NERDS AROUND TOWN

Nerds Around Town: Archer's back, FXX's future, and delicious bread.

Nerds Around Town: Archer's back, FXX's future, and delicious bread.
ART BY JESUS RODRIGUEZ

Born with a comic book in one hand and a remote control in the other, Cory DLG is the talent of Conroe's very own Nerd Thug Radio, Sports and Wrestling. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio show at www.nerdthugradio.com!

Hey Nerds!

It's Tuesday, it's a great week and there's no reason not to knock everything out of the park this week.

GOOD DEED OF THE DAY

Zoey's Angels is an amazing organization with a heartbreaking story and this Sunday they are hosting their 8th annual Family Fun Walk. An organization that centers around helping families deal with the horrific ordeal of having a baby stay in the hospital for a long battle after it's born and then pass. The family then has to deal with burying a little family member and also a ton of medical bills and Zoey's Angels helps with both. Obviously for many people this is an incredibly personal story and issue and is something that is absolutely devastating for families to go through and deal with, and to have an organization there to help support people is incredibly important. This is that opportunity to help this group raise funds to help families deal with this all year long. #NerdsUnite

ARCHER'S BACK

The new season of Archer debuted last weekend and it is freaking great! There is absolutely no way to complain about this show, they keep reinventing it and the cast every season these last few years and I think that's done a lot to keep it fresh. There's no getting around the reality that 10 seasons is a lot of anything and like most shows the old way of doing things can get stale so they've avoided that by changing stuff up as much as possible these last few seasons and I love it. This season it's become a science fiction show and the cast is in space and struggling to make it in a great big galaxy while also dealing with all the inappropriate relationships and issues this cast has always had. Overall it's a hilarious journey through some great adventures, check it out.

HIGHER PROGRAMMING

This overall brings me to what's next for FXX and FX in general after the Fox/Disney deal. So FXX and FX are more centered towards adults and adult programming and while overall it's easy to believe that Disney would greatly enjoy the prospect of having these added channels in their portfolio, it isn't clear if they have the stomach for it. Lewis CK famously chose FX over HBO for his comedy show a few years back because they gave him the exact deal he wanted, and Baskets with Zach Galifianakis is from a similar arrangement and while Baskets has worked out great the Lewis CK deal obviously became an issue down the road where while on hiatus he admitted sexual misconduct allegations against him were untrue and the network ended their relationship. While "family" television isn't exactly full of saints, at least their program content isn't in constant need of defense from various people and parties. Adult comedy takes risks and goes out on limbs to make comments about our society, and how long Disney is willing to let that limb linger is the interesting long term question for both FX and FXX.

KING'S HAWAIIAN

The sweet love affair with the bread that can't be put down continues, they wrote me back guys, they wrote me back. Stay tuned.

NOT THAT YOU ASKED

Jared Kushner just did the season premiere of Axiom on HBO, it's a big picture journalism show where they try and really find the important parts of stories that people aren't talking about including things like global threats and the friction we have globally with China. They aren't a "gotcha" media by any means, but they aren't going to do a fluff piece on anyone they are going to push back on things that are issues. They spent a lot of time on Palestine and they spent a lot of time on the inappropriate relationship between "friends" and money and honestly Kushner doesn't change any minds in the interview but it all could have gone a lot worse. The one thing I do have an issue with though is his response on the Russia meeting in Trump tower was "I get 250 emails a day" but important people get a lot of emails, and it's their job to handle the information coming in and making decisions, also it said "Russia" in the subject line, so that should have gotten some focus from someone running a campaign. I just really didn't like that answer at all.

I'm going to jump out and wish you guys a great Tuesday and remind everyone to be kind to each other and try a little harder to have a great day! I'm coming back Wednesday and we'll be bringing more good times your way. Feel free to check out my digital short story The Wilson House or buy a shirt from Side Hustle Ts where some proceeds help fight cancer or listen to Nerd Thug Radio. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.

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The future is bright! Composite Getty Image.

Now that spring training is officially underway, we're able to make some observations about how the Astros 2025 roster is taking shape.

Houston's starting rotation is basically set, but we got to see Hayden Wesneski make his first start in an Astro uniform. Wesneski pitched two innings against the Mets on Tuesday, allowing one run with three strikeouts.

He's working on a curveball that's a new pitch for his repertoire, and he saw some success with it. Hopefully, adding this pitch will help keep batters off balance (especially left-handed hitters) and help elevate his game. Which is nothing new for the Astros, who have a history of helping pitchers get to the next level.

Forrest Whitley also looked good, pitching a clean inning and finishing off his final hitter with a 97 mph fastball. Whitley finally realizing his potential in the big leagues could be a huge deal for the Astros, as they're looking to lighten the workload for Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader this season.

Hader in particular could benefit from this adjustment, as he was much worse when pitching in non-save situations last season. An easy fix with Hader could be trying to limit his workload to mostly save situations. That way, you get the most out of him and achieve the goal of him pitching less innings this year.

The Houston Chronicle's Matt Kawahara wrote about Hader's struggles pitching when games were tied or Houston was trailing.

Hader converted 34 of 38 save chances but faced more batters in non-save situations (142) than in save situations (136), a sharp pivot from his previous few seasons. Opponents slugged .271 against him in save situations and .411 in non-save situations, while his ERA was more than two runs higher (4.98) in the latter.”

And while it's easy to say “suck it up, you're getting paid a fortune to pitch,” if he's not having success in those situations, and you're looking to back off his workload, this seems like an obvious way to pivot. He's under contract for another four seasons, so the Astros are right to want to be careful with him.

Astros plate discipline

Manager Joe Espada has made it very clear that he would like his offense to see more pitches this season. And we're seeing a stark difference in the approaches from the newly acquired players (Isaac Paredes, Christian Walker) and Houston's returning hitters.

Keep in mind, Paredes was first in pitches per plate appearance last season, and Walker was 10th.

So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Paredes and Walker both worked a full count in their first at-bats on Tuesday, while Mauricio Dubon, Yainer Diaz, and Chas McCormick swung at every pitch in their first at-bats.

Hopefully the new blood in the clubhouse will rub off on the rest of the Astros lineup, which is full of free swingers, especially with Alex Bregman now playing for Boston.

Which is why we're so excited about Cam Smith's early results. While we're super pumped about his two home runs on Tuesday, we're equally impressed that he walked in his first two at-bats this spring. If anyone would naturally be jumping out of their shoes to make a strong first impression, you would think it's the guy that was traded for Kyle Tucker. But Smith was patient, and he was rewarded for it.

What is Dana Brown saying privately?

Just last offseason, Brown was talking about extending Tucker and Bregman while also signing Hader to a shocking 5-year, $95 million deal. Plus, the team signed Jose Altuve to a whopping $150 million extension. Fast-forward one year and Tucker has been traded, Bregman left in free agency, and Ryan Pressly was dealt in a salary dump. Safe to say, his vision for the ball club has changed drastically in one season. Welcome to baseball economics under Jim Crane!

We're just scratching the surface on everything covered in the video above. Be sure to hit play to watch the full conversation!

The countdown to Opening Day is on. Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!


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