September 4, 2024 • 17 mins
Exactly three months ago, Kyle Tucker suffered a fouled ball off his shin resulting in a "bone bruise" that has had him on the IL since. Soon to make a return back to the roster, Astros GM Dana Brown provides a sense of clarity regarding Tucker's actual status and moving forward with the season.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
And we've factor for the Shawn Salisbury Show continued. Now
we're going to welcome in Astro's general manager Dana Brown
of the show.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Yes we do, for his weekly nine thirty visit. Boy,
what a season. It's been six and a half game lead,
gain another half game on the day off with what
Brian twenty four to go right, twenty twenty four games ago.
That's a good place to be in considering a couple
months ago there were ten games out and look at this,
and Dana Brown said, a long season it is, and
here we are and the marathon is now a sprint. Dana,
(00:30):
welcome in. Good to have you on and true, let's
let's dive deep.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Just you and I. Nobody's really paying attention, just you
and I talking right now. Data. It's good to have you.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I hope you had a good Labor Day weekend when
you were ten games out. I know your grind, but
was there a time when you thought, man, this is
going to be a bigger task And would you have
believed from ten games out to six and a half
in front that urgently? Would you have thought you'd be
in this position after that start.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Surge? I probably wouldn't have guessed like to be six
and a half up to get that big of a surge, right.
I felt all along that when we were ten games back,
remembering and and and when I was in Atlanta, we
were ten back and we ran down the Mets, and
I knew that this club was a really good club,
and so I didn't panic, and I felt like, look,
(01:20):
let's stay focused. We have a good team, and let's
get this done. And I give Joe and his staff credit,
you know, for keeping the boys focused. And you know,
I think just having that familiar face down there with
Joe that really helped because the guys were used to winning.
Maybe if there was someone that didn't work with these
guys before.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
They may they may have panicked and got the guys
to panic a little bit. But having a familiar face
in Joe and his leadership has really helped this team out.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Dane, I asked you the first month of the season,
what would be the learning curve? Even though he'd been
with the organization. The learning curve for a guy who's
a bench coach and running bring training, but to be
a manager, you know this, it's it's different. I said,
what's the learning curve? And you said, I don't expect
it to be very long. I think he'll learn quickly
because he's been here in the relationship. Well here we are,
(02:11):
and he's got his team in first place with you
guys six and a half in front and an amazing turnaround.
So I'll ask you this, has he managed much like
a rookie manager or business as usual? Has he lived
up to your expectations as a rookie manager.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Yeah, absolutely, he's managed just as I expected. I think
one of the appealing things with Joe was that he
had familiarity with the players downstairs, and that's very important
when you when you're going to manage a group of men,
and so being familiar with those guys is very important.
He definitely, you know, has gotten to the expectations of
(02:49):
what I would expect in the manager. Uh. Just you know,
keeping the whole course on the ship on course. I
think that's the most important thing. It didn't panic, never waivered,
never got frustrated, kept an even keel. Sometimes when the
players see the manager panic, they start to panic, they
(03:09):
start to press. Joe had an even temperament throughout the
entire process, and like I said, I have to give
him credit. And you know. I knew, you know, because
there was a lot of managers doing in this game
that were passed up, you know, guys like Robbie Thompson
in Philly. Those guys were passed up and they were
there in the organization. And the one thing I wanted
(03:32):
to stay focused on was, look, you need a guy
who could come in and know the team and they
will not go into panic mode if something goes wrong.
And certainly Joe has been really focused on the winning
success that we've had here in this organization. He did
not panic. He continued to manage and we continued to
(03:56):
have good conversations throughout the entire time. Andy, what do
we need to do to fix this? What do we
need to do to get better? And I give him
a lot of credit, and most of all give the
players credit because they you know, they got hot. You know,
the bats got hot. The pitching has been the best
in baseball, you know, for since since August first, you know,
(04:17):
April twenty seventh. We were you know, struggling back then,
and then since then we've been sixty eight and forty four.
So ultimately the boys has turned it around, and you know,
we want to get this division let's win it, and
then let's get deep into the postseason to try to
get down of the World Series.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Here he's astros GM Dana Brown for his weekly nine
thirty visit here on Sports Talk seven ninety Dane, let
me dive one step deeper into this Joe spot of stuff.
You know, as fans and sometimes in media, when you
go out there and argue with an umpire and optics
are to people on the periphery, not people that are
inside and a round it every day like you guys are.
We want a guy that comes out there and gives
us the Aaron Boon kicking dirt on the plate, and
(04:54):
everybody wants fire, and then when we get too much fire,
we want somebody who's more calm. Right, Joe has been
in press conferences coming off the dugout. Everything he's done
has been I guess the best word is steady. I
gather from what you're saying steady and consistent. So where's
that fine line?
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Are you?
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Are you do we need more of that fire? Are
you so pleased?
Speaker 2 (05:14):
And are the players like the fact that even if
you win ten in a row, he's the same as
if when you lose ten in row. How important is
that to kind of keep your emotion in check. You
mentioned it a little bit dive deeper. Do we need
more fire or is this the way you like your manager?
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Yeah, I think you have to be even keeled throughout.
I do think that there are gonna be moments when Joe,
you know, blows a gasket. Right, it's gonna happen, you know,
It's just it hasn't happened yet, but it'll happens. It's
gonna happen. It's inevitable, right, It's definitely inevitable. But I'd
(05:50):
rather have a guy that's even killed and calm and
don't put the players on panic, right, that's the most important.
Keep the guys, keep pulse, understand the winning tradition here
and I like that. But there will be times you
will blow a gask. It hasn't happened, but it's coming.
It's inevitable.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
We're waiting to see a Bobby Cox moment, right, waiting
to see it where like just just because he needs
a day off, so go erupt, But that he's been
as you said, he's been steady the whole time, even
though the rest of us haven't been. So it's been
a nice and he sure isn't managing a lot of
times like a rookie. Dana Brown astro his GM for
his weekly visit. All right, let's get to Kyle Tucker.
(06:30):
First off, When are we going to see him?
Speaker 3 (06:34):
So I think we have a chance of seeing Kyle
Tumper over in the next five days. I think he's
really close. It could be three days, it could be
four days. I think it's definitely within the next five days.
He's right there at the break of coming.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Back and no, no minor league. This is he's his
first at Bat's going to be with the big club.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Yeah, I mean from what we're talking about, and we're
still discussing and discussing it, I think it's going to
be right and go with the big club. He's getting
some live ab he's against pitching right now. He's doing
his running of the bases right now. And this is
so late in the season. This is a season professional.
He's really good at his craft. He's a skilled player.
(07:12):
He's a player with tools, and so those guys who
can run him back out there, and so I think
he's gonna be fine, and hopefully we'll get him in
the next three to five days. That's what my that's
what I would say.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
It makes it giddy.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Though you've been waiting for this a while and it
took longer than you expected originally, which we talked about.
But there's got to be almost like a shot of
red Bull where it's like kicking in that you're getting
your starback, which is going to be great, and how
your team's held it down without him nothing short of fantastic.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Listen, I'm so thrilled to get Kyle Tucker back. You know,
Kyle Tucker is a winning player, and we know what
kind of grind he go through and is at bats.
We know what his power is, we know what the
stolen bases are. We know that this guy can throw
runners out from right field, the touch balls in the gap.
We're fired up to get Kyle Tucker back, absolutely fired up.
(08:01):
So and this is a good time to get him
back to the team held it together. You know, we
played very good baseball without Kyle Tunker, and that's what
good teams do. They step up, they do the dude.
And I remember when I was in Atlanta, we lost
Acuna and we end up winning the World Series because
other guys stepped up and this club really stepped up.
(08:23):
He did a big thing by stepping up for this club.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
That accountability, elevating your game, and one of your best,
if not your best, all around player gets hurt. All right, Dana,
bear with me on this, because you know you've been
in baseball long enough. We as fans complain and bitch
and want we want to know everything right, and there's
certain things that are reserved for locker room and you guys.
But I do have to ask, okay, and I'll raise
my hand and say I was one of the first
ones coming from my sport and then watching baseball. He
(08:47):
fouls it off, Kyle Tucker gets hurt and the bone bruise,
and after about two or three weeks, I'm sitting here saying,
there's no way this is a bone bruise. And I'm
not a doctor. Hell, and you guys got to protect
the player and all that. But as fans wanting to
know everything, win along this process for all of us,
A lot of us.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
And me thought there's got to be something deeper than
a bone bruce.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Three months, when did this process did we find out
that it was a fracture if it was and not
a bone bruise and was it early in the process
where along this was the Oh okay, it's deeper than
a bone bruise.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
Yeah, let me just kind of put this to bed,
and I'll say this one last time because I really
want to focus in on the six and a half, absolutely,
the Division, the World Series, and all that other stuff.
So Kyle Tucker founds the ball off on his right
shin on June third. It is a deep, deep bone
bruise and if you take imaging from the front, you
(09:41):
see this deep bone bruise that's from the front. Part
of the problem is there was so much swelling and
inflammation that it was very difficult to see what was
happening on the backside of this bone. And it took
so long for the swe and inflammation to go away
(10:02):
that we saw once it started to go away that
there was some healing on the backside of this bone.
And then we suspected that there could have been a
fracture at that point. And so while you know, we
have everybody saying, yes, it's deeper than fract I get it.
He was out for a long time and it was
(10:23):
the deep bone bruise on the front where the ball
actually hit. But it seems like something else. We suspect
something else could have been going on on the backside
of that once it started to heal. And so once
it started to heal, we were like, look this healing,
we would have you know, we would suspect that there
was some type of fracture based on the way the
(10:45):
bone was healing, not where the ball hit on the
opposite side of the bone, and that's where the confusion lies.
And so we started to get healing. Once the you know,
the inflammation and all of the soreness started to go away,
we started to see that, look, there's some evidence in
(11:05):
the way this bone is feeling that we could suspect
that there could have been a fraction there. But we
kept focused on the front where the ball was hitting
the contact and so, you know, couldn't there have been
a fracture. We suspect that there could have been a fraction, right,
and the time that he was out would suggest that
maybe there was a fraction. But when the bone starts
(11:26):
to heal and you don't see the fracture, you don't
see the fracture. So ultimately, look, we're glad that we're
getting Kyle Tucker back. I hope that explains a lot
of what the confusion is. There was contact on the
front of the bone, there was evidence of maybe we
suspected some type of fracture on the backside, and so ultimately, look,
(11:48):
he's through this process. That didn't change the timeline, right.
You know, he was beat it. You know, the bone
was beat up pretty bad. And so now that we're
getting them back within the next five days, we're excited
about that. We want to talk more about that, and
you know, we want to kind of put this behind us.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Awesome. Well, the beauty is we've.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
Gone through this storm. We're six and a half games up,
we're trying to win this division, and we're trying to
get deep back into the postseason so we can get
another the World Series here at Houston. And you know,
we appreciate all of the concern of the fans because look,
I got to be honest, the fans here, they're they're
into it.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Oh yeah, this is good team.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
And I understand if you get if you get a
warrior and that goes down, you want to know when
that warrior is coming back. And we try to give
the best information that we had, and so ultimately he's
coming back let's put it behind us. Let's all surge
towards this six and a half league. Let's try to
build it and get it a little bit bigger so
that we can go ahead and clench this division and
(12:46):
win another World Series.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Thank you for that explanation, And I got a few
questions quick wrapping fire, because I know you've got stuff
to do as well today. A right first off, when
you have to make a decision as we focus on
winning this division and getting the postseason, make a decision
with this starting staff that's been great? How much resistance?
And I think it's a good thing. You want players
to want to be in the rotation? Is it tough
to go tell whether it's a Verlander or a Renelle
(13:08):
Blanc or whoever it's going to be that we need
you in the bullpen you're not going to be starting
in the postseason.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
How much resistance do you get from that?
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Well, the deal is, we're so far away from, you know,
the postseason. We got to get there first, and so
once we start to get closer, or once we once
we cuinched, hopefully we quinched this division sooner rather than later.
So once we cuinched the division, then we can start
having the conversations about what we're going to do and
who's going to be in the rotation. We know Blancos
(13:36):
and uncharted territories. As far as starting, we know that
JD is going through another spring training type mode because
he's been out so long for an injury and so
but we also know, you know, the pedigree of Jade Dave,
how well he throws in the postseason, how good he is,
and we know that we know right now and he's
going through a spring training type period. So we haven't
(14:00):
set the rotation yet. We haven't talked about it, but
you know, as we get closer, we'll have those discussions
and once we clinch, we'll get really locked into those
discussions and you know, then we'll we'll let you guys know.
But make no mistake, you know, both guys are worthy
of certainly pitching in the postseason and they will pitch
(14:20):
at some point. We just have to figure out, you know,
going forward, how we're going to do it. And I
think JV is definitely going to be the old JV.
I just think he's going through this period of time
of spring training. So I'm I'm very you know, I've
always talked to you guys about, you know, the scouting
guy and what I feel and what I see. I
feel like this guy, he's still got the stuff. It's
(14:43):
just that he's a little bit rusty. He's going through
a spring training period and there's nothing you could say
about the competitiveness and the field to pitch and all that.
Think about it. He walked three the other day. Was
the last time JV walked three in a row to
start a game? Maybe in college, maybe maybe in the
lower levels.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Of maybe never yeah, maybe.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Never, right, And so we know that that's the indication that,
you know, he's probably a little rustling. He's gone through
some spring training mode. But make no mistake, I think
JV is gonna be all right.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
I got about ninety seconds. I want to get you
off here. Alex Bregman, When will we see him? How
severe is it?
Speaker 3 (15:19):
Yeah, I mean Bregman's making progress. We're so to deal
with Bregman is we do not want to rush him
because when he comes back, we want him for the
full So as long as we can keep this lead
and continue to have him work through that soreness in
the elbow, you know, we'll we'll we'll do it. We
don't want to wait too long because we want to
make sure that he still has his time in and everything.
(15:41):
But you know, get let's give it another few, you know,
a few more days, hopefully inside of a week for sure.
But the soreness is down. He's feeling really good. He's
playing catch, you know, he's taking swings, and so we
need a completely healthy Bregman back and so we don't
we we don't want to rush this.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
It's been well documented what this next guy's been through.
And I'll let you go on this. And you're easy
to root for. When I say the name Forrest Whitley,
what comes your mind.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Yeah, he's grinded. He's grinded through, you know, his entire career.
He's bought through some injuries. You know, I saw Force Whitley,
you know, as an amateur. That's when I was running
the amateur department. And so this guy has a good arm.
He's always had a power arm. He's down in the
(16:31):
bullpen and he's probably in an area where he's probably
going to finish his career. But it's good to see
that he's throwing the ball up to ninety eight with
good movement, and he's got the good, heart breaking ball,
and so I think he showed grit and he grinded
through all of the ups and downs. And then let's
hope that we're seeing a guy that's going to be
(16:53):
a part of the future here, probably in the bullpen,
but maybe a big bullpen piece.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Awesome. We'll let you go on that, Dana. Good luck
this week and good luck is next two versus Cincinnati,
and we'll talk to you next Wednesday, and let's go
extend that lead and we appreciate your insight and explanation
and we'll see you next Wednesday, my man.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Yeah, hopefully by next Wednesday we have a bigger lead,
and let's go. Astro fans stay with us.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
There you go, that's Dana Brown, Astros GM. We'll come
back and discuss. We wrap it up Sports Talk seven
ninety
And we've factor for the Shawn Salisbury Show continued. Now
we're going to welcome in Astro's general manager Dana Brown
of the show.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Yes we do, for his weekly nine thirty visit. Boy,
what a season. It's been six and a half game lead,
gain another half game on the day off with what
Brian twenty four to go right, twenty twenty four games ago.
That's a good place to be in considering a couple
months ago there were ten games out and look at this,
and Dana Brown said, a long season it is, and
here we are and the marathon is now a sprint. Dana,
(00:30):
welcome in. Good to have you on and true, let's
let's dive deep.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Just you and I. Nobody's really paying attention, just you
and I talking right now. Data. It's good to have you.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I hope you had a good Labor Day weekend when
you were ten games out. I know your grind, but
was there a time when you thought, man, this is
going to be a bigger task And would you have
believed from ten games out to six and a half
in front that urgently? Would you have thought you'd be
in this position after that start.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Surge? I probably wouldn't have guessed like to be six
and a half up to get that big of a surge, right.
I felt all along that when we were ten games back,
remembering and and and when I was in Atlanta, we
were ten back and we ran down the Mets, and
I knew that this club was a really good club,
and so I didn't panic, and I felt like, look,
(01:20):
let's stay focused. We have a good team, and let's
get this done. And I give Joe and his staff credit,
you know, for keeping the boys focused. And you know,
I think just having that familiar face down there with
Joe that really helped because the guys were used to winning.
Maybe if there was someone that didn't work with these
guys before.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
They may they may have panicked and got the guys
to panic a little bit. But having a familiar face
in Joe and his leadership has really helped this team out.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Dane, I asked you the first month of the season,
what would be the learning curve? Even though he'd been
with the organization. The learning curve for a guy who's
a bench coach and running bring training, but to be
a manager, you know this, it's it's different. I said,
what's the learning curve? And you said, I don't expect
it to be very long. I think he'll learn quickly
because he's been here in the relationship. Well here we are,
(02:11):
and he's got his team in first place with you
guys six and a half in front and an amazing turnaround.
So I'll ask you this, has he managed much like
a rookie manager or business as usual? Has he lived
up to your expectations as a rookie manager.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Yeah, absolutely, he's managed just as I expected. I think
one of the appealing things with Joe was that he
had familiarity with the players downstairs, and that's very important
when you when you're going to manage a group of men,
and so being familiar with those guys is very important.
He definitely, you know, has gotten to the expectations of
(02:49):
what I would expect in the manager. Uh. Just you know,
keeping the whole course on the ship on course. I
think that's the most important thing. It didn't panic, never waivered,
never got frustrated, kept an even keel. Sometimes when the
players see the manager panic, they start to panic, they
(03:09):
start to press. Joe had an even temperament throughout the
entire process, and like I said, I have to give
him credit. And you know. I knew, you know, because
there was a lot of managers doing in this game
that were passed up, you know, guys like Robbie Thompson
in Philly. Those guys were passed up and they were
there in the organization. And the one thing I wanted
(03:32):
to stay focused on was, look, you need a guy
who could come in and know the team and they
will not go into panic mode if something goes wrong.
And certainly Joe has been really focused on the winning
success that we've had here in this organization. He did
not panic. He continued to manage and we continued to
(03:56):
have good conversations throughout the entire time. Andy, what do
we need to do to fix this? What do we
need to do to get better? And I give him
a lot of credit, and most of all give the
players credit because they you know, they got hot. You know,
the bats got hot. The pitching has been the best
in baseball, you know, for since since August first, you know,
(04:17):
April twenty seventh. We were you know, struggling back then,
and then since then we've been sixty eight and forty four.
So ultimately the boys has turned it around, and you know,
we want to get this division let's win it, and
then let's get deep into the postseason to try to
get down of the World Series.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Here he's astros GM Dana Brown for his weekly nine
thirty visit here on Sports Talk seven ninety Dane, let
me dive one step deeper into this Joe spot of stuff.
You know, as fans and sometimes in media, when you
go out there and argue with an umpire and optics
are to people on the periphery, not people that are
inside and a round it every day like you guys are.
We want a guy that comes out there and gives
us the Aaron Boon kicking dirt on the plate, and
(04:54):
everybody wants fire, and then when we get too much fire,
we want somebody who's more calm. Right, Joe has been
in press conferences coming off the dugout. Everything he's done
has been I guess the best word is steady. I
gather from what you're saying steady and consistent. So where's
that fine line?
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Are you?
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Are you do we need more of that fire? Are
you so pleased?
Speaker 2 (05:14):
And are the players like the fact that even if
you win ten in a row, he's the same as
if when you lose ten in row. How important is
that to kind of keep your emotion in check. You
mentioned it a little bit dive deeper. Do we need
more fire or is this the way you like your manager?
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Yeah, I think you have to be even keeled throughout.
I do think that there are gonna be moments when Joe,
you know, blows a gasket. Right, it's gonna happen, you know,
It's just it hasn't happened yet, but it'll happens. It's
gonna happen. It's inevitable, right, It's definitely inevitable. But I'd
(05:50):
rather have a guy that's even killed and calm and
don't put the players on panic, right, that's the most important.
Keep the guys, keep pulse, understand the winning tradition here
and I like that. But there will be times you
will blow a gask. It hasn't happened, but it's coming.
It's inevitable.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
We're waiting to see a Bobby Cox moment, right, waiting
to see it where like just just because he needs
a day off, so go erupt, But that he's been
as you said, he's been steady the whole time, even
though the rest of us haven't been. So it's been
a nice and he sure isn't managing a lot of
times like a rookie. Dana Brown astro his GM for
his weekly visit. All right, let's get to Kyle Tucker.
(06:30):
First off, When are we going to see him?
Speaker 3 (06:34):
So I think we have a chance of seeing Kyle
Tumper over in the next five days. I think he's
really close. It could be three days, it could be
four days. I think it's definitely within the next five days.
He's right there at the break of coming.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Back and no, no minor league. This is he's his
first at Bat's going to be with the big club.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Yeah, I mean from what we're talking about, and we're
still discussing and discussing it, I think it's going to
be right and go with the big club. He's getting
some live ab he's against pitching right now. He's doing
his running of the bases right now. And this is
so late in the season. This is a season professional.
He's really good at his craft. He's a skilled player.
(07:12):
He's a player with tools, and so those guys who
can run him back out there, and so I think
he's gonna be fine, and hopefully we'll get him in
the next three to five days. That's what my that's
what I would say.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
It makes it giddy.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Though you've been waiting for this a while and it
took longer than you expected originally, which we talked about.
But there's got to be almost like a shot of
red Bull where it's like kicking in that you're getting
your starback, which is going to be great, and how
your team's held it down without him nothing short of fantastic.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Listen, I'm so thrilled to get Kyle Tucker back. You know,
Kyle Tucker is a winning player, and we know what
kind of grind he go through and is at bats.
We know what his power is, we know what the
stolen bases are. We know that this guy can throw
runners out from right field, the touch balls in the gap.
We're fired up to get Kyle Tucker back, absolutely fired up.
(08:01):
So and this is a good time to get him
back to the team held it together. You know, we
played very good baseball without Kyle Tunker, and that's what
good teams do. They step up, they do the dude.
And I remember when I was in Atlanta, we lost
Acuna and we end up winning the World Series because
other guys stepped up and this club really stepped up.
(08:23):
He did a big thing by stepping up for this club.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
That accountability, elevating your game, and one of your best,
if not your best, all around player gets hurt. All right, Dana,
bear with me on this, because you know you've been
in baseball long enough. We as fans complain and bitch
and want we want to know everything right, and there's
certain things that are reserved for locker room and you guys.
But I do have to ask, okay, and I'll raise
my hand and say I was one of the first
ones coming from my sport and then watching baseball. He
(08:47):
fouls it off, Kyle Tucker gets hurt and the bone bruise,
and after about two or three weeks, I'm sitting here saying,
there's no way this is a bone bruise. And I'm
not a doctor. Hell, and you guys got to protect
the player and all that. But as fans wanting to
know everything, win along this process for all of us,
A lot of us.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
And me thought there's got to be something deeper than
a bone bruce.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Three months, when did this process did we find out
that it was a fracture if it was and not
a bone bruise and was it early in the process
where along this was the Oh okay, it's deeper than
a bone bruise.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
Yeah, let me just kind of put this to bed,
and I'll say this one last time because I really
want to focus in on the six and a half, absolutely,
the Division, the World Series, and all that other stuff.
So Kyle Tucker founds the ball off on his right
shin on June third. It is a deep, deep bone
bruise and if you take imaging from the front, you
(09:41):
see this deep bone bruise that's from the front. Part
of the problem is there was so much swelling and
inflammation that it was very difficult to see what was
happening on the backside of this bone. And it took
so long for the swe and inflammation to go away
(10:02):
that we saw once it started to go away that
there was some healing on the backside of this bone.
And then we suspected that there could have been a
fracture at that point. And so while you know, we
have everybody saying, yes, it's deeper than fract I get it.
He was out for a long time and it was
(10:23):
the deep bone bruise on the front where the ball
actually hit. But it seems like something else. We suspect
something else could have been going on on the backside
of that once it started to heal. And so once
it started to heal, we were like, look this healing,
we would have you know, we would suspect that there
was some type of fracture based on the way the
(10:45):
bone was healing, not where the ball hit on the
opposite side of the bone, and that's where the confusion lies.
And so we started to get healing. Once the you know,
the inflammation and all of the soreness started to go away,
we started to see that, look, there's some evidence in
(11:05):
the way this bone is feeling that we could suspect
that there could have been a fraction there. But we
kept focused on the front where the ball was hitting
the contact and so, you know, couldn't there have been
a fracture. We suspect that there could have been a fraction, right,
and the time that he was out would suggest that
maybe there was a fraction. But when the bone starts
(11:26):
to heal and you don't see the fracture, you don't
see the fracture. So ultimately, look, we're glad that we're
getting Kyle Tucker back. I hope that explains a lot
of what the confusion is. There was contact on the
front of the bone, there was evidence of maybe we
suspected some type of fracture on the backside, and so ultimately, look,
(11:48):
he's through this process. That didn't change the timeline, right.
You know, he was beat it. You know, the bone
was beat up pretty bad. And so now that we're
getting them back within the next five days, we're excited
about that. We want to talk more about that, and
you know, we want to kind of put this behind us.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Awesome. Well, the beauty is we've.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
Gone through this storm. We're six and a half games up,
we're trying to win this division, and we're trying to
get deep back into the postseason so we can get
another the World Series here at Houston. And you know,
we appreciate all of the concern of the fans because look,
I got to be honest, the fans here, they're they're
into it.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Oh yeah, this is good team.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
And I understand if you get if you get a
warrior and that goes down, you want to know when
that warrior is coming back. And we try to give
the best information that we had, and so ultimately he's
coming back let's put it behind us. Let's all surge
towards this six and a half league. Let's try to
build it and get it a little bit bigger so
that we can go ahead and clench this division and
(12:46):
win another World Series.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Thank you for that explanation, And I got a few
questions quick wrapping fire, because I know you've got stuff
to do as well today. A right first off, when
you have to make a decision as we focus on
winning this division and getting the postseason, make a decision
with this starting staff that's been great? How much resistance?
And I think it's a good thing. You want players
to want to be in the rotation? Is it tough
to go tell whether it's a Verlander or a Renelle
(13:08):
Blanc or whoever it's going to be that we need
you in the bullpen you're not going to be starting
in the postseason.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
How much resistance do you get from that?
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Well, the deal is, we're so far away from, you know,
the postseason. We got to get there first, and so
once we start to get closer, or once we once
we cuinched, hopefully we quinched this division sooner rather than later.
So once we cuinched the division, then we can start
having the conversations about what we're going to do and
who's going to be in the rotation. We know Blancos
(13:36):
and uncharted territories. As far as starting, we know that
JD is going through another spring training type mode because
he's been out so long for an injury and so
but we also know, you know, the pedigree of Jade Dave,
how well he throws in the postseason, how good he is,
and we know that we know right now and he's
going through a spring training type period. So we haven't
(14:00):
set the rotation yet. We haven't talked about it, but
you know, as we get closer, we'll have those discussions
and once we clinch, we'll get really locked into those
discussions and you know, then we'll we'll let you guys know.
But make no mistake, you know, both guys are worthy
of certainly pitching in the postseason and they will pitch
(14:20):
at some point. We just have to figure out, you know,
going forward, how we're going to do it. And I
think JV is definitely going to be the old JV.
I just think he's going through this period of time
of spring training. So I'm I'm very you know, I've
always talked to you guys about, you know, the scouting
guy and what I feel and what I see. I
feel like this guy, he's still got the stuff. It's
(14:43):
just that he's a little bit rusty. He's going through
a spring training period and there's nothing you could say
about the competitiveness and the field to pitch and all that.
Think about it. He walked three the other day. Was
the last time JV walked three in a row to
start a game? Maybe in college, maybe maybe in the
lower levels.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Of maybe never yeah, maybe.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Never, right, And so we know that that's the indication that,
you know, he's probably a little rustling. He's gone through
some spring training mode. But make no mistake, I think
JV is gonna be all right.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
I got about ninety seconds. I want to get you
off here. Alex Bregman, When will we see him? How
severe is it?
Speaker 3 (15:19):
Yeah, I mean Bregman's making progress. We're so to deal
with Bregman is we do not want to rush him
because when he comes back, we want him for the
full So as long as we can keep this lead
and continue to have him work through that soreness in
the elbow, you know, we'll we'll we'll do it. We
don't want to wait too long because we want to
make sure that he still has his time in and everything.
(15:41):
But you know, get let's give it another few, you know,
a few more days, hopefully inside of a week for sure.
But the soreness is down. He's feeling really good. He's
playing catch, you know, he's taking swings, and so we
need a completely healthy Bregman back and so we don't
we we don't want to rush this.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
It's been well documented what this next guy's been through.
And I'll let you go on this. And you're easy
to root for. When I say the name Forrest Whitley,
what comes your mind.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Yeah, he's grinded. He's grinded through, you know, his entire career.
He's bought through some injuries. You know, I saw Force Whitley,
you know, as an amateur. That's when I was running
the amateur department. And so this guy has a good arm.
He's always had a power arm. He's down in the
(16:31):
bullpen and he's probably in an area where he's probably
going to finish his career. But it's good to see
that he's throwing the ball up to ninety eight with
good movement, and he's got the good, heart breaking ball,
and so I think he showed grit and he grinded
through all of the ups and downs. And then let's
hope that we're seeing a guy that's going to be
(16:53):
a part of the future here, probably in the bullpen,
but maybe a big bullpen piece.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Awesome. We'll let you go on that, Dana. Good luck
this week and good luck is next two versus Cincinnati,
and we'll talk to you next Wednesday, and let's go
extend that lead and we appreciate your insight and explanation
and we'll see you next Wednesday, my man.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Yeah, hopefully by next Wednesday we have a bigger lead,
and let's go. Astro fans stay with us.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
There you go, that's Dana Brown, Astros GM. We'll come
back and discuss. We wrap it up Sports Talk seven
ninety
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