3/12/26 Sousa & Matthews

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1:00Line. What are you doing? And Tina's excited. Continue winning. You're talking about a dynasty live from West Palm Beach, Florida. Sports Talk 790, Astro Line starts now. And greetings from Duffy Sports Grill on Clematis and Downtown West Palm Beach for another edition of Astro Line. During Astros spring training, I'm Robert Ford. He's going to be joined by the voice of one of our A-Ball affiliates, the Fadville woodpeckers of the Carolina League, Andrew Chapman. Good to see you. Yes, sir. Good to have you. Good to be here with you guys. Thanks for having me on. Now, yes, please give Andrew a hand because it's because Andrew and others like Garrett Greene who was down here are a AAA Sugarland voice. I actually get to take some time off. I actually just flew back into West Palm Beach today. So after spending a week in Houston, so how things have been going? Man, any excuse I can find you come down to West Palm Beach in March, man. I'm all about it. But Fadville's good. You know, I think it's going to be a fun year up there with a couple of the youngest Astro prospects right now on our opening day roster.

2:02So excited to see that group. But also every time I come out to West Palm, it's sort of a reunion with a bunch of our foreign players and over in minor league camp, so it's good to reconnect with those guys as well. And you got to do a game today. The Astros played up at a Roger Dean Stadium against the Cardinals and great pitching performances today. Yeah, you know, back to back days where Astros starters have looked really good. McCullors yesterday had his pitches looking fantastic. Velocity was up for him. And today it was am I making his third spring start? He's up to 98 miles an hour right now. And the Astros went 17 up 17 down before they finally allowed their first base runner. It was a perfect game. They'd going into the sixth. So it was a good game. I'll two days that cold. They went back to back. He's like parade. He said a home run. So all around great, great one for the Astros today. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, that deserves a hand as well. And so we're going to have two guests tonight. We're going to hear from one guy that you did have in Fayetteville, Bryce Matthews. Right. And we're also going to hear from Bennett Susa.

3:02And we'll talk about this more later. But what do you remember about Bryce when he was in Fayetteville? I know, you know, he was the first round pick. Obviously, a lot of fanfare comes with that. What do you remember about his time with the Woodpecker's? Well, I just remember he was happy to be out of the cold, right? He was he was he was Warren Aparka and Snowboots up in Nebraska playing college baseball. So he was, you know, excited to be in in Carolina taking on a pro ball for the first time. That's the fun thing about, you know, being at the single eye level. It's the first exposure for a lot of guys jumping from college or some players internationally first time in the United States coming to the US. So it was cool down there. And he was the, you know, one of the top prospects in draft picks all apart of that, that was a 2023 draft group and that was, that was a fun close to the year over that about 30 game stretch. Fantastic. We have a great crowd here today, a lot of Astros fans and don't forget, by the way, let the server know that you're here for Astroline. And many of you are obviously here for Astroline judging by your apparel, you get 10% off your bill.

4:03So just another reason to come out, come out to the show and enjoy the great, great food and drink here at Duffies. So coming up next, we're going to hear from Astros Leaver, Bennett Susa, who's been in camp with the Astros, of course, has plenty of big league time and he's going to join us coming up next as we continue an Astroline live from Duffies Sports Grill on Clematis and Downtown West Palm Beach and on the Houston Astros radio network. Memberships for the 2026 buddies club presented by HEB are on sale now. Children 12 and under will receive four 2026 regular season Astros tickets, a drawstring bag. Socks, shoe charms and lanyard. Plus, Buddy's members will have the opportunity to be selected for exclusive Buddy's experiences, including the chance to meet the Houston Astros players. Don't make sure chance to be part of the club, visit astros.com slash buddies to learn more or join today. Bennett Susa on to try and get the final out.

5:03Left-handers seeking his fourth save of the year, time run, Conor Wong at second, Roman Anthony at the plate, left on left matchup. It's got a real good slider. It goes straight down. Those are the hardest ones to hit, or the 39,000 on hand that they can park tonight, just shy of a sellout. Wong the time run off second, Susa set at the belt, here's the one two to Anthony. Swing and a miss, struck it out on the slider away, and that is the ball game. The Houston Astros take game one of this three game series from the Boston Red Socks, seven to six, the final. It got a hairy late, but the Astros able to hold on for their fifth win in their last seven games. No problem. Welcome back to Astro Line, coming to you live from Duffy Sportsboro and downtown West Palm Beach on Clematis. They're joined by the man who got that save last year against the Boston Red Socks at Diakin Park. And it's Susa. Thank you so much for coming by. And I have to imagine you remember that moment.

6:05I mean, you came in two outs in the ninth, Connor Wankett doubled before that off of Angel de Los Santos. You came in. You had four career saves at that point, and that wound up being your fifth. And I mean, that atmosphere just had to have been just amazing to pitch in. Yeah. I mean, Diakin Park is a great place to pitch. You know, it's great seeing all the fans here. They show up to all the games there. So, you know, it's a lot of fun to pitch in front of them. It's funny because Roman Anthony is from down here as well, and I actually got to hang out with him a bunch this off season. And there were some smack talking back and forth from both of us, because he hit a walk off against me in Fenway, and then I got him back in Houston. I wasn't going to mention that. Yeah. So, you know, it was good banter. Good banter. Yeah, that highlight got scrapped. Yeah. Yeah. It was a pop-up, you know. Yeah. Well, you know, you're a Florida native Benin. Have you shout out the family to cheer as well, right? Yeah. I got my in here at Duffy's here. Beyonce, my parents, and my in-laws here, you know, being from this area, it's a pleasure

7:12having them. They come to every spring training game, bugging me about tickets every one of them. But it's a lot of fun. Yeah. You're from, not only Florida, you're from this area, from West Palm Beach. Yeah. So, you grew up down here, born and raised here. And obviously, the Astros and Nationals have only been here since 2017, so it's not like you grew up necessarily going to these spring training games here. But what are kind of your memories of just major league baseball and your exposure to which is growing up in West Palm Beach, of course, not too far from Miami? Yeah. I mean, I remember going to Roger Dean Stadium all the time growing up. My dad would take me out of school and we'd go watch some spring training games. Just being around baseball at a young age was really cool for me and made me fall in love with it a lot more. But I played in Roger Dean growing up. You know, baseball down South Florida is really big, so it's good to get that exposure when you're young. Was that always, was baseball always your number one sport? Was that always your favorite sport your best sport? I loved baseball the most. I played basketball, football, tennis growing up, but I loved baseball.

8:15And I was probably my best sport. Yeah. Here in state, you spend your off season back in Florida, you get to start the season out here in Florida as well. That's the best vacation spot here in state. What's the go-to beach for you when you're not on the field? Juno Beach. That's the one. That's a good one. Up in Jupiter, Juno Beach. Andrew's looking for some recommendations. Yeah, I know. This is one of my quickest spring trainings here, so I'm looking for a spot to stop off at the end of my time here. That's good stuff. Yeah, you catch on a weekend. You know, it can get pretty busy over there, but you find your spots. You pitch with the Astros most of last season. You started the year in Sugar Land, and then came up in April pretty early in the season. That was after missing all the 2024, you had shoulder inflammation, you wound up having that thoracic outlet syndrome surgery, which we're hearing more and more about over the last few years. If you just explain to folks what that thoracic outlet syndrome is and what the surgery tries to do. Yeah, so that was in 2024, I got the surgery.

9:16Maybe two years before that, I just kept feeling like my arm was going numb every time I would throw, and it's hard to throw when you can't feel your arm. So I was battling it for two years, and then finally it was just too much, and it was time to get the surgery, and now it's getting more common, like you said. But it's a lot of the guys that throw high slot over the top. It's kind of pinches that nerve up here, and they take your first rib out right here, so the nerve can move freely. And about six months after the surgery, I had full feeling of my arm again, and it's been good sense. It probably, after a while before you had a surgery, probably kind of felt normal, unfortunately, and it just has to feel like you have a new lease on life now. It did, and people like last year, obviously, was a good year for me, and people were like, oh wow, look how good you're pitching, I can feel my arm now, it feels good. So I'm trying to repeat that this year, and work hard, and keep doing it.

10:17I've heard you talk about how at this stage of your career, you're still learning about the endurance that is a major league season, 162 games, such a big portion of the season. For you going into this off season, how are you still tweaking your routine to guarantee that you can get through a long stretcher baseball and stay on the mound? Yeah, that was a high emphasis for me this off season. Looking through the full season last year, I know I missed the last month, but that long season, it really is a different animal. That was a big point for me to make sure my body's in the right shape for the season, my arms feeling good. I changed some things in my arm care program to really master that, and a guy that I really looked at was Josh Hader, who I know he got hurt at the end of the season, but that guy he does so much arm care in the season to prepare himself for that long haul, so the team can rely on him when he needs him. You mentioned Hader, and the bullpen's kind of unique because you're kind of out there on an island all game long, and generally speaking, the first few innings are pretty

11:20low stress for you guys because it's very unlikely any of you are going to get into the game in the second, third, fourth inning, so there's a lot of time for conversation and a lot of time to get to know guys. Was Josh Hader one of the mentors to you in the bullpen with their other guys last year? For sure. I mean, Josh is probably the one of the most relaxed guys I know, so seeing him pitch in those pressure spots and be so calm, really gives you a sense of relief yourself being like, okay, it's okay, you can become, you can pitch well, everything's all good. So watching him play the way he prepares, I think that's the biggest thing. For me personally, I have confidence when I'm prepared to go out there and pitch, and just building that confidence, honing in my routine every day, it makes me feel when I go out there that I can pitch against anyone. You know, I'm curious about your mental makeup as a reliever, right? Because leverage spots is something that, you know, you've been in the middle of going back a decade during your time at Virginia.

12:20You were a part of that 2015 national championship team under Coach O'Connor. You were a reliever all four years. How did that college experience get you ready to be a pro because I mean, you pitched an Omaha, biggest crowds, under Coach O'Connor, you know, how that preppy for where you are today? Yeah, I mean, Coach O'Connor, he's an unbelievable college coach, he's at Mississippi State now. But my pitching coach there, Carl Coon, he's probably the hardest coach I ever had in my life. I mean, he would, you know, he got on you, if you walked a guy, he would, he would start screaming at you, it was very old school. And I think when I got to pro ball, you know, pro ball is a lot more relaxed, it's more on you doing well for your career and then getting to the big leagues, obviously. But having that in the back of my mind, it kind of just made me relax a little bit. And when I'm in a high pressure situation, I don't really think about anything else. I'm just thinking about what I have to execute, the pitch I have to throw and making that pitch and moving on. Then if it's not the one you want. How did you wind up at the University of Virginia? As we mentioned, you're from here in West Palm Beach area. How did you wind up going up to Charlottesville? I think, I think my mom, but my high school coach, he was, he was the pitching coach.

13:26He went to Notre Dame under O'Connor. And then O'Connor became the head coach at University of Virginia. And so my high school coach was like, hey, I was going to commit to Florida. And before you commit to Florida, just go up there to UVA and check it out, see if you like it. And I went up there and I fell in love with it. And my mom, she loved the academics there. So, you know, it was a perfect match. You got to make mom happy. Exactly. Yeah. Did you want to get in your degree? I got my degree. Yeah. What did you get your degree in? History. Okay. Yeah. And framed up in the house somewhere, right? Sure is. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Now, is it true that you grew up a Boston Red Sox fan, even though living in Florida here? Yeah. That's because of that guy right there. Okay. Okay. But he's an Astros fan now. And we converted him. That's right. And he's got the hat on. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Your dad, John, I was just chatting with him earlier. I guess he was born in Massachusetts. Yeah. He was born there. So I grew up watching the Red Sox. I love them growing up. And the moments I've had in my big league career was I got a save in Fenway in 2022, I

14:31think. Yeah. My first career saved with the White Sox. Yeah. Yeah. And that was just a full circle moment because I went to Fenway growing up with my dad, grandpa and uncle. So it's just really cool, you know, it's crazy where baseball takes you and the journey it takes you on. Did you sign? Have you signed the green mobster? You know, behind the green mobster? I sure did. Yeah. Fantastic. I put it in a spot, too, where I would remember where I signed it because there's a million signatures. So many. Yeah. It's amazing just looking at, I mean, everybody, you know, visiting Red Sox players. From decades ago, I mean, it's pretty cool. Right. Right. Yeah. You would have been, I guess, growing up in the prime, Jonathan Papalban years maybe that was at the, oh yeah. Boston reliever. I, yeah. Papalban for sure. I mean, he was an animal out there, but, you know, Pedro Martinez, Kurt Schilling, Big Poppy, obviously, many Ramirez, those, those guys were, they were good. Who are some of the other biggest influences for you just watching them growing up, whether it was pre-college or during your time in Virginia, just big league guys that you really, really tried to follow. Yeah. I, I, I really liked John Lester growing up, lefty, but Pedro was kind of my guy.

15:33You know, he was a bulldog on the mound and, and he took no prisoners. So I liked that mentality. Fantastic. Fantastic. So you got to the Astros. We mentioned, you know, you played for the White Sox. That's who you made your big league debut with in, in 2022, 2023 kind of bounced around a little bit. You were at the, in the, in the Brewers organization, spent time in the, briefly in the, in the Tigers organization, just a few days, you can even actually pay play for them. But the Astros claimed you off waivers from Detroit, beginning of September 2023, and that was an Astros team that was on their way to a division title, a lot of going to the LCS. But because you were, claimed off waivers September 3rd, you came to the Astros knowing you weren't going to be eligible for the postseason. You want to pitching extremely well over, you know, small sample five games, you know, didn't allow, didn't allow a run. What do you remember about just coming over to the Astros and just that, that brief stent in September? Yeah. Well, first off, I, I'm still mad at the Tigers because they, they robbed me of playing

16:34in the playoffs that year. Yeah. So, you know, that was, you know, that's kind of stunk. But, uh, no, when I got to the Astros, that was a long year for me. I bounced around. I was with, you know, the White Sox, Reds, Brewers, Tigers. Did it, I mean, obviously you want to pitch in the playoffs, right? Right. Right. Did it almost take some pressure off of you when you came to the Astros knowing that, okay, I know I'm just pitching in September, not pitching in the postseason, did that, did that free you up at all? I think it may be initially it did, but I fell in love with the Astros and I fell in love with the guys in that locker room and I knew like going to that playoffs, how much, you know, that it started to mean the playoff baseball is different, uh, and I wanted to experience that that year. But being in the dugout was a big learning lesson for me too. I, you know, I, I, I know what that playoff atmosphere feels like even though I wasn't pitching. So next time you hopefully this year, we're back in the playoffs that it'll be a familiar feeling for me, uh, not something that's brand new. I'm curious about just the human element too, that 2023 season when you're moving all

17:34around. I mean, you got your closest people here with you in the building tonight, some of those phone calls of like, okay, I'm heading here, I'm heading there, you know, I'm picking you living out of a suitcase, right? I literally was living out of suitcase. I had my car, uh, I was just driving everywhere. It was, it was a wild year I was living in hotels, uh, but that's baseball. You know, and that's, that's the behind the scenes that people don't understand. Um, and you really got to love baseball to do that. And I do love baseball. And not for a second. I didn't think of, you know, giving up on it either. Mm-hmm. Well, I mean, that's what, what, what kind of kept you even with that year? I mean, you mentioned loving baseball, but was there anything else that kind of kept you grounded and just kept you, you know, focused, because I know one of the toughest things for, for players sometimes, especially like a year you had in 2023 is such as focus on where you're at and not think too much about everything else, what, what helped you do that? Yeah. Uh, you know, I've always had to lead confidence in myself, uh, even in my darkest times. But, but that year I, I really got closer to my faith, uh, and it really helped me out a lot. And I, when I got to the Asher's, I met Greg Blankenship and he was, uh, he was a real

18:38help for me team chaplain. Yeah, a team chaplain. Uh, he really helped me through that, that, that, that end of that year. And, uh, me and him now are, are great friends. I want him to officiate our wedding, um, and he, it was, it was a great moment. Fantastic. And they had that trip to Spain too, right? That's, uh, where the engagement happened for you this off season. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. That's part of Spain, Barcelona. You hit up, hit up a few other cities as well. Yeah. Uh, a hidden gem in Spain is Sansa Bastion. It's, uh, in the north part of Spain and it, uh, the food there is incredible. The people there were incredible, uh, that's where I got engaged to my fiance, uh, it was a really, really fun, uh, really fun trip that we had planned for, I had planned for a little bit. She had no idea about it. But, uh, yeah, I was going to, I was going to ask you that. So you went on this trip to Spain knowing, like you had your engagement ring pack, knowing that you were going to propose on the trip that you know where on the trip, like how, how, how, how to walk us, yeah, yeah. So I had Lance McCullough's, he gave me his travel agent and Lance is a pretty bougie

19:38guy. So I knew, I knew, I knew over the world apparently. Yeah. So I knew what I was going to get myself into, uh, uh, but, uh, the mistake I made was doing the proposal halfway through the trip. So the first half was a blur for me. I was, uh, you know, nervous the whole time. And then once I, once it happened, the, the second half was relaxed and everything was great. So did you know you were going to do it the day you did it? Yeah, I did. Where you did it? We did it in, uh, it was a hotel about an hour north of Madrid in a winery. Uh, it was gorgeous. It was in a chapel, uh, they, they had candles everywhere. I mean, it looked like I was on the bachelor's show at it and I didn't, uh, and I didn't play. I probably just set it all up. I went down there and I was like, oh my god, I got started getting nervous then. Uh, but no, it went great. Uh, and then we enjoyed the last part of our trip. Fantastic. Did you have a, you had up some engagement photos and everything? Got a photographer there and all that to capture that? Yeah. Check out my Instagram. It's on, it's on my Instagram. Yeah, I thought I saw it on your Instagram, but I just wanted to make sure, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

20:38It was, it was nice. There you go. Now you have to check off a few more, uh, ask Lance. What other European countries you got to check off the list, huh? I'm like, oh, broke if I do that. Do you, um, do you try to do some travel in the off season? For those who may not understand, usually, uh, most of guys, especially pictures, you really start to ramp up once the calendar turns. That's when you really start to throw and all that. So really it's, you know, uh, November, December, when you really get a chance to, to kind of travel and not have to worry so much about, about training. So is that something you try to do every off season if you can? Yeah. I mean, I, I have this disease where like, if I go somewhere, I feel like I'm getting worse. So I need her to, to, my fiance to, to get me out and, you know, actually enjoy the off season a little bit. Yeah. So this year, you know, we took 14 days and by the end, I'm, I'm kind of like, all right, let's, we got to get back to the gym. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, but no, it was really great, uh, mentally and physically obviously it takes some time off. Uh, but yeah, I try to get, you know, there's weddings obviously in the off season that

21:41you guys have, because that's the time we can do it. Right. Just little weekend trips here and there. Nice. Nice. Did you, do you, do you do anything baseball related while you're in Spain at all? You just, uh, kind of do some, you know, some, some wind ups in the hotel room or anything like that. You can ask her, I was, I was in the gym at 7 a.m. before our tours and stuff like that. And I was, uh, I had this sock sleeve that you put on your arm and you throw into a sock. It, it did the trick a little bit. Okay. You know, got to keep the arm moving. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So what was the coolest place you went in, in Spain? Sansa Bastion and Seville was, was, was incredible too. I, I, I really liked Madrid and Barcelona, but, but those are kind of, you know, big cities that kind of start all blending together. You prefer the smaller, smaller, smaller towns. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You'll see more of the culture a little bit and, uh, it was cool. What was the best thing you ate in Spain? Spain has, I've been to Spain. Spain has amazing food. People don't realize that. It does. Uh, you know, the little, in, in Sansa Bastion, they, they had, uh, it was like, kind of top of style and they just had a bunch of different, different things

22:42there. A lot of seafood, which was really, I love seafood. So that was, that was great. Some of the best fish I've had. Yeah. Outstanding. Yeah. Every season's unique, right? It's got its own, uh, pre-season stories, pre-season challenges. What excites you most for 2026 and this, uh, this group the Aster is having the bullpen right now? Yeah. I mean, the bullpen, it, we're ready to go, uh, you know, we, it's, we're kind of a weird bullpen. We have more lefties and righties, uh, which is, which is fun. Uh, but we're, we're, we're, this team is exciting to start. Uh, it's a couple of new faces here and there, uh, but we really all have, you know, a sour taste in our mouth after last year, not making the playoffs for the first time in a long time. Um, and, you know, I was talking to Oakert the other day. It's like, when I got here in 23, I mean, a break or the only two guys that are still in that bullpen from that year, uh, and it's, you know, we've really bonded as a group of all of us. And we're ready, we, I mean, we were really good bullpen last year and we're ready to continue that this year and offensively and defensively. I mean, we got some of the best players in the league on our team, uh, you know, last

23:45year, we just got hit with a bunch of injuries and that's kind of baseball sometimes at sports sometimes, uh, and this year, we're all excited. We got, we kind of got a fire ready to go and, and right to do the whole thing. We'll certainly looking forward to watching you and everybody else in the bullpen and everybody else on the Astros. Ben, it's Susa Astros, reliever lefty lefties, only ones in their right mind, right? Yes, exactly. We have four of, four of them in the, yes, in the bullpen, but Ben, thank you so much for joining us and, uh, spending some time with us. Thank you. Thanks for bringing your family out, too. Thank you guys. Appreciate it. Coming up next on AstroLine. We'll hear from Astros infielder and outfielder, Bryce Matthews as AstroLine from DuffySports grow live on Clamadas and downtown West Palm Beach continues after this on the Astros radio network. Houston, get ready as your Astros return to the diamond in 2026, ready to chase the fight and compete for baseball's biggest prize. First half single game tickets are on sale now, so grab yours today and don't miss the action. Witness every home run, defensive web gem and walk off live from Dyncan Park. Down the right field line, that's a base hit and we're going high.

24:45Locking the best seat to catch the Yankees, Dodgers, Rangers and more before it's too late. Astros, walk it off, to the line. Gintickets today by visiting astros.com slash SGT. Get in the game with the college branded Venmo debit card. Pack your team with every tap and earn up to 5% cash back with Venmo stash, a new rewards program from Venmo. No monthly fee, no minimum balance, just school pride and spending power. Get in the game and sign up for the Venmo debit card at Venmo.com slash college card. The Venmo master card is issued by the bank court bank NA, select schools available, Venmo stash terms and exclusions apply at Venmo.me slash stash terms, max $100 cash back per month. Place up and join the run. Astros race to the pennant presented by Houston Methodist is Houston's newest 5K 10K set to start and end at Dyncan Park on May 2nd. Visit astros.com slash race to register now. The 2026 Texas Children's Houston Open is right around the corner and you don't want to miss your chance to see Brooks Capka, Ricky Fowler, Raining Champion Midwool Lee and more.

25:49Houston's premiere PGA tournament returns to Memorial Park Golf Course from March 26th through the 29th. Whether you're looking for general admission tickets to walk the grounds or an all-inclusive option with food and non-alcoholic beverages, we've got a ticket for you. Learn more at tchluopen.com slash tickets. One, one. Brown ball pulled through the right side. Diving stopped to his left by Matthews from his knees, bro, from the grass, it's time to get the out. Excellent play by second baseman Bryce Matthews to retire the side. Now Matthews heading for second late and he slides in head first and gets in. On an appeal on a check swing, Matthews takes off for second. Not a bad idea. Orioles attentional divided, now the attention is going over to the third baseman pyre and so Matthews just takes the base. Matthews setting a single season franchise record last year in the minor leagues, swiping 41 bags with triple and sugar lads. Drives this in the air towards the left center field gap that is going to split the gap

26:51and head for the wall. Scoring easily is Ramirez, Bryce is going to get a wave around third. Bryce Matthews delivers a two RBI double to the gap. It is seven, one Astros. And welcome back to AstroLine coming to you live from WSF on Clematis in downtown West Palm Beach. Robert Ford and Andrew Chapman, pleased to be joined by our second guest of the evening, Bryce Matthews. And this spring training is a little different for you for a couple of reasons, Bryce. Number one. I feel like it's always a little different when you go to camp after having played in the big leagues. Like you did last year. Major big league debut last year. And also you've been playing some outfield as well and working in the outfield of course you were shortstop and you draft that in Nebraska and played second base but now playing some outfield. How's this camp been going for you, you know, being a little more familiar with the team and also playing a different position? Yeah, I'd say it's just a lot of fun just getting to be around the guys again. On outfield sides, a lot longer run into the dugout.

27:53That's true. But that's the same game, good to be around great people every day, learning every day, you never stop learning. So it's just been a lot of fun. You know, I think in Fayetteville back in 2023, I was able to give Bryce's first interview as a pro ball player in our batting cage down there in Fayetteville. So I'd like to think we really prepped him for the big lights that he used to know down there in Fayetteville and North Carolina. But you think back to those early days in the minor league career for your Bryce when it all started. Where have you changed the most just as a baseball player a couple of years now? You've made the big leagues. What if you tweaked either on the field or with your routine and your schedule just off the field nowadays? I wouldn't say I've changed much. This is being more sure of myself and the work that I put in. The belief I have in myself, the belief that the people around me believe in me and just trusting myself, not much has changed. I'm still the same kid. I'm childish. I play a lot. I play around.

28:54Just try to have as much fun as I can. Those guys know, like I mess around all day, but it's all in good fun, still working hard, playing hard. Yeah. The one sticking like the gum on the back of the cleat, are you? No. Lighting it on fire or anything like that. The hot foot. No. Not quite that place. So you talk about, you feel like you're more confident in yourself, how have you developed that? Was it getting to the big leagues and being able to compete in the big leagues? What has it been for you that's helped you develop that confidence? I'd say the work that I put in and also the trust and the faith in the Lord, that's given me a lot of clarity, a lot of peace in my head to whatever happens. I'm going to be okay. It's just a game at the end of the day. I'm not defined by how I play or whatever happens on the field. Like, I'm still a child of God, I'm a follower of Him. And I'm just going to go out there and be a good person, be a good teammate. And I'm never going to stop playing hard, so that's always going to be there.

29:55For anyone that hasn't heard your story before, it's got some movie script to it. Oh yeah. You moved to Houston when you're eight years old and you're part of the Astros Youth Academy and you go on to be the first ever, first round pick out of the Youth Academy. And here you are, Houston Astro Bigleger, 25, 26. What's it just been like though, these last couple of years, being a part of the organization that you grew up rooting for and now living it out on the field? Yeah, it's been crazy. I throw another loop in there, so I'm from North Carolina. My aunt and uncle, they were stationed in Fayetteville, growing up and so on. Before I got there, yeah. Yeah, my uncle was a part of the 80 deuces. Oh, wow. And he's singing their horn to be. Yeah, these are paratroopers. Yeah. Jump into the airplane. Number six, and that was my number in Fayetteville. So it was a full circle moment. Wow. It was crazy. So that's another loop, but growing up and getting to see all that and just see all the winning that this organization has had. It's crazy to think that last year was the first year that I didn't make the playoffs because from the time I was 13 till then, like they were in the playoffs over here.

31:02Right. Now you did say when you first got to Houston that you weren't really watching the Astros was too much because that was some of the dog years right where they weren't finding the postseason. So it feels like you joined the organization at the right time. Sure. Some way. So, you know, you mentioned, you mentioned you in the youth academy up in the acre Homes area of Houston, northern part of the city. And you know, Dwayne Stelly is the one who runs that youth academy now. When you were playing in it, he was the assistant director of the Astros Youth Academy. You do a great job up there. And now you had a connection with Dwayne Stelly through your dad Steve. Steve and Dwayne grew up in New Orleans together for high school baseball game. Your dad played, I believe, at Kansas, right? Yes, sir. Like baseball at Kansas. So, was that part of what led you to the youth academy was your dad having that relationship with Dwayne Stelly and getting you over there? For sure. 100 percent. I mean, they grew up together. They played baseball together.

32:02And so, like, why not just let me go out there and get more reps and just enjoy the fruits of labor that the academy provides. And it's been great. I'm going there since I was nine till I was 17. You learned a lot. Saw a lot. A lot of hot days out there, man. Oh, it was so hot out there in the summer, but it was a lot of fun. Was there any chats with Oklahoma before you ultimately went to Nebraska to play your college ball? I went to a camp there, but my mom went to Oklahoma. And so, it was whatever. Yeah. It was whatever. You weren't going to go where mama went? I actually wanted to go. I wanted to go to Kansas and Oklahoma, but neither of them really recruited me, so I was kind of out of the picture, so if I had the chance to play either of those teams, I was going to try to kill them. And I mean, you had a great career at Nebraska. You had the first 2020 season in school history or junior year there in 2023, but 2020 are more steals, 20 more homers, and only the second 2020 season in big 10 history.

33:05So you know, you get to Nebraska, you know, you're a shortstop there. And we talked earlier about how you feel like you develop more confidence. When you got to Nebraska, did you, when you got on campus, did you or my automatically think I am good enough to compete in the big 10 or did it kind of take some time? I definitely think it took some time because like, you don't really see like, I mean, Texas is a lot of competition and a lot of great players there. But like my teammates, when I first got there, like the first day of practice, like my teammates were hitting the baseball off the scoreboard, and I was like, I don't know if I could compete, but I think that's the football and just the competitor in me, like, once we started practicing everything, like it was go time, and I love to compete with whatever it is, like I want to win. So my teammates brought out the best of me and I couldn't thank them more. That was a, that was ultimately a decision for you going from, from high school to college, right? Go exclusively baseball because, let me, let me look at some of these stats, these high school football stats from humble Texas. We got a, this is just a senior year alone, folks, 4,000 pass in New York, it's 43 touchdowns

34:10through the air. 11, 11 on the ground as well, dual thread ability. So you were a star out there in Texas high school football scene. Did you have any interest to go college for football? Did you have anybody recruiting you at the time and what ultimately allowed you to make that decision to go exclusive baseball? Yeah, definitely when I was younger, I wanted to do both football and baseball, but as I went through high school and whatnot, like, just, I never had a bad day on the baseball field, and I didn't really like football practice. We did a lot of stuff that we didn't do in the game for, like, play calls and stuff. So I was like, if this is what college is going to be like, I do not want to play football. Nobody likes football practice by this, right? Yeah. But fortunately, I had a lot of great teammates. Yeah, Kenyan Green, offensive lineman for the, he's put the Ravens right now. Yeah, he's with the, he was originally with the Texans, yeah. Get to have that guy blocking for me. Yeah, my left tackle, he's the left guard at a University, Alabama, he's one in the draft

35:12this year, and also had four divisions on the receivers. So it helped a lot. Wow. That makes football a lot more fun. Oh, yeah. We have that much talent. Explains the 43 touchdowns. So you got to go back to Tuscacita High School this past January, and your number three got retired. And I mean, that just had to have been such a really cool moment. I saw some videos from it. It looked like you were, you were very touched by, oh, yeah, by all of this. But what, what did all of that, that mean to you to be able to go back and, and be recognized in that way? Yeah, it means a lot. I mean, that's what I do, like most of my, my training, my baseball training, I hit on the field there, do all my ground ball stuff with Coach O'Neill and Kendall, who's with the Dodgers. So it was, it's a blessing, honestly, just to have the people that have seen me go through the ups and downs, just support me endlessly, show me so much love. I didn't want to cry out there, to be honest. So I tried not to, when I was talking about my parents, I, I would have started ball and so I had to cut that all out a little quick.

36:12But if you had, you, people would have understood. Oh, for sure, because them, those two, they, they've been so much for me and helped me get to where I wanted to go, not just me and my sister. But that school, that community, it's been nothing big, great. Just producing great athletes, great people. I couldn't say enough for, for the community that I grew up in and I get to still be around to, to those days. So they have the, the Jersey numbers, that in the Raptors and the, the gym, you got, you got you on the football field or, it's actually on, it's on the baseball field, it's on the left field wall, my, my Jersey numbers on there. I wish they would have tired my football number, too, that would be cool. Oh, what was your, what was your football number? It was three as well. Oh, it was also well. I mean, we can, we can say it was retirement. Yeah. It goes, goes both ways. So I'm going to give you a chance to brag a little bit about your high school quarterback and career. Mm-hmm. Now, Andrew read off some of your great numbers as a quarterback here last year at a Tuscacita. What NFL quarterback do you think you were the most similar to with the way you played

37:13in high school? Um, I like to throw the ball, so, but, um, I'd say Drew Brees. He was a Saints fan, um, parents are from New Orleans, and he always, it was a great passer, a lot of touch. Um, he didn't have the strongest arm. I say my arm was probably stronger than his, but, uh, he knew where to put the ball, like, it looked like he didn't have to think it was just natural. He could do it. So I'd say Drew Brees, but I could run a little bit better. Yeah. So Drew Brees, but with a better arm, it could run more. Yeah. That's what I'll, okay. All right. All right. Yeah. You know, it's, you know, your guys have athletic success, you know, uh, all over whether it's football or, or baseball, Bryce, and, you know, you ultimately become a first-round pick, but, uh, you know, it's down to me, uh, about you when I first got to meet you down in Fayetteville was that, you know, you're just humble about getting to where you were and, and all the success that had come along the way. I remember we were filming a, I'm not sure if you remember this. We were filming a video for, uh, the Astros Youth Academy, just, you know, saying hello.

38:13And I think we wanted to open the video up with, hey, guys, this is, uh, Bryce Matthews first-round pick for the Astros. And you're like, yeah, I don't know if I want to label myself as a first-round pick and we can change up the intro a little bit. Sure. Yeah, sure. Hey, guys, this is Bryce Matthews, but, you know, baseball is a game that humbles you every step of the way, right? It's, it's high school to college, college guys get exposed at the professional level. Can you talk about just being humble through the process and you're climbed through the, the, uh, the major leagues? Yeah, you're a first-round pick, but you've never flaunted that in any way or, you know, had it be the one thing that labels you and, and how you kind of got about your career in that respect. Yeah, I definitely like, I wouldn't say I think about like, think about it in that way. Um, honestly, you think of myself as I'm just a regular person. I just have a different job than everybody else, honestly. Yeah. We all do the same things in life, so it's like, it's nothing crazy out of the ordinary. I just play baseball as my job. So, um, I just like to have fun, be respectful of everybody, um, try to be a good steward, and, um, love everybody, how do you just love them? And, and just just like, have fun, show people love and respect, and hopefully they do

39:16the same. Keep us simple. Yeah. Just for my parents to tell me. Mm-hmm. So, you grew up in Houston, went to Nebraska, 2023 draft, you were the 28th overall pick in that draft, first round pick of the Astros. First of all, I mean, it's always, it's a life, it's, you know, it's everybody's dream to get drafted to play professionally, and, um, most people don't get drafted by their hometown team, honestly. Going into the 2023 draft, did you have an idea that the Astros would be interested in picking you, that you might go there, what was that process like for you? Um, honestly, I was just there. Yeah. So, whatever happened is going to happen, I'm not really going to, you didn't think too much about who might pick you or anything like that. My mom did, but I, um, I'm not a big like planner of much, like I just kind of go with the flow. I don't really set goals. I wouldn't say I planned, but I don't say any goals of anything, um, as you go with the flow with everything, and my mom was, she was, she thought it was going to happen.

40:18I thought I was going to go to Seattle, actually. Okay. Cause they were really interested in me, but, um, they got another great kid and Colt Emerson, so, um, the next pick was Houston, and that's when my agent thought it was going to happen. And it's like, cool. Let's do it. Fantastic. Once he entered the, uh, the Astros organization, how quickly were you able to connect with Jake Myers? Cause he's also a Nebraska player with Houston right now. I think it was in, um, the off season, when I went back to school for like two weeks, and, um, me and Max is like one of my best friends. We, we wouldn't hit with Jake, cause, uh, Jake's from Omaha and Max and Jake work out together and got to hit with Jake and then been building connection ever since. And now you're transitioning to the outfield too, so he can offer you a few pointers, right? Yeah. I actually wrote to the game with him today. So there's a lot of fun. Well, it was the last time you played the outfield with any regularity college. You played at Nebraska and then high school. My junior year, I was, uh, the utility guy on the team. So I played third and then I go to the outfield during the game or right, go to center, wherever

41:23they need me. I was whatever. What's the biggest? I mean, you mentioned a longer run to the duck out. Yeah, man. That's terrible. I'm so tired because other than that, what's the, what's the biggest adjustment for you? And they always say, cause you came up as a shortstop. They always say a shortstop, you can put a shortstop anywhere because, you know, short stops usually the most athletic player in the field, all of that. But what's the, what's the, what's the biggest adjustment? I wouldn't say it's like a big adjustment because I feel like my dad made me be so well rounded as a kid, whether it's playing every sport. Um, I just think like this starts with, you just catch the wall, like keep it simple, catch the wall, make a good read, catch the wall. That's all it is. Um, then everything goes from, from there, um, but keep it simple. You don't got to do too much. Just make it right. Read and go catch the ball. Before I let you go, I got to ask you about Arizona, okay, you know what I'm talking about. Oh, yeah. July 21st, July 22nd, back-to-back games in Arizona. Over those two games, you went three for eight, three homers, seven runs batted in.

42:25And Matthews hits it high in the air, pretty deep to left center field, racing back, Carol and Gary L. Carol at the wall, leaping, see you later. The first big league home run for Bryce Matthews is a three-run shot. A lot of Astros fans here at Chase Field getting to see a big moment for Bryce Matthews and his family. Off a Zach Gallon, a three-run homer, sky high to left field over the 374 sign, two-rose deep. Matthews close to the plate, first pitch from Gallon, and he slugs this one. Left field and deep, there it goes, a two-run homer by Matthews, and it's six to three. That was deep, about ten-rose deep into the seats in Matthews with homeruns one and two of his major league career. Have yourself a night, Bryce Matthews, that last homerun 423 feet. He belted that one. That was a no-dowder, first pitch. And Matthews hits it in the air and deep to left field, it sends back, Gary L. Looking

43:27up, see you later. Go ahead, two-run homer for Bryce Matthews, and the Astros lead to the one, two-home runs yesterday, another today. He does it way to round, picked on the first pitch again, and whacked it into the sixth row and left field, three home runs at two days. Two-homer game in the first of those two games on July 21st. The Astros scored nine runs in those two games, you drove in seven of them. I mean, these are the sort of series people dream about, even people who have been in the big leagues for a long time. What do you remember when you think about those two days in Phoenix? I say not trying to do too much, just like being confident in myself that I know I could get the job done, but keep it a simple, you don't have to do too much. When times like in baseball, like when you try to do too much and overdo things like things fall apart, like they fizzle out, when you keep it simple, you breathe here in the moment,

44:31and just trusting in your teammates, like, good things happen. So I wasn't, I was just trying to keep it simple. Well, we hope good things continue to happen for you, and the Astros, of course, Bryce Matthews. Thank you so much for joining us, pleasure having you here, and continue success in 2026. I hope to see a lot of you in the big leagues. Yes, sir. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Final time from AstroLine, live from Duffy Sports Grill on Clematis in downtown West Palm Beach, and on the Astros radio network right after this. And welcome back to AstroLine, coming to you live from Duffy Sports Grill on Clematis. Downtown West Palm Beach, Robert Ford with Andrew Chapman, would like to remind you that our next and final AstroLine of spring training in 2026 is a week from today. Next Wednesday, right back here, Duffy Sports Grill, Clematis, downtown West Palm Beach. It'll be myself and Steve Sparks hosting, and it'll be Astros General Manager Dana Brown joining us. So, definitely don't want to miss that, and this will be pretty close to wrapping up camp here.

45:31And some decisions will have to be made. But yet, Dana Brown will join us on AstroLine a week from the day. Next Wednesday, that starts 7 p.m. Eastern time, if you're down in West Palm Beach, that'll be 6 p.m. central time, back in Houston, and also don't forget the Astros. They're back in action tomorrow night, a night game tomorrow against the Washington Nationals. That is a 5-0-5 first pitch, Houston time, 6-0-5 first pitch in the Eastern time in West Palm Beach. Mike Burrows is going to be starting that game for the Astros, and he's been having a fantastic camp. Looks like he's going to be a member of the Astros rotation, and that's me and you doing that game tomorrow night, right? Yeah, we'll be in West Palm tomorrow, and then right back up to Jupiter on Friday for a night game against the Cardinals. So, look forward to being on the air with you. Yeah, that'll be fun. Looking forward to it as well, and the best thing about having our minor league broadcasters down here for spring training is that when it gets to the latter part of the game when all the subs come in, they actually know who they are. That's right. That makes a big difference. That's really tough. Yeah, that's when we take center stage, and otherwise I'm just whispering in the substitutions

46:33to Robert, so he can figure out a scorecard when it gets chaotic. How neat is it for you to see guys that you saw in Fayetteville playing these big league spring training games to get opportunities in these games? It's so cool, and it's something that, you know, the minor league city's really value, but especially at the lower levels, you know, you go to some of these minor league ball parks, and you see the wall of fames that are put up throughout the area where it has the names of the players that were in Fayetteville or in Asheville, Corpus Christi that have gone on to become big leagueers, you know, the fact that Jeremy Pena was a Fayetteville woodpecker and it became a World Series MVP, that's a pride thing for the city of Fayetteville and the woodpecker's franchise, so we really value those guys that climbed the ladder, make it all the way. We saw one today and got to chat with one in Bryce Matthews, but always good to have a reunion with those players, you get to know their families as well, and a lot of them come out to West Palm Beach to hang out on the backfield, see their kids play, and it's like one big reunion. That's what baseball does, everybody's interconnected, right, and the spring training meetup is always fun.

47:33Yeah, absolutely, and always, and so what people don't realize about minor league broadcasts, those are minor league broadcasts for seven years, you talk about getting into the families, we are the lifelines for these families a lot of times, and now you have more video broadcasts, but when I was doing a minor league, it was a radio broadcast and that was it, so the families would come to town, they'd want to meet me, and I'd be like, yeah, listen to you every night, so that's always a lot of fun. That's right, I've set up little text lines and things on our broadcast where people can just ask questions on the air, text and let them know where you're tuning in from, and now with the online radio feeds that we put together, you can tune in from anywhere in the country, some folks, even internationally, you're tuning in our broadcast now for some of these players that are coming in from the DR and Venezuela, wherever, so you meet so many people through the game, and we have fun down there. It's always so cool, well, Andrew Chapman, thank you so much for joining us this week, like that everybody for coming out to Duffy Sports Grill in Clamadas, or on Clamadas, then downtown Los Palm Beach, come out and see us next Wednesday night or next and final ash reliant show with Dana Brown, myself and Steve Sparks hosting that, like that

48:36and everyone who made tonight's broadcast possible as studio producer is Josh C, our producer engineer, is Matt Bolts, like the think are two guests as well, joining us tonight Bennett Susa and Bryce Matthews, for Andrew Chapman, I'm Robert Fortsang, so long, this has been another edition of AstroLine from Duffy Sports Grill in downtown Los Palm Beach and on the Houston Astros Radio Network. AstroLine, you've been listening to SportsTalk 790 AstroLine, the official preseason show of Astros baseball, I love this city, I love this T.S. program, on SportsTalk 790, home of this draws. See you later! Don't miss opening day, presented by Adobe on Thursday, March 26th, when the Astros hosts the Angels at Dijk and Park, get to the ballpark early to celebrate with opening day street fest, presented by Bud Weiser, get tickets now at afstros.com slash promotions.