you are locked on Astros postcast part of locked on Sports Houston on the locked on podcast Network your team every [Music] day sometimes it just takes a good solid sleep in your own bed homecooked meal all the Comforts of minut made Park to cure the Houston Astros and that's exactly what happened tonight as they absolutely destroy the Arizona Diamondbacks on the backs of yordon Alvarez and fr Bal as both guys cornerstones of this franchise going out there and doing their thing as the Astros get a much needed win to snap their three-game losing streak after a rough series up in Cincinnati earlier this week hello and welcome to the locked on Astros postcast here this evening thank you for spending some of your Friday night with me I of course am Michael Connor your host of this show if you are new to this channel tonight or if you're watching this later please hit that subscribe button we're on the climb to 1900 subscribers I believe I'm gonna pull my phone up right now and take a look at it oh we're 10 away from 1900 subscribers come on people 10 10 10 of you can hit that subscribe button I would appreciate it and then we can you know what we can make our climb to a to 2,000 by the end of the weekend so we got a big weekend coming on this channel this episode tonight by the way is brought to you by prize piics go to prize pick.com locked on MLB and use code all lowercase locked on MLB to win $50 instantly when you play $5 so the Astros tonight look unbelievable they were awesome everything about this was huge and we will start with the man on the mound because I know that yordon did his thing which uh by the way if you are again new to this channel you can get your comments in in the comment page um if not well you know how the comments go I'm trying to find out is our favorite player hater in the comments tonight is David in the building we have one player hater on the comments section and I don't see him here here here yet tonight uh David is usually in there getting after it about yordon um yordon drove in a lot of runs tonight he hit two baseballs very far yordon powered this baseball team to the win with six runs batted in overall in the baseball game with his Two three-run Jacks but we're going to start tonight with prer Valdez a man that a lot of people love to hate it's just the truth it's okay you might be one of those people you can admit it it's fine trust me there's nothing wrong with acknowledging your truths in life doesn't mean you're flawed doesn't mean you're wrong it's okay be you be who you are and if that is being a framber hater then be your best fber hater but you know what you can't hate on is the fact that fber Valdez has gone out there and absolutely rolled basically all season long after having a phenomenal 2022 he had a very rough second half to 2023 and he had a just horrendous postseason and fber Valdez has bounced back in the biggest way possible in 2024 by basically reasserting himself as the Bonafide Ace of this staff we we've talked about it at length in the past he has all the stuff that you want he can throw at 98 his pitches move a million different directions whether it's the Sinker diving Harden away from the righties Harden in on the lefties his hammer of a curveball which nobody seems to be able to figure out he's gone away from what I thought got him in trouble last year which was getting rid of the curveball and he didn't get rid of it completely he just did didn't use it the same way and he went to that cutter but he's mixed in like everybody else a change up this season which has been massive I just looking at his pitch usage right now 46% on the Sinker it's about the same as last year 31 and a half% on the curveball which is up from 25% last season change up is up to 16.9% from 15.7% he barely throws a slider and he has not thrown a cutter this year last year he threw a cutter it was only 3.4% of the time but it cost him using those other pitches some of his curveball usage and when he throws his hammer of a curveball because that thing truly is a hammer it's a lethal pitch and I know that every single one of you is always going to be one foot in one foot out to an extent with because of the mental side of things of fber but what I think what we've seen over the last couple of months now is he's really held it in check you know there are moments in every game where he gets ticked off or he doesn't get a call or something he goes back behind the M he takes that deep breath he usually Smiles but he's I think done a very good job of finding a way to channel it and channeling it like he has has led to unbelievable results the man has 25 Starts Now in the regular season of course he nearly through a couple of no hitters um 14 and six 297 in the ra 157 in the third Innings now 153 strikeouts 50 walks um whip at 1.09 which is actually better than his 2024 2022 season excuse me which was excellent uh an opponent batting average is now at 218 he has just been again the definition of a staff Ace that is what fber Valdez has been for this baseball team and he was that again tonight against a Diamondbacks team that one comes in here playing unbelievable baseball in the second half of the season number two they have scored more runs than any other team in baseball this season the Diamondbacks yes a lot of that is a benefit of playing in the thin air in Arizona at elevation a little bit where the ball Soares a lot in a very hitter friendly ballpark they give up a lot of runs too I mean they've given up 671 runs on the season so they give up plenty which is actually I mean you look at teams that are in the playoffs it's way more than basically everybody else they do have the starting pitching that could go out there and do their thing at times but that's a team that is lethal at the plate and I think it's a huge moment for this club to have that happen tonight because they played at times some really bad baseball this week in Cincinnati not all the time but they you know game two was atrocious we all know about that one game one Verlander wasn't unbelievable they had a chance still in that baseball game and they lost one nothing in game three they pitched really well so you can't count that as like a horrific baseball game this didn't hit it was partially awful but to go and lose to a baseball team like that three games in a row that is not a team that's a contender as you're in the beginning of September I we talked about that yesterday was it kind of put you down a little bit because you know you looked at that portion of the schedule and you said oh I got to Feast here if I'm the Astros and they didn't and it's like you got to go back home you got to play the Diamondbacks who are just playing unbelievable baseball who look like they're on their way back to being a team that can factor into the postseason in the National League this year again and then the followup this Ser well actually shouldn't say the followup this series is Oakland but you can't sniff you can't even sneeze at Oakland anymore because Oakland's actually like pesky and I need to pull it up I think they might actually be like around a 500 team after the All-Star break but it was it was one of those moments again this past week that kind of put you down looking ahead of this weekend and what a statement that is for FR braal is to go out there and shut down that team like that only give up what two hits in the baseball game Asos Bullpen behind him also does its thing no hits out of the bullpen tonight so the Diamondbacks only pounded out two hits the entire night Astros had 12 to score their eight runs starts at fber and I I I I gotta say we've talked about it as well throughout this season the way that he's performed and the way he's performing now and I am hopeful like everybody else and and I'm not going to be completely confident still that he's going to go into the postseason and continue this I think he will but I'm not a th% like oh yeah that's going to happen we know it might not he might be du though you go back and look at his track record he's like good postseason eh postseason great postseason bad postseason would line up to be a great postseason but this is an important period of time for this Astros team with the construction of this franchise the way that it is now with how Prospect poor they are they have no farm system that's worth anything we've talked a lot about at some point you're going to have to pay some of these guys to keep them you have to break the mold of what you've always done which is not pay guys prer Valdez has put extension talk back on the radar he's gonna be expensive but at some point you have to say the cost of winning is expensive which it has been for a while and if you think about what losing what he gives you would ha would bring to the this baseball team I know like in in the small portions of we think about that's not that big of a deal but here's one thing that that you know with framber he's always going to post he's gonna go out there and he's gonna start 32 32 to 33 times a season he's gonna eat up 200 Innings and I'm telling you nobody thinks about that when they think about contracts ever you got to get through the marathon to get to the Sprint and framber Valdez is one of those those guys that get you through that marathon and I'm back in on the I think that they go into the off season this winter and they have to look at it and say all right fber what's going to take or make the offer that they feel is acceptable and then negotiate do your thing same can be said for Kyle Tucker and I think the same could be said for Alex bregman they're making money hand over fist over there you guys fill at the Ballpark I you see the Outfield The Outfield looks like trash it's because every second that they get the opportunity to have a concert during the summer they have a concert which I'm not mad at them for every team in baseball does it now you go look at outfields all across the league they're constantly looking like that where they've got those you can see where they've put in stages and whatnot they're making plenty of money they have more money than God I'd like to keep the window open a little bit longer that means keeping a guy like rber Valdez around keeping a Kyle Tucker around keeping an Alex bregman around winning for a few more years sounds good right I think so let's talk about yordon Alvarez is he finally back to being the great yordon at home we'll discuss it next you're in the lock on Astros postcast hey you know what the summer might be winding down a little bit but there's still plenty of opportunity for you to get out there and uh well enjoy it and get yourself to that dream vacation but maybe you're dreading the cost of it why don't you get the ibata app ibata is a free app it let you earn cash back every time that you shop earn on hundreds of items from groceries to Beauty Supplies even toys so you can make 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use code locked on MLB locked on Astros postcast right here with you on a Friday night I am your host Michael Connor I am wearing I think this shirt is lucky my tipping on faux fors I say faux fo because I'm goofy white guy for fours uh my yordon Alvarez shirt it seems like every time I wear this shirt yordon Alvarez goes off we're going to talk yordon in just a second but a little house keeping for you here just want to remind you guys first of all if you're new to the channel welcome please hit the Subscribe button I mentioned it earlier we're on our climb to uh 1,900 subscribers and I'm so grateful for all to all of you for doing that uh it helps the channel grow and uh it means a lot it really really does we are nine away now uh you can find this show if you're looking for the audio version of it anywhere that you get your podcast go and search for locked on AST you get this show and the locked on Astro show that's Brett and Eric uh five days a week doing great stuff for you on the audio side of things and on their YouTube page go find their YouTube page the locked on Astros YouTube page and uh hit subscribe there and watch their shows as well for this channel this weekend I've mentioned it all week long but I want to remind you guys again a very busy weekend on the locked on Sports Houston page tomorrow we have Astros three o'clock we will have the postcast as soon as the game ends like we always do later on tomorrow night now look I know what the line of the game is I know that it might not be the most intriguing matchup of the weekend on paper but guess what the cougs play the Sooners tomorrow night and maybe just maybe they're going to pull off an upset as soon as the game ends tomorrow night to be an all-time upset I will say that if the coup can do it uh no matter what we will talk coup and Sooners tomorrow night on the locked on cougs postcast once that game wraps up and then Sunday we have our first of the season first of the regular season Texans Colts opener in the in Indianapolis the locked on Texans postcast goes live as soon as that one ends at the 12 o'clock start on Sunday we'll be live around 3ish and if you missed the news yesterday there will be not just my voice on these shows starting week two of the Season uh we're not going to start week one with him because he's had some family obligations but former Texan Wade Smith will be joining me on the locked on Texans postcast every single week really looking forward to working with him uh and hanging out with you guys every Sunday when or Monday or Thursday or whatever weird day that they're playing football I mean they're playing a football game tonight in Brazil uh but Wade Smith will join us for that and uh looking forward to breaking down with should be a very exciting season for the Texans I think one that we're all anticipating being pretty darn good so again we'll do that Sunday Sunday will be just me but after that Wade will join me every single week uh except for the one game that I I I'm pretty confident I'll miss I don't think I will if I can pull it off I think we might stay like right next to the stadium I'm going to the game that Monday night game against the Dallas Cowboys so Wade will probably have somebody else doing the show with him that night but I'll let you know when we get there we're ways away from that as well um and then tomorrow night or I shouldn't say tomorrow night Sunday night Asos Diamondback Sunday Night Baseball we got the gift of the sports uh schedule on that one uh we will do the postcast whenever that one wraps up probably in the nine o'clock range on Sunday Sunday so again there's your reminders for everything on this channel and again please hit that subscribe button so you're here for all of it yordan Alvarez he's back right he had a rough series in Cincinnati they all had a rough Series in Cincinnati but at home specifically yordon has seemed to have finally found his stroke and that's big of course you know it's an anomaly it means nothing it's just one of those weird it's like the year where they couldn't win at home last year like it just happens baseball is this unexplainable sport that at times you just it makes no sense yordon now on the season is up to 272 and 12 home runs at home with an eight 12 Ops Road numbers are still of course way better 348 20 bombs uh an Ops of 1123 but they need him to play like this at home we all know that and they need him to kind of put the team on his back and have these big RBI Productions that's the one thing for now I know that they've moved him around the lineup a lot and you know his opportunities have been a little bit less this year at times it feels like to get guys home because he doesn't have guys on base all the time and then he's also not hitting typically hitting home runs with guys on base which you know gotta figure he's hit seven of his 30 what's he at 32 home runs now 17 of them this season solo home runs that's crazy that's absolutely crazy um this is how weird you can get with it 10 of his home runs have come with a runner on first one with a runner on second four with a runner on first and second that's the breakdown for you this season he does not have a grand slam the Astros I believe are the only team in the league still that does not have a grand slam this season so maybe yordon can fix that at some point but they need his Bat to keep doing um you know to keep sitting here doing that every single time uh when they play at home that would be kind of a big deal he's as a lead as gets and a lot like fber Valdez who we were talking about you know he kind of carries you where you're going and by the way real quick I have not updated it real as we've uh done this show so far the Astros did not gain any ground in the American League West tonight um because the Mariners ended up winning tonight they beat the St Louis Cardinals by a final of six to one so the Astros lead in the American League West does not change that's okay they won tonight the most important thing is I know we can worry about the standings and watch the standings and everything um the number one thing of course as simple as it gets is as cliche as it gets the Astros have to take care of their business and they have to win baseball games and they didn't do that for three straight days in C Cincinnati and today they took care of their business and they won a baseball game and they have a uh what four four and a half game lead in the American League West today they're going to do okay that series at the end of the season we'll put the cap on the Mariners season when the Astros probably eliminate them in that series at minute made Park uh this series can be one tomorrow let's talk about the importance of winning this series tomorrow for the Astros we'll do that here in just a brief second on the locked on Astros postcast right now I need to tell you about America's number one daily fantasy sports at with over five million active V 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MLB and get $50 instantly when you pay five when you play $ five that's code locked on MLB on prize picks to get $50 instantly when you play $5 you don't even need win to receive the $50 bonus it's guaranteed prize picks run your game locked on Astros postcast rolling on here on a Friday night I appreciate you guys stopping by I'm your host Michael Connor um real quick update from the Astros game tonight Mauricio dubon did leave the game uh x-rays came back negative is what Brian mctaggert and Chandler Rome just tweeted a couple of moments ago so um that is that is a good thing uh for them that you know he's not hurt because well this team's been banged up enough this season absolutely banged up way too much and they don't need that anymore uh tomorrow a chance to win this series 310 our first pitch we'll be live again probably in the six o'clock range you say Kikuchi against Eduardo Rodriguez Advantage Astros in this matchup uh in the Battle of lefties based off the way that Kikuchi has played I'm going to be interesting to I'm going to be interested to see first of all how he fares against a lineup that you know as I mentioned a moment ago has played some really good baseball overall and really can put the ball into play and really can put up a bunch of runs um but I'm also interested to see how the Astros game plan him if there's been one thing that they've been hesitant on so far since getting Kikuchi it's been letting him see a lineup a third time through you know last time out they they've pushed they've tried it's not that they're that they're unwilling to give him the chance to do it last time out he finally broke that barrier got past the six inning mark because every start I mean it's just wild to look at five and two3 five and a third five and and two3 five and two3 five and two3 and then he went seven last time but the theme has been this he's given up no more than three runs and every that and that's only that's only happened one time all his other starts less than two or less he's given up two two one one 3 1 Rodriguez by the way he's only made five starts this season got a 533 RA in those games Astros have had had some success against him in the past uh as well I would expect the Astros bats to continue what they did today tomorrow against Rodriguez in that series but look the Astros need to win this series this is an important series I've gone over it and it's worth repeating this is a a series against a team that's a playoff team in the National League this is a series where you at home need to keep reminding people that it's not just you know we only beat the bad teams which they actually didn't beat the bad teams the other day they can beat the good teams you know if they able to somehow sweep this series by the way they'd get back to a 500 record against teams the winning record this season so um that would be good for them I think they can win tomorrow's baseball game I'm pretty confident that they'll win tomorrow's baseball game now it's just up to baseball to not be baseball and tick me off and tick you off and be stupid tomorrow and maybe just maybe my silly little prediction will come true thank you again for joining us tonight here in the locked on Astros postcast as always I appreciate it hit that subscribe button we're on our climb to 19900 subscribers we were nine away people hit the button I know you can do it I appreciate it um tomorrow after the game ends join me right here again on this same channel for reaction to the Astros and Diamondbacks game two of this three game series hope you guys have a great rest of your Friday night and I'll talk to y'all tomorrow evening right here on the lock on Astros postcast