Kade Morris' MLB debut turns disastrous in Athletics' blowout loss to Astros

On "A's Cast," Chris Townsend and Shooty Babitt discuss the Athletics' 13-2 loss to the Houston Astros on Saturday at Daikin Park.

Kade Morris' MLB debut turns disastrous in Athletics' blowout loss to Astros originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

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I really wish I had better news for you, but the reality is the A's have now lost 10 of their last 14 games, scored one run yesterday, two runs today, and unfortunately, a big blowout as the Astros take it to the Athletics, 13 to two.

From an entertainment standpoint, Carlos Cortez coming in the end, and he continues to throw scoreless baseball.

He doesn't have an ERA.

That would probably be the only thing I could really give you.

Chris Townsend alongside the Super Scout, Shooty Babbitt.

Not a lot of good out of this game, and I know you're not thrilled about it.

I look at it like this.

you run off those numbers, start thinking about the culmination of what has happened and what has transpired.

I think every team during the season goes through a game like this, and typically, it changes the complexity of the, the attitude, the roster, the way you look at things.

I think everyone who played in this game or had anything to do with it, should take it personally and ask themselves, "What could I have done better to at least, give us an opportunity in this game?"

And you can't ask for more than that, but everybody's gotta look in the mirror a- and self-check, because this is not the makeup of this ball club.

Yes.

nobody quit.

Nobody wasn't trying.

it's just the way that the cookie crumbles sometimes, but if you don't take this personal right here, then you should probably find a different occupation.

Yeah, y- y- after a while, and, and we have to obviously sell this thing, but after a while, saying, "Ah, you just need to flush it.

You just need to flush it," you can only do that so many times.

You got a very critical week coming up here.

I- if you weren't watching in the pregame show, we had for you that the two most offensive ballparks in the American League are Sacramento and they're Houston.

You're gonna need to come in here, and you've gotta score runs.

We'll get into the pitching, but you've gotta score runs.

And after tomorrow, you're flying to Vegas, and you're gonna be playing at the Ballpark in Las Vegas, which is extremely offensive.

I mean, you're talking pop-ups go out there.

So it's like scoring two runs and one run, this is not the makeup of this team.

And no matter what the pitching is, if you can't score And then, then I gotta give you this, and I'm tracking this.

Our run differential in the first inning, minus 12.

Our run differential now in the first three innings, minus 29.

Our ERA in the first three innings is 5.39.

You can't es- you can't have the DNA of always getting behind.

Got behind yesterday, got behind today.

You keep doing that.

We're seeing it far too often.

This is not some rarity.

We're seeing it all the time.

They've gotta figure out how to put goose eggs up, the pitching staff early, and actually score some runs and get ahead because the numbers are just showing you, you're, you're, you're getting too far behind f- right out of the gate.

I understand the fact of, statement you made about us, or you have to sell this thing, but I also believe in being real.

I have been blessed and been fortunate to have a Major League and a professional uniform on, and there's a certain level of accountability that takes place.

And I said in the pregame, and I'll say it now, you win as a team, and you lose as a team.

And there's enough blame to go around.

And I know the pride.

I know the passion.

I know how people feel that run this organization, and they hate losing more than anybody, and they're not taking this lightly, trust me.

But I also feel like I have the responsibility to speak on what the player would say themself, and I would never criticize some of the best players in the entire world, but what's real is what's real, and if it's, a finger is pointing at you and the facts are the facts, then you have to accept it, and you gotta do something about it.

As a player, if you're one of the leaders, Shooty Babbitt, you're one of the leaders of this team, in this clubhouse, there's still a long way to go.

This is a tough patch.

We were told in spring training, after what they went through last year in May, losing 20 of 21, they weren't gonna have a lot of these patches because they've grown from that.

What would you do as a player and a leader in this clubhouse?

Well, I would just pull my guys together.

Somebody's gotta snap.

Somebody's gotta turn something over.

Somebody's gotta get the attention of everybody and make sure that everybody- Not the post-game spread.

Please, not the post-game spread.

Well, not this time of year 'cause it got watermelon.

It's so good and cold these days.

They got good eats.

You know, but you have to rally the troops.

Whoever that person is or people are, you gotta do it b- because players have pride, and they don't like going out there performing this way.

I mean, you know who I feel for today is parents of players that were playing today because they wear every pitch, every at bat, every situation on their sleeves, and they're pulling for their kids.

I've been through it with my children that play baseball, for most of their lives, and I don't care how old they are, you take it personally, and it hurts you just as badly as, they are.

And I, I, I pray for y'all today because it was a tough one to watch, and I just think about, our starter.

You know, parents come all the way from, uh- Cade Morris Modesto, from, from Turlock just to, to see Cade pitch, and unfortunately, and I said it in the pregame, man.

Y- one of the toughest things to do is control your emotions and be yourself.

This is what you've dreamed of in your entire life, and then you gotta go up there and stare at Alvarez and the likes of Altuve, guys that are gonna be potential Hall of Famers, and it's just like you're not gonna go out there and dominate and have success of these guys.

But you go out there.

You give it the best you possibly can.

You're looking for teammates to pick you up a little bit, the things we talk about, score some runs, play defense, make some plays behind him.

This one got out of cl- control so quickly, but I will give Morris a lot of credit.He salvaged the bullpen a little bit today, because he went out there and he warred.

He gave us 80-something pitches, when a lot of times you got a young pitcher up there for the first time and the last thing you wanna do is shatter his confidence.

But he warred.

He went out there and he did it, and, he'll get another opportunity.

And but Tony, it's a long season.

you learn your life ses- lessons by going through something, because anybody that hasn't been through nothing, ain't been through nothing.

So, we look for how they handle it, we look for maturation.

you got other players on this roster that's waiting for opportunity.

That's something that we've done a great job of, is taking, advantage of opportunities, and there are gonna be some that present themselves over the next couple of days.

I have no clue what Mark Kate is gonna say.

We're gonna have it in just a little bit.

But not too long ago, Craig Counsell, w- we were just in Chicago taking on the Chicago Cubs, but their streaks, as we highlighted here on this show, have been crazy.

They have had the two 10-game winning streaks, they'd won 15 straight at Wrigley Field.

Then all of a sudden they lose 10 straight, they lost eight straight at Wrigley Field.

They've been so up and down, and Craig Counsell, their manager, has been asked every single question why.

And finally, he kind of snapped.

I don't know how many people watched, watched it, it was on MLB Network, where he finally just said, "You know what?

They gotta play better.

We, we give them all the data, we give them, we coach them, we give them everything they could possibly have.

We have the best training, we've got the best technology, we've got At some point you just gotta play better."

You know, you say that, and I'll try to give it another analogy.

We all have young kids, or we've had young kids, and this is a young team.

They're gonna make mistakes, they're gonna have issues.

and you know you love them to death, sometimes they just make you feel so good, but sometimes they just break your heart, and that's all part of it.

So whatever way that you can find comfort, whatever way you can find a way to reach them, to reach into their potential and maximize that, as a coach, as a manager, anybody around these kids, that is your role.

understand that.

It's not easy in this league.

It's, it, it, it's hard to get here, but it's three times harder to stay here, and they're finding that out right now.

And that's why I never like when people start saying, "Every hitter should do this," or, "Every pitcher should do that."

No, no, no, no, no, you can't pigeonhole any individual.

What got them there is what's gonna keep them there.

And all we can do is find out a way to enhance the things that they're able to do, and try to polish up the things that they can't, and improve them.

It's still a long way to go.

I know you get tired of hearing that, and- we gonna, we gonna wear it just like they are, because this is part of the process.

How long do we have to go?

How much?

Man.

We're about almost 40% through the season.

I- How much longer we gotta go?

I've been through construction sites where I see them throw up the two-by-fours and they start putting up the walls and everything, and something goes wrong and they have to tear it down and rebuild it.

But as long as you got the foundation that's strong enough to handle the heavy load that's coming your way, you can continue to build right now.

And right now we're just finding out who the foundational pieces are gonna be as we move forward into that big, beautiful building that they're building up in Las Vegas.

Some will be part of it, some will be probably sitting here taking my job.

How you play now is- You know?

gonna decide whether you're gonna be a part of that in 2028.

And you couldn't ask for any better opportunity than what they have now.

You can't blame it on the manager, can't blame it on the coaches, you can't blame it on the boogie.

You can't find nobody to blame it on but- What about the boogeyman?

Can we blame the boogeyman?

Man, if you could see him, you probably would.

All right, I, I, I don't wanna do this, but I gotta go to the Toyota Turning Point.

Unfortunately, we have to go to this.

What do you call him, Late Night?

Late Night Lamont.

Man, that's, he got his name for that.

I mean, he sent people home late in the night over in that other city that they used to play, or that he used to play in.

But, it's just one of those days, man.

and unfortunately, I mean, you gotta trust your stuff, as I alluded to.

You can't be perfect.

he showed the ability to pitch inside.

I mean, he broke out his whole repertoire and, and a lot of times we would nod, "Yeah, I like that, I like that."

But you have to remember also, these guys are the best in the world.

This is a team that has won the World Series of late.

And, you got some professional guys over there, and they get paid to, make you pay for mistakes.

Yeah.

And when you do, I mean, the, it resonates very loudly.

The walk to Pina, then to load the bases for a guy who is, this season, staying healthy, and he's as good as anybody, and we've seen it for years, Shorton Alvarez is.

If he stays healthy, it's the kind of career, as you alluded to, could, could end up with a plaque in Cooperstown.

He is such a special offensive force, and you walk the bases loaded to get to him.

I mean, that is just worst case scenario.

But I mean, when you look at this thing, the, the numbers they're putting up early, a run in the first, five in the second, and then they put up a run in the third.

I mean, once again, tho- these early innings, the Athletics are just giving up too many runs, and that's something they've gotta figure out pretty quick, and it's happened throughout the entire season.

Well, we see what the symptoms are, but can we correct the cause?

And that's what the most difficult challenge is right now, and especially when you are developing and you are evaluating at the same time, because you have to run guys out there to find out what they can do in the tough times.

Eh, I mean, I think our goal still should be, right now, I mean, even though we're playing very poorly, with three or four games under 500, which is something that's- Yeah reachable, and we've got some winnable series coming up, you know, with some big games going on in Vegas next week.

And just when we start, you know, start throwing shade on the club, that's when they find a way to just make everybody be quiet and start clapping and congratulating them.

We wanna love you.

No question.

We wanna love you.

But we been there, Tony.

We've been there.

The Houston Astros propelled us into New York, and we know what happened after that.

So hopefully this spanking that we took today will wake us up and get us to understand that, hey, we've been here before, and we can dig ourselves out of this hole.

I mean, it ain't dirt that you're throwing over them now, they just in the hole.

Okay, now we just gotta get them out of i-

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