Woodpeckers Baseball Podcast

It's the MLB Opening Day episode of the podcast as Matt welcomes Jake Kaplan of The Athletic to preview the Astros season in advance of Friday night's opener! Jake discusses his predictions on how the final 30-man roster will shake out (9:47), how the back-end of Houston's rotation might fare this year (12:10), the impacts of key rookies Enoli Paredes (14:37) and Bryan Abreu (19:23), and makes a bold prediction on an Astros MVP candidate this season (19:23). Next, Astros Fundamentals Coordinator Jason Bell joins the show to discuss preparations for the Astros taxi squad site in Corpus Christi and his impressions of the minor league side of summer camp at the University of Houston. Bell also touches on the breakout year for Colton Shaver (35:41) last season, how Jake Meyers has developed into one of the best centerfield defenders in the minor leagues (39:28), and how shortstop prospect Jeremy Pena took his glovework to the next level last year (41:41). Like, share, and subscribe to help grow the hottest pod in Minor League Baseball right now.

7:54- Interview with The Athletic's Jake Kaplan

29:33- Astros Fundamentals Coordinator Jason Bell

Music: "We'll Never Sleep" by Ryan Anderson, courtesy of the Free Music Archive