NERDS AROUND TOWN
Nerds Around Town: Home Run Derby, Spider Man and Marvel Comics
Jul 9, 2019, 8:18 am
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 and Sports. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio show at www.nerdthugradio.com!
Hey Nerds!
Tuesday is here and there's no stopping now, this week is coming and it's time to crush it.
GOOD DEED OF THE DAY
This Saturday, July 13th, hang out with the Stixx and Stonez Sundresses and Summershirts party which is also a donation drive including socks and toiletries. Head out there from 3-11p and have a good time on karma's dime.
A LITTLE COMIC BOOK CONTROVERSY
CB Cebulski is the current editor in chief at Marvel comics and over the weekend he put his foot in his mouth a little bit. He tweeted a comment to a former creator adding to a conversation about "overwriting" initial stories from new writers. The problem is, Marvel has lately developed a reputation of canceling titles early and shoehorning them into the bigger events. For example, War of the Realms is the large event going on at Marvel and so if you were writing Moon Knight, suddenly you have to include frost giants and an Asgard war in your book about a vigilante on the streets of New York. So LOTS of people on twitter kind of attacked him for that. Also, when CB was an associate editor cutting his teeth at Marvel he kind of did a thing where he wrote some stories under a pen name that happened to be very Asian and Marvel had him write some super Asian stories (all of which is against Marvel's policy of editors writing for Marvel) ssssooo maybe he shouldn't have said anything.
HOME RUN DERBY
The Home Run Derby was last night and for the first time ever, I actually watched it. It was fun to see the young stars go out and shine, and it was impressive watching Vlad's son crush what seemed like two million home runs. The one thing that felt unfair about all of it was that Vlad Jr hit 40 in one round and 29 in another and still somehow lost? I know they were doing a bracket but honestly, how is that fair? Also the Met's rookie doubled his income this year by winning, that's pretty cool. Caught the celebrity softball game afterwards and why hasn't anyone taught Simone Biles how to play softball? Also, where has JR Smith been this whole time?
THE SPIDER'S WEB
If you haven't seen Spider Man: Far from Home yet, you need to and you're running out of time to avoid the spoilers that the two end credit scenes are bringing your way. The next phase of Marvel has been set and there's something HUGE coming and I can't wait to talk about it, so everyone has like, a few days or until Marvel makes a big announcement, whichever comes first and believe me, it's coming. Marvel has to announce their new slate of movies at some point and when they do it's going to give away the game, no doubt.
NOT THAT YOU ASKED
I literally have no interest in watching the All Star game tonight, unlike the Home Run Derby which has become a fun fan friendly adventure, the game is still stiff, boring baseball. And that's something MLB needs to get on top of pretty quick. Also the balls are clearly juiced, too many old hands of baseball are saying the same thing about the ball for it to not be true.
Feel free to check out my digital short story The Wilson House or buy a shirt from Side Hustle Ts where some proceeds help people struggling with cancer or listen to Nerd Thug Radio. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.
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Texans HC DeMeco Ryans reveals what he values most at scouting combine
Feb 28, 2025, 3:51 pm
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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