THE NERD REPORT

Nerds around town: It's all about Comicpalooza this weekend

Nerds around town: It's all about Comicpalooza this weekend
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 Friday and the weekend is upon us, storms be damned it's Comicpalooza time!

GOOD DEED OF THE DAY

Seriously, just buy a shirt and help people with cancer. That's what this boils down to, we all hate cancer, we all know it can be a massive burden on someone and it just becomes a sad story at some point, the longer the battle goes the harder it is to get your life right afterwards. Help people in the battle against cancer, buy a shirt and support Crits For Cancer. #NerdsUnite

COMICPALOOZA WEEK!

It's an easy one today. When you go to Comicpalooza, one of the things to get excited about and check out is all the people. So many people are going to be cosplaying and having a great time, Comicpalooza feels like a genuine celebration for many. They are all so nice and many will take pictures with you, the whole scene is a very exciting and fun thing to be around. Ranging from Harry Potter to Doctor Who and all the comic book movies and comic books characters themselves, this thing will be loaded with your favorite characters and people just out there trying to have a great time. So ask people nicely for pictures, have a great time and truly enjoy this weekend, I know I will.

WHILE YOU'RE OUT

So usually I tell you to go check out your local comic book store and then I highlight some new comic books right here. This weekend you need to come down to, you guessed it, Comicpalooza. You'll actually get to meet tons of comic book creators and fun people and get to find other fun reasons to buy comic books. Reasons like, I met this creator and they seem awesome, or I met this creator and we both agree the world needs more Batman in it. The reality of it is, these are people just like you and me and they are pouring their hearts and souls into being these talented creative people and when you meet a lot of these guys you'll see they're very cool, down to earth people and you'll love reading their work and supporting their dreams because they make good books.

NETFLIX MAKES A MOVE

As the streaming wars keep going, Netflix has fired the next shot by stepping up their relationship with Dark Horse Comics. Dark Horse was the publisher for both Umbrella Academy and Polar which both did amazing at Netflix and also were both very well made, which I think is important to a show being successful. Dark Horse has been a player in comic books for a very, very long time and honestly they have a pretty massive and robust catalog of characters but if I had to guess what was next it would be the Black Hammer line of comics at Dark Horse. It's about 1960s superheroes and their legacies and then fast forward to modern times and what impact their heroics had in the world, sort of, it's a crazy read.

NOT THAT YOU ASKED

Here lately it's rained on and off and on and off seemingly the last two months and I can't help but notice how poorly Houston now handles the massive amounts of water we're getting. My father's neighborhood flooded massively during Harvey, not because of the rain but because they did those controlled floods and dumped three feet of water into his neighborhood after a massive storm. The reality is these days with all the construction, there's less trees and grass to absorb the water and honestly we've poorly planned this city to the point that water has no where to go at times and we have only ourselves to blame. We need to be doing better about city infrastructure and how we build things before we become like New Orleans who had broken levees and awful infrastructure.

I'm going to jump out and wish you guys a great weekend and remind everyone to be kind to each other and try a little harder to have a great day! I'm coming back Monday 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 or support our Patreon Page. 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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