August 21, 2024 • 15 mins
Taking on the Red Sox, the Astros fell in a 6-5 loss yesterday evening late in the eighth inning. Now looking to the tiebreaker this afternoon, Astros GM Dana Brown shares his thoughts on the teams production kicking off this tough stretch of the schedule along with a few player updates and returns.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
About the Sean Salsbury Show continued. Welcome and Astros.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
General manager Dana Brown to the show.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Yeah, weekly visit nine to thirty every single Wednesday. Got
a team in first place, trying to get him all healthy.
Dana Brown, the Astros GM joins us. Now, Dana, welcome in.
My man. Tough one last night. We'll get to that shortly,
but let's talk about Verlander back, expectations of him today,
whether it's pitch count. I know Joe will make the decision,
but I know you guys have talked about it. What
(00:30):
are your expectations seeing from him? And for how long today?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Yeah, it'd be outstanding. If you can go five innings today,
maybe you know, sixty seventy pitches, that would be That
would be beautiful. So it's good to see him back.
You know, his last WEEAF started, he's probably like ninety
three to ninety six, you know, outstanding curveball, so you
know he's he's been thrown well, and it's just it's
(00:56):
just wonderful.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
To have him back, to be honest, Yeah, sure is
just to exist ample and table setter for sure. Dana.
Not counting last night's game. We're discussing on the show
last week about early in the season when this you know,
as you constantly tell us, and we needed to buy
in the long season. But when they started losing one
run games, weren't getting that key hit in late inning games,
(01:17):
weren't run pushing the runner over and moving a small
balling and then getting the home run. But it feels
like during this big the way you guys have played
since you know, June July, late June July and now August,
is that these one run games or these clutch moments
look like the Astros of old, that they're finding ways
to win them, even when it hadn't been a pretty
(01:37):
game like all the Airs the other night, still finding
a way to pull through and win. This looks like
Astros baseball winning ugly, which a lot of times happens
on most teams in baseball. Correct.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yeah, I mean the course of one hundred and sixty two,
you guys share me talk about that all the time.
I mean, you're gonna win games like that. I mean,
it's a beautiful thing when you can win a game
where you make four errors. I mean that means that
the guys had to grit and grind to get through it.
So you know, you know you're gonna make mistakes. It's
piece ball. You're gonna have some games where you make
(02:12):
a few errors. But when you can come out on top,
whether it's a bunch of errors or a bunch of walks,
and you can still come out on top, you know
a win is a win. You'll take the win no
matter what. And then you hit reset and try to
figure out, hey, what do we got to do to
play better baseball? And so we know that we don't
play like that often. So when you play like that
and still can get a win, you know you'll take it.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
But the average character team or the average non grinding
team loses those games, and the Astros didn't. And I
think that's an important part of what you've said about
your team because I asked you three months ago, do
you do you not only trust this team, but are
they mentally tough? And you said, yeah, I believe they are.
We're going to find out, and we found out so far.
So Dana, with that, I know what you'd want. Okay,
(02:56):
we all want big blowout wins so we can relax.
But where do you learn more about your team when
you go through and everything's going good? And you win
eight to one, or a game like the other night
when you make four airs and still find a way
to grind it out. What would you what in your
heart feels better at the end.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Of the day. Well, in my heart, it feels better
to blow teams out right.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
No, I know that that's the fantasy world all the time.
But but but what do you learn more about learn?
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Yeah, you learn a ton in these close ball games
because you learn. Look, oftentimes in a close ball game,
you may have to do something small like get a
runner over, or you may have to have that good
tim pitch at bat, you know, to drive that running,
you know, so you learn a lot about the club
(03:44):
in these tough moments, you know. You know, we always
talk about the valley experiences where you learn a lot
in the valley, you know, and so ultimately you do
learn a lot and these these tough close games, and
it tells you what your team is made of, you know,
when you can have these pictures come out and make
certain pitches to get through innings and uh, you know,
(04:06):
you just grind through it, and so, uh you know,
it's it's it's nice to win those games. You learn
a lot about your club. In close ball games for sure.
But as I always say, it's a little bit.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Hell yeah to blow a team out, Hell yeah the heart.
The heart takes a little simpler and uh and it
makes it a lot easier and the relaxation kicks in
a little easier, if it ever does during a baseball season.
All right, are we with Alex Bregman? Will we see
him today? And if not? Is this uh ailment or
(04:40):
whatever we're calling it, setback? Is this more concerning than
you're sleeping on it? Wrong?
Speaker 2 (04:47):
No? So the deal is, you know, he's gonna he's
going d H today. I mean that's the plan. Okay,
So you know, hopefully when he takes batting practice it
feels good. You know. So ultimately he's gonna today and
we're going to see, you know, get him, get him
some at bats. So we're looking forward to seeing how
those at bats go. We'll know a whole lot more
(05:08):
after today's game, you know. But I think he feels great.
He's biting at the bed. You know, I talked to
him a little bit yesterday. Uh, he's been through this before.
He's going to grind it out, of course, because he's
that type of a player. But I can't wait to
see him back in that lineup today, you know. And
I missed him at third base already, of course, so
(05:30):
you know, he makes third base look easy.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Yeah, he sure does Dana with that since he's not
going to play the field and d H is the plan.
Is there a feeling that the torque on it, you
know that that you're more concerned about it obviously in
the field, in the plate, or was the plan just
to DH him to get him back into the swing
of things. Could he play that? Could he play third
base if you needed him to today?
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Yes? I think he could play third base if we
needed him, But the plan was for him the d
H all along and we could like sort of sort
of g uh, gradually get him back in there. But
I think from talking to him yesterday, he feels fine,
and you know, but the plan was that this was
if this was the first game of the playoffs, Steve
would be playing today at third base. So but I
(06:14):
think he could play third today, but the plan was
to ease him back in, and you know, so he
said he felt a lot better yesterday, and so we're
looking forward to seeing what he looks like today and
we'll know more by the end of the game.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Let's just say for talking sake, he had a DH
for ten games. Who's your third baseman regularly?
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Yeah, I mean so I think it would be some
combination of Dubon and Wickham. You know. Wickham is, you know,
off to a pretty decent start right now, he's playing
well for a young kid coming up filling in for Bregman,
and so you know, it would be some combination of
Dubon and Wickham and and then balancing it out to
(06:54):
not to not put too much pressure on the young kid.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Astro's GM. Dana Brown joins us for his weekly visit
for a few more minutes here on Sports Talk seven
ninety nine thirty every Wednesday, and you could hear it
on Sports seven ninety dot com when the show's over.
It's always a great listen from from Dana. All right,
Dana with uh waiver wire? Are you scouring it still
or is what's going to win this thing in the building?
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Yeah, I mean we were. We're always in the business
of trying to uh, you know, make our team better.
You know, we got you know, Matt Matt Hogan, he
watches that waiver wire like a hawk, and you know,
if there's any time we could acquire a guy, you know,
we're going to try to do it. You know, you
look at our roster right now. You could look at
some of the players that we've had, you know, where
(07:40):
we acquired you know, on the waiver wire, you know,
and so ultimately, you know you've got guys like or
you know, we acquired that way, and so sometimes you
know you have to be you have to be on
that wire, you know, because you never know what's going
to become become available. And at I mentioned before, we
(08:01):
do a pretty good job with pitching, and so if
we see a guy on the waiver wire that like,
oh yeah, we can make an adjustment with this guy,
we're going to be aggressive. So we're always paying attention.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Is there a dfa guy out there, a picture that's
available that you might consider that's my that's my way
of asking it without saying his name. Anybody anybody out
there that that you're interested in, including a guy who's
been here before that that you would be interested in.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Well, ultimately, when when when guys are d faight or
we we have these conversations. So I'm sure that anybody
that we have interest in, and particularly if it was
a guy that was here before and we have we
have good information on his makeup, you know, we we
we go through it. I mean we look at you know,
(08:53):
every single name that come across, particularly if it was
a guy that was here before he had success here.
You know, we would we would take a look and
and and and see what you know is near a
fit and so so we're looking at everyone. So the
rest assure we're looking at everyone.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Yeah, And Dana Brown asked us Jim joins us a
couple more minutes here on his weekly Wednesday visit. Dana,
you concerned about any of these guys the length they're going.
You know, Blanco had his struggles, which you know at
times that happens. He's been so good this year. Any
concern about him or Spencer or even a Hunter Brown
which that hasn't shown any signs of this, but that
(09:29):
there's a wall that they're hitting because of the innings
and the and the length which they're not used to
in the major league level so far.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
The one thing I would say about all these guys
is they have pretty good physicality. Right. If these guys
were smaller men, then I would worry a little bit
more because you're putting such a workload on them. But
if you look at Blanco, he's been he's been pitching
for a long time. I think Blanco is going to
be fine. He's just so physical, big man. Uh. You know,
(09:59):
you're gonna have ups and downs in the course of
the season. You know, you could be an eighth and
have a bad outing and so, uh you know Blanco,
you know, I think he's gonna be fine. He just
was one of yesterday, was in his day. You know,
he gave up three in the first and uh, you know,
grinded through it. But I think he's gonna be fine.
He was up to ninety five still, so he'll be okay. Arrogetty,
(10:22):
He's gonna be okay. I think he's got a nice
combination of physicality and looseness in his actions. Yep, And
so I think he's gonna he's gonna be He's gonna
be fine as well. I think going to the sixth
man rotation over these next stretch of games because we
have so many back to back uh total of eighteen
in a row, by the way, So I think he's
(10:42):
gonna be fine. Uh, you know, because we're putting in
that six man and JV and so we're gonna get
these guys that extra day. It works miracles. You know
when you're out in the grind and you get into
August and you know that extra day works miracles. Since
the fact that we're going to a six man in August,
(11:03):
the dog days of August and we're playing well, you know,
this is a good face to be in and you know,
I couldn't have planned it any better. So we're we're
excited about where we are.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Right now, no doubt. So end with this. And I
know this is something you don't want to face, but
it has to be asked. I mean, I know he's
making progress with Kyle Tucker, but we've discussed how good
you are and how much better you're going to be
when Kyle Tucker comes back. You don't replace a five
tool guy and just not be better. But the record
says you guys can win regardless. Are you a World
Series team if Kyle Tucker is not your right fielder,
(11:37):
if if he couldn't play this year, can you win
a World Series on the current roster without him?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Yeah? The ultimate goal is is to get to the
World Series. I mean, and I think this club is built,
and we're good enough to do it. You know. I
remember back in Atlanta, you know, we won, and we
won the World Series of twenty twenty one without a Kunya,
right right, So you can still win the World Series
with ugh star player. It's just that other players are
(12:05):
going to have to step up without a doubt and so,
but we don't want to think like that. We know
that we're going to get Tucker back at some point.
I spoke to Tucker at length yesterday. He's feeling a
lot better. Uh, he's actually running on the field right now,
and you know, so I think getting him back in
shape and getting getting rid of some of the soreness. Uh,
(12:28):
it's going to be where we need to get to
in order to get him back on that field. So
I think when he comes back, it's going to be
a nice little boost for the club. And I think
at that point it'd be so sweet to go on
a nice run. And so we can't wait for him
to come back. We can't wait for him to be
(12:48):
the boost that we need, and so we're we're really
looking forward to it. But you know, we're still playing
well without him, but we're going to.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Need him down the stretch and real quick, Dan, I'll
let you go. Is has just the time frame. It's
not given anything away. We're August twenty first, he hasn't
gone to a minor league assignment. Are we looking sometime
maybe for him to be back on a major league
roster playing post Labor Day?
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Yeah, I'm hoping at some point the first week of September,
so it could be post Labor Day. But I really
feel like he can get back this first week of September.
I think he's a lot closer. You know. Then we think,
as I mentioned before, this is a type of injury
that once you start to feel good, it's just a
(13:37):
matter of getting your legs and your win back. And
I think he's going to be closer than we think.
And so he's starting to feel a lot better in
the fact that he's running on the field. He's hitting
balls in the upper deck by the way, in patting practice,
So I mean that's another good sign.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Not bad on one and a half legs. That's a
good thing. There you go, you'll take it.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Not bad at all, So we'll definitely take it. And
the goal if you can get back by that first
week of September, and we can get on a run.
That'd be sweet. We could ride them right to the
division champions and then too the postseason.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Dan, I've kept you too long, but this just entered
my mind and I got to ask you this, or
is it important for you guys to go I mean,
it's always important, but to go on a kick ass
roll again for the next twenty five or thirty games,
So the last ten to twelve fifteen games, you can
get as much rest for your players as you need.
Is that is that a must? I mean, like all
twelve cylinders hitting now, so at the end if al
(14:32):
Toovey needs a day, offer two or Bregman, soe we
can get that rest for you guys. How important is
that to you?
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Yeah, I mean that would be important, and then we
would you know, take a little bit of pressure off
the guys and roll right into the postseason. But you know,
make no mistake, this team really plays well when they're
in the grind and the grit, playing every day. So
playing every day, and you know, you don't want to
get to the point where you take your foot off
(15:00):
the gas. So I'd like to really keep these games competitive.
I think that's important for us. But you know, if
there's if there's a chance to get the knockout punch,
I'd rather go ahead and get the knockout punch and
then we'll we'll cross the other bridge when we get there.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
So thanks perfect.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
I'm just excited about where the guys are and what
they've done this entire season.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Yeah, I bet you are. And it's been unbelievable where
they've where they were and where they are now. But
you told us a long season and here we are,
an now it's the sprint, all right, my man, good
luck today. Appreciate you. We'll see you next Wednesday and
go get this one and win a series.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Appreciate the time, absolutely appreciate you having me on. Let's
go keep you going.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
That's great, Dana Brown, we'll come back and discuss. We
wrap it up in about well about thirty seconds, but
it was worth getting his answer. Sports Talk seven ninety
About the Sean Salsbury Show continued. Welcome and Astros.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
General manager Dana Brown to the show.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Yeah, weekly visit nine to thirty every single Wednesday. Got
a team in first place, trying to get him all healthy.
Dana Brown, the Astros GM joins us. Now, Dana, welcome in.
My man. Tough one last night. We'll get to that shortly,
but let's talk about Verlander back, expectations of him today,
whether it's pitch count. I know Joe will make the decision,
but I know you guys have talked about it. What
(00:30):
are your expectations seeing from him? And for how long today?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Yeah, it'd be outstanding. If you can go five innings today,
maybe you know, sixty seventy pitches, that would be That
would be beautiful. So it's good to see him back.
You know, his last WEEAF started, he's probably like ninety
three to ninety six, you know, outstanding curveball, so you
know he's he's been thrown well, and it's just it's
(00:56):
just wonderful.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
To have him back, to be honest, Yeah, sure is
just to exist ample and table setter for sure. Dana.
Not counting last night's game. We're discussing on the show
last week about early in the season when this you know,
as you constantly tell us, and we needed to buy
in the long season. But when they started losing one
run games, weren't getting that key hit in late inning games,
(01:17):
weren't run pushing the runner over and moving a small
balling and then getting the home run. But it feels
like during this big the way you guys have played
since you know, June July, late June July and now August,
is that these one run games or these clutch moments
look like the Astros of old, that they're finding ways
to win them, even when it hadn't been a pretty
(01:37):
game like all the Airs the other night, still finding
a way to pull through and win. This looks like
Astros baseball winning ugly, which a lot of times happens
on most teams in baseball. Correct.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yeah, I mean the course of one hundred and sixty two,
you guys share me talk about that all the time.
I mean, you're gonna win games like that. I mean,
it's a beautiful thing when you can win a game
where you make four errors. I mean that means that
the guys had to grit and grind to get through it.
So you know, you know you're gonna make mistakes. It's
piece ball. You're gonna have some games where you make
(02:12):
a few errors. But when you can come out on top,
whether it's a bunch of errors or a bunch of walks,
and you can still come out on top, you know
a win is a win. You'll take the win no
matter what. And then you hit reset and try to
figure out, hey, what do we got to do to
play better baseball? And so we know that we don't
play like that often. So when you play like that
and still can get a win, you know you'll take it.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
But the average character team or the average non grinding
team loses those games, and the Astros didn't. And I
think that's an important part of what you've said about
your team because I asked you three months ago, do
you do you not only trust this team, but are
they mentally tough? And you said, yeah, I believe they are.
We're going to find out, and we found out so far.
So Dana, with that, I know what you'd want. Okay,
(02:56):
we all want big blowout wins so we can relax.
But where do you learn more about your team when
you go through and everything's going good? And you win
eight to one, or a game like the other night
when you make four airs and still find a way
to grind it out. What would you what in your
heart feels better at the end.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Of the day. Well, in my heart, it feels better
to blow teams out right.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
No, I know that that's the fantasy world all the time.
But but but what do you learn more about learn?
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Yeah, you learn a ton in these close ball games
because you learn. Look, oftentimes in a close ball game,
you may have to do something small like get a
runner over, or you may have to have that good
tim pitch at bat, you know, to drive that running,
you know, so you learn a lot about the club
(03:44):
in these tough moments, you know. You know, we always
talk about the valley experiences where you learn a lot
in the valley, you know, and so ultimately you do
learn a lot and these these tough close games, and
it tells you what your team is made of, you know,
when you can have these pictures come out and make
certain pitches to get through innings and uh, you know,
(04:06):
you just grind through it, and so, uh you know,
it's it's it's nice to win those games. You learn
a lot about your club. In close ball games for sure.
But as I always say, it's a little bit.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Hell yeah to blow a team out, Hell yeah the heart.
The heart takes a little simpler and uh and it
makes it a lot easier and the relaxation kicks in
a little easier, if it ever does during a baseball season.
All right, are we with Alex Bregman? Will we see
him today? And if not? Is this uh ailment or
(04:40):
whatever we're calling it, setback? Is this more concerning than
you're sleeping on it? Wrong?
Speaker 2 (04:47):
No? So the deal is, you know, he's gonna he's
going d H today. I mean that's the plan. Okay,
So you know, hopefully when he takes batting practice it
feels good. You know. So ultimately he's gonna today and
we're going to see, you know, get him, get him
some at bats. So we're looking forward to seeing how
those at bats go. We'll know a whole lot more
(05:08):
after today's game, you know. But I think he feels great.
He's biting at the bed. You know, I talked to
him a little bit yesterday. Uh, he's been through this before.
He's going to grind it out, of course, because he's
that type of a player. But I can't wait to
see him back in that lineup today, you know. And
I missed him at third base already, of course, so
(05:30):
you know, he makes third base look easy.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Yeah, he sure does Dana with that since he's not
going to play the field and d H is the plan.
Is there a feeling that the torque on it, you
know that that you're more concerned about it obviously in
the field, in the plate, or was the plan just
to DH him to get him back into the swing
of things. Could he play that? Could he play third
base if you needed him to today?
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Yes? I think he could play third base if we
needed him, But the plan was for him the d
H all along and we could like sort of sort
of g uh, gradually get him back in there. But
I think from talking to him yesterday, he feels fine,
and you know, but the plan was that this was
if this was the first game of the playoffs, Steve
would be playing today at third base. So but I
(06:14):
think he could play third today, but the plan was
to ease him back in, and you know, so he
said he felt a lot better yesterday, and so we're
looking forward to seeing what he looks like today and
we'll know more by the end of the game.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Let's just say for talking sake, he had a DH
for ten games. Who's your third baseman regularly?
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Yeah, I mean so I think it would be some
combination of Dubon and Wickham. You know. Wickham is, you know,
off to a pretty decent start right now, he's playing
well for a young kid coming up filling in for Bregman,
and so you know, it would be some combination of
Dubon and Wickham and and then balancing it out to
(06:54):
not to not put too much pressure on the young kid.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Astro's GM. Dana Brown joins us for his weekly visit
for a few more minutes here on Sports Talk seven
ninety nine thirty every Wednesday, and you could hear it
on Sports seven ninety dot com when the show's over.
It's always a great listen from from Dana. All right,
Dana with uh waiver wire? Are you scouring it still
or is what's going to win this thing in the building?
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Yeah, I mean we were. We're always in the business
of trying to uh, you know, make our team better.
You know, we got you know, Matt Matt Hogan, he
watches that waiver wire like a hawk, and you know,
if there's any time we could acquire a guy, you know,
we're going to try to do it. You know, you
look at our roster right now. You could look at
some of the players that we've had, you know, where
(07:40):
we acquired you know, on the waiver wire, you know,
and so ultimately, you know you've got guys like or
you know, we acquired that way, and so sometimes you
know you have to be you have to be on
that wire, you know, because you never know what's going
to become become available. And at I mentioned before, we
(08:01):
do a pretty good job with pitching, and so if
we see a guy on the waiver wire that like,
oh yeah, we can make an adjustment with this guy,
we're going to be aggressive. So we're always paying attention.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Is there a dfa guy out there, a picture that's
available that you might consider that's my that's my way
of asking it without saying his name. Anybody anybody out
there that that you're interested in, including a guy who's
been here before that that you would be interested in.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Well, ultimately, when when when guys are d faight or
we we have these conversations. So I'm sure that anybody
that we have interest in, and particularly if it was
a guy that was here before and we have we
have good information on his makeup, you know, we we
we go through it. I mean we look at you know,
(08:53):
every single name that come across, particularly if it was
a guy that was here before he had success here.
You know, we would we would take a look and
and and and see what you know is near a
fit and so so we're looking at everyone. So the
rest assure we're looking at everyone.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Yeah, And Dana Brown asked us Jim joins us a
couple more minutes here on his weekly Wednesday visit. Dana,
you concerned about any of these guys the length they're going.
You know, Blanco had his struggles, which you know at
times that happens. He's been so good this year. Any
concern about him or Spencer or even a Hunter Brown
which that hasn't shown any signs of this, but that
(09:29):
there's a wall that they're hitting because of the innings
and the and the length which they're not used to
in the major league level so far.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
The one thing I would say about all these guys
is they have pretty good physicality. Right. If these guys
were smaller men, then I would worry a little bit
more because you're putting such a workload on them. But
if you look at Blanco, he's been he's been pitching
for a long time. I think Blanco is going to
be fine. He's just so physical, big man. Uh. You know,
(09:59):
you're gonna have ups and downs in the course of
the season. You know, you could be an eighth and
have a bad outing and so, uh you know Blanco,
you know, I think he's gonna be fine. He just
was one of yesterday, was in his day. You know,
he gave up three in the first and uh, you know,
grinded through it. But I think he's gonna be fine.
He was up to ninety five still, so he'll be okay. Arrogetty,
(10:22):
He's gonna be okay. I think he's got a nice
combination of physicality and looseness in his actions. Yep, And
so I think he's gonna he's gonna be He's gonna
be fine as well. I think going to the sixth
man rotation over these next stretch of games because we
have so many back to back uh total of eighteen
in a row, by the way, So I think he's
(10:42):
gonna be fine. Uh, you know, because we're putting in
that six man and JV and so we're gonna get
these guys that extra day. It works miracles. You know
when you're out in the grind and you get into
August and you know that extra day works miracles. Since
the fact that we're going to a six man in August,
(11:03):
the dog days of August and we're playing well, you know,
this is a good face to be in and you know,
I couldn't have planned it any better. So we're we're
excited about where we are.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Right now, no doubt. So end with this. And I
know this is something you don't want to face, but
it has to be asked. I mean, I know he's
making progress with Kyle Tucker, but we've discussed how good
you are and how much better you're going to be
when Kyle Tucker comes back. You don't replace a five
tool guy and just not be better. But the record
says you guys can win regardless. Are you a World
Series team if Kyle Tucker is not your right fielder,
(11:37):
if if he couldn't play this year, can you win
a World Series on the current roster without him?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Yeah? The ultimate goal is is to get to the
World Series. I mean, and I think this club is built,
and we're good enough to do it. You know. I
remember back in Atlanta, you know, we won, and we
won the World Series of twenty twenty one without a Kunya,
right right, So you can still win the World Series
with ugh star player. It's just that other players are
(12:05):
going to have to step up without a doubt and so,
but we don't want to think like that. We know
that we're going to get Tucker back at some point.
I spoke to Tucker at length yesterday. He's feeling a
lot better. Uh, he's actually running on the field right now,
and you know, so I think getting him back in
shape and getting getting rid of some of the soreness. Uh,
(12:28):
it's going to be where we need to get to
in order to get him back on that field. So
I think when he comes back, it's going to be
a nice little boost for the club. And I think
at that point it'd be so sweet to go on
a nice run. And so we can't wait for him
to come back. We can't wait for him to be
(12:48):
the boost that we need, and so we're we're really
looking forward to it. But you know, we're still playing
well without him, but we're going to.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Need him down the stretch and real quick, Dan, I'll
let you go. Is has just the time frame. It's
not given anything away. We're August twenty first, he hasn't
gone to a minor league assignment. Are we looking sometime
maybe for him to be back on a major league
roster playing post Labor Day?
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Yeah, I'm hoping at some point the first week of September,
so it could be post Labor Day. But I really
feel like he can get back this first week of September.
I think he's a lot closer. You know. Then we think,
as I mentioned before, this is a type of injury
that once you start to feel good, it's just a
(13:37):
matter of getting your legs and your win back. And
I think he's going to be closer than we think.
And so he's starting to feel a lot better in
the fact that he's running on the field. He's hitting
balls in the upper deck by the way, in patting practice,
So I mean that's another good sign.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Not bad on one and a half legs. That's a
good thing. There you go, you'll take it.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Not bad at all, So we'll definitely take it. And
the goal if you can get back by that first
week of September, and we can get on a run.
That'd be sweet. We could ride them right to the
division champions and then too the postseason.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Dan, I've kept you too long, but this just entered
my mind and I got to ask you this, or
is it important for you guys to go I mean,
it's always important, but to go on a kick ass
roll again for the next twenty five or thirty games,
So the last ten to twelve fifteen games, you can
get as much rest for your players as you need.
Is that is that a must? I mean, like all
twelve cylinders hitting now, so at the end if al
(14:32):
Toovey needs a day, offer two or Bregman, soe we
can get that rest for you guys. How important is
that to you?
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Yeah, I mean that would be important, and then we
would you know, take a little bit of pressure off
the guys and roll right into the postseason. But you know,
make no mistake, this team really plays well when they're
in the grind and the grit, playing every day. So
playing every day, and you know, you don't want to
get to the point where you take your foot off
(15:00):
the gas. So I'd like to really keep these games competitive.
I think that's important for us. But you know, if
there's if there's a chance to get the knockout punch,
I'd rather go ahead and get the knockout punch and
then we'll we'll cross the other bridge when we get there.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
So thanks perfect.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
I'm just excited about where the guys are and what
they've done this entire season.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Yeah, I bet you are. And it's been unbelievable where
they've where they were and where they are now. But
you told us a long season and here we are,
an now it's the sprint, all right, my man, good
luck today. Appreciate you. We'll see you next Wednesday and
go get this one and win a series.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Appreciate the time, absolutely appreciate you having me on. Let's
go keep you going.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
That's great, Dana Brown, we'll come back and discuss. We
wrap it up in about well about thirty seconds, but
it was worth getting his answer. Sports Talk seven ninety
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.