3/7/26 Cole, Trammell, Weiss, McTaggart

0:00America leads the world in medicine development. It matters. We get new medicines first nearly three years faster. Five million Americans go to work because we make medicines here at home and not relying on other countries keeps us safe. But China is racing to overtake us. Will we let them or will we choose to stay ahead? When America leads, America cures. Let's tell Washington to keep us in the lead. Learn how at americancures.com. Paid for by pharma. Ryan Weiss making his first appearance in an astros uniform. Weiss signing a one-year deal with the Astros after pitching last year in Korea. And he'll face Ben Roervet to start and Roervet's first pitch ground ball to the right side to his left. The second baseman Allen picks it up. It throws to first. Roervet retired on one pitch and there's one away. Always nice to get that first out of the spring. Get it on one pitch. That helps you settle in.

1:04So Weiss working his second inning award. Face the minimum last inning. Weiss looks good. Nice easy delivery. Good sharp break on the slider. Long, shaggy hair. Here's the pitch. Tapper right in front of the plate out of the crouch comes Gilmet over to first out. So score that two to three. It's another easy inning for Ryan Weiss in his debut with the Astros. And welcome back to Astro line. We're coming to you from WSports Grill on Clematis and downtown West Palm Beach. Robert Ford with Todd Callison. We're pleased to be joined by our first guest at the evening. Ryan Weiss through two and a third. Scoreless innings today. And your first great fruit league outing with the Astros, your Astros debut. First of all, how did it feel to finally finally get out there? Yeah, it was good. I was kind of sick and tired to throw in live BPs. So it's good to get out there in a game in front of some fans and just be out there in the stadium. By the way, that was neither Robert or myself who called it Long, shaggy hair. I just wanted you to know that. That was these sparks. Yeah. Because it's long flowing. It's solid. The solid flow going.

2:10But when you come over to the States after being in Korea last year or last couple of years before that in Taiwan, it must be nice to be surrounded by everybody who you can converse with at an equal level. Because for the last few years, you've had a lot to rely on your translator. Yeah, it's been, honestly, it's been super weird. I'm definitely experiencing some like reverse culture shock. On my game day, I'm pretty locked in overall. But now I can like hear conversations behind me. And I'm like, oh, I actually know what they're saying. And so that's been that's kind of been different. But yeah, still getting used to it. So as TK mentioned, you're pitching in Korea last couple of years. Last year, you spent the entire season with the Hanwai Eagles in Korea, made it all the way to the Korean series. And fortunately, you guys came up short. But I mean, that pitching staff you guys had, I mean, it was you who had a who had a fantastic year. Cody Ponds, who also had a fantastic year. Another American who signed with the Blue Jays. And he's back in the States or in the North America anyway. And Hyunjin Ryu, who has pitched, you know, the big leagues

3:15with the Dodgers. And certainly familiar to American baseball fans. Was that was that the strength of that team you think? I mean, we we didn't do bad. But I think the I think the bullpen really kind of locked it down for us. We had our closer. He had like 33 saves. And there was a lot of guys that had a lot of holds. I mean, in order to get a decision, I mean, Cody had like 17 wins. In order to continue to get decisions like your bullpen has to lock it down. And if it wasn't for them, we definitely would not have been as good as we were. Mentioned live BPs. And they can be monotonous. But now today, for the first time you got on the hill in a game that counted at least for spring training stats, that must have felt good in front of your teammates. And two and a third innings, how'd you like your appearance today? Yeah, it was good. I wasn't really happy with the third third inning. But yeah, the first two were good. I was just trying to get ahead and in attack, attack the zone. And I was able to do that. So I was glad I was happy about that. I know one of the the things that this is part of the reason why spring training is the

4:18link that it is. Especially that first outing, you know, you almost have to kind of get your legs back under you right and get just used to being on the mountain. I know Steve sparks my regular broadcast partner radio. He talks about, you know, he's a former pitcher and he talks about how just walking back up the mound and spring training like you that weird you out, you know, early in spring. So did it kind of feel like that maybe near the end of your outing that, you know, you had to push yourself a little bit since it had been a little while since you'd been out there? Uh, quite the opposite actually. I mean, I just love to pitch once I'm out there. I don't want to come out of the game. Yeah. And so I felt myself getting more into a rhythm. When you're in a live BP, it's kind of like, okay, you know, the coaches are right behind you. So it's like you get the ball back and they might say something or they might not. You're getting the ball back from them instead of like, um, so that's kind of weird. Right. Um, but yeah, just being out there, um, being able to get up and down the mound and, uh, just see a scoreboard out there too. I mean, it's just different and it's a lot more fun.

5:19So Dana, here he is. First bigly, you bet. You can get to be in the booth. He's out of ball states. 10th round. Oh, did you? How about that? First big swing. That's a big spot. That's the spot. That's exactly what we're talking about. 114.3 off the bat. I mean, that's a very finite group of major leaders who have ever hit the first pitch they've seen out. And we have the guy who brought him up to make it happen. This kid, wow, what a start. Too caught up in the results of the game. And, you know, what the organization was wanting for me and I just didn't feel like myself at all and to just go out there and be like, all right, if I glorify God and whatever I do and I give my 100% effort, I win no matter what. So for me, just being able to utilize that each and every day, just allow me to not care about the results of the game and to just trust that I was supposed to be here because this is where my feet are at. So I must be ready to go own it and go out there and play. When I saw the combo that you were a guest along with Ryan Weiss, I thought this is going to be

6:20perfect because you guys, even though he's 29, you're 25, you have a lot of similarities in that you probably put a lot of pressure on yourselves earlier in your career and then you kind of leaned on your faith and that freed you up to have this incredible success. As you go into 2026, you know that there's a major league job on the line here for you. Your mindset and early on, it seems like you've been super aggressive on the basis. You've been really patient at taking pitches and looking for your pitch, were those some of the things you thought about trying to make the team that you needed to do this spring? Absolutely. And it just goes into, you know, I've been very fortunate to know to be able to run, to be able to throw, to be able to swing. I have a couple of tools that I can use to help this team win and just being able to use all three, you know, or however many I have. You know, not always having to be the guy that goes up there and gets the big hit. I can impact the game in multiple different ways and if that's walking more and using my legs to get into scoring position, we've got a ton of good guys on our lineup that can hit me in

7:24and I'm not worried about that at all. So if I'm not the guy that gets the big hit that day, then no harm, no foul, you know, I don't have to, I don't have to slug against everyone and like I said, I always trust the guys behind me, but also just trying to, you know, be as competitive out as I can. You know, there was a swing and miss in my game throughout the minor leagues and even in my short-stint in the league last year and just working with Dan Hedigan, one of our hitting guys. Excellent guy, by the way, very intelligent, love working with him. Just we talked about it in the off season. I went out to Philly to see him. We looked at the small sample size I had and just trying to, you know, alleviate some of the areas I can get exposed at the big league level and if there are four ways I can get exposed, if we can just get rid of two of those this off season, then you're already a much more competitive out every day. So that's what I'm trying to be, just trying to see pitches right now, stay in my zone and try to find my way on base as much as I can. Now you're from Ozark, Missouri, the southwestern part of Missouri.

8:25It's about, I've actually been to Springfield, Missouri, right by Ozark. Lovely place. Yeah, it is a lovely place. I believe it's two hours from Kansas City. Yeah, two or three from St. Louis as well. Right, yeah, it's about equidistant from both. Were you a Cardinals fan, were you a Royals fan growing up? Did you have a favorite team? Cardinals. For sure, my dad was born and raised a Cardinals fan, so I can't switch up on my team, but I was just telling Shack over there, I got two teams now. And Springfield, Missouri, by the way, for those who don't know, it's the home of the Cardinals' AA affiliate, and it has been for a number of years, so that's obviously that helps create the fandom as well. Yeah, I went to a lot of games they're growing up, getting to watch a lot of players, I watched on TV, I remember specifically, in 2009 or 10, I was nine and 10 that year, and watching Matt Carpenter play in Springfield with my dad, and just getting to watch and play, and just wow, look at that guy, one day it would be

9:28cool to be like him, and fortunately enough, a couple of years ago, when I was training in the offseason in Dallas, Fort Worth, I actually got to meet him and tell him that story. It was very cool, and he's been a cool guy for me to talk to that year, and a Houston guy. Absolutely, yeah, very cool dude. Yeah, Cardinals, man. Excuse me, want to dive in a little more about what you're talking about your work with Dan Hannigan, and fans probably know this, but some might not, there's three new hitting coaches for the Ashows this year, there's Victor Rodriguez, there's Anthony Ioposi, and there's Dan Hannigan, who you worked with in Philly this song, when you say you're trying to eliminate two with a four, or whatever, are you guys going at bat by a bat, pitch by pitch, and breaking down every bat you had, the big leagues tell us about the work you guys actually did. That's a good question, and by the way, Victor and Post, great guys, love working with them as well, they all add their own little interesting take onto the hitting philosophy we're trying to push this year, and very excited for our offense this year. I think a lot of guys are all bought

10:30into a very similar idea, and we're looking forward to seeing what we do with the bats this year, but yeah, working with Dan this offseason, it was very detailed and very specific, so we wanted to look at some of the areas where I had the highest swing and miss, or like the highest chase areas in my game, and we wanted to find out why they were occurring and how could we address those, so for me it was learning the areas where I was weakest, whether it was right ear left ear, which certain pitch shape was giving me the most fits, addressing what that was, and then what mechanical or approach adjustments can we make from that point to try to alleviate some of those errors. Very interesting, and and I'm sure it's to also to a point where now it has to feel good to be able to try and implement some of those things in spring training, because I mean you can talk about all this, you can have paralysis by analysis sometimes, but I imagine the goal is for this to get to a point where it's instinctual where you don't even have to really think about it. Absolutely,

11:30it's great to have a good offseason to feel like you accomplished something, you had an idea and you went on and executed, and now it's spring training, we're still working on things, guys are still developing season starts in a month, but it's good to go out and compete and show off what you worked on, it's good to go out there and be like, you know what, I worked really hard for this, it's time to go show the people what I can do. Another thing you have in common with our other guest today, Ryan Weises, you don't mind an adventure, his adventure took him to Taiwan and to Korea, your adventure, this winter took you to Hungary, tell us about what happened in Hungary, with the fellowship of a Christian athlete. Thank you for asking about that by the way, that's awesome. Yeah, so through FCA this year I was fortunate enough to have a ministry opportunity to go out there and do some mission work, and it was the first time I'd ever been out of the country, first time ever I had done any kind of mission work before, I was very eager to go out and do so, and I'd been praying for opportunities to spread the word, use the platform for the right reasons,

12:33and there it was, it fell on my lap, and not always does God answer your prayers so blatantly, and obviously, but this time he did, and I was like, all right, loud and clear, I got it, so about the plane ticket went over there, and it was a wonderful experience. They have a program over there that for youth obviously, and even adults too, it's very interesting their culture over there, a lot of, I was actually doing a camp for people, and there were guys there who were older than me, it was a very interesting experience, but they're very passionate about playing an American-style game in Hungary, and those people had been some of the first to ever play baseball in Hungary, the older group, and they had come back every year, and it was very cool to get to work with people who are both older and younger than me, but the kids were great, you know, they, the resources down there are, so lesser than what we have in America, and it just gives you that wonderful perspective, like these kids don't have much, and yet they play the game with such passion, it's so refreshing to see people play the game for the right reasons, but also getting to speak

13:35at a Christian academy was wonderful as well, getting to meet a lot of international students, people from all over the world, and just spreading the good word about Jesus Christ. How, what was the, I'd imagine the skill level and the experience level varied widely among the the kids and the adults as you mentioned at this at this clinic, so that had to be, that had to be kind of a unique sort of situation, because you knew, I mean, players do clinics, give lessons all the time in the United States, but kind of have, like if you know, it's, okay, this age group, you kind of have an idea of what the skill level is going to be like to a certain extent, but I have to imagine it varied widely in Hungary. Absolutely, and it was, it was very interesting, I didn't know what to expect when they told us that there was going to be an adult group, I didn't know if these guys were going to be developed, and I was just going to be flipping them balls, or were they actually going to be, you know, wanting instruction, but it was very cool. Actually, there was one guy who was throwing like 90 miles an hour, and he was like a electrician, shout out to T-Board if you're listening, and the guy was nasty, he had a nasty knuckleball too, we were all shocked.

14:37Dude, it was gross, sorry, the catcher couldn't even catch it. We were honestly just hoping that, and it was a girl catching him, and we literally asked her like, are you ready for this? And she was like, yeah, I catch him all the time, she was school, but that guy was crazy. I literally, my jaw hit the ground when he got up there, and he's like, I haven't thrown in six months. It was crazy, but yeah, dude, he's cool, he's a cool dude, very nice guy. We need to get him over here if he can throw 90, and by the way, I also need to put a ceiling fan in my condo, so he could tell me with that too, if he's an electrician, so he could do a couple of things. I literally told him, I said, do you love America? You'll love it, man. You're going to love it. We've got to get him over here, but yes, the younger kids, it's always a very wide skill level, you know, varying from age groups, so obviously with the younger kids, we just want to work on basic fundamentals, and making sure they just have fun, because at that age, you know, when you're working with 10 to 13 year olds, enjoying the game is the most important part, and we want to make sure that, you know, the kids are actually having fun and playing the game for the right reasons. Zach, Cole, our guest tonight on AstroLines, Zach, you've had a chance to get in a lot of games

15:40already. You played today, everybody played today because it was a split squad. Are you back in there tomorrow? I believe so, yeah. I think you are. I think it's out two days first game tomorrow, and I think you might be hitting behind them. Let's go. When you go right at bat by at bat or played appearance by a played appearance, have you been happy with what your plan was, what your strategy was in the soft season developed within, and how you've been able to implement it in the first three games you've played? Yes, I have. It's been very good. I can already, I've already been noticing, you know, a tick up in the swing decisions, obviously walking just as much or more than the case is always a good sign. And then like I said, just being able to use my tools after that, you know, on the base, passing on defense. But so far, I've been, even today, I had an opportunity to go out there and execute an approach, and I feel like I did a pretty good job, and obviously we're just going to continue to develop it as we head into the end of March. You know, you mentioned earlier about how your mindset going into 2025 was, you know, just staying on the field, you know, you've dealt with injuries, and you know, going back to your time in college, you

16:42went to Ball State in Muncie, Indiana, also the Cardinals, by the way, for those who are not aware. And you had a great junior year in 2022, and that, you know, that led to you getting drafted in the 10th round by the Ashris, but your first couple of seasons, you only got into 22 games. Now, your first season was 2020, that was a pandemic year, so it was a short season. So was that kind of you're thinking too, going into your junior year at Ball State, like I just need to be on the field to show what I can do? Absolutely, you know, and it was a string of unfortunate events, you know, we were 15 games into our season, and then everything was done. Right. I don't know where they were shut, the NBA was done, March Madness was over, you know, MLB was canceled in their season. We were like, oh geez, like this is real. Yeah. So that was unfortunate, and then, and then obviously injury, injury, injury, my sophomore year, unfortunately, and got into very few games and didn't have much success and had a choice to transfer or stick it out and, and prove what I could do, and I chose to, I chose to ride the storm out, and I'm glad that I did, you know, the Lord blessed me,

17:46and got me through that year, and just like I said, yeah, wanted to stay on the field. I knew that if I could just get an opportunity to play some, play a whole season straight through, that I'd figure out a way to get it done, and very fortunately I did. Fans at the Big League level this year kind of learning the ABS system for the first time. It wasn't in the home ball packet, a cacti park in the Palm Beach's last year, it is this year. So when the fans go here to West Palm Beach, they see the ABS system. You're familiar with it because you were in the minor leagues last year and dealt with it. You have not many guys have challenged yet this year as hitters. It's almost been mostly catchers. How is your track record in ABS in the minor leagues? Are you a guy that challenged many pitches? Al Tuve said he probably won't challenge that much, but we'll see how it plays out. And to the fans out there who are trying to understand ABS, so are we. It's a learning curve for all of us, and it's new to everybody, so we are slowly breaking down the barriers, but I think guys are getting more and more comfortable for me personally. Had an

18:46opportunity in my first tab at, I wanted to challenge and didn't pull the trigger. It's more about for me just not exactly knowing the zone, but when would be the opportunity to use a challenge, because we only have two. It's like our field challenges, and just trying to find the balance of saving ABS versus we have a high leverage situation at the end of the game, and we need the strikeout, and we got Ryan on the mound, and they make a bad call. He needs to strike that guy out. I don't want to take that call that challenge away in the first inning because I wanted to save my bad. So just picking and choosing for me, I have a pretty good idea of my zone I feel like, but for me just trying to find out when would be the proper time throughout the game to be like, all right, it's not worth a challenge if you are wrong, or this is the time to use it. And that's a lot to think of, because you only have two seconds, so you have to make these, it's a split second decision basically. It is tough, and they actually told us some about,

19:48there's a runner displacement rules as well, with runners on base, and all umpire judgment calls, there's going to be someone this year in the big leagues that somebody steals a big base, and the guy challenges, and he has to go back, and they're going to end up losing a game, and he's going to feel really silly. I just hope that it's not me. Well, is that call really glad that we got a chance to see you play in the big leagues at the end of last year, and I think I can speak for a lot of Astros fans at that 15-game cameo, just made us even more excited to see you over a longer stretch, and to get a better idea of what you can do on a regular basis, so looking forward to a wonderful 2026, and hope it's a great year for you for the Astros. Thank you so much, and fans out there, you know, we're all excited, you know, we want to get back to baseball in October, that's what you guys are used to, that's what you guys deserve, and that's our number one goal, we're all pushing for it, and we love you guys, there are no Astros without you guys. So, all right, awesome.

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22:01The kick in the one one. Breaking ball and that's it pretty well left, racing back on it is Conan onto the warning track looking up. See you later! Taylor Tremel an opposite field home run and the astros lead is 3 to 1. Taylor does have a home run to spring. An RBI or two or three here. Swing and a drive to right field going all the way back his cruise. He's near the wall, reaches up and it's off the wall. Into score is Alan, around third for Rarras. He's going to score. It's a two-run double off the batter Taylor Tremel and the astros cut the lead in half. It's now 4-2 nationals. Back here on Astro Line from Duffy's off of the Madison Street in downtown West Palm Beach. Reminder Astros season tickets, partial plans, many plans and flex plans are all available now for the 2026 season. Choose the plan that best fits your schedule or create your own. Learn more at astros.com. Slash tickets. Well, you heard the highlights there. He's been off to a good start here in spring training. We are joined by Astros outfielder Taylor Tremel.

23:06He's here with us tonight. Hello, hello, hello. Taylor, how has Spring gone for you back in camp with the astros again this year? How have you viewed the first couple of weeks of actual game action with the astros? I'm excited. It's a great time right now, especially with the guys here. It's second years with the second year with the team. You just look around the locker room and it's just this feeling of comfort that we have with the guys over there. We have a great group of guys, you know, in the locker room. It's fine going to the field every single day. I enjoy, I love those guys and it's fine going to battle with those guys every single day. Taylor, you've been with a few teams now. How has this astros, locker room, clubhouse, culture, all of those things above a little different from others worse or better? I feel like we're a family and I think sometimes that kind of gets cliched in with some guys to say that. No, actually, I actually believe it. You know, every night I'm on the phone with somebody, whether we Bryce, whether we cam, whoever it may be, but I'm on the phone with those guys. We're talking,

24:08we're chopping it up. We may play in the game or something like that. We may be going out to eat. We may be doing whatever it is. We're just all together and we have a blast in that clubhouse and then when we go out in the field, it's just this level of comfort that we get to communicate with those guys each and every time we're out there, it's like just learning from each and every person. So I enjoy it. Those are my boys and I love them to death. How much does that help as well when you have such a good rapport with everybody off the field to help out? I'm sure not only with how you play on the field and leads the success, but also just getting through the grind of, look, everybody always talks about the season being a grind, but spring training starts a lot earlier than I think a lot of people realize. So I'm sure that also helps get through where every day can kind of start to feel a little bit the same because there's not as much of the the traveling in and out as there is during the year. Yeah, absolutely. You get to that point. Obviously, you wake up, you go to the field, you get down with the game, then you go back home sleep and it kind of feels like that mundane part. But for the most part, we're together each and

25:08every day. It's fun because sometimes you may feel lost, you may feel like, oh, nobody sees what I'm doing, but it's nothing for Carlos to come over to me and be like, hey, great job today, I saw you working today. That just builds a rapport over the team right there. We look at those guys and it's just about next man up, it's just about being together with those guys just because we know how tough this game is each and every day. Those guys are there every single day for us and if I could just be half the people that they are to me, that just means a lot to me that they are like that. Well, I've heard you're like that a lot, you know, we talked to some of the younger guys and everybody always says, man, Taylor really comes up and encourages me. He's just a great teammate. Who taught you, who gave you the example to be a great teammate? This a lot of guys, oh, there's a whole bunch of guys. When did it start? When did it start? When did high school? It started probably in, you know, some some in high school, but I know for me, my first big league spring training, I was with the Cincinnati Reds and a mere Garrett was a guy who took me under his

26:10wing. Kind of a little funny story. I was on the, I was on the couches and I was chopping it up and I was kind of sitting there to look relaxed. I was comfortable. You know, I was, I was comfortable. I felt, I felt good. I was feeling myself out of few good games and I looked over and a mirror looks at me. He goes, you see that guy over there? I was like, yeah, it was Joey Faddle. I know that guy. And he's like, he's not sitting on the chairs, is he? And I was like, nope, he is not sitting on chairs. So you got the message. Yeah, I instilled to this day. I really don't even touch the leather anymore. I just, I just try to stay away leave that for the big dogs and just try to be myself, but I don't go near the chairs. But a mere was that guy to me. He took me under his wing, still to his days, my big brother. And he really taught me that way. I know that for you, you grew up in, in Georgia and grew up in, in Kennesaw, just there, northwest of Atlanta. That seems like an area that's kind of like a hotbed of talent that I, I don't know if it up people discuss from a baseball perspective. Is there anybody that you ran into

27:15when you were coming up through high school or travel ball or whatever it was? And maybe you guys have carried on and now you, you see them as you carry up into the pro ranks and into the majors. There's, there's too many. There's, there's, honestly, too many. James Nelson, who's with us right now. We played together at 14 you. A keelbadu, Carter Keeboom. You know, I'm trying to think, you're kind of thinking all about all the people that have been with. Cobb County. I mean, it's just a hotbed of talent in that area. And it's, it's fun. Jamai Jones, who's with team career right now. Just, just a whole bunch of guys that are over there. Every single weekend we're there and it's just each and every day is a different person who's getting drafted. Is a different person going to college. It's just a different person each and every day that we're just like, Hey, I played against this guy growing up or I went to high school with this guy or anything like that. And the town over there is ridiculous. And for me now, I think my little niche thing that I do now is just watching the high school baseball. There's

28:19a lot of guys on YouTube right now that do a really good job of recording these guys. And some of the kids that I know that I talk to and train with in the office and they're playing right now. And I just want to go watch them and see what they're doing. It's easily accessible. So do they get a hold of you and ask you for advice? Absolutely. Yeah, they, they hit me up. They talk to me. We, we trained together too. So whenever I'm with those guys, I always try to just make sure that what I didn't have coming up in the systems and everything like that. Yeah, that's valuable. I just try to make sure that they have it a little bit easier than I did. That's all that's the only thing I try to do. That's awesome. Absolutely. So I'm guessing that means you go back to Georgia and that's where you spend your off seasons. Absolutely. I can train. Absolutely. Like you were committed to go to Georgia Tech if I'm not mistaken. Yes. Was there, was there anywhere else you were looking to go or are you like, I am from here? I want to go to school here. Georgia Tech is the spot for me. Was there any look for you elsewhere? Was it, this is home? This is where I'm going to be. So funny story. It was, it pretty much was just Georgia Tech. You know, a few teams came up. I think Duke and Georgia came up and then Georgia Tech

29:20came up with their offer and I was like, scratch that. We're going to Georgia Tech. I'm going to be right, right near home, probably about 30 minutes away from my house. You know, I talk to the football team as well. I was going to play both there. So that, I wanted to be there. Yeah, I love Georgia Tech. They're having a great season right now with their baseball team and I have all the love for those guys over there. Tell me about your football career. That was nasty. What position? Running back. Running back. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Running back. So I say this now because I can brag on it because I don't play anymore. Yeah. And nobody's going to hitch anymore. Yeah, exactly. Senior year, 2500 yards, 38 touchdowns, two picks, all a minute. Well, yeah, I think it was like a all-state player of the year. So do you think you were going to be in the NFL? Absolutely not. Really? No, wow. I didn't like football. I did not play in football at all. I know that it's standard. I know that Bryce Matthews, we talked to him because Bryce was obviously a quarterback at the Tascacita in the Houston area. And I mean, he was very talented and he put up big numbers at a Tascacita. But he said he's

30:26like, I didn't really like football practice. Like that wasn't something that I particularly liked doing. I liked playing baseball a lot more than that. Yeah, I enjoyed. So I described it like this. Baseball for me was I could go out each and every single day, 5 a.m. workouts, you know, play up until 8 o'clock at night or anything like that. And I'm happy. One second out of that football field for practice, for practice. I could not stand it. Yeah. And then I think there was one week where this was a tipping point for me. I think it was one week where we were playing our rival Walker. And I remember I knew I was going to rush for about 100 plus yards or something like that. And my coach, I ran with ball one time of freshman and I called into freshman. I was like, hey, get some reps. He got his reps in. He did not do a good job. They called me and they they had some choice words for me. And I was like, he's got to get his reps somehow. I'm like, why are we even doing this right now? I got to go study and do stuff else. And they were just like, get in the game. And that that week I actually kind of had a talk with my coach and I ended up

31:30rushing for like five touchdowns. And you know, I had about 250 yards. And I was like, I don't like this at all. Wow. Hey, what were your parents like telling about your mom and dad? They're the best. They're the absolute best telling them. My parents, they sacrifice so much for me to be in this position right now. But they're driving. I mean, all the driving, all the sacrifice for me to have a chance to go to a private school. You know, there were times where my dad wasn't able to be, you know, he was working. So he wasn't able to be at some events. And he's remorseful for it. But I tell him every single time, like, I wouldn't be in this position without you. And the coolest thing this offseason for me was being able to see my dad retire. And all the work that he put in each and every single day, whether it be, you know, waking up at the post office and waking up going to the post office at, you know, three a.m. in the morning, like, I saw those times, you know, I saw how those times where, you know, we didn't know, you know, certain things that we were going to

32:32have certain things were going to happen. And they were the first people to show me what true love is. And I mean, I say here, and I just want to be just a piece of them because, you know, they, they sacrifice and they show me what true love with true love actually is. And, you know, when I have kids, you know, I just want to be just an ounce of what they are to me because they're the absolute best. And I have so much love for them. So did it make it a little bit harder than, I mean, you, you get drafted in the first round. And so did that make it a little bit harder to decide to say, hey, I'm actually going to not go to college. I'm going to go off and, and go start playing pro ball. And I know that, you know, your first year, you end up in a spot that Sparky and I have both been in and, and Pilling Spontana and the Pioneer League. That's a little bit further away than playing a Georgia Tech would have been. They said, I would be dumb if I did not go. If I did not, I didn't go. Absolutely. It was, it was a little bit of a question mark, but, you know, we had a lot of talks with my agent at the time. And we felt like that was the

33:33best situation for us. And, you know, for me, like it was life changing for me and my family. And it ended up working out very well. And, you know, obviously I do have plans to go on back to college. So that's one within itself. But yeah, it's, they, they, my, my mom pretty much told me, hey, go. You don't need to be here anymore. Yeah. Yeah. So you said you're going to go back to college. Do you have an idea of what you want to study and does it line up with what you were thinking at 18 years old when you get drafted? Are you through life? Said, no, this is actually going to be a better degree for me. And so I was obviously, I was going to Georgia Tech. So I wanted to be an engineer. And my brother, he's an engineer at this point right now. And I, right now, I have no idea. It'd probably be something to kind of get my foot in the door, whether it be business, whether it be a community. I don't, I don't know yet. Yeah. Um, sports management, uh, whatever it may be, um, my, my doors are wide open. Um, I want to explore all different types of avenues, whether it be media, whether it be broadcasting, whether it be business, whatever it may be,

34:37I, I'm just exploring it all, just trying to get my feet wet and all of it and just learn from every single person that I come into contact with. What's your minor league career been like? I mean, give the, the folks a little bit of inside of what the ups and downs are like, is it minor league? Because the AAA level, you've got almost an 890 OPS. There's not a lot left to prove. But what's that been like? Uh, it was, so at first, it was great. Um, you know, you get drafted, you know, your, your prospect and everything like that. I personally wish that I would have known a little bit more of what I was actually getting myself into, uh, with professional baseball, because I thought it was just play, try to get up to the big leagues and then we'll see what happens. How was it different? Uh, there's a whole lot. There's a whole, you think it's going to be glitz and glamour throughout the whole time. And it's not, um, you know, like you said, we're in Billings, Montana. Billings is a great city, by the way. Great town. But, uh, it was completely different than being in a, my, my county in Cobb County where I live that, uh, growing up is the same population as is Montana, the whole state. Yeah. So that was a little bit of a

35:40shocker for me. And, um, after that, um, just kind of going through the ups and downs, you know, not knowing like what moves needed to be made, like how I needed to do or what I needed to do to actually take care of my body, how I needed to recover all these things. I had to figure out I was blessed enough to be talented enough to get to the big leagues without knowing these things. But now that I'm here is how am I eating? You know, how am I resting? How am I recovering? How am I taking care of my body? How am I actually practicing? All these things come together and now that's making me a better baseball player, whereas like I said, one of the points that I try to emphasize to the younger guys is these are things that I had no idea of and nobody told me and I just want to go over there and just make sure that you guys are solid and that you guys have a better pathway for you and your family and you can make, you know, you can do a lot of whole cool things in this game and I want you to have that opportunity because at the end of the day, it's not about me. It's about how am I going to be able to be a vessel to you in your career? What was the tipping point maybe

36:43for you or was there a point in time where whether it was an organization you were with or just other players or was it another player that kind of taught you or showed you, hey, these are the things that you need to be doing if you want to make it by not just on talent alone but want to have a long successful career. So I got a chance in 2024 to be with the Los Angeles Dodgers and I got to see the way that Mookie Betts worked and obviously everybody sees Shohei and you know that what he does and he's an amazing person, amazing human being but you got to see Mookie Betts do what he does, you know, four-time, you know, world champion MVP and he's a goal-glover in different positions and you kind of see like how does that happen, you know, is it just it's just talent alone, I got to see his work, I got to see his work ethic, I got to see his recovery, I got to see how he ate, you know, there was one day where he invited me to his room and, you know, I'm seeing him cook for himself, he has his own, well, I've seen his own kitchen,

37:45what he travels with, that's beside the point. He brings a hot plate. No, no, like it's legit, like it's a whole portable kitchen, it's ridiculous, it's like a massive... On the road trips during the baseball season, he takes it seriously. Wow, and I'm just sitting there talking to him, just asking him, trying to read his mind and everything like that and he's sitting there cooking, you know, chicken breasts and rice at, you know, 12 o'clock at night and I'm just kind of sitting there like, that's what it takes, you know, that's exactly what it takes to be the best, you know, and whether it be getting there super early, taking care of your body, staying there after, staying there late, like those are the things that I said, hey, look, if I want to take my game to this next level, I got to do this and he really changed my mindset and he has the accolades to approve it and for me, that's where I'm just kind of like, hey, I want to take that next step in my career and he helped me do that. What have you done here lately to take it to the next level? I mean, how do you feel about your game right now? I feel amazing, I feel amazing, but we talk about

38:49consistency and sometimes for me, the biggest thing with talking about consistency wasn't just how it is on the field and my work that I'm doing on the field because that takes care of itself. I already know I'm going to take care of that. It's when I leave the field. Hey, am I just going to go out and, you know, have XYZ food or am I going to actually cook for myself and do whatever I need to do so that the next day I'm fueled, I'm ready to go in and play, you know, three or five games in a row in spring training, right? I'm ready for it, you know, the biggest thing for me was making sure that this obviously isn't like, I have a nutritionist, he tells me pretty much everything that I need to do on a daily basis so that I'm out there on that field, I'm staying healthy and, you know, everybody says it now, it's like the best feature that anybody can have is availability and being on that field is availability. So that's where I'm at right now and, you know, proof is in the pudding and I'm just trying to be that person this year and take it to the next level. One thing your manager is reiterated to us a few times already in the morning,

39:51scrums with the media talking about you in particular, was the readiness, the preparedness, and given a great at bat, you know, whether it be every other day, you get one at bat, you have to be prepared for that, how do you do that? Because that's a hard job. So the biggest thing for me is making sure that my mind sets right, you know, I'm making sure that, hey, I got one at bat, for example, today, you know, I have one at bat, I know, I know how the game's going right now, I may get two at bats, but I know I have one at bat and I got to make the most of this at bat, how am I going to get the job done? And so everybody knows you're coming to your cold, you're not, you're not warmed up or anything like that, like just put yourself in a dog mindset, you know, I'm going to get this job done. No matter what it is, I'm going to get this job done. I don't care who's out on that mound, you're not going to beat me, you know, I got a wife to feed, you know, so that's the that's the mindset that I have and it's mainly just looking at the, I look at the dugout and I look at looking, see at those guys that are in the dugout, our dugout. Okay, I look at our dugout and I

40:56look and see at those guys and make sure that they know that it reminds me that it's bigger than me and, you know, past the baton type of thing. I look at it together. I look at those guys, I'm like, hey, I'm about to do his job for you guys. Like this is, let's roll and that's the main thought that I have and it's just when I get that box brief and let it eat. Well, we'll hear more from Taylor as we continue along here as we will have more of Astro line after this. Memberships for the 2026 Buddy's Club presented by HEB are on sale now. Children 12 and under will receive four 2026 regular season Astros tickets, a drawstring bag, widget hat, 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 miss your chance to be part of the club. Visit astros.com slash buddies to learn more or join today. Welcome back to Astro line here at Duffies, just off Cometa Street and downtown West Palm Beach.

42:04Thanks to everybody for coming out this evening and joining us here for Astro line, Steve Sparks alongside Garrett Green and Taylor Tremel is back with us for another segment here. Taylor, I want to talk a little bit about on the field, but I'm going to start by asking you about the Astros in addition to Tetsuya Imi. So you got to take live batting practice against him. And afterwards, you said about his splitter quote, I've never seen a pitch like that before in my life. I think that we saw that a little bit today when he made his appearance for the Astros, but I'm just curious from your perspective because you've seen a lot of pitching in your life. What is it that made that pitch so unique and maybe so difficult in your mind for a hitter? So the big thing for me is I had no idea what it was doing. It almost defied gravity as it went in a certain way, like it had almost a gyro spin. Okay. And they just tumbling a little bit. No tumble. It was just gyro. Imagine like Saturn.

43:04Yeah. Imagine like Saturn drinks. How they move. Yeah. Imagine that on a baseball and you think it's supposed to either go left or right. It just went down. And I'm just kind of sitting there. I'm like, I looked at the pitch, I looked back at the pitch and it was dotted. It was like touching the bottom part of the plate. And I'm just sitting there. I'm like, I couldn't have done anything with that pitch. An unbelievable player in the willingness to go into a new country and try and learn the language in one of the toughest sports in all the the toughest sport in all the world. And being able to produce how he's producing right now, like he's an amazing person by an amazing player, amazing player. Taylor, it's amazing. When you go through the minor leagues and play with all the Latin players or even the foreign-born players period that don't speak the language to see how they're able to adjust and try to accomplish a dream. Absolutely. Do you have kind of a newfound respect for those guys coming over to doing that?

44:05Absolutely. I see now for me, I'm learning Spanish. And so one of the things I love doing is going in and talking to the Spanish players, you know, each and every day. And I don't want to talk to them in English because they know English. You know, I want to make sure that they know that I'm trying to learn their language. And I'm on day, I think I'm doing Duolingo right now. I'm on day like 320 or something like that. How are you doing? I'm doing great. I got a great streak. I'm almost out of year. Hopefully in about two months, I'll be out of year. So we're in a good spot. But I still feel like I'm so behind the curve where I'm like, I'm looking, I'm watching all the Netflix shows and Spanish and everything like that. I feel like I can't learn. And those guys are coming in and you hear all the testimony stories that they have. And it's like, yeah, I learned English in a year or I learned English in like three years or whatever. How about the guys to say I learned English watching cartoons? Exactly. And I'm just kind of sitting there. I'm just like, there's no chance. And you hear those guys and I have the utmost respect for them because to be able to come into a different country, learn their language, learn to learn a sport that you're really good at,

45:10and produce the way that they produce. It's amazing. And I have, like I said, I have the utmost respect for those guys. You know, Steve mentioned you coming up to the miners. I did have, I did have one question I wanted to ask you because I remember this when it happened. Would you remember the Padre's farm system? So you guys with the Emerald Osad Poodles Game 5 of the Texas League Championship Series for people who might not know. For the Osad Poodles, they're in Tulsa it's a day game. Yes. Of all things. Yep. And down three one in the ninth inning, Taylor had to go ahead Grand Slam that ends up winning the Texas League title for the Emerald Osad Poodles. I watch a highlight of it today and I remember when it happened. Obviously that I know the easy answer is your first major league home run is probably going to top that. Do you have any other home runs in your career that you can even compare to that other than that? Probably that first one in the big leagues. Wow. Um. Futures game. Futures game was cool because my family was there. Cool. And that was in my whole like my best friends were there. My family was there. That was

46:12cool. I really don't know actually truly if we're being honest and not just because everybody's here. My first home runs that Astros player was probably one of the coolest home runs that I've ever hit because it was backside which happens happens at times but it was my first hit as an Astro. And I was just kind of sitting there. I was just waiting because I just wanted to hear that crowd erupt. I wanted to do something for the city. Whatever it may be do something cool for the city and be a part like feel like I'm a part of something. And when I hit the home run I was just like it was almost like a breath of fresh air but I almost was like hey like guys I want to be here. And that was kind of like my stamp. I was like I want to be a part of this organization. You guys took a chance on me. I want to be here. And when I hit it it was just kind of like like an exhale. And that was that was probably one of the coolest home runs I've ever hit right there. You know what last year when so many guys got hurt and Zach Short you know had a huge series in L.A. We saw Jason Alexander. The Astros 1-9 consecutive at his starts. You come up big on

47:16a couple of games and win the game for the team. You guys were kind of a unit. You know the guys that just came in. You guys weren't going to be denied. Were you? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. We like I said we had a lot of injuries last year. I felt like we you know we didn't have our full thing out there and really at any time for the most part. Yeah. But to be a part of that and still come one game of the playoffs was just about as impressive but I think I've ever seen a team. I mean we had some fight in our we had some fight. We went out there every single day. We didn't care who was out there with us. We knew that we were going to get the job done either way. And that starts from up top obviously with Dana and everybody his crew. Look they do a very good job of bringing in the right guys. I had the right mindset each and every year to make sure that we're in a contender each and every year and I had the utmost respect for that man. You mentioned a little while ago that you said you feel great. You're in a good spot. We've talked a little bit about some of the things that you've done over the last couple of years to get your body in good

48:19shape and everything like that. Is there anything in particular that you went into the off season and said this is what I'm working on to make sure that I can implement it in 2026 in my career. Dana Brown came up to me last year during spring training before my injury and he said you're late and I was confused. I was like I don't know what you're talking about. I'm taking BPM and balls off the wall. He's like you're late and I was like all right we'll see and I was like I didn't really know what to take of it and then we kind of go throughout the year and he kind of was just kind of like hey man you're late and you felt you were on time. I felt like I was on time and then obviously when I started to get like getting more playing time like there were times where I would get my pitch and I'll fall it back and he would just kept saying like you're late like you need to figure out a way to get on time and so there's off season I really sat there and I just looked at hitters you know I just looked at the best hitters in the game Ted Williams Hank and Hank Aaron you know looking at all those guys and then looking at very like kind of almost my generation like Curtis Granderson Dexter Fowler and then kind of like newer age here like

49:21it's so too strong you know all these guys Cal Cal Raleigh whoever it may be I'm just studying these guys and seeing when they get started I was getting started and there would be film on this I'm getting started when the guys almost come to the plate and the ball is about to be out of his hand that's where I'm getting started so you're late I was late I was late and so I kind of sat there and I was like okay how am I going to get on time so I wrote down in my journal after I journal every single night I wrote down on my journal right before I came here this was going to be my goal come in the camp I'm going to be on time and it would be a dangerous hitter and in that I got to be earlier and so right now I just feel like I'm starting when that guy's picking up his leg and that's my cue when he picks up the leg I'm starting what do you do when you start I load into my back hip and I pick up my leg and then once that legs up it's go time and I'm getting into that ground and when I when I unleash just it's fun does it feel super early it feels really early but I also know that in that point when I get my foot down I've done this so many times I'll

50:27take a million plus swings in my life you know I know how to swing about I know how to have a good swing it's just about at point of contact it's just getting that ball out in front and letting damage happen and that's kind of like my mindset right now and it's just like be a dangerous hitter but also be like controlled at the same time and that just comes from the work that we do in the cage with our hitting coaches and right now that's kind of like what I feel is just being on time and being early and being a dangerous hitter. Just head Williams the furthest back that you went for like black and white grainy footage or did you go even further back to study some different swings. I don't I don't know if I don't know if Ted is older or younger than Cool Papa Bell I don't I have no idea. So Cool Papa Bell was further back. Yeah but that was more so just hearing people talk about him and everything like that and watching these swings on him but just kind of listening to how he kind of like may have talked about certain things Bob Gipson Josh Gipson Josh Gipson Josh Gipson. Just seeing how they talked about it a little rabbit hole on YouTube listening to

51:30Hank Erin as well how he talked about it and just how he flips his hips on the inside pitches and tries not to roll his hips on the outside pitch like thinking about the simplicity of it and then how he did it and had 755 home runs like I don't know I have no idea but I listened to it and I was like you know what like let me go down to the basics and figure out how I can be a better hitter. You ever sit around and watch your own. Yeah yeah yeah I do. What's that like? It's amazing. Close what do you see? It's simple and you look at him and he's just he's such a massive person but you don't one he's one of the most athletic people on the team. Yeah people don't realize that he's one of the and I will I will go down on this hill. You're on Alvarez is one of the most athletic people I think I've ever seen. I saw him yesterday kicking a ball a baseball like 20 times in a row just kind of like soccer. I'm like bro I can't do that but I sit down and I watch at times especially if I'm going through something I'm like dang I'm not I'm not feeling like I'm

52:31getting you know my my hips through on this left handed picture and I'll just look at him and just look at what he does and then I think the funny thing about that is that I saw him up close when I was in Seattle and in the AL no though I think it was a yeah ALDS when he walked us off there's actually a cool part if you ever get to see the side view of his back when he's hitting I'm sitting on the top rail when he hits the homer like it's Robbie Ray. Oh against Robbie Ray and I remember as a baseball fan I'm looking and I'm like I almost jumped which is going to crazy part because it was the loudest stadium I've ever heard shout out to the Houston fans it's a loudest stadium I've ever heard but I sat there and I went like and I was like keep your composure keep your composure this stinks but I was almost like this is the coolest homer but yeah I do sit down watch your none so when you watch team as a as an opponent it how much different is it as a teammate I didn't like him I didn't like him I thought he was two I thought the game was

53:34too easy for him when I played against him did you think he was arrogant on the other side no I just didn't like him I just didn't like him I thought he the game looks so easy for him and I was just like dude it can't be that easy for you you're three months older than me I don't like anything about you and then I get on the team and I see him and I'm like dude I love this guy he's the nicest that's all me I'm on each and every day yeah one of our things up with you by a getting back off the field a little bit and talking about something that I think is is pretty near and dear to you hard and that is back in Georgia you run a toy drive around Christmas time if I'm not mistaken yes yes what was the impetus for that and I'm guessing how much has it grown over the course of the last few years absolutely so we started our foundation the tram foundation me and my wife were the co-founders and it is something that holds something dear to my heart because all I all that me and my wife really want to do is just give back you know that's what we're called to do and so this year we well the past few years we've given toy drives to

54:37the children health care of Atlanta right holding that drive a lot of especially a lot of the fans here they helped bring a lot of toys I think it was like 300 something plus toys for these kids and a little testimony with that the coolest thing that I heard this offseason was I thought it was just going to be for the kids to see the smile on the kids faces but when I got a chance to see the smile in the tears from the parents one parent came up to us and she was like hey I just want to thank you guys for holding this because now I don't have to buy toys for my other kids and my nieces and nephews and I'll just sit in there I was like you're here you don't realize the pain and the gravity the gravity of what they're going through you know it's not just one kid that's in there they have multiple kids and for us to like do that it is they they helped us out more than we yeah they helped us more we are obviously many months away from the holidays but if people want to go

55:38ahead and tag it and make sure they follow back up in in the offseason this coming year what's the best way if Astros fans want to get involved absolutely just go to my Instagram it's on the tag part is the tram foundation and it's it's on my Instagram so just search me up and then once you see that it'll be on my link bio and you just go there and there's a place where you can donate there's a place where you can you can pretty much can do anything you can donate toys you can donate money whatever it may be we're always accepting and it's just it's such a fun thing that we do and this year looking to host a camp as well again so just ask our main mission is glorifying Christ throughout all these kids and making a difference in the community through the kids so that's basically good job he's a student of 10 Williams and Hank Aaron and he is on time yes Taylor thank you so much for taking a lot of time to chat with us thank you guys go out shows there he is

56:39Taylor Trebel has been our guest with us here hey a reminder that you can see Brooks Capka Ricky Fowler and the reigning champ Min Wool Lee at the 2026 Texas Children's Houston Open Houston's premier PGA tour event returns to Memorial Park Golf Course March 26th through the 29 tickets are available now at tchouopen.com slash tickets coming up we will hear from Astros beat rider Brian McTaggart is going to join us well of that as we carry on here with Astro line from Duffy's on climatus get ready to experience Astros baseball the way you want whether you're a diehard fan or looking for exciting moments the Astros have a ticket plan built just for you choose from full a partial season tickets to be there for every unforgettable play one more flexibility you can offer a mini plan or a flex plan and catch the action on your own terms with options for three games or all 81 there's a plan for every fan visit astros.com slash tickets to choose your player SCHN plus is the newest way to watch the Astros anytime anywhere get all your

57:45SCHN programming like the Astros rockets and behind the scene features all in one spot learn more at astros.com slash watch 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 reigning champion Min Wool Lee and more Houston'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 welcome back to Astro line here at Duffy's off of climatus tree in downtown west Palm Beach lace up and join the run the Astros race of the pennant presented by Houston Methodist is Houston's newest 5k and 10k set to start an in at dyken park on May 2nd visit astros.com slash race to register now a man who will certainly be at the front of the 10k for that race is Astros beat

58:51reporter Brian McTaggart for Moby.com who's joining us here on Astro line tags thanks for dropping by today how has spring training gone for you so far on what your what your number of this is is it for you here in spring this is my 23rd spring training okay 13 Kasimi 10 down here but no it's gone good I think today was the first day where I started looked at the schedule and thought oh boy we're sort of in the dog days of spring training you know it's you don't really see the light at the end of the tunnel now you feel you've been here a while but you know another week I think it'll probably turn over you'll start to think you're getting close for you is it is it a phase where you can't really start putting together a roster because there's still a long way to go but you just in that middle phase where guys are just getting their work in aren't they yeah that's exactly right people ask me well well how do they look I'm like it's hard to tell there's just guys are just getting work in the lineup is just patched together and you know starters are going too winning so it's really impossible to tell it's more about the individual players and how

59:52they look so you know I'll just tell every month you know I asked me in about two weeks and I'll have a better idea there you go obviously the news out of the out of Astros camp today is Jeremy Pania suffers an injury in his time with team Dominican Republic in their exhibition game it's against the Tigers in Santo Domingo I mean what what's it looking like right now for for the Astros and for Pania yeah what we were told about the injury was a broken tip of the finger that you know the ground ball looked like it went over the mound maybe took a bad hop went over the bag he was able to complete the play but certainly an injury that they said they're going to re-evaluate in two weeks for three weeks away from opening day so probably opening day you have to wonder about his availability at this point but hey it happened now and maybe if he can you know if he can get back in three or four weeks you know at the most and maybe it's not such a bad thing but yeah just an unfortunate thing with the WBC and I know a lot of people blame it on the WBC but I mean it was an exhibition game against the Tigers this stuff could have happened on the back

1:00:55fields here as well the same without two VF years ago getting hit that could have happened in grapefruit league plays just an unfortunate thing and really thanks for Jeremy because I know he was really looking forward to playing in his first WBC and now he'll be here rehabbing with the boys Brian what are you hearing about who's going to replace Jeremy at shortstop in the mean while yeah I talked to Joe a spot after the game he said Nick Allen will continue to play some shortstop which he does very well and he said Carlos Correa now is going to make some starts at shortstop if you remember early in camp that the spot has said he wanted to keep Correa third I think yeah Correa wanted to just focus on third but things change and if you're the Astros it's a pretty good option to have to put Carlos Correa at shortstop in the area he's done it for so long and he's so good at it and it opens up a spot for Correa it opens up a spot for Correa and everyone talks about all spring about the the glut of infielders and man these things seem to have a way of working themselves out not not what you want if you're if you're the Astros but if any team can absorb losing pinya I think it's the Astros just with with Correa and now yet Correa is able to play

1:01:58third I mean you mentioned that and we saw today I think in the game against the Marlins why he is so valuable and what value he brings I mean putting it either a 14 pitch at bat against Sandy Alcantra I mean when you're sitting there watching and a bat like that progress what's what's going through your mind is you're seeing a guy just fight off fight off fight off and be part of that but it's kind of par for the course for him it seems like yeah typical Perez I thought he was going to either walk or hit a home run me too I mean that's like that the there's two outcomes with him it's a walk or home run it seems like like he didn't you know he played a game a couple I guess a few days ago and he did just that but puts up an incredible at bat I knew when he challenged that pitch he was going to be right I mean there was no doubt and there were a lot of challenges in this game today that the Astros did pretty well with Christian Walker two of them in the same at bat right another guy who knows the strike zone really well so it's going to be fun watching Perez with the ABS I think it's going to help him what's the been the biggest story for you in spring training so far Emi was such a big attraction and he's looked really good anything

1:03:02else stand out to you yeah Emi it has looked really good you know I thought McCullter's looked pretty good I was surprised that's a great one yeah I was surprised by his velocity the first time out in a in a game where he touched 95 and I just didn't expect that and his first full healthy offseason in a while and I think it showed he looked like a guy that was you know ready to put in the rotation to start the year so I think it's going to be really interesting the last year year of his contract what he can do and if he gets up to 95 plus and we know with his break and stuff I think he's got a chance to put together a season I mean he spoke with you guys pretty early on in camp and it seemed like he had a very good perspective about what this year could mean for him what'd you take away from that conversation and and being able to talk with him heading into spring training and now seeing a little bit of fruition for it yeah he sounded to me like a guy who was very comfortable that if this is his last year it is the last year of his

1:04:04contract but if it's the last year of him playing baseball that he's good with it that he's content he's you know he's made a lot of money he's got a young family now and that he'll have no regrets and and you know I don't maybe maybe you could answer this thing that maybe could not help you on the field when you have that piece of mind where you know I just don't feel the pressure to go out here and and you know play for another contract or or try to battle for a spot I'm just going to go out there maybe have a little bit more fun than I've had in years and and you know maybe puts together a solid seat I think it can help some people and I think some people need that edge and sometimes they try to trick themselves into thinking like they're fighting to prove themselves and some guys just work differently in those fashions tell me what you see in Mike Burrows so far so it obviously gave up a little bit with Anderson Brito and Jacob Melton to get Burrows into camp but he looks like a solid rotation piece looks really solid I like the way he throws strikes

1:05:04one of the thing is Spada keeps saying about him is just his competitive fire and that that even comes across for us after the games what's he like yeah he just he's just very serious and down the business and he wants to answer the questions and and move on and you know maybe maybe we can crack that note a little bit down the road and get him with smiling and laughing a little bit but he he looks like a guy that if I asked the wrong question he probably would he probably would give you a whack give me a whack yeah so but hey there's nothing wrong with that so I definitely see where that comes from when you talk to him and yeah you've taken a few wax taking a few wax which probably to the head which explains a lot so yeah he I think he's looked good and that can wind up to be a really good trade considering the amount of control you have now having him for five seasons Cougar's basketball Kelvin Samson's got he's got a lot of talent but there you got some young guys what are some weaknesses and strengths of that team and how far do you think it can get in the tournament yeah well the strengths I think are experienced they have a couple of guards you played in a national championship game the weakness for me is just the

1:06:08inside offense they don't have anybody they can throw the ball to consistently to try to score and if you look at some of these teams like Florida and Michigan they have a lot of size underneath so they you know they lost three games in a row against three really good teams two of them on the road skies falling but at the end of day Kelvin's going to have him ready to play and I think they're going to be a very very tough out at March and probably a game that not a lot of teams are going to feel comfortable when they see them on their bracket you ready to travel again from March madness this year well last year I made a hotel reservation for the final four like a year out and I actually used that hotel so I'm saying it's audio yeah I've done it again I have a hotel in Indianapolis so I'm ready to go so we'll see do you ever work no hey I tell people my dad was a pipe bitter so I saw him come home every day smelling like chemicals and sweat and I've never worked that hard in my life so no I don't work there you go something I think you do work on I want to just finish up on this spring breakout roster

1:07:08came out today and that's obviously a little bit more on the prospect side of things there's obviously a lot of names that are in there and plenty of the guys who are ranked in the top 30 which I've not mistaken you you assist a little bit without a little bit puts that together is there any name that stood out to you from there or anybody that maybe whenever that game rolls around on it somewhere around March 19 March 19 yeah is there anybody that you're saying hey I want to me I'd like to see them get into a game or maybe the Astros think they want that player to play because they want to get a look at it down here in spring well for me it's the guy that is now their number one prospect which is Kevin Alvarez who they signed last January out of Cuba for two million dollars had a really good minor league mini camp had a couple of home runs in the game a couple of weeks ago when we first got down here I really want to see him play in this game and get get several of bats and just to see what he can do against that kind of competition I mean I haven't seen him play in a game I mean I've seen Yonic and Bryce some of the other prospects but this is a guy I just don't know a lot about I would love to see him and see if see what all the hype is about it's going to be a lot of fun I mean there's a

1:08:13lot of those guys that are on their Ramsey David's another guy for me a guy that's throwing upper 90s and I think he's going to be in the big leagues pretty soon too yeah and guys like Peco and Mayor and Ryan for Coochie who they signed give a million dollars has been injured hasn't thrown a professional pitch yeah another guy would like to see for the first here's another guy his name is Rosario he's a right handed pitcher and he's a house he's a huge duty through 102 and a bullpen the other day wow that goes down for you as Leo Maro Rosario right here for the Astros so we'll we'll get a look at all tonight I think it also proves you've listed off quite a few names there who are going to be in camp this year because the Astros have some good pick depth that they're trying to figure out tags thanks so much for dropping by and chat with us and giving us a little bit on the low down of everything we appreciate it and thanks as always for all the coverage we'd love for the Astros yeah thanks thanks for letting me be your user tonight so oh my god the same big thanks to our producer engineer Mad Bulls for all of his help today big thanks to the entire staff here at Duffy's on flamadis for all of their great work

1:09:15received sparks I'm Gary Green who's been another edition of Astro line will catch you next time Vermeer at Duffy's on flamadis Astro line you've been listening to sports talk 790 Astro line the official pre-season show of Astros baseball I love this city I love this t-astro line on sports talk 790 home of this draws 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 Dicon Park on May 2nd visit astros.com slash race to register now monster energy everybody knows why monster zero ultra that's the OG it kicked off this whole zero sugar energy drink thing but ultra is a whole line I'm now you've got strawberry dreams blue Hawaiian sunrise in vice guava and they all bring the monster energy punch so if you've been living in the white can branch out ultra's got a flavor for

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