Astros are just TWO games out of first place in the AL West

Summary

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Payne & Pendergast: Astros Are Just TWO Games Out of First Place in the AL West

Podcast: Payne & Pendergast
Hosts: Seth Payne & Brandon Scott (subbing in for Sean Pendergast)
Date: July 23, 2026
Main Theme:
A charged conversation about the Houston Astros’ recent turnaround — a sweep of the Marlins that vaults Houston just two games out of first in the AL West. The hosts weigh the merits of selling vs. buying at the trade deadline, discuss the AL playoff landscape, and dig into player performances that are keeping the Astros afloat. The episode also features quick takes on the Texans’ running back depth and a notable addition to the Rockets’ coaching staff.

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Episode Overview

The Houston Astros, written off as likely sellers only days earlier, have swept the Miami Marlins and are very much alive in the AL West race. Seth Payne and Brandon Scott debate whether the front office should consider themselves buyers or sellers at the looming trade deadline, given the realities and delusions of playoff contention in a tightly bunched AL. The duo also celebrates standout performances—especially by Peter Lambert and Yordan Alvarez—reliving key moments from the most recent win.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Astros’ Big Marlins Sweep: Playoff Contenders or Pretenders?

Timestamp: 01:21–10:26

• The Astros swept the Marlins after a stumble out of the All-Star break, putting them at 50–54, just two games back in the AL West.
• Seth: “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” (01:49)
• Brandon Scott jokes about how, after Monday’s show, he was arguing the Astros should consider trading Jeremy Pena for the long-term health of the franchise, but now, "there is this year and they are still in it." (03:01)
• The division's mediocrity keeps "a lot of teams delusional about what they actually are." (03:31)
• Peter Lambert praised as the rotation’s anchor: "He gives you a chance to win every time he’s out there." (03:41)
• The sense is the Astros still lack the depth of previous seasons: “Now Astros fans are just now getting used to the team being a little bit subpar... because we're in the second year of this fighting for your life thing.” (08:06)

2. Peter Lambert’s Surprise Emergence as “Ace”

Timestamp: 05:13–10:08

• Manager Joe Espada: "[Peter Lambert] has stepped up and he's been our ace... He goes after these hitters, he throws strikes. He's very competitive and he's been really, really good.” (05:20)
• Seth and Brandon discuss how the Astros always seem to have a surprise pitcher each year—Lambert in 2026, Jason Alexander in 2025, Renell Blanco in 2024, JP France in 2023.
• Unlike previous years, the team now needs these performances to stay afloat (“If not for Peter Lambert, where would the Astros be right now?” – 08:15)
• General feeling: This is no longer the dominant Astros of recent memory but a team fighting for its life weekly.

3. Trade Deadline Deliberations: Buyers, Sellers, or Stuck?

Timestamp: 10:10–16:03

• Brandon and Seth discuss the unique uncertainty facing GM Dana Brown and owner Jim Crane: “Even if your edict is to be a buyer, that doesn’t stop other teams from calling you about Jeremy Pena.” (11:46)
• Debate over whether the team should mortgage any of their already thin minor league assets for a run, or start to sell for long-term stability (“[This] is essentially the job of a GM—not sacrificing the long term future for the short term success, but to also be as aggressive as possible…” – 12:27)
• Seth notes: “This team’s got a lot of needs. Yeah, it might make the playoffs, but this is not a World Series team right now.” (14:04)
• “If they were to go to the World Series, it would easily be their least impressive World Series run of a team.” – Brandon Scott (14:48)
• Ongoing uncertainty about which prospects should be untouchable, recalling how smart it was not to trade Kyle Tucker.

4. Can Astros Build a Playoff Rotation?

Timestamp: 15:00–16:41

• “They don’t have three starters you can trust right now. They barely have two.” – Seth Payne (15:00)
• “If the playoffs were to start tomorrow, you can’t deny Peter Lambert and Hunter Brown…” (16:13)
• Debate about who currently forms the three-man playoff rotation, with lots of “ask me next week” humor due to inconsistency.

5. Highlights from the Marlins Series: Home Run Brigade

Timestamp: 16:52–21:29

• Recap of the three key homers in the win:
  • Jeremy Pena: Home run in three straight games. “Back to back to back game home run for Jeremy Pena, and it’s two nothing Astros.” (16:52)
  • Seth and Brandon enjoy the joy the team is rediscovering, including “Lamborghetti” nickname for Peter Lambert.
  • Yordan Alvarez: “This guy’s awesome.” – Jeff Blum (18:37)
    • Seth: “He just… This guy’s awesome. I laughed when Blum said that last night.” (18:52)
    • Brandon: “It didn’t look like the type of pitch he should be able to homer off of. And he goes opposite field.” (18:57)
  • Isaac Paredes: “Drilled deep to left field, you can forget about that one. Back to back jacks…” – Jeff Blum (21:16)
• Seth: “Top third of the order is doing the heavy lifting on this team right now…” (21:29)

6. Yordan Alvarez: Chasing the Triple Crown

Timestamp: 36:52–40:03

• Seth: "Yordan is putting daylight between him and others in the American League now in those Triple Crown stats." (37:28)
• Brandon Scott: “What we’re seeing from Yordan Alvarez on a nightly basis ... does have me still all in on this season.” (37:28)
• Seth and Brandon agree Alvarez’s MVP run is a rare storyline worth savoring, regardless of team status.

7. Rockets Hire Chip Engelland — “Shot Doctor”

Timestamp: 41:05–42:44

• Quick shift to basketball: Rockets add renowned shooting coach Chip Engelland.
• Brandon Scott: “He is the shot doctor, often credited with helping Kawhi Leonard become a shooter… helped Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili… Lou Dort…”
• Host hopes for sudden improvement for key Rockets like Alperen Şengün and Amen Thompson: “If Amen Thompson gets a jump shot… look the hell out.” – Seth Payne (42:19)
• Brandon: “Alperen Şengün already has an offensive profile… but Amen Thompson is scoring 18 points a game just off athleticism.” (42:25)

8. Texans Check-In: Running Back Depth

Timestamp: 24:59–33:37

• Position group rundown: David Montgomery highlights the running back room, with Woody Marks as emerging second option.
• Brandon Scott: “I’m actually cool with the depth… but if either of your top two guys gets hurt, I would be tremendously concerned…” (27:47–30:16)
• Seth: “If something happens to [Montgomery], then you’re back to Woody Marks being in a role that I think last year showed he’s maybe physically not totally up to.” (29:44)
• Expectation of a committee approach, ideally 60/40 touches between Montgomery and Marks.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Seth Payne: “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” (01:49)
• Joe Espada on Peter Lambert: “He has stepped up and he’s been our ace… he doesn’t back down from a challenge. He goes after these hitters, he throws strikes. He’s very competitive and he’s been really, really good.” (05:20)
• Brandon Scott (on the Astros’ pitching): “If not for Peter Lambert, where would the Astros be right now?” (08:15)
• Seth Payne (on the playoff push): “This team’s got a lot of needs… This is not a World Series team right now.” (14:04)
• Brandon Scott: “If [the Astros] were to go to the World Series, it would easily be their least impressive World Series run of a team.” (14:48)
• Jeff Blum (on Alvarez HR): “This guy’s awesome.” (18:52)
• Brandon Scott (on Yordan’s moment): “What we’re seeing from Yordan Alvarez on a nightly basis ... does have me still all in on this season.” (37:28)
• Seth Payne (on the Rockets coaching hire): “If Amen Thompson gets a jump shot… look the hell out.” (42:19)

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Key Timestamps for Crucial Segments

• 01:21 Astros sweep Marlins, climb back in AL West
• 03:01 Long-term vs. short-term trade deadline thinking
• 05:20 Joe Espada on Peter Lambert’s breakout
• 08:15 “If not for Peter Lambert, where would the Astros be?”
• 14:04 Team needs, deadline buyer/seller dilemma
• 16:52 Home run highlights (Pena, Alvarez, Paredes)
• 18:37 Yordan Alvarez MVP talk
• 21:29 Offensive core: Pena, Alvarez, Paredes
• 36:52 Alvarez’s Triple Crown chase
• 41:05 Rockets hire “Shot Doctor” Chip Engelland
• 24:59 Texans running back depth debate

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Listener Value & Takeaways

• The Astros are unexpectedly back in contention, but the front office faces an excruciating buy/sell dilemma in a crowded, mediocre AL.
• Recent pitching surges by unlikely aces like Peter Lambert have propped up the team, spotlighting both hope and underlying roster concerns.
• Yordan Alvarez’s historic MVP-level run is a rare joy worth savoring, regardless of postseason odds.
• Both Texans and Rockets fans got quick, thoughtful updates on roster depth and coaching developments.

The overall tone is sharp, passionate, skeptical yet hopeful—celebrating the present while openly wrestling with the future.

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Transcript

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[Brandon Scott]

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[Seth Payne]

Seth Payne and Sean Pendergast. We coming to eighth time.

[Brandon Scott]

Let's get the work in, man.

[Jeff Blum]

Let's go.

[Seth Payne]

Great day. Great day.

[Jeff Blum]

Oh, give me some juice, baby. Oh, yeah. Let's do it. Call third strike. Ball game over. Astros win it five to two with three in the bottom half of the eighth inning. A Brave with a sixth save and the Astros sweep the Miami Marlins on the heels. Blubber of losing three in a row out of the All Star break. That's a huge turnaround series.

[Seth Payne]

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in. I should have. I should have went and got Al Pacino saying that as part. We should have put that in the open.

[Joe Espada]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Cause the Astros, they're pulling me back in, man. I just remember coming in here, I remember Brandon Scott coming in here way back on Monday and saying, you know what? I think there's a big faction of Astro fans that aren't going to admit it, but they're. They would be okay if this team actually just started to slide out of the race. So they would have a clear look at themselves and do the right thing before the trade deadline. And the Astros, to their credit, said, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We're Hanging around in this thing, man. Oh, yeah. Two games out in the division, three and a half games out of the wild card on the heels of a three game sweep of the Miami Marlins. It was fun last night. Two to two in the eighth. And we'll play these home runs in just a minute. Yordon, the soon to be MVP with a two run shot. ESOC with one right after that. And they win five to two. Brandon Scott in for Seth Payne today, tomorrow and early next week as well. So it's pleasure to see you, B.

[Brandon Scott]

Scott, it is a pleasure to see you as well. So you're saying, what you're saying is you're old enough to remember Monday.

[Seth Payne]

Yes. Yes.

[Brandon Scott]

You're old enough to remember Monday. I am old enough to remember. I don't know yesterday, before the game even started, when I was asked right here on these very airways if the Astros should still be considering trading Jeremy Pena. Given where they are and kind of everything that that's happening right now. And all Jeremy Pena continues to do is like whenever he's out there is play at a close to all star level. Of course my answer was, yeah, they should trade them. They should think about the long term health of the franchise. But then again, there is this year and they are still in it.

[Seth Payne]

They're still in it. Two, two out of the division. This division in this American League is just going to keep a lot of teams delusional about what they actually are. It's a perfect word in terms of the ceiling, right?

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

And it's funny you bring that up about Pena and we'll, we'll listen to these home runs here in just a second. And again, we shouldn't ignore. Peter Lambert was excellent again last night. He's your ace right now. He's the one guy you can count on every time out to give you five or six innings of baseball. It's not, it's not like elite like Hunter Brown last year level, but he gives you a chance to win every time he's out there.

[Brandon Scott]

He's not their best pitcher, but right now he's their most quality pitcher. Since quality starts is a stat or is a thing that we keep up with these days. He is your most reliable and trustworthy, I think, solid quality pitcher option right now.

[Seth Payne]

Yes. So let's stick with that. We'll, we'll get to Pena and Dana Brown and the, maybe the, the difficult lens he's got to look through right now because of where the Astros are in this thing and because of the lack of assets that they have to get deals done that other teams might be able to do. Which again, plays into. You do need to look at this thing, too. If you're Dana Brown as a potential seller as well, I think you're doing a disservice to the team if you're not looking at it both ways. Yeah, but we'll get to that in a second. But let's relive last night if you didn't see the game or you went to bed early. The Astros win. They're 50 and 54 on the season right now. They're two games back in the AL west, three and a half games back in the, in the AL wild card. The Red Sox, on this tear that they're on has, has, has put a little daylight between them and a bunch of teams. Here was Joe Espada. So again, you get six innings, two runs out of Peter Lambert. Last night.

[Jeff Blum]

You.

[Seth Payne]

Here was Joe Espada. Then we'll listen to the home runs. This was Joe Espada. On Peter Lambert's performance, though, you know,

[Joe Espada]

and there's always someone during the season in the years that I've been doing this, that there's someone. There's one pitcher that gets an opportunity and just runs with it. Last year was Jason Alexander. And Peter is kind of being that guy for us. He has stepped up and he's been our ace and, and he doesn't back down for a challenge. He goes after these hitters, he throws strikes. He's very competitive and he is, he's been really, really good.

[Seth Payne]

It's. I thought about that the other day. I'm like, there's one every year, man. Yeah, there's one every year that comes out of the woodwork and wins like double digit games. I don't know if Alexander eventually got to double digit wins on the season last year, but I know he had like eight to 10 starts in a row where he was doing what Peter Lambert's doing.

[Brandon Scott]

He had that feeling of reliability, of dependability that Peter Lambert has. And by the way, just to, to the point that we've been making in, that Joe Espada made, this is a team leading eight quality starts for Peter Lambert after last year.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, he's, he's a, he's a walking quality start right now. It was, it's Peter Lambert this year. It was, it was Jason Alexander last year. The year before that it was Renell Blanco.

[Joe Espada]

Yes.

[Seth Payne]

Won 13 games. I can't remember if the JP France phenomenon was in 24 or 23.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah, it feels like they were the same year.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah. It was 24. Because I remember Seth and I having a debate when JP France was pitching well and Hunter Brown was pitching poorly. I was kind of siding. You know, we're doing that whole thing, like, okay, which of these two guys. Blah, blah, blah. I'm like, well, I know Hunter Brown stinks right now, but he actually, like, strikes guys out. Like, you can see Hunter Brown is, like, amazing stuff and this and that. And Seth and I would debate about that a little bit. So I think it was 24, like, even, like, because of the Tommy John surgery, it's sort of retro. Retroactively evolved this way. But, like, in hindsight, Luis Garcia wound up being a guy like that. In the year they won the World series, he won 15 games. Never did that again.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

And again, he got derailed because of injuries. I think if there was no Tommy John, Luis Garcia might still be winning 15 games for the Houston Astros.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah, no, I agree.

[Seth Payne]

But there's guys like that that have come out of the woodwork, and I guess the difference would be that when they'd come out of the woodwork, before, there was the feeling that there was still this Astros car wash where you just bring. You bring a bunch of pictures in, and a few of them are going to get the job done for you. Because whatever system they had to develop pictures worked.

[Oregon Lottery Announcer]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

And now I think there's not nearly as much confidence in that system.

[Brandon Scott]

Well, not only that, but it always felt like, perhaps because of that system that you're talking about, it always felt like they were an added benefit. They always felt like an additive, like a. Like a supplemental type of piece as opposed to. I think now Astros fans are just now getting used to the team being a little bit subpar.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

Because we're in the second year of this fighting for your life thing, and really kind of the third because they backed their way into it in 2024. So now. Now this is enough.

[Seth Payne]

They want a playoff game since 2023.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah. So we've had enough consecutive years now to kind of feel the impact and feel the. The effect of the roster not necessarily meeting the standard that it used to set for itself. And so now you're desperate for. So whereas a couple of years ago, you didn't feel as desperate for a JP France to emerge or for Renell Blanco to emerge. Now, of course, Luis Garcia was a major contributor to them when they were still winning, but you didn't necessarily need these guys in a way that you absolutely have needed every single one of these Eight quality starches you've gotten from Peter Lambert. You could even say, you could even put it this way. If not for Peter Lambert, where would the Astros be right now? Which is a weird sentence to say, a weird question to ask, but a valid again.

[Seth Payne]

And I think there's still even with this sweep of the Marlins. And thank you. Texter says JP France is actually 2023. The years are he won 11 games. He won 11 games. So it's, you know, so it was almost like it was France in 2020. It was Luis Garcia in 2022. In retrospect, France in 2023 gave you 11 wins. Renell Blanco gave you 13 wins in 2024. And last year, Jason Alexander gave you. I don't have his numbers in front of me. And then, yeah, this year it's Peter Lambert. And who knows, maybe there's some staying power. He is a former first round pick who had to go to Colorado, which is never a great place to go when you get drafted or whatever.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah. Had to go to Colorado and then have to get it out of the mud. Was he in Japan or was he in Korea?

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, I don't. Japan. He was overseas.

[Brandon Scott]

He was overseas. I think it was Japan. So, yeah, I mean, this is somebody that has had to come full circle and now it feels like he's exactly where he needs to be.

[Seth Payne]

What I was going to say was there's probably Astro fans like, yeah, he's keeping us in this thing so that the front office can make another big swing and trade stuff away. Oh, so they're like, we can get knocked out in the wild card or not even make the playoffs.

[Brandon Scott]

Could you quit it, Peter Lambert already?

[Seth Payne]

If it weren't for Peter Lambert, maybe we'd be a seller Right now.

[Brandon Scott]

I'm down, Peter, because I do think

[Seth Payne]

in this, in this. This brings me back. We'll listen to the home run brigade here in a second just to celebrate that from last night. But it's gotta be a really interesting time to be Dana Brown, because I think they, in their heart of hearts, they want to be buyers. It's just how Jim Crane's wired.

[Brandon Scott]

He.

[Seth Payne]

He wants, he wants to win.

[Jeff Blum]

He.

[Seth Payne]

He's made promises about keeping the title, championship window open. Um, so I think he wants to keep those promises. I think he's competitive. I think Dana Brown's going to do whatever Jim Crane's bidding is. Frankly. I think if Jim Crane said, you know what, I changed my mind. We're going to be a seller. Dana Brown would be a seller. He's going to the direction they go, the general direction they go will be dictated by the owner. The execution of that direction will be done by the general manager with probably some oversight from Jim Crane. The bigger the deal, the more the oversight probably is. This is just a guess by me. I mean, he's done that with other GMs that aren't Dana Brown, you know, he's, he was the one that suggested they go get Zach cranky back in the day, Jim Crane. So from this standpoint, he's involved. It's just gotta be a very interesting time to be Dana Brown. Because even if your edict is to be a buyer, that doesn't stop other teams from calling you about Jeremy Pena. And if you're Dana Brown, you've got to answer those phone calls. It's your duty to answer those phone calls and at least listen to what they're offering. So that's got to be a very strange thing as opposed to previous seasons, even the last couple seasons where it was much more clear that, yeah, the Astros, if you're going to buy or be a buyer or seller, they're a buyer. This time two years ago, they, they already had like 55 wins. You know, they got four, you know, they got 50 now last year they were well into the 60 win mark at this time of year. So they were clearly buyers last year. This has got to be very strange because of the way the makeup of the AL where you are. There's so many teams that feel like they have a chance, including the Astros. That, and it's not just Dana Brown. It's got to be like the Tigers are straddling that fence right now and they've got the biggest, they've got the biggest trade chip in the sport. What are, you know, what, like, what's their GM doing right now? That's got to be just such a unique position because of the way the league is unfolded, Brandon, that you've got a bunch of GMs that are taking buying and selling calls right now.

[Brandon Scott]

It's one of those times where, and I think we hear it all the time with GMs across sports where they talk about balancing the short term success and the long term future. And this is essentially the job of a GM of not sacrificing the long term future of the franchise for the short term success, but to also be as aggressive as possible in it and to take advantage of a moment if you have it, which is the moment that we're talking about right here with the Astros. And so you hear that. And it sounds like GM speak a lot of times when you hear. Cause we're like, duh, that's your job. But here it is. And like, like most epitomized right here in this in its realest form is like, okay, well, the best thing to better this team, the best way to better a team this year trying to make a run is to perhaps sacrifice the long term, some part of the long term future. But how much of a right now does this team really have? How realistic is it and how much is it the word that you used earlier? Delusion.

[Oregon Lottery Announcer]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

Like, are we delusional or are we aggressive and competitive? And where do those words start to kind of conflate a little bit or start to overlap, which is the, the delicate balance that I feel like the Astros are trying to. They're trying to walk that line. But when we try to evaluate this and figure this out, I'm glad you mentioned Crane, because that's really what we're talking about. Dana Brown is going to do the bidding of Jim Crane. Exactly. The way you put it. And it's much harder to get a beat on what exactly does Jim Crane think? We know how he operates.

[Jeff Blum]

But.

[Brandon Scott]

But what does he think really about this team right now in this moment? And that's going to tell us. That would tell us a lot about how they're going to approach that.

[Seth Payne]

Well, and who are the. Who are the untouchables in the minor league system? Because back in the day, Kyle Tucker was an untouchable in the minor league system. And it turns out it was a good thing that they didn't cut Kyle Tucker loose. He turned into an All Star for the. Not so much an All Star for the Dodgers. We'll get into that later in the show. Yeah, but he turned into an All Star. Now, if you truly are trying to contend, it was easy to not trade Kyle Tucker back in the day because you didn't have the same. I mean, this team's got a lot of needs. Yeah, it might make the playoffs, but this is not a World Series team right now. So.

[Brandon Scott]

And if it is, it's kind of like one by accident and one by default. Like, if they were to go to the World Series, it would be. It would easily be their most. Their least impressive World Series run of a team.

[Seth Payne]

100%. Well, in the, in the regular season, at least. Right.

[Brandon Scott]

You know, like, or to even make it right. This team wouldn't be as good as the 2019 team. That was the best Astros team that we ever seen. And not even as good as the 21 team that lost to the Braves.

[Seth Payne]

They don't have three starters you can trust right now. They don't have three you can trust. They barely have. They barely have two.

[Brandon Scott]

I love that you said this because I do this game probably once a week where I'm like, okay, who are the three guys now? If we were to start a playoff series right now? Who are my three guys?

[Seth Payne]

Seth and I do it on the air all the time. And. And he, like, a couple of weeks ago, I'm going. Tatsui Imai might be your game two starter.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

This is kind of before Peter Lambert had gotten on this tear that he's on right now. I say tear like he's. It's. It's not like he's eight innings of shutout ball every time. He's just very solid.

[Sports Radio Host]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

But for this team, it's a tear.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah, you'll. You'll take reliable. Yeah, he's a tear.

[Seth Payne]

He's a rel. He's on a reliable tear right now.

[Brandon Scott]

Yes.

[Seth Payne]

And. And that's the thing. You can't even cut. Like, Hunter Brown's not trustworthy right now. Like, Hunter Brown. Like, he would be one of your. He'd be. Yeah, but he's not trustworthy right now. I think he would even say that. Like, he's. He's a little bit all over the place right now.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Let's relive the home runs from last night. I don't want to get too deep down, like, being a nervous Nelly about the playoffs quite yet. They are 50 and 54 after all.

[Brandon Scott]

Who's your three is kind of fun, though, because. Because it could be outside of Hunter Brown. It could be any combination on that back end.

[Seth Payne]

We know Hunter Brown and Peter Lambert would be two of them.

[Brandon Scott]

Yes.

[Seth Payne]

I just don't think you could. If the playoffs were to start tomorrow, you can't deny Peter Lambert and Hunter Brown's Hunter Brown.

[Sports Radio Host]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

But at one point, it would have been Eric Getty. At one point, it would have been taught. It could have been Tatsui, as you mentioned.

[Seth Payne]

I guess clearly Imai would be three for me at this point.

[Brandon Scott]

Today.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, today. Yeah, Today. Now.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah. If you'd asked me a couple of weeks ago, though, I might have said Eric Henny.

[Seth Payne]

Ask me on Monday. You're back in here on Monday. My starts this weekend.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah.

[Oregon Lottery Announcer]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

If he gets knocked out after two thirds of an inning, I'm coming in with a complete. Completely different tune. And that's kind of the point. Of the whole thing. All right, so three home runs last night got the job done. That accounted for four of the five runs in the Astros five to two win. Here was Jeremy Pena, third home run in three games.

[Jeff Blum]

Soccer Paredes. Pena tries to go for three straight, first time in his career. Back to back to back game. Home run for Jeremy Pena, and it's two nothing. Astros.

[Sports Radio Host]

Oh, man, it's been spicy against the Marlins.

[Jeff Blum]

A lot of jalapeno swing this week.

[Seth Payne]

All right, that's good, Byron. That's good.

[Jeff Blum]

I love it.

[Brandon Scott]

I love it.

[Seth Payne]

Blum. Blum. So joy. I love that Blum has. Has so much joy in his heart on these home runs. It's so fun to listen to the

[Brandon Scott]

home runs, the nicknames. Something that I didn't realize they were doing. And I've been watching Astros games. I guess I just missed it. But they reminded me or revealed to me for the first time that they were doing a Lamborghini, a Lamborghetti thing with Peter Lambert.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, I haven't seen that.

[Brandon Scott]

I didn't realize that they were doing it. And so, you know, they were mentioning over the weekend that Arrogetti hadn't been holding up his end of the Lamborghini.

[Seth Payne]

Flat tires in the back.

[Brandon Scott]

Exactly.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

So it's not exactly the Lamborghini that it's supposed to be, but if he. If he kind of gets back. Right, it could be Hunter Brown and the Lamborghini.

[Seth Payne]

I like that.

[Brandon Scott]

You know what I mean? Or if it's not, it's just the Lambo and Tatsuya Imai. But I love the cheesiness that comes with them having some joy in this baseball season. That has been up and down.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, it's been very up and down. So that was paying you three home runs in three games. That. That was the second run of the game for the Astros. This game remained tied, 2, 2 for most of the evening last night. So Lambert did not get the win last night. So. But we got to the eighth inning and the. What are we, about two months away? Two and a half months away from an MVP being voted on the soon to be mvp. Jordan Alvarez does his thing off the outside edge.

[Jeff Blum]

Pena goes this ball driven deep to left field, looking up Hernandez. Good. He's done it again. This guy's awesome.

[Seth Payne]

He's just.

[Jeff Blum]

There you go.

[Seth Payne]

Good enough. This guy's awesome. I laughed when Blum said that last night.

[Brandon Scott]

And not just because he hit the home run, but that ball, I think, was a strike, but he kind of goes and gets it like he like it didn't look like the type of pitch that he should be able to homer off of. And he goes opposite field.

[Seth Payne]

Like going with the pitch.

[Joe Espada]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Like you oftentimes when guys. Oh, like when he hits up when someone hits opposite field. Like good job going with the pitch.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

It like lands in front of the left fielder.

[Sports Radio Host]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

It's supposed to be a double advance

[Seth Payne]

or double down the line. Like you know, it kind of lands just inside the foul line. Jordan Alvarez goes with a pitch and it ends up in the Crawford boxes like he's he is something else. Very next hitter Isaac Paredes

[Jeff Blum]

on the

[Brandon Scott]

under $3 menu at McDonald's.

[Seth Payne]

A McChicken is $2 because when you're craving a McChicken, you deserve a McChicken.

[Brandon Scott]

And now that McChicken is just $2,

[Seth Payne]

limited time only, prices and participation may vary. Prices may be higher for delivery.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Seth Payne]

My boss asked for results, so I

[Sports Radio Host]

open my dashbo positive sounding metric.

[Seth Payne]

I had impressions.

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[Jeff Blum]

Drilled deep to left field, you can forget about that one. Back to back jacks behind your Don Alvarez and the Astros in front five to two.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, that the I mean this the top third of the order is doing the heavy lifting on this team right now, even in the games they were losing to the Orioles last week, the offense was all getting generated from Yordon. And you know, I know Pena got banged up a little bit, but in Paredes has been much more solid of late. Like it's all coming from those three guys, right?

[Brandon Scott]

Oh, dude, shout out to Jordan. Even like being helping with the light hitting outfield. I've been saying this all year. It is a top heavy infield slash Jordan, heavy infield slash dh, heavy lineup. And if they could get anything from those outfielders, which happens to be that back end of the lineup, they could really be cooking with grease. But Jordan is that guy.

[Seth Payne]

Absolutely. Baseball Talk on Sports Radio 610 presented by Xfinity. Score the most reliable Wi Fi 1 price 5 years guaranteed Xfinity. Imagine that. I know a lot of you tuning in didn't get to hear the announcement yesterday. You may have heard what the announcement ended up being. We'll dig into it more at 7 o'. Clock. For those of you who missed the actual announcement, we're going to replay it. But Sports Radio 610 is going to be becoming rebranded, moving to the FM dial. I say moving to the FM dial. 95. 7 the fans starting on August 13th simulcasting as 610 the fan.

[Sports Radio Host]

Yes.

[Seth Payne]

Here on Sports Radio 6 10. A lot of questions came in about that yesterday. So Brandon and I will do sort of a, we'll replay the announcement. If you missed it yesterday, you, you won't want to miss it. And, and we'll do kind of a frequently asked questions thing. So if you're looking for sort of a, a, you know, okay, what's going on segment, we're gonna do that at the top of the hour, 7 o' clock because coming up next, our 10 days until training camp. We're down to day five until Texans training camp, which starts next Wednesday, day five on the radio. Question number five is about the running back room. Are we concerned about the overall depth in the running back room? Brandon Scott live from the West Point Lincoln and West Point Lincoln of Sugarland Studios. Here's Pain and Pender. It was a big day here yesterday and we're going to, we're going to recap it at 7 o' clock if you missed it. Sports Radio 6 10. It was almost like a gender reveal. Yesterday we revealed that we will be becoming 957the fan on August 13th.

[Brandon Scott]

Way that's the birth way cooler than 95% of the gender reveals that I see.

[Seth Payne]

Yes, it was awesome.

[Brandon Scott]

Way Cooler than.

[Seth Payne]

We're going to replay the announcement of that at 7 o' clock and tell you guys kind of if you have questions about it. B. Scott and I are going to do sort of a frequently asked question and faq, if you will.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

And if you got questions on it, send them in on the text page. I would say wait till closer to 7 o' clock to send the questions just so we'll see them at that time.

[Brandon Scott]

YouTube chat can get active though.

[Jeff Blum]

Yes.

[Brandon Scott]

I can see you guys in there now.

[Seth Payne]

He's got the YouTube open, so we'll do that at 7:00 o' clock with do headlines in the next segment. 10 days till camp. We're in. We're counting down. This is five days. Radio days.

[Brandon Scott]

Radio days. Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Until camp gets here today, tomorrow, and then the first practice is on Wednesday. So the final question in the series of questions we're doing will be Wednesday just before practice begins next week. So we're doing it in this segment every day.

[Brandon Scott]

And I'm in with you with. In all of these days leading up,

[Seth Payne]

I think all of them except the. Except the actual day. Seth is back for the first day of practice.

[Commercial Announcer]

Right.

[Seth Payne]

That'll be question number one. But you're here if. And if you want to. If you want to throw question number four out there tomorrow.

[Brandon Scott]

Oh, I don't mind. Yeah, definitely. I've been keeping up with all of Yalls questions leading up to this point as well with Cole and even since he's been gone. So. Yeah, all of them.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So. So tomorrow B. Scott will bring question number four to the table.

[Brandon Scott]

Yes.

[Seth Payne]

Are we consider question number five. Are we concerned about the overall depth in the running back room? And let's just list here real quick what the running back room looks like. It's the newly acquired David Montgomery. I think a lot of people are very excited about. It's Woody Marks trying to build off of what he did in. In his rookie season. And in a perfect world, probably do it in a bit of a different way than he did his rookie season. Jawar Jordan is still here. He flashed last year. British Brooks has turned himself into kind of a nice sort of backfield Swiss army knife with a little bit of fullback chops going on too.

[Brandon Scott]

And a special teams demon.

[Seth Payne]

And yes. Loves to wallop you on special teams.

[Sports Radio Host]

Yes.

[Seth Payne]

And then they've got. And if I'm missing anybody, tell me B. Scott. But they got a couple kind of intriguing undrafted guys in camp. They didn't draft anybody, which was a little surprising. But Noah Whittington out of, out of Oregon. And then Joshua Pitzenberger is the other running back that is, that's in that room right now. So I think I got everybody, I checked the depth charts online. I think that's, I think that's the extent of the room. So I'll put it to you B. Scott, and then I'll. Let's do. I'm gonna see what your take is on this. And we go back and forth. How are you feeling about the depth in this running back room?

[Brandon Scott]

I actually like it. I'm, I am not as concerned about the depth with the running back room as say, I would be. Like, tight end is a question. And I think we've discussed that in, you know, in this show and in other places in the past. But running back, I'm actually cool with the depth. I think the argument against the running back room is honestly the overall talent of it and even the top end of it. If you're talking about David Montgomery, who we all can agree and believe is going to be their lead back, like, how do you feel about David Montgomery per se? And I think there are some, like, there's excitement, but I think you can legitimately question if that's like, you could do better than that. As your top running back in a committee. He's obviously been great in Detroit, but David Montgomery and a Woody Marks as a one, two punch, I am totally comfortable with. I will say, and maybe I'm contradicting myself a little bit here because if one of those guys were to get hurt, and I guess that's what depth ultimately is, if one of the two of those guys gets hurt, then I do think that my, my answer does suddenly change because now you're putting, let's say David Montgomery gets hurt and you're right back to square one where you were last year. Yeah, I would say that that's a concern. And if Woody Marks were to get hurt and it's just Montgomery and then Jawar Jordan and that list of characters that you, that you had after that, British Brooks of the world, I would be a little bit concerned about that as presently constructed. I'm comfortable with it. If one of those guys gets hurt, I guess I would be concerned. So. Yeah, I'll change my answer midstream there. There's a slight concern about the death

[Seth Payne]

because we're talking about depth.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah, that is a slight depth.

[Seth Payne]

Injuries factor into that conversation, especially at this position, because two things can be true. You can like the way the room looks as is.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Healthy. Which it Sounds like you do. And I do as well. But depth is a different. That's a different topic. And I think. I just think back to last year, and David Montgomery is not Nick Chubb. And all due respect to Nick Chubb, I mean, obviously he was working, coming off of multiple injuries, and he looked his age last year.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

David Montgomery, he saw his playing time diminished. Not because he's not good or because he looked his age. Because he's 29 now, too. I think we need to factor that in. Like, he's beyond the age of when running backs start to show some wear and tear. But he got put on the back burner because one of the best two or three running backs in football and maybe the biggest Swiss army knife of any back in football. Like an elite Swiss army knife.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

You like a very sharp knife.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

The best nail file that you can have. Yes. An amazing corkscrew.

[Brandon Scott]

Yes.

[Seth Payne]

Jameer Gibbs. You'd be silly in Detroit, especially while he's still getting paid like a rookie to not just use as much Jameer Gibbs as you possibly can.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah. Jameer Gibbs and Bijan Robinson are that new wave of running back. A class of their own.

[Jeff Blum]

Right?

[Seth Payne]

They're in a class of their own. That's a good way to put it.

[Joe Espada]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

And so. So I. So I like David Montgomery. You're right. I don't think he's going to show up on the top 10 running backs list of anybody. No, but I think he is. He is exactly embodies what this team wants to be offensively. All the things they were doing on the offensive line in the off season that dictated very clearly. They want to be a more physical football team. They want to be the offensive version of what the defense is.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

David Montgomery's at a running back.

[Joe Espada]

That's.

[Seth Payne]

But that's my concern. If something happens to him, then you are back to Woody Marks being in a role that I think last year showed he's like, maybe physically not totally up to.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

He left a lot of games. He came back to his credit. He's a tough kid.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

But I just, I. I've always felt that, boy, in this offseason, even before they got Montgomery, if they can go get a guy who's a lead guy, it's almost like you're getting one and a half running backs because you're getting a better version of Woody marks.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah. No, 100%. I, I answered this question incorrectly at the top of it because once you think about it, the. I'm comfortable as presently presented as Currently presented. But if anything happens to David Montgomery, we're back to square run to square

[Seth Payne]

one, back to 20, 25.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

And then honestly, if anything happens to Woody Marks, I feel like date now. Now you're really kind of flirting with disaster there. Because David. Now nothing can happen to David Montgomery or you're back to the Jawar Jordan game and credit to him when he stepped in. But that's not a place where you want to be. So you can't say. I cannot in good conscience say I'm totally comfortable or not concerned at all with the death when. If either one of the top two guys goes down, I'm going to be tremendously concerned about it.

[Seth Payne]

I. To the point where. And I haven't looked at the list of who's out there, you know, like, of the. The Nick Chubbs of this year.

[Brandon Scott]

Right.

[Seth Payne]

Which one of them is probably Nick Chubb? I don't think he signed with anybody. I wouldn't mind seeing them bring in a veteran guy to have in that room and just see how he looks in camp. And if he. If it fits, then great. That. That wouldn't bother me if they did that.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Texans.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah. Now, I will say, like, as far as the workload, because since we are speaking to the point about, you know, injuries and all of that, I do think it's important to treat it as a committee as much as you can or as best as possible. Now, they're. I think their performance and their actual production is going to dictate how the carries are going to be allocated. But I do think it's important that neither guy, even though Woody Marks is a younger guy and of course David Montgomery has tread on the tire, I think it's important that neither guy get run into the ground, let's say, the way that Joe Mixon did two years ago.

[Seth Payne]

Did you see Jane Slater's report that they're expected to split the load, the two of them? I did see Montgomery and Woody Marks

[Brandon Scott]

and I saw some of the reaction on our station yesterday. I found it to be interesting.

[Seth Payne]

She clarified. Well, my first reaction was, okay, split can mean any number of things. Sometimes people assume split means 50. 50. Like, no.

[Brandon Scott]

So did she not say 5050 in her report? Because all I saw was us reacting.

[Seth Payne]

The report was split lead back reps. And then she clarified. She. She said. She said this won't be an even split.

[Brandon Scott]

Oh, okay.

[Seth Payne]

She clarified on Twitter. I'm told David Montgomery will have slightly more here, but the vision, and it's early, is for Woody Marks to Build on last season, especially with the help of Montgomery, and hopefully see a significant amount of reps. How that shakes out tbd. Woody played last year cause he was their best guy, which he was. He was a better football player than Nick Chubb. I think there's a good chance Woody Marks is not a better football player than David Montgomery at this stage of his career.

[Brandon Scott]

I agree. Now I don't want to crap on or disrespect Jane Slater, who's been at it for a long time. But that also, that clarification also makes that not a report. Cause that's how one, two running back rotation, that's how the pecking order works.

[Seth Payne]

I'd like to see. I'd like. This is what I'd like to see. B. Scott, Brandon in for Seth today. I'd like to see 60, 40 touches, maybe 65, 35 with with Montgomery and Woody, except in short yardage situations. And I want it to be 95. 5 David Montgomery.

[Brandon Scott]

I think that's the ideal scenario.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

I mean that. That exact.

[Seth Payne]

He was brought in, I think to get tough yards for you.

[Brandon Scott]

I think that's supports the point that you were just making about Woody Marks. I'm sorry about David Montgomery. More so fitting the identity of what they want to be in the style that they want to play with and how they want to run. David Montgomery is more of that to a T. And Woody Marks, to his credit, I think he's a good like he profiles as a good change of pace guy, but then also showed you that he can run between the tackles in a pinch and in a relief role.

[Seth Payne]

Absolutely. All right, coming up next, headlines. Astros win last night. Hey, Rockets made a move on the coaching staff. I'm anxious to get B. Scott's thoughts on this one of the four hosts on the Rockets collective, right, B. Scott?

[Brandon Scott]

That is right.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

So I'm looking forward actually hosting tonight. So I'm looking forward to that.

[Seth Payne]

Good deal. All right, well there you go and. And we'll talk some Rockets a little later on in the show as well. We're still on LeBron watch too for you general basketball fans out there. So we'll get to all that in headlines with Ben Cilento, Payne and Pendergast. With today's headlines, the outside edge Pena

[Jeff Blum]

goes this ball driven deep to left field looking up Hernandez. Good. He's it again. This guy is awesome.

[Sports Radio Host]

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[Commercial Announcer]

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[Brandon Scott]

For Chase Secure Checking, only eligible direct deposits may be credited up to two business days early, depending on when the payer submits the transaction.

[Sports Radio Host]

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[Seth Payne]

And you are too. Jeff Blum. You're awesome as well. Todd Kalisch, Jeff Lum on the call, Space City Home Network. Jordan Alvarez. Just doing what Jordan Alvarez do, which is hitting dingers and doing it very efficiently. Hitting dingers while leading the league in batting average as well. He is. He is creating some serious daylight. Astros win 5 to 2 last night, but we got to bring up Yordon because his run for a Triple Crown is just as big a story as the Astros, where they are in the standings right now. Yordan is putting daylight between him and others in the American League now in those Triple Crown stats.

[Brandon Scott]

Aside from just simply being a lifelong Astros fan, it's what we're seeing from Yordan, Alvarez on a nightly basis that does have me still all in on this season and wanting to go for. Go for broke this year, because I'm like, you can't. I cannot guarantee you another fully healthy. And look, he's. He's really good. Like, this is no fluke. He could be this good for a long time. I just don't know how long he's going to be able to do this or how often he's going to be able to. To play with this kind of regularity. So I'm like, man, let's maximize legitimate. You're not Alvarez mvp.

[Seth Payne]

Triple Crown is such a unique thing in the midst of a season where it really feels like the Astros are kind of starting to, like. Like, if it does feel. I know they're two games back in the division, but it does feel like the good times are over to a degree as a team.

[Brandon Scott]

They feel like a.500 baseball team.

[Jeff Blum]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. And it feels like it's going to be that way for a little while. Right. Not just this season, but maybe for a couple of seasons. And, you know, maybe. Maybe they strike gold with something. Who knows? So the. The opportunity to get to see a season like this is so unique. And I would say that, you know, from a Jordan standpoint, as far as the trade deadline goes, and I'm not saying trade Yordon, don't worry, everybody. I'm not about to say that.

[Commercial Voice]

No.

[Seth Payne]

But what I am saying. And we'll hear from Joe Espada here in a second. Pena in front of him, Paredes behind him right now. To have those two guys on either side of Yordan obviously enhances his ability to be the best version of him as well. Pena and Paredes are two of the biggest names that are on all these trade lists. Yeah. So while I know there's a lot of Astro fans, like, boy, we could get a lot for Pena, there is a Part of me that doesn't want them to move Pena or Paredes purely because I want Yordon's MVP season to be a reality.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah, I know we have to talk about the deadline, especially as it approaches. It is a big deal every year. The trade deadline, MLB trade deadline, big deal. We get it. But am I crazy for just really kind of just wanting to enjoy the team for like even the up and down nature of it, how they can get swept and then sweep in a series they lose to lose one.

[Seth Payne]

That's baseball.

[Brandon Scott]

Lose two, win one. Hey, like, I'm actually here for the experience. I.

[Seth Payne]

Well, I just. For me personally, I just like sitting down in my living room with my wife and watching baseball games. Games.

[Brandon Scott]

Right.

[Seth Payne]

We both like watching baseball. It's something we bond over.

[Brandon Scott]

But they also are because I like watching baseball as well. I'm not gonna lie. It was really tough back in 2011 and 2012 to watch baseball on a nightly basis. They are just good enough. And Jordan is a. Is like a huge part of this. They're just good enough to keep me legitimately interested night in and night out.

[Seth Payne]

I promise Joe a spot. Here's a spot on the Pena Jordan dynamic.

[Joe Espada]

Knowing Alcantara is going to go after those guys, that's what he does. You know, we talk about Alvarez, but Jeremy, he's just. Is so important. He gets on base. Jordan has that hole open a lot, so he's able to get those singles through that hole. And what about Paredes? Like, he's the threat behind Jordan. He gets big hits. He's a quality at bat. So those three guys in the top of our order, they're that one of the best in. In the league.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. And you, and you, you don't have the luxury right now either of giving even Pena, who seems like he's banged up, you know, once a week, you don't have the luxury. Right. Like that. That top third of the order is in ink. Maybe a rest day sometime in like, you know, a Thursday in September or something. But those three guys have to be in the lineup every day.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

It's not negotiable.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah, well, the math of it is is that they force you to pitch to your nine.

[Sports Radio Host]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

Which just does not seem like a good idea. But they force you to pitch to him.

[Seth Payne]

Absolutely.

[Brandon Scott]

All right.

[Seth Payne]

The other headline here locally, the Rockets hired Chip England. Am I pronouncing his name right?

[Brandon Scott]

That's correct.

[Seth Payne]

Brandon Scott, who's part of the Rockets collective podcast. The. He's the shot doctor.

[Brandon Scott]

He is.

[Seth Payne]

I Don't know anything about this guy. B. Scott, educate me in the next minute or so.

[Brandon Scott]

He is the shot doctor often credited with helping Kawhi Leonard become a shooter. I don't know if most of us are old enough to remember, but Kawhi Leonard wasn't always a knockdown shooter. A great offensive player, and he helped with that. Helped with Kawhi Leonard shot, helped with Tony Parker's shot. And he was a little bit of a streaky jump shooter as well. Helped with Manu Ginobi shot. And most recently, Lou Dort, who could not hit the side of a fire station when he got into the NBA. And by the time England got his hands on him, he became a 40% three point shooter. So we're hoping he can doctor up some of the. The ill shooters that we have here in Houston, namely Alperence and Goon and.

[Seth Payne]

Okay, you just answered my question.

[Brandon Scott]

I was about to ask who are the main ones?

[Jeff Blum]

Who.

[Seth Payne]

Well, who are his.

[Commercial Voice]

Who.

[Seth Payne]

Who does his star pupil need to be it start.

[Brandon Scott]

It literally has to start with those two. Like, lock those two guys in a room. In this case in a gym with England and see what shakes.

[Seth Payne]

I would. And if I had to prioritize between those two, for me, it's Ahmed Thompson. Because if Ahmed Thompson gets a jump shot.

[Sports Radio Host]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Look the hell out.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Well, the ceiling of a. The ceiling of an Amen Thompson with range.

[Brandon Scott]

Alpert Shingoon already has an offensive profile even without a jump shot. Yeah. Amen. Thompson is scoring 18 points a game just off of like fives and athleticism, you know?

[Sports Radio Host]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

He has not figured it out.

[Seth Payne]

He's just cobbling it together.

[Brandon Scott]

I mean, he doesn't even seem like he knows exactly where he's trying to get on the floor. He's just like, get the ball, do something. So if he can get a shot, that'd be major.

[Seth Payne]

It'd be major. All right, so that's big news.

[Oregon Lottery Announcer]

All right.

[Seth Payne]

We'll talk a little Rockets basketball a little later. Brandon Scott in for Seth Payne, just sent me a picture of himself@buc EE's. This may be from yesterday.

[Brandon Scott]

It is majestic.

[Seth Payne]

He's got a John McClane style. That's not a bucket hat. What do we call that?

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah, I was gonna say it's not quite a bucket hat.

[Seth Payne]

It's like that. It's like a hat that the guy in Curious George wears. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He said he's trying to get on McLean's level.

[Brandon Scott]

He's pulling it off, though.

[Seth Payne]

It's a Buc ee's hat, too. It's got a Bucky's patch.

[Brandon Scott]

It looks good on him.

[Seth Payne]

You like it? I told him you liked it.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah, it looks good on I, I like it on him.

[Seth Payne]

On him.

[Brandon Scott]

I couldn't, I don't think I could pull that off. But it looks good on him.

[Seth Payne]

Seth C. Pain, ladies and gentlemen. All right. Brandon's in for Seth today. All right. So we had a big announcement yesterday. Sports radio 610 is going to be 95. 7 the fan. Let's talk more about that coming up next. We'll replay the announcement promo we did yesterday, which is one of the greatest pieces of audio that's ever been played on this station. And I'm not being, I'm not being hyperbolic. It is so good. It's reliving the last, in some ways, the last 32 years of this station via the Houston sports highlights. And then Mark Vandermeer's voice is on it. And the announcement is amazing. So we'll do. You missed that yesterday. We'll, we'll reset that. We'll also kind of do some frequently asked questions on what this changeover means. We'll do that. Coming up next on the under $3 menu at McDonald's, a McChicken is $2, because when you're craving a McChicken, you deserve a McChicken.

[Brandon Scott]

And now that McChicken is just $2

[Seth Payne]

limited time only, prices and participation may vary. Prices may be higher for delivery.

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[Seth Payne]

Go from ignored to adored with Sheba Grilled. It's protein rich and made with real chicken or seafood. Tap to buy now or find at your favorite retailer.

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