let's go to social media Brian mctaggert Source Astros closest signing outfielder Jason Hayward who was released by the Dodgers 35 uh you see the slash line the six homers 28 RB with the Dodgers more from Brian uh Joe spot said Kyle Tucker has been sprinting in the Outfield and could be close to running the bases which is his final hurdle before an actual rehab assignment welcome back inside you know it's interesting when you're a team that goes to seven straight LCS uh you're going to cultivate a lot of fans you're going to cultivate some detractors and everybody wanted to bury the Astros earlier this year they quickly Rose to the top of the pack and they're doing it at less than 100% they're doing all this Dan without Kyle Tucker when he comes back is it batting down the hatches here we go I think it is Matt and and I was in that contingent I'll be honest with you in the middle of May I looked at their schedule thought there was no way in the world by the middle of June going to be even remotely close to 500 they had a really tough schedule a lot of games on the road they proved me and a lot of experts wrong now all of a sudden I look at this Astros team their starting rotation looks really good I love the the get of Kikuchi guy that has some swing and Miss they've taken away more the for seamers he's thrown more sliders if framber Valdez pitches like framber Valdez is capable of M this is a really dangerous team and I know there are a lot of people that don't like the Astros but I'm telling you this they are constructed I like the back end of their Bullpen though tonight they may be up against it against the Phillies they've used a lot of their Bullpen pieces the last couple of days I don't know who's going to pitch the ninth inning hater pitched an inning plus last night yeah this a dangerous team and if verer comes back and listen he doesn't need to be Verlander from seven or eight years ago kind of like Yamamoto can he give us five can he keep us in the game to where we can turn it over to a bullpen game Matt is you and I are from the same boat right we're thinking hey go into the postseason you want to be like the Phillies you want to have Zack Wheeler you want to have you want to have Ranger Suarez you want to have Nola guys that can go deep Matt the game has changed if you can have a starting pitcher get you through five innings get to your high leverage guys in the seventh and eighth inning with the days off they're a dangerous team really dangerous team the good things you see from Verlander is that the velocity is still there like the fact that he hasn't had to reinvent himself and he can still go out there and throw with 95 mph puts you in a good mindset that once the playoff come around if he still has that in the tank he's definitely your one or two guy I'm saying probably the two guy right behind fra right now but for J to potentially be a Astro it shows the benefit of what you were saying the fact that they've been to the LCS so many times when you have a player at the caliber of Jason Hayward and the level of success that he's had he's only going to a team that's in contention he's not wasting time going to a place that you don't know what kind of position they're in you only want to go somewhere where you can win and you're at that point in your career where you're really chasing wins and you really going places that you feel like you can go and make a difference unfortunately with the Dodgers you had Mook bets come back and Dodgers went and got a few extra pieces to where you just don't have enough roster spots but that does not mean that he's not a winning player cuz he is and I feel like especially with Kyle Tucker out he could be a big part of that lineup let me ask you about the bullpen because this whole idea that now Josh haters in play for multiple Innings they would have loved that in San Diego they would in Milwaukee they would have loved it in Milwaukee I mean that that can do nothing but make them a better team I what am I missing here you're not missing anything last night in that first game against the Phillies was the fifth this year that he's gone into the second in something he was never going to do with the Padres and rarely was going to do it the last couple years with the brw he got paid he got his big contract this is a dangerous team I tell you a move that that I thought was really intriguing Cubs let Hector nerys go they bring Hector nerys back into the mix a guy that's had some success in an Astros uniform I I don't know if they're the favorite but I could see them the way they've been playing lately you got to remember on May 8th the Astros were 11 and 25 like they were four they were 14 games under 500 and now here they Sit N was it nine games over 500 so what they've been able to do and turn their season around I think it it shows a lot of character I think it shows their um experience that they have that realize that they don't give out trophies in May or June um and they just kept fighting and fighting hard they had a terrific June that kind of got them back in it a good July and here they are in August playing great baseball again and and starting to run away with this Division if if we're not careful um we know our good co-host Kevin Mar has been on these guys since day one got off them he has not wavered in one bit shape or form and when you have guys that are used to winning used to being in the postseason they're going to get back there and I look at their rotation like all these questions right like Valdez was out for a little while J JB's out for a little while we have Hunter Brown who's struggling mightily and and Spencer are Getti a rookie coming up and all of a sudden everything starts to click and JV comes back framber has been nasty we saw the almost near no hitter he threw and then let's let's tip our cap T ice starter Hunter Brown like this guy his last year starts he's 10 and2 with a 21 ad0 like absolutely dominating I think finding his Groove and realizing now all these guys are starting to believe it you see it in their voice you hear in their voice you see it in their body part like they starting to feel really good about where they're at and they should and if they keep playing like this you're right SRA they might be the favorite in the a the Astros have won 12 of their last 15 games they're starting pitching or I should say their team erra actually it's even better a 238 238 right I I mean here's my thing demp if they do make it back to the ALCS who are they going to face oh that's a good question I'm you know I'm going to stick to my guns on this you know I've been high on the Orioles so I think this is a good match this is a potential matchup the one thing that's that I concerns me about the Orioles is pitching and relief pitching just they've had some issues at the back end of that Bullpen so um I I'm going to change it I'm going to change it actually I'm going to go I'm going to go I'm switching I'm I'm going to go Astros and Guardians that's what I'm going to go with okay all right I respect it we're switching horses Midstream I don't mind it I'm not mad at you staying in the AL West ncz ballpark cam giving us a view of T-Mobile Park where the news came out yesterday that the Mariners fired manager Scott service and replaced him with Dan Wilson Daniel Kramer of mlb.com posted this Jerry depoto said that an already difficult conversation with Scott service was made even more so when revealing just now that service learned that he'd been let go via a news alert before his scheduled meeting with depoto to inform him directly you know D we've been discussing the freef fall for the M particularly their offensive production for a while they lost that 10 game lead in the division and de no one wants to find out you lost your job on a news crawl at the bottom of the screen or or a social media alert on your phone but was service out what's next for the Mariners yeah this is a tough one right like it's funny it's it's great when you find out like via social media or a phone call from your parents that you got called up to the big leagues that's fun but this sucks like this is one of these ones where like how does this get out how does this happen that you know a guy like this obviously a relationship that is very close these two guys have done a lot of things together Scott servis leads the Mariners back to the postseason after 21 years of not getting there um and unfortunately this year they just didn't hit the numbers don't lie we we know how good their pitching staff is but they just needed more offensive production they went out and got a Ros Arena they got J Justin Turner and we thought maybe those would be complimentary pieces jully Rodriguez has struggled through injuries and it's just been a kind of an offensive Juggernaut for them they have not been able to get it going and now that leads to their manager being fired a guy that was liked in that locker room so these are the tough tough decisions that have to be made by teams and the betterman or the organization they're trying to change things up now before it's too late I don't know if it's too late I believe with that pitching staff that that they can get there but I they got to get it going offensively somehow some way got to turn it around has not been pretty they need more runs on the board because if they can put up four five a game with what they're putting out on the hill every you know every day for five days in a row I think they have as good a chance to win as anybody but they need more offensive production than they have right now is is Dan Wilson gonna be the solution interesting right like I I don't know that's a great question Dan obviously worked throughout the organization and working you know in the minor leagues working in the minor league system um knowing these guys a guy who as a player was obviously so well respected and respected within this game uh you know a legend in a saddle Mariner uniform and and now has an opportunity to try and write the ship here whether or not he can get it done I don't know but I do know one thing um when he puts that uniform on and he's walking around that field everybody on that field respects this guy and I'm sure they will and he's getting a great opportunity to go out there and try and do something special important to note too that Hall of Famer Edgar Martinez is going to serve as his hitting coach and Wilson is not going to carry that interim tag so possibly the permanent solution is oh [Music] it has been processed normally [Music] I for