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Speaker 1: Twelve thirty two. It is a Matt Thomas show with Ross.

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We're going to spend ten quality minutes now with a

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manager of your Houston Astros joining us from Pittsburgh, PA

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Astros and the Pirates started three games series. Joe spotted

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with us here on seven. I skip, good afternoon, thanks

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for joining us. What a bizarre series. The run differential

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not pretty, the wins and losses you'll take.

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Speaker 2: Right, yes, and I take that.

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Speaker 3: Uh, how do you how do you explain it?

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Speaker 1: I mean you can always go to the cliche that's baseball,

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but my goodness, you had two games nail biers and

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had two games you wanted to close your eyes about

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the sixth inning.

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Speaker 4: Well, you know, it's baseball. You know we try to

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you know, you try to win series. And you know,

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we came out with a split against the Race, a

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team that's won the bats really well, a little bit

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different than when we saw on the previous week. So

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you know, we we we're hung in there. Thought those

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two games that we won, you know, we pitched really well.

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The others things kind of got away from us, but

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you know, you're trying to win series. We had a

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great homestand and and and that's all you can control.

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Speaker 2: And now we're here in Pittsburgh after an off day.

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Speaker 5: Boys are fresh, We're ready to go.

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Speaker 1: Did you pull those starters on those days? You know

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we're talking about Hunter and fromber to say, hey, now,

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you always expect them to go deep in games, But

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do you even pull them aside and say, hey, I

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may need you for a little bit more because the

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bullpen's got beat up the night before.

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Speaker 5: No.

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Speaker 4: I think those two guys know exactly what we need

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out of them. I don't think they need to hear

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from me. I think they're watching the games. They see

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the situation that we are in. They know that the

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leaders of our rotation and there I expect them to

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step up. And that's exactly what they did.

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Speaker 1: Uh, Joe, Obviously the word about Jordan was disappointing. Tell

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us just your natural reaction, not only as a manager

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to him, but as a friend, I'm sure and a

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guy that you've watched to see his courage is blossom.

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When you found out that about the fracture, was that

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just ah, that was ad the gut. Basically, don't be.

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Speaker 4: Safe to say, yeah it sucks, that's you know, not

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only as he's manager. But that's someone who you know,

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I care for your Dona, I know, I know you're

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done for a very long time. He's someone who wants

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to be on the field, wants to contribute for these team, wants.

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Speaker 2: To post that.

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Speaker 5: He knows the importance of his presence.

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Speaker 4: In our lineup, and he really sucks. So we you know,

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we we we want to get him back. We will

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get him back. But when we heard about that, it's

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definitely a punch in the gut.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, we we need to continue to move forward

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and and.

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Speaker 4: You know, expect some of these guys to step up

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while he's on the sideline, but it's definitely someone that

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we we need, we miss and once we get him back,

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we're gonna really we're gonna be really excited to.

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Speaker 2: Have him back.

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Speaker 1: What are the next steps for him? Is it just

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a waiting game for him to heal.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, we're gonna wait for it to heal, and hopefully

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once he heals, we we will never have to deal

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with with that pain again.

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Speaker 3: Do you think I'm sorry?

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Speaker 1: Do you think the athletes and they're all built differently, Joe,

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you got some guys that will fight through pain, and

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you respect that, But then you have other guys that

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are like, shouldn't be fighting through it? How often do

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you deal with that in your entire life of baseball

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freaking much? Your time with the Astros, What is it like?

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Maybe you as a player it felt the same way.

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You know what, My hammi's a little tender, but I

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want to get out there. What's the battle? What's the

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proper medium to go?

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Speaker 3: You know what?

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Speaker 1: Trying to fight through it, but at a certain time,

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and sometimes you say, yeah, maybe a day offer too,

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or maybe going to see a doctor wouldn't be the

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worst thing in the world.

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Speaker 4: You know what My experience is, especially with our players here,

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has been this guys don't want to be in the fight.

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This guy's we have played so many games for so

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many years. We have played more games than any other

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team in the Big League for a long.

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Speaker 2: Time, last seventy years.

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Speaker 4: That these guys play through pain. They know the importance

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of playing and grinding through pain. And Jordani is one

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of those players that loves to post and he wants

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to be out there. When an injury in a hand

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happens to to a baseball player, it's very difficult.

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Speaker 2: It's very very difficult since you need you know, your hands,

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and you.

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Speaker 4: Need to create power and you need to create barrel

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to ball execution. And when you don't have that, you

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suffer from that. It's really hard for you to perform.

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But I've never you know, my group here, when these

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guys are not feeling well, there's something wrong with it

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for them not to post it, for them not to

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show our fans and the rest of their teammates that

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they want to.

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Speaker 2: Be out there.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and what is that like for you a manager

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dealing with where like you said, the guys want to

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play through it, but you don't want guys to get

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heard just as you and trying to say, like who

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do you go to or lean on or run like

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to say, hey, maybe we need to talk more about this.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, And and I listen to our players

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and once they get to a point where we need

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to so sit down and rest and to let these heal.

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We have to do that if we want to get

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the player. And sometimes you've got to reset, You got.

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Speaker 4: To take a moment and and you know, understand the

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length of our of the season, and you know.

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Speaker 2: It's it's always difficult.

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Speaker 4: You don't want to lose any player, especially someone as

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as a caliber of Jordan Alvarez.

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Speaker 2: But well, we'll get him back.

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Speaker 5: We're excited that once we get him back, we're going

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to be excited.

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Speaker 2: To have him back.

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Speaker 4: And you know, hopefully we don't have to deal with

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this again, so we could keep him in there for

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a long run.

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Speaker 1: Skip, you've got two new outfielders. How are you going

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to balance? And I guess it's just you know, how

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guys are feeling or how the bats are moving. But

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you've got two new guys out there. How much do

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you want to get him in play rotation? What what's

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the game plan at least for the two new year

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new players that have come up from the Space Cowboys.

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Speaker 2: Well, you know one of them is it's an outfielder.

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Speaker 5: You know, we come has to play outfield.

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Speaker 4: He's also someone that could play in field, so he

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does provide that versatility and and you know somebody you know,

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like like Melton who could play all three. It's got

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the speed and and and the athleticism to be an

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above average outfielder a dimensional league level. Also, he's been

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swinging back really well on Triple A, so as with them,

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So I want to you know, find find opportunities for

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them to play and and you know, for them just

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to for continue to develop them players that we've been

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excited about them.

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Speaker 2: For a long time. So you know, I'm gonna.

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Speaker 4: Find spots for them, trying to get them involved in

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in in our offense and defense and and see where

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where it takes us.

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Speaker 1: Also, you got Paul Skeens going tonight for the Pirates.

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And I don't know how you feel about this interleague play,

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but it gives you an opportunity to see everybody at

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least once a year, and sometimes you can miss guys

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to their rotation, uh how much. And obviously your hitters

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are doing a little bit of advanced But when you're

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on the plane just relaxing, and do you do you

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put a video on to kind of see what he's

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all about? Or does the highlights you see on the

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network TVs kind of give you a pretty indication of

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how great he is?

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Speaker 2: No, we we we we.

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Speaker 4: You know, I like to watch the videos and I

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like to read the reports, you know, to go deep

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under the hood and make sure you know see what

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what he's you know, what he's doing and how he's

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performing and how that's going to match up against us,

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and we're looking for ways to you know, create a

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plan against them.

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Speaker 2: You know, last year we.

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Speaker 4: We had a pretty decent plan and and and and

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you know, it's hard to score a ton of runs

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of him, but we got to find a way to

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you know, attack and and and hopefully you know, you

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build his uh his pitch counch up trying to get

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in the bullpen. You know, our strategy, which is trying

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to grind our bats, trying to attack our zones and

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and be aggressive. He's a guy that throws a ton

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of stripes, but he's definitely one of the best starters

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in the game.

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Speaker 2: But we'll put together a.

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Speaker 4: Good plan against not only him, but against their whole

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entire uh staff.

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Speaker 1: Is it a situation where maybe you want to play

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a little bit more small ball or do you want

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guys to kind of just go out there, no matter

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who's on the mound and do their thing.

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Speaker 2: Uh.

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Speaker 5: We're going to just go through it and be who

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we are. You know, We're going to you.

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Speaker 4: Know, drive the ball, slug you know, if we we've

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got opportunities to walk, we'll do that.

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Speaker 5: I don't think we're going to change who we are

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just because.

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Speaker 2: Of who's on the mound.

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Speaker 4: I think we have the horsepower to you know, drive

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and slug and steal bases and splice small balls we

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have to against any against any pitcher in the league.

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Speaker 1: Do you, as a manager bite your fingernails more in

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a two to one game or a.

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Speaker 3: Game that becomes a slug fest? Ninety eight? I don't

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think I've ever asked you that, But I'm as curious

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as you.

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Speaker 1: As you manage your as you work your way through

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a game, what what gives you the most gray hairs?

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Speaker 2: I don't, I don't. I don't never thought about that, Matt.

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Speaker 5: You know, I don't try not to eat my nails.

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I know that I have a ton of confidence I

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trying to I have.

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Speaker 4: I have a ton of confidence on our team, and

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you know, I let the process play out, and you

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know we are prepared to, you know, face anything doing

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the game, so, you know, biting the nails or be

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you know, I don't never really.

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Speaker 2: Thought about any of that.

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Speaker 3: All right, Well, hose al Tuo Bay bites the nails

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and that's worked out for everyone. Yeah, I think he does.

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How Hi? Yeah, Jose? Is uh? The bats really looking good?

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Speaker 1: And We've talked about this a couple of weeks in

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a row now, and it feels like whether it was

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a film session, whether there's some time away with your coaches,

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whatever the case would be, it's it's the old al

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altube and not the early season L two V was

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dropping off considerably, but his bat the last month or

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so has been significantly improved.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, and you know, it's it's just sometimes we forget

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that we we have to be patient. We you know,

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we and we want to see him producing him from

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dayn nombo one. Sometimes he takes a little bit of

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time for for the swing to get there and for

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the timing to arrive, and uh, you know, it's just

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once when he gets there, he's he's going to be explosive,

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he's going to be a force, and once he gets going,

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our offense is a completely different, completely different offense. I

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think he has made some adjustments, not only on his

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swing mechanics, but also and he's picked selection, which for

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me is the key for his success.

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Speaker 1: And again I love the fact that Keratini is getting

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some playing time, whether you put him at first a

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little bit d hing and catching and uh, what kind

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of conversations and this is for any backup catcher. He

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wants to play as much as he can. But it

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feels like you've done a good enough job of at

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least keeping that bat in his body active during this time.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, and you know he provides It gives us and

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an opportunity to give some of the guts, some of

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the guys, uh, you know, a breather. And and he's

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a threat when he's on on the bench coming up

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the bat, uh, the pinch shooter. You know.

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Speaker 5: Also you know when.

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Speaker 4: When I have a right hander pitcher who their splits

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are significant, you know, having Cartini from the left side

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in there is also valuable. But for me, the Keratini, Uh,

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it's the his professionalism, his preparation, his quality of play

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every time he's on the field. And and I and

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I like that. I think he's valuable for us as

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a club to have someone who can grind up bats,

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who's going to compete, and it gives you the flexibility

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hitting from both sides of the plate.

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Speaker 5: So he's been a really good player for us.

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Speaker 1: And last question, if I had told you a year

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ago that you were going to get six innings and

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twelve strikeouts from Lance mcculors, you'd have said, okay, that

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that sounds about right. But there was a lot of

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apprehension about whether what his return was going to be.

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But to see him not only give you better work

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every fifth day or sixth day in some cases, but

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I felt like those the conversations have to be really

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good the day after when you check out on Lance,

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how you feeling. And obviously he's been feeling a lot

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better the last to two or three starts.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, he's been feeling great.

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Speaker 4: And if you would have told me a year ago

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that I was going to get six innings twelve punch

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shots at a linements color, I will not be surprised

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at all, you know, watching him work, watching him getting ready,

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you know, I knew that once he's healthy, he's a

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great picture.

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Speaker 2: He is.

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Speaker 4: He's been a really good picture when he's been on

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the mound for us in good health. So when he's

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healthy now he's bouncing back with well, his bullpen sessions

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are great. His preparations are you know, with our with

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our pitching coaches preparing for his next outings have been

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you know on Q. So I expect them to be

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good for a long run, and we need him to.

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We need him to provide some of that leadership that

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I've seen out of him in the past, and he's

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excited and he's ready to do just that.

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Speaker 3: Thanks to the visitors always, best of luck on this road.

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Tip again. We'll talk next week and we thank you

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for the visitors always.

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Speaker 2: AHI guys, thanks you.

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Speaker 1: Joe spotted with us from Pittsburgh Astros and Pirates, mcculors

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and schemes in the Mound. Matchup on Deck begins today

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at five thirty. It's a five forty first pitch from Pittsburgh.