Spotify go ahead and hit that little subscribe button and give us a big fat like while you're at it this episode is brought to you by Game Time download the game time app creator account and use the code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase terms do apply download the game time app today what time it is it's game time and it's time to get the show started Brett in the ninth inning or eighth inning whichever inning it was if it seemed like the Royals were dropping like flies they we lost they lost two players to injuries on the same play and then the Astros scored what four runs in that g that inning to take the lead this was one of those up and down games mostly it was up for the Astros except for a few Innings there yeah it was it was wild and you know Robbie I'd like to get your take on this because before we get to all that I want to talk about the ejection of Alex bregman Alex bregman I mean the Umpire had a very liberal Strike Zone a very wide Strike Zone and it wasn't consistently being called on both sides I mean when the Astros when Hunter Brown was on the mound the same pitches that were strikes were now balls well there were two pitches that bregman got he didn't agree with he got you know he got you know he got sat down he walked in between the catch and umpire and apparently said your Strike Zone's crap or whatever and the Umpire just tossed him and I was like oh my gosh there was no warning I mean he wasn't aggressive about it it just seems to me like umpires are really they're getting stuff under their skin way too soon were you surprised that bregman got tossed for something like that or is this just become the norm you know my take usually with you know umps and whatnot you know I do you know weekly Power Rankings and I always get someone in my chat you know talking about umps you know bad calls whatever I'm usually the one to say it always goes both ways but in this case it's kind of where like you said if you're having some inconsistencies where you know these teams are getting these calls but the other team it's not working the same way for the other team well then there's a problem there and to me Alex bregman you know he's a Pros Pro he's been one of the more consistent players in the game for a long time now and uh to me I think if uh you know you got him saying something to you you're probably doing something wrong um you know of course there's always a better way to say things but hey you're in the heat of a playoff race right now so um I would uh for me personally I would lean towards bregman here but I think with umpires the way it's been just for a while now it's I feel like more and more is starting to get under their skin a little bit you know they're just more under the microscope than ever these days right you're talking about Robo Lumps who knows if that ends up happening or when that could happen but you know it's kind of one of those things where you know I feel like bregman had a case there so yeah um if anybody somebody like Alex bregman who has the best knowledge of the strike zone of anybody in baseball you would think he would get the benefit of the doubt you have to think that he probably walked by umpire and said hey do you need some glasses or something like that for him to get that offended it was it had to be something that just got under his skin or maybe he's been hearing it from the Astros bench there had to be some something else that led up to that luckily it didn't affect the game um I not as bad as the Astros losing that no hitter the other day when the uh when bregman had left I know that wasn't a that was an Umpire decision that was a Joe spot removing him because the Astros were up 10 to nothing at that time but Alex bregman is a big piece to this team and for them to make this comeback without him in the lineup that just shows uh that the Astros a have a lineup where you have gaml Ben gaml and you also have Jason Hayward leading the charge and who would have thought this when you started the season that you'd be relying on other people's throwaways Robbie what do you think about the Astros recent moves of uh getting people that have been DFA you know the the Hayward one that kind of came out of nowhere a little bit and um but you know I for me you know you're still waiting on Kyle Tucker to come back looks like he's starting to get a little closer feels like he's going out of snails Pace but it it feels like you're getting there right starting to ramp up the running a little bit but to me if you're able to get a guy like Jason Hayward who you know I use the phrase again a Pros Pro you know he's a good veteran guy you know a lefty bat to help you out until Kyle Tucker gets back you know hey I was okay with that really um and hey he came through tonight yeah that's right Jason Hayward is he he's actually three for seven in his career versus Brady Sanger and hadn't gotten a hit off of him in the last couple Seasons so not bad not a bad matchup and you love him contributing the first game in and you know I mean I guess the law of averages is typically against someone the very first game the second at bat and but those were some key hits and they hit those bleeders out of the infield they they were just cuq ball shots had a lot of English on them and that's really what it takes sometimes because the Fielding I mean they were getting booze from the stands um they were making errors Jose Altuve made it eror the Jeremy Pia error where should have been completely routine just squeaked under his glove um but this team has fought so many different obstacles one of the obstacles they haven't fought lately is they're starting pitching has been excellent and Hunter Brown goes out even though he gets frustrated at times from the pitch from the from the Umpire just goes out and Deals now he was out there on the mound and he saw his lead dwindle um um but he had another solid outing Eric Getty the night before was your stopper Eric GTI has been Nails Eric GTI should probably be pitcher of the month in August if I'm being honest three double digit strikeout games in one month he's got 47 strikeouts now this month and only 19 hits he's given up just doing phenomenal things so Eric Hunter Brown seems to be automatic and he seems to be getting stronger as the year goes on yeah the Astros seem to have uh three Aces at this moment um I mean I know Ace Verlander he hasn't pitched to the ace level at the moment but uh I I'm going give him that label right now but you have fer Valdez pitching very good you have Hunter Brown pitching very well Spencer erti even though he's been dominating recently uh he's got a while to get there but the Astros have a lot of wild cards a lot of just options and the for whatever a a potential playoff uh a rotation or just going down the stretch because that's when you have a lot of pitchers tire out we see what Reno Blanco's been doing he's been kind of tiring out a little bit but hunter Brown went out there I know Brian AB Bru gave up that three-run double in this game unfortunately sometimes bad luck happens gaml gave his best effort out there but you can't go uh make every play you saw Jason Hayward try to make that unbelievable catch earlier in a game he was trying to win over Houston fans with that great catch but uh it's I just I don't think pitching is a problem I know Ryan Presley will have to talk about this a little bit more later with all the other moves he made his uh he he came back and um he looked a little bit better and maybe this is Ryan Presley maybe he just needed some time off uh so hopefully for especially for if the Astros make the playoffs you need Ryan Presley to be America's closer who's a closer and be on top of his game so we'll go ahead and continue this conversation in a second I do want to uh hear Robbie's thoughts on the Astros rotation and thoughts about the bullpen going down the stretch and we'll go and continue this conversation next no Eric there's videos what are you doing this episode is broads You by liquid IV when you're taking in America's pastime don't forget to hydrate with liquid IV's popsicle firecracker look I've got liquid IV right now and I absolutely love it it is great for in the morning getting hydrated it's even better when you go work out you go for that walk you go for that run it quenches The Thirst it has electrolytes essential vitamins clinically tested nutrients for the number one powdered hydration brand in America America that's liquid IV powered by live hydroscience and optimized ratio of electrolytes essential vitamins and clinically tested nutrients to turn ordinary water into extraordinary hydration always non GMO vegan gluten and dairy free as well as soy free so when you do go to liquid i.com use the code MLB at checkout you'll get 20% off your order when you shop better hydration by using promo code ml B liquid.com hey guys thank you for making locked on Astros podcast your first listen every day whether it's on YouTube go ahead and subscribe to us make us your first listen on Apple Odyssey Spotify wherever you listen your podcasts go and check us out uh I know Jose Altuve made an error sometimes even the bests make errors so uh we'll go ahead and move on Robbie what uh what do you think about the Astros rotation going forward I know they made the Kikuchi addition a lot of people were kind of scratching their head why did you give up so much of the Astros future for this but what do you think about the Astros pitching going down the stretch yeah for sure uh real quick before I do get to that I wanted to just point out one stat with Jason Hayward I forgot to mention earlier and this is why like the Astros are are so good where they how do I say this where they are it's a matter of how do I say that let me just point out the stat Jason Hayward in his career over a 170 WRC Plus on 20 counts and uh he took advantage of a 20 count tonight so just want to throw out there uh but for the for the pitching side of things um they've been amazing in the second half absolutely amazing they're first and starting pitching when it comes to fangraph wins above replacement uh during that time Valdez is five- one during that time with an E of 2.40 uh arag Getti he's been sensational for the second half and we talked uh not too long ago about when arag Getti went up against my Red Sox and my goodness he just absolutely dominated uh Kikuchi what a great pickup he's been yeah you had to give up a lot to get him but you know you kind of look at the market at the time and you know look at what you were having to you know spend on you know to get tanner Scott right if you're on the P race you give a boatload and yeah so that was the market at the time for the Astros you know they still have that winning window here where they can go win a World Series and they needed to make a move I was saying that for so long and Astros fans were saying it for so long too they needed to add one more guy and Kikuchi was a solid ad despite the expensive price but he has been very solid for you you know Verlander he's come back you know thrown about what 10 Innings at this point he's been you know whatever but he's still trying to find his way a little bit um but hunter Brown I mean the guy I mean this guy looked great tonight you know got a little little Messi there in the seventh inning but you know that's not on him he's just been amazing you know we talked about him the last time we spoked on the barrel de podcast Hunter Brown this year he is completely he's just brought a different version of himself this year last year he was basically a three- pitch guy this year he's really working with five pitches right last year he was mainly a fastball guy right and had basically two secondary pitches this year he's lowered the usage of the fast ball and he's worked in some other pitches as well that has been the biggest difference for him he's just less predictable out there and you're just seeing it right before your eyes you know this is a guy a couple years ago I'm like all right here comes the hunter Brown breakout right and you know he just didn't really see it and he's figured it out this year and going up against the Royals team you know that's looked pretty solid this year um hey good for him and yeah this pitching has been fantastic right if you just look at it you know top to bottom and that's even without without Justin Verlander at this point um if they keep this going they're going to be really tough to beat in the postseason we know postseason it's all about pitching and they got a lot of it right now so yeah Jason Hayward after the game said what a win it was Austin be here firsthand tonight in front of Houston fans so um he's played in Atlanta he's played with Cubs I think he played with the Dodgers of course that's who released him but uh I think hopefully Astros fans make him feel welcome here hopefully I would love to see a rematch versus the Astros versus Dodgers because I think we all thank the Dodgers for yordan Alvarez uh because not just because of the three Home Run games uh David who listens to our podcast the other day was saying that Alvarez doesn't hit three home runs every anymore and then he hits three home runs in a game so it's just kind of weird that the day or two after he said that he hits three home runs but um the Dodgers could have given the Astros another gift that kind of propels them I don't think hayward's the answer but he's another part A Part Off the Bench and that's what the Astros have been lacking over the past couple years and hopefully uh with when Tucker returns we saw a much more agile Kyle Tucker making plays in Outfield running a little bit uh throwing the ball he looked right better right Brett yeah definitely um definitely looked better but you know just to just to kind of piggyback to get in on some more Heyward talk because after the game he he he added to you know to what he said and he just talked about how coming over here he had he had fielded basically a lot of different team's offers and he was surprised like who all had come calling but he had such a short amount of time and the reason why he wanted to come here is because he wanted to be a part of playoff baseball and he said these are the kind of games you win in a playoff atmosphere and I I told a friend of mine I said this weekend it's going to feel like a playoff game every game the last couple series the last few series have felt like that and it's urgent right now because the Mariners had you lost tonight they would only be three games behind you and even though I still to this day I'm not worried about the Mariners in the end you can't give them any footing or allow the door to be cracked because they could in a three or four game series kick that door wide open and so the Astros control their Destiny the hard part is getting to the playoffs and once they get there Robbie I think you're right I think there's going to be a lot of teams that have enough respect for the Astros to know that they can't take them lightly because oh it isn't 17 or it isn't 22 Yeah so I know Robbie you are a Red Sox fan uh I know that you you the Red Soxs are in a tough matchup uh for the wild card I I I don't I think the AL East is kind of out of the picture there but uh what do you think about the Mariners um do you think that they have a little bark left in them to possibly make a run to catch up to the Astros here's the thing with the Mariners right and you all know this too they're starting pitching is also very good right so that I if there was any sort of a hiccup there then you'd probably easily say yeah they're done you know put the nail in the coffin but they have just it's crazy because I was just talking about the Mariners on a video that I did today and they have a homegrown rotation it is amazing what they've done with that rotation and um they have that right but the problem has been the offense and yeah they just made the switch right Scott service now going with Dan Wilson you got Edgar Martinez in the fold now you got a whole month of baseball left and uh you know we saw a couple years ago right Joe gerardy you know getting to smiss as the Phillies manager right going Rob Thompson obviously earlier in the season but you know sometimes a little something like that can get a bit of a spark going um you know we've seen weird things happen before and we've seen with the Mariners in the past go back to 1995 they overcame an even BG an even bigger deficit during that time so you know yeah like you said you don't want to you know take your foot off the gas right you gotta really go Full Throttle here I can't believe I just said Full Throttle my goodness I heard that every day last offseason for my Red Sox um but you have to you you you cannot let up here so yeah uh real quick um this is note from Mark Burman he said that the since August 1st the Astros pitching staff has been the best in baseball with the MLB best 2.63 ER they also rank first in op um op opponent batting average with a 188 batting average and second in strikeouts with 269 in that span the starters ER in that stretch is the ml best 259 so the Astro starters are doing their job and we'll go and continue this conversation and bet thank you for making locked on Astros podcast your first listen every day this episode is brought to you by prize picks download the app today and use the code locked on MLB and get $50 off instantly when you play $5 look I play prize picks so do 5 million other active members it is the most exciting way to play fantasy sports unlike any other at priz picks it's just you against the numbers that's right you pick more or less from two to six player stat projections watch the winning Ro winnings roll in you can turn $10 into $1,000 sign up today and get $50 instantly again when you play $5 you don't even need to win to receive the $50 bonus it's guaranteed one Caleb Williams passing yard gets you one win every week in September I've already done that I've already put money in there and there's also weekly and daily fantasy teams you can draft a fantasy team and I've done that recently and you sit there and pick with about nine other players and you let those guys go on week one and you can change your roster every time you can do a dollar entry you can do $10 entries you can do all kinds of stuff even you can see if CJ strout is going to get over 45 4150 yards so go to prize picks today use a promo code locked on MLB for $50 instantly when you pay $5 prize picks run your game the Mariners were off today so the Astros now have four-game lead they play um three more games I believe against the Royals this is a a interesting matchup this is a playoff implication matchup so the Astros have got to play great baseball to see them come back in this game was great and uh let's go ahead I know we talked a little bit about the off about the pitching but let's focus a little bit on the offense you had Alvarez I know people have criticized him for not hitting well at home he had two hits in today's game um you had Hayward with that double uh to score two runs Singleton contributed today you had Den zenzo with a big Bases Loaded walk to give the Astros the lead at the time uh so that was a big thing for the rookie but overall uh what some other good positive takeaways Brett well you had Mauricio debonds to run single I mean Jason Hayward you know like look gets gets the scoring started that's where they had the two runs before they lost that lead you had you had John Singleton um hit a double I mean look it it was it was pretty much top to bottom today for the most part for the Astros contributing um Altuve did get a walked score run despite going 0 for three um bregman well he got tossed so he didn't have a chance to really contribute but and you know man I was really hoping gaml with get a hit they intentionally walked him I mean who is intentionally walking Ben gaml in a game Met fans are screaming right now they're like where the heck has this guy been and they they walked him to get to Jeremy Peña if I was if I'm Paya I'm taking that personally I'm absolutely taking that personally here's a guy that really hasn't been contributing much he's been on teams and Jeremy Peña he's been a hero here he's an ALCS MVP he's a World Series MVP he's got a gold glove I mean all this stuff and you're walking that dude to face me man I really hope Jeremy turns that into some internal motivation because that could really lie to fire but yordon Alvarez narrowly missed a home run tonight narrowly I mean if he hits that ball maybe a quarter of an inch a little bit higher on that barrel and and he doesn't get as much you know he doesn't he l hit a pop fly that almost went out of the ballpark that's how that's how powerful he is I just love what I saw because this is a game that if you can beat good teams like this when you get to the playoffs you're not so worried because Robbie one of the things is this offense has been inconsistent when we get runners in scoring position we have not been good like early in the year we were leading the league in batting average but with Runners scoring position we were horrible and so you know that's kind of the ups and downs of baseball but that's why I say a win is a win yeah and the Astros need all the wins going down the stretch and um there are some roster moves today Brian Kean has been uh pitching some great baseball recently and I hated the fact that they had to send him down but at that some point it's a numbers game you got to get Ryan Presley back up here uh based on his pedigree alone so I agree with that move you also had to I know you talked about yesterday Chaz McCormick was optioned down to Triple A and for Jason Hayward and also um Jason or Jansen junk was junked uh for off the roster junked right so I promised myself I would not do that but it's just too tempting but um for the most part I hope um Brian keing gets a chance to come back at some point but at the same point force Whitley deserves a chance I mean the dude pitched two innings again to add to his his awesome stretch he's been doing left striking out and shut out baseball but at some point he should get a look I know that they're talking about possibly bringing Rafael Montero and Robbie I want to ask you about Montero because the Astros did DFA him and they went ahead and uh just he accepted a um a role at Triple A and he's been pitching some good baseball I know Joe spot said that he is a option for a September call up would you give Montero another chance I mean why not you know I feel like the bullpen you know they they've had a couple you know little problems here and there well not hater right hater's just been flat out amazing for a while now um you know but Brian Abu you know he's had his ups and downs right he came in tonight wasn't able to really get it locked down but you know what Montero has done in the past I don't see why not at this point you know you mention a guy like Forest Whitley too um I feel like they could use another arm or two in that Bullpen right you've mentioned you know Presley uh you know he hasn't really been at the top of his game uh lately I think they why not at this point you got time to you know see if maybe guys can get some roles established you know for the postseason um maybe someone can show up here in the last month yeah Eric you mentioned um you mentioned Forest Whitley striking out two over two scoreless 82 ER five walks 30ks 22 Innings and his last 20 outings of relief so right there I I mean the proofs and the pudding and this is a hitters League it's not like he's throwing the Chumps I mean these dudes hit home runs these these guys can it it's a PCL for a reason and he's doing this and you know Whitley does deserve a shot maybe they go with the veteran thing with Montero and I I know we're near in the end but one of the things I'd like to talk about and you know we know that Justin Verlander is who he is in a playoff scenario you probably are Jo spot is probably gonna put him as your game one starter but right now I wouldn't put I wouldn't put him as my game one starter I want Hunter brown or um Valdez is my game one starter I want I want Hunter Brown I want Valdez I want Kikuchi and I want erag Getti in there and you notice you notice I didn't mention JV it's not I don't want JV but we know baseball is a pecking order Sport and they're not going to knock a first bout Hall of Famer into a role other than one of the four guys that goes out there but it's kind of a nice problem to have hopefully one of those guys fellas can go into the bullpen like Luis Garcia did or Hunter Brown did that one year in 2022 and have some key outings even in the bullpen yeah I would say that ronell Blanco at this point is probably going to go into Bullpen definitely if the Astros make the playoffs I think the other guys have showed that they deserve to be in rotation the only thing is you you can only have four in the playoff rotation but you do need a long guy so the Astros have to decide and uh Verlander is going to be in that rotation Valdez is gonna be in that rotation I think Hunter Brown has earned his way onto that rotation and Kikuchi with what you had to give up he's earned his way onto that rotation so that leaves spenc arti likely as the uh the guy that's left out but he also can be the guy that if let's say that Kikuchi has a bad start or Verlander gets shelled in the first inning something happens you can always bring him in and he can go and Pitch six Innings or seven Innings and do something like that so um that's the only thing I can think of Robbie any thoughts now you pretty much nailed it like all on the head there you know I I I think at the end of the day you know a couple little tweaks you know with the Astros you know down the stretch here I think could really help set them up you know for another good postseason run at the end of the day you know like you mentioned earlier when it comes to the offense they got to kind of figure this out when it comes to you know really getting In Those runs at the right time Kyle Tucker coming back is only gonna help I like that they're also not rushing him to come back I because they got plenty of time here right you got what is today the 29th so you still have over a month to go here um you know we all know what he can do especially in the postseason as well I think at this point you know they Astros they're in good shape here right they're in a good position where you know try and figure out those last couple of roles when it comes to the postseason roster you know figure out you know what's going on healthwise with these guys you know and but again I'll mention the starting pitching again right it's all coming together at the right time um I think they're in good shape uh Brett real quick I do want to say Joe spoted did say about Kyle Tucker he said there's a still a small limp he said he feels it less especially the Outfield drill and throwing home plate the moving around the accuracy of the throw the strength behind the throws that all looked really good you could barely see anything hindering him in his out field defense translation when he gets out there in Adrenaline that normally is out there when a baseball player is getting out there for the first time in a long time he's not thinking about it but when he's in the locker room you see him limping around like us old people do when we get home from school and everything exact exactly yeah no you know what um this this has been great um you know it's great to talk about an Astros win but it's great to bring on Someone Like You Robbie um Robbie tell us once again where the people can find you yeah yeah you can just find me over on YouTube uh again just my name and uh we're just talking baseball there all the time especially with the postseason coming up that's only going to get more fun as we get closer to that um yeah a lot of content coming out over there again myself and Jim Riley of the barrel up podcast uh over on Odyssey so come check that out as well um but yeah just a fun time right we're starting to get past the uh The Good Old Dog Days of August um but uh you know we're getting into that fun time of the year now so yeah uh Brett I'm okay stay on for a little bit Robbie if you want to stay on for a little bit but we're going to go in the audio version but guys thank you for making locked on Astros podcast your first listen every day make sure make us your first listen on Apple Odyssey Spotify wherever you listen your podc go and check out the locked on Astros podcast and we'll see you later we're gonna yeah all right we are back uh so um so let's just go and continue yeah yeah we'll do a few more minutes so we have to kind of cut out at 32 minutes for um audio but overall um if the Astros do make the playoffs what do you think uh their chance is Robbie of actually knocking off some of the AL East teams you know I mean you have to go at Le at least 50% in my opinion right I mean I think you have to give them the benefit of the doubt uh based off of what they've done for the last seven years right making it a seven straight American League Championship Series and but again you know I'll say it one more time the pitching is coming together right that's what you need in the postseason now when it comes to matchups right let's say you know they match up you know Orioles American League Championship Series let's say they get that far right you know you're going to have a couple of pretty decent options to go up against right Corbin Burns you know Zack effin when he comes back you know you got a young guy and Grayson Rodriguez there that's that won't be easy in a seven game series uh but with how guys are pitching right now I think you have to think you know they have at least a shot against the Orioles of course more than a shot in my opinion um that would be a very fun series if that ends up happening I think that could go either way um you know I think with the Astros at the end of the day it's really going to come down to they're just such an experienced team right these guys have been there done that they know what they're doing over there right you have to be in my opinion almost perfect to beat the Astros I mean that's what the Rangers had to do right last year they had to sorry to bring that up but it took every bit of effort from Texas to get by Houston um you know so I think the same thing's going to have to happen again this year if you're the Orioles the Yankees you know whoever in the American League uh it's they're not going to be an easy out no matter what see I think last year you know I was at ALCS game five and after that game I was convinced that the Astros were absolutely gonna win at least one of the two games and then I was at game seven and I've actually never seen the team that beaten down I mean they you could tell fifth inning they were done I I was like they are not they are not coming back the only way they' come back is if the if the hand of God took the Rangers off of the baseball field the Rangers just they ju everything worked for them most of their guys had career years their you know Montgomery was a beast and you know framber didn't have he had a horrible game I mean and so things just really fell out of place for the Astros where things fell into place for the Rangers and going to this year I think a team like I think the Yankees are going to be tough they're going to be tougher than they normally are because Juan sto is a huge power um is a huge piston um in that engine with judge and with those guys right um if you make it to the World Series everybody's talking about the Dodgers everybody's talking about the Phillies nobody's talking about the Brewers that's probably good for the Brewers and Robbie I've I've been saying it for the last I guess three weeks that I really think the Brewers are a team that everybody needs to be careful of because they've been really good this year and nobody seems to be talking now they're talking about the Dbacks but the Astros I think have the ability to get through the a my concern grows deeper when we go to the World Series because th those NL you know opponents are very tough yeah yeah definitely I think the um if you look at the dodg if you look at the Padre's even have a good team this year the Al I mean the NL is very deep this year but you also have the teams in the AL Central battling out you have teams like the um the Royals the um Guardians the twins are still in it so there's a whole bunch of teams that are like there's is there even going to be a team that reaches a 100 wins this year and when's the last time we we can say that about a season so there's just so much parody uh this year in baseball and I think that's good I think that's why the trade deadline was the way it was because uh you didn't see a lot of Trades until like later on and then it started hitting like that but everybody thinks that they're in it because there's so many teams in it and this is a Rob Manfred had a book this is my chemistry book I'm working on but he's basically this is exactly what he drew up he's like this I wanted to have more teams in at the trade deadline that's why we made all these rules and everything so I think that if you're looking at where the Astros are they're in a good spot because a their knock on wood their rotation is intact and healthy for the first time um this season and so now they're just waiting for their lineup to get intact their Bullpen seems to be intact I think the Astros are going to get hot at the right time so now they just need to hold off the Mariners they need to somehow I don't know if they can it would be nice to get in that either that one or two seed but I don't know if they can I don't know if they have enough games left but they're gonna have to go on a heck of a winning streak to do that and I hope that there's a lot of teams that go on a losing streak so so Robbie um so someone in here is asking if you were to pick the Astros are playing the ALCS who do you think you see them going against most likely if it's the Astros on one side do you I mean is it is it the Orioles and why is it them or is it you know do you see the Guardians making a move do you see the do you see the Yankees I mean I know the Yankees Yankees fans don't want the Astros to face them I mean bottom line we own them in the playoffs but who do you see as the most likely opponent and we're and we're throwing out complete like like what if scenarios here you know I'm glad you asked because I was actually putting together what I think the bracket is going to end up looking like you know right now you know Cleveland they have not been very good here in the second half a great first half but they have really been coming back down to earth here in the last couple of weeks so you know right now I'm wondering you know could they end up being the six seed and the Astros hang on win the division well there's your there's your wild card matchup and I'm going Houston there because Cleveland their starting pitching is so it it's not there right good Bullpen right they got you know got a few good bats but Houston I think outclasses them when it comes to the offense the starting pitching clearly and the Astros have a bullpen you know maybe it's not Cleveland's Bullpen but they still have guys out there that can get the job done uh to me I would go Houston in that wild card match up if it ends up being the Guardians you know if it's the twins um you know we'll see the twins are they're a hard team to read but I would still probably lean towards the there if it ends up being the Royals um to me I just feel like the Royals you know as with an ENT their entire Bullpen I don't know I'm not I'm not too high on the Royals I like what they've done this year um I just don't know if they would have enough Firepower to get by the Astros I think their Bullpen is a little too weak so however that shakes up you know whoever wins that division you know whoever ends up getting those Wild Card spots I think Houston gets by either one of those sentual teams person personally and then if they end up matching up you know against I personally I think the Royals right now I'm predicting that they're going to find a way to win that division they're just they've been playing I think Better Baseball than Cleveland and yeah they got the loss tonight but you know we'll see I I don't know I'm just not high on Cleveland so I think Houston no matter what whoever they end up going up against you know in that that first round I just I don't know I just like Houston better than whoever ever they would match up in that Wild Card round the division round right now I I see them getting to the ALCS I think they have an easy path to get there unless you know there's a big upset right for me right now I mean I love Baltimore right you know to get to that American League Championship Series I've been really high on Baltimore this year um that could go either way in my opinion right I think Houston with how they've been pitching you know in the rotation I I think you would have to maybe give a bit of an edge um depthwise there Baltimore's Bullpen it's been a little up and down you don't know what's going to happen with Kimbell there but when it comes to the offense with Baltimore it's just such a deep lineup you know I I'm undecided on that but Houston I think would definitely have a chance to get by Baltimore if that ends up being the ALCS it's going seven games in my opinion yeah well because we swept them here we went there and we and we split and but that series the Astros were one or two plays away in both games of sweeping them again so I think and we all know the regular season doesn't mean anything go back to the famed world series title where your Red Sox were down three games to one and you came back and beat the freaking Yankees because we all know what we think Yankees suck right we hold on it was three it was three 0 three 0 three I'm sorry three not sorry it was it it was a it was a touching moment in my life I can never 31 was was 2007 against Cleveland okay you're right so down three 0 but but but that right there you know it's like you I just think the Astros in the playoffs have they still have that swag and I think I believe in them more this year than I was believing in them last year and I didn't think a month ago I would say that Eric did you think we'd be talking like this a month ago I don't think and I don't care what the Asos uh the Yankees did against the Astros this year nobody in New York wants to face the Astros in the postseason and you can probably ask anybody in Minnesota they they don't want to face the Astros so just because of how they've played the Astros in playoffs so um I think that uh Robbie I thank you once again for coming on the podcast I thank y'all everybody we had almost 300 people tune in to the Extra Innings edition of the lock on Astros podcast uh once again Robbie Wilmer time tell us tell people where they can find you yeah YouTube all right just gu my name Robbie hind right we're talking baseball there all the time and uh barreled up podcast on Odyssey and myself and Jim Riley uh ball cap Sports uh we're just talking whatever's going on in the baseball world so all right guys that's all we got got for this edition of locked on Astros podcast my name is Eric Heisman he's Brett chansy go and make us your first listen go and check out Michael Connor with the locked on Astros postcast as well and uh thank you for making this first listen go and subscribe to us and go and watch us on your Amazon Fire TV stick as well and once again Robbie thanks thanks again for joining and we will see you tomorrow hopefully we'll be talking about another Astros Victory ghost Ros ghost stros oops wrong one what kind of music is that what were you doing listen to a vortex