NERDS AROUND TOWN
Nerds Around Town: Papa Johns pizza, Ryan Reynolds and Harley Quinn
Oct 2, 2019, 5:17 am
NERDS AROUND TOWN
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!
All right Houston you guys did a great job yesterday! I totally spaced on mentioning the Papa Johns thing where they were raising funds for the fallen officer. They've done this before and for those who know I used to deliver with Papa Johns and they've done this before and when they do it, the city responds and they run out of food and they have to extend the offer. The same thing happened this time, and honestly I'm proud of them and you guys for doing such a great job on this. Props to Papa Johns and to you Houston!
The first trailer for the Birds of Prey movie dropped and it looks awesome! It's Harley Quinn heavy which I like and it seems to combine a lot of the other elements of Harley Quinn that hadn't yet been touched on in the Suicide Squad. Honestly I love the idea behind this movie and it looks like they are doing a hell of a job putting these characters together and even though this looks nothing like some of the characters, I'm looking at you Cassandra Cain, I'm still super excited about this movie and can't wait to see what's next.
Tom King has been writing what people are hailing as perhaps the greatest Batman run in a few years and he's done some really great stuff, from having Batman and Catwoman get engaged to changing the dynamics with all the sidekicks and it's all coming to an end. Bane has taken over Gotham and organized all the villains under him. Batman has been banned from Gotham and now Alfred is being held hostage or has been killed if you believe the hype. I don't, and now Batman is coming back to retake Gotham. It's time to kick this story into it's final, high gear.
Netflix and Michael Bay came together and made what looks like an awesome movie with Ryan Reynolds as the lead. It's an action movie where they go after the "bad guys" of the world, I'm not totally sure who that is or what they're doing exactly, but it looks really cool. Michael Bay makes fun movies, not great movies but fun movies and Ryan Reynolds is good to watch in movies, he's hilarious and has a great screen presence that is undeniable. I'm very interested in this movie, it looks great.
So I guess I'm just going to use this space to talk about myself, mostly because it's my column and I feel like someone needs to talk nice about me. I'm just kidding, I just want to speak things into existence, and this is the best way to do it. I had an interview today for a writing project, what's pretty interesting. Without giving any details away a company has hired out a marketing company to help create a comic book to help explain their internal processes and also be used as marketing material when they approach potential clients. I think it's an awesome idea and it fits into my background outside of writing as much as it fits into my passion in comics and writing, so it's a great fit and I hope I get it.
Feel free to check out my brand new comic book Another Day at the Office 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.
Pharrell Williams is ringing in my ears. Why? Because I’m happy of course (2013 music reference)! Less than one week to spring training opening for the Astros in West Palm Beach. The pitchers and catchers are required to report a few days before the rest. A number of guys among the rest will arrive early, but let’s focus on some pitcher/catcher issues. Catchers first.
We know Yainer Diaz is the primary starter, with Victor Caratini a solid complement in the final year of his two-year contract. Diaz had a fine season overall in his first as the primary backstop, but he has a couple of clear areas that need improvement if stardom is to be on his horizon. His pitch-framing metrics were poor. Maybe it’s as simple as more experience under the belt improving them. At the plate, Yainer brings major value for what he does when doing it as a catcher. Still, to be a bonafide great offensive catcher, Diaz needs to rediscover more of the home run power he displayed as a rookie. In 2023 Diaz smashed 23 home runs in 355 at bats. In 2024 he had 230 more at bats, and hit seven fewer home runs. He had a 30-game midseason homer drought (immediately after going deep in four consecutive games), and then went the final 31 games of the season (29 plus the two playoff losses) without clearing a fence. Diaz did bat .309 over those 61 games so it’s not as if he turned into Martin Maldonado, but you want more sock from a guy batting fourth or fifth in the lineup. Diaz’s slugging percentage tumbled from .531 to .448. Among catchers overall, 16 homers and the .766 OPS he posted in 2024 is fine, but that is not a great offensive player overall. The other area where Yainer needs a step up is plate discipline. With his 585 at bats last year he walked only a pitiful 24 times. As a result, despite his excellent .299 batting average Diaz’s on-base percentage was just .325. Jon Singleton posted a .321 OBP while batting .234.
Caratini is a solid pro whose switch-hitting adds flexibility. He was sensational as a pinch-hitter albeit in just 19 at bats (8-19, .421). Manager Joe Espada has some playing time juggling to do. Free agent signee Christian Walker will play almost every day at first base when healthy. Diaz or Caratini getting starts there will be very limited. Yordan Alvarez targeted for fewer starts in left field gobbles up more designated hitter games. However Jose Altuve winds up splitting his defensive time between second base and left field, closing in on his 35th birthday in May, using him at DH about once per week would make sense.
On the mound, barring injury the starting rotation is set. Off of their 2024 performances Framber Valdez, Hunter Brown, and Ronel Blanco are as solid a one-two-three punch as there is in the American League. Only unanimously-voted American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal posted a better qualifying earned run average (2.39) than Blanco’s 2.80 and Valdez’s 2.91. After tweaking his arsenal following an atrocious opening seven-start stretch to his season, Brown posted a 2.46 ERA the rest of the way. Framber may have a couple hundred million dollars riding on his 2025 performance as barring an extension he heads toward free agency. Will Brown and Blanco’s performance hold up after each set professional career highs in innings pitched? The fourth rotation spot initially goes to Spencer Arrighetti, who showed much promise pitching to a 3.18 ERA after the All-Star break. Kyle Tucker trade acquisition Hayden Wesneski has first dibs on the fifth spot. The Cy-Fair high school grad and Sam Houston State product flashes some solid stuff, but absolutely must do a better job keeping his pitches in the ballpark. In 190 big league innings pitched Wesneski has been hammered for 35 home runs. In 2024 he showed so improvement in that area yielding 12 dingers in 67 2/3 innings.
The two sure things so far as bullpen roles are concerned are Josh Hader and Bryan Abreu. Hader’s seasons in one word from 2020-2024: Meh, stupendous, atrocious, phenomenal, mediocre. The odd years have been the fabulous ones. Abreu moves up the totem pole with the salary dump (eight and a half of 14 million anyway) trade of Ryan Pressly. After Hader and Abreu most tickets are punched. Tayler Scott, Kaleb Ort, Forrest Whitley, and Bryan King all figure to have spots. The 32-year-old Scott faded over the last two months after having blown away anything he’d done previously in MLB. The 33-year-old Ort also way outpitched his prior big league resume. Former mega-prospect Whitley is out of minor league options, and opportunity knocks. King appears the only definitely makes the club lefty reliever.
Spring training doors open next week. Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me 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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