NERDS AROUND TOWN

The Nerd Report: Drag show, Esports, Aquaman and more

The Nerd Report: Drag show, Esports, Aquaman and more
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!

Well another week in the dust, best of luck to everyone on surviving the weekend and having a great one!

GOOD DEED OF THE DAY

It's going to be a fun show, so get out there and support the Spring Charity Drag Show. It's a themed drag show within Houston's nerd community and will feature pop culture, gaming and nerd icons as well as prominent drag queens in the "Gaymer" community. The proceeds go towards this group which all year long put on events for their community and give those people a place to go and be accepted.

BOY DID I GET THAT WRONG

Just Wednesday I told you guys about the DC Streaming service. For anyone who follows me and listens to Nerd Thug Radio, they know I hadn't been a fan of the service at all. The price felt a little high for when they launched considering they launched in November with a new animated movie and a large but incomplete library of old content and some comic books and that was it. Titan's launched in January and while I didn't love it, some people were saying nice things and then Young Justice's first half of their season came out and I loved that and it was the first great thing that was exclusive to the network. There was also another animated movie but it wasn't exclusive to the network. Doom Patrol debuted after Young Justice and honestly I haven't watched a single episode but it was getting great buzz, then DC announced all of their entire comics catalog will be available for the app and that they were getting on Xbox One and in the meantime they've brought in most of their old catalog under one roof. So they had basically settled my three biggest complaints, they were getting on the major consoles (the most convenient way to use the app on TV), they were getting their old catalog of TV shows and movies in order and they were finally releasing the entire library of comics onto the app (why buy a service from a comic company if they aren't going to let you read all their comics?), so finally I say something nice. Then suddenly the parent company Warner Bros ends production on Swamp Thing three episodes early and in that same press release it's revealed they were spending $85 million for the thirteen episode season, what the heck!? First of all, that's crazy money for a TV show, secondly, that's an even worse investment when you say it's for Swamp Thing and thirdly, now the future of the service itself is in question. Just after they got me to say something nice about it. Are you paying attention Disney?

WHILE YOU ARE OUT

So this week while you are running around don't forget to stop by your local comic shop and check out some of the cool stuff coming out this week. From DC Comic's Aquaman #47 is out and it wraps up a storyline where Aquaman was battling against the lost gods of the ocean in an effort to save all life on earth. Aquaman has been on a pretty epic run and his rise to fame started in the comic books, so check it out. Marvel is right in the middle of their crazy huge War of the Realms and the second issue of the story comes out this week. War of the Realms #2 is the second part in what they are promising is a huge storyline, that anyone who has seen the movies will be at least familiar with the characters at play. Also out this week that's a big deal is BPRD: The Devil You Know #15. This is the final issue of the story of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, introduced in Hellboy they've long continued their own series of adventures and this wraps that incredible series and story up. So reach in your wallet and get out them dollar bills and spend them at your local comic shop.

THIS WEEK IN ESPORTS

This week the FIFA eNations Cup tournament happened, it's a two day international affair where 20 countries from 6 different confederations qualified to play in this thing and they come to London for a battle to see who is the greatest. In the end France won the 1v1 tournament and congrats go out to "Maestro" and "DaXe". For those who don't quite understand what this all means, this was an officially sanctioned match with the participation of the member nations hosted and organized by FIFA, which means the players wore the official jerseys of their countries and stood for their respective anthems. FIFA has a few more months of various tournaments to go before their grand finale in August 2019. Also this weekend, Overwatch play continues with The Outlaws finally having two matches after only having one match over the last two weeks. They play tonight at 7:45pm and Sunday at 3:45pm and that match will be televised on Disney XD.

NOT THAT YOU ASKED

We are one week away from Avenger's Endgame and this will be bittersweet for me. My dad passed away Nov. 4th last year and one of the things we really enjoyed together were going to the movies. I remember him taking me to see Robocop 2 when it came out and movies were just always something we would go see and talk about. In the past few years his vision wasn't great and things weren't going well for him but movies were always something we loved talking about and when we would speak these would be fun, light conversations instead of talking about some of the harder times and things that he was going through. This completes a story he'll never see the end of and one he was genuinely curious about and for that part I'm genuinely sad to see this story come to an end, it's one less connection between the now and my Dad that I'll have.

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 every shirt is now under $20 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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