Yeah.

Yeah, so this was a little different in the sense I was pulled from the minor leagues.

Um, he was the bench coach of that team, so was already on the Major League staff.

Didn't have to relocate or anything like that.

So, um, no, and the second part, um, I wasn't really thinking about it.

I think Brez was very, very...

We were on the same page from the jump as far as very, very honest on, right now between you and I together, our goal is to get this thing on track.

Any news on him?

Not to say that this was a priority or important, but maybe they weren't talking to you and like, this is just how it's going to be.

Yeah.

There's, there's subtle differences in those situations.

He was on the major league staff at the beginning of that season.

Yeah.

So this was a little different than since I was pulled from the minor leagues.

He was the bench coach of that team.

Not to say that this was a priority or important, but maybe they weren't talking to you and, like, this is just how it's going to be.

Not to say that this was a priority or important, but maybe they weren't talking to you and like, this is just how it's going to be.

Yeah.

There's, there's subtle differences in those situations.

He was on the major league staff at the beginning of that season.

Yeah.

So this was a little different than since I was pulled from the minor leagues.

He was the bench coach of that team.

What is that

So for you, like, when you look at the postseason, Like how, whether it's advice from your dad or lessons you learned from just watching it, what are the things that you take away?

We actually quickly discussed that the other day.

It's the same game, everything's the same, just magnified.

He said you'll show up to a game and there'll be media from other markets of teams that are no longer in the race and they're there to cover it.

He's like, you'll see a whole bunch of faces you haven't even seen before asking you questions that haven't been around it.

So you just realize the magnitude of it rises and with more eyes on it that it's much easier.

Every decision you make gets second guessed or whatever.

I'm

Where's he at and what's your thinking maybe with him once the playoffs come?

Well, he threw a side a couple days ago, like an up-down side.

That was the biggest volume he's had.

He's been doing sides, right? But this was the first time he did a side where he threw 15 or so pitches, sat down, and then threw 15 or so more.

And then he gets through that.

Again, you're only a few sides into this build back up, right? So as you approach this weekend going into next week, you at least we got to see how he responds today to what he did yesterday over or at least the next couple days and uh because that's a big step of it all right he does his work and then you kind of wait the next two days see how the shoulder responds see how the body's feeling um and then you go from there so the big thing with him has been we're not you know don't have this full road map laid out you have an idea of where you'd like to get to but it's so dependent because how long he's been out on how he's going to be feeling Um, so at some point you'd hope like, you know, can we get him, you know, if it's, if it's not on a rehab, if we can't meet that time, is it even a live DP of some kind where he has a couple innings worth of pitching to hitters? Um, if we can get in there, uh, then you start to look in those settings, like, all right, what does this look like? And then how does he feel? Cause that's going to ramp up the intensity even more.

As soon as you get on the mound and set a hitter in there, These natural progressions just organically increase the intensity.

Is that accurate per your numbers? And if so, what's something you can do to get around that, work on it?

Like, what will you consider when putting together the starting pitching and their orders? Because right now, Tully's making it, he's inserting himself in this story.

Yeah, for sure.

No question.

I think you guys are, I think that's well said.

He got his first opportunity a year ago, quickly through the minor leagues, right? Gets to the big leagues in his first full season.

And I think showed flashes of things last year that were enough to be really excited about.

But also flashes of things where you're like, yeah, but man, he's still got a lot of work to do, right? That was obvious even for me watching from afar.

Where is he at, and what's your thinking maybe with him once the playoffs come?

Where does that contrast come from?

No, flip that.

Reverse it.

I said I was pleased with the strike throwing first, and then after he, he was upset with himself, which is totally understandable.

Um, uh, upset with himself.

He, Sandy knows the mission right now.

It's we're, we're trying to go out and win as many ball games as we can.

If he is heading into the postseason, what, what does a player like that add to your team?

Where does that contrast come from?

No, flip that.

Reverse it.

I said I was pleased with the strike throwing first, and then after he, he was upset with himself, which is totally understandable.

Um, uh, upset with himself.

He, and Sandy knows the mission right now.

It's where we're trying to go out and win as many ballgames as we can.

If he is heading into the postseason, what, what does a player like that add to your team?

Did you know he was coming back in 24 hours? No.

No, you know that the stuff the next day, you know, as we went through the rest of that next day, that's when the stuff with, you know, the conversations with Wilson and where that hamstring was after the nightcap of the day before getting through that game and feeling like, you know, this is something we have to do to like get him some rest so we don't keep going back and forth with it.

So no, did not.

You know, we definitely told Mickey when he left, like, you got to be ready to go because once we expand the roster and you're able to grab Izzy, like Mickey becomes a very viable candidate to replace anybody on the roster, whether it's an outfielder, infielder or catcher.

It just happened to happen in one day.

Tough decision then? Oh my gosh.

Yeah.

But now that he's hit the IL here, do you maybe look back at those games where he was struggling to make it down the line and think maybe he should have done this sooner?

But now that he's hit the IL here, do you maybe look back at those games where he was struggling to make it down the line and think maybe he should have done this sooner? Not really,

because what we're doing right now with him, nothing got significantly worse.

It just creeps up.

You're able to manage a day here, a day there, and then he's good, and he was productive for periods of that homestand before.

And then as it continues to creep up, and we did an off day in front of the off day in Miami.

That was two days.

Hits that ball in the corner in New York, runs that triple, and wakes up the next day, you're kind of like it's nagging at him again.

before we let you go chad how's the weather forecast tonight um

But with Eric Miller, with The Godsend, what's he like to, uh, deal with? You even talk to him at all? Just run him out there anytime you need him? How, how's he been?

He's been fantastic.

Um, I think that, uh, what I called him there was just more relative to what has happened to our bullpen over the course of the last two weeks with, with two key contributors in Whitlock and Slayton going down.

Um, and which you knew.

You know, you know, you know during the course of a baseball season you're gonna have guys get banged up and you're gonna, you know, especially the way we had to use our bullpen, 'cause we were winning almost every day and we were using our back end, uh, guys a lot.

Um, so the, the thought going into the deadline with, like, whether it's a starter or reliever, but, like, a starter you get or a reliever that you get that supplements your bullpen, right? And helps, you know, sustain if there's an injury, and sure enough, we have a couple of them.

Um, and, you know, you have Eric Miller sitting there that, um, has come in, and now he's picked up some of those big time, high leverage, meaningful innings that sometimes Slate would take or that Whit would take, and has helped, um, keep us, keep our bullpen afloat, uh, you know, when, in a time where we're a little banged up down there.

Mm-hmm.

But with Eric Miller, with the godsend, what's he like to deal with? Do you even talk to him at all? Just run him out there anytime you need him? How's he been?

He's been fantastic.

I think that... what I called them there was just more relative to what has happened to our bullpen over the course of the last two weeks with, with two key contributors and Whitlock and Slayton going down.

Um, and what you knew, you know, you know, you know, during the course of the baseball season, you're going to have guys get banged up and you're going to, you know, especially the way we had to use our bullpen because we were winning almost every day and we were using our backend guys a lot.

Um, so the, uh, the thought going into the deadline with like whether it's a starter or reliever, but like a starter you get or a reliever that you get that supplements your bullpen.

Right.

And helps, you know, sustain if there's an injury.

Would you ever consider him playing catcher if you needed to?

Mm-hmm.

And like, you kind of like circle those and you're like, especially this one, at the, as you approach the end of August, you almost circle that and say, "I wouldn't be surprised if we have some guys banged up at that point." Um, and you, and not just pitchers, but you look around the league and see some of the stuff happening, oblique, rib, just different guys.

It's, it's the dog days, it's been hot, it's the summer, and guys start getting beat up.

So, um- We're in that spot obviously with Slaten Witt down for now.

Like, we hopefully get them back and working them back to where you got them for the stretch run.

But, um, I think that's why, like, Eric Miller was such an important acquisition, and, um, you saw Wyatt Olds last night coming from our system and ninety-eight miles an hour with that curve ball.

So, like, you, you have these things, every team has it, and you have to navigate through, um, and find your way through.

Are you expecting, uh, anything from Garrett Crochet this season?

They believe in us.

It has a huge effect.

I think the biggest effect is on the, well, certainly me and the staff, but like the players in the locker room, the work that they did over the last month to get in the position we were, and then to see the deadline come and the front office work hard to go out and make changes that are additions that everybody in there feels pretty good about, like this can help our team a lot.

you know and in so doing they were really I feel like they threaded the needle nicely of like what can we do and how can we do it and not you know overly affect what is already on this team and what's made it go for the last month and a half and they threaded that needle nicely too so I think it was extremely well received in the locker room what did you say to Craig Breslow after the trade deadline was there a high five moment yeah there was I just shook his hand and said congratulations You know, I was like, you guys did an amazing job.

And, you know, Eddie Romero was in there.

I said the same to him.

Like, you know, I know, I don't know.

But behind the scenes, who's the player whose impact on this turnaround is much bigger inside the clubhouse than fans realize?

They believe in us.

It has a huge effect.

I think the biggest effect is on the – well, certainly me and the staff, but like the players in the locker room, the work that they did over the last month to get in the position we were and then to see the deadline come and the front office work hard to go out and make – changes that are additions that everybody in there feels pretty good about.

Like this, this can help our team a lot, you know? And in so doing, they were really, I feel like they, they threaded the needle nicely of like, what can we do and how can we do it and not, you know, overly affect what is already on this team and what's made it go for the last month and a half.

And they threaded that needle nicely too.

So I think it was extremely well received in the locker room.

What did you say to Craig Breslow after the trade deadline? Was there a high-five moment? Yeah, there was.

They believe in us.

I mean, would you trade your bullpen for a- any others?

I think we have the best bullpen in baseball.

I really do.

Um, I thought our bullpen was great before we added Eric Miller, and then you add that in there, you kind of watch the video and look at the underlying metrics of what he's done the last two years, and you're like, "Man, that's another back-end guy to a back end that we already had that was pretty deep." So, um, yeah, I think when you look at the performance of our guys that have been here and then you watch Miller get added to that, um, you know, plus you add in like, oh, by the way, like if we need to chew up some innings like Bryan Bello and the job he's done.

And, um, Weiss in short stints, like the, what he's done, uh, you know, to wipe out some righties, like we're, we're very deep.

You know? Like we, we're deep enough where even if some of those guys are down, these other guys, uh, Giovanny Moran, another one, like who's been excellent.

So it's not just the back end, it's what all of them can do.

But behind the scenes, who's the player whose impact on this turnaround is much bigger inside the clubhouse than fans realize?

Like, like who tells you the information before you announce it, and what do you know now about Curtis?

Curtis?Well, first of all, uh, you know, I d- I will say, like, if you watch the entire thing, like, I did say for the time being, it looks like we dodged a bullet maybe.

You know, like, in the sense that you get X-rays after, after an instance like that, uh, immediate X-rays.

Um, and this is pretty standard with a bone injury.

Um, and you just c- all you can do is give the information you have in the moment.

And the information we had in the moment was the, the X-ray, the fluoroscope X-ray that you get did not indicate a fracture.

Um, the follow-up question to that, which most people didn't say, think Tim Healey asked, like, "Is there a plan for more scans tomorrow?" And I said, "That's a possibility." Um, so I don't know if that was out there, but it's, like, always possible based on how the player reacts through the night, how he's feeling, and do we feel like we need to do a follow-up MRI because sometimes swelling will hide things with an X-ray.

Uh, h- how do you handle that when he's never gone and pitched this much in any season?

Who tells you the information before you announce it, and what do you know now about Curtis?

Well, first of all, you know, I will say, like, if you watch the entire thing, like I did say for the time being, it looks like we dodged a bullet.

Maybe, you know, like in the sense that you get x-rays after after an instance like that, immediate x-rays.

And this is pretty standard with a bone injury.

And you just, all you can do is give the information you have in the moment.

And the information we had in the moment was the x-ray, the floral scan x-ray that you get did not indicate a fracture.

The follow-up question to that, which most people didn't say, Tim Healy asked, like, is there a plan for more scans tomorrow? And I said, that's a possibility.

tonight.

So what do you remember the most being around a big league clubhouse when you were in high school and college?

Well, that was the cool part about it.

I was, I was old enough to, like, be here and come here and, like, hang out here and take BP.

And [coughs] I remember catching, you know, Gagné and Mota would throw bullpens, and I'd help out the bullpen catchers and catch pens, 'cause I was obviously a catcher.

Um, I was kinda ...

When I would come in, I'd kinda just immerse myself in stuff that was going on, because I was old enough to do it, you know? So, um, it was, it was ...

Obviously it's Dodger Stadium.

What was your relationship with Dave when he was a player, and what was it like going out there?

Have you noticed the changes?

Definitely see the changes, for sure.

It, it doesn't...

Yeah, the integrity part feels the same.

When you, like, stand out in center and look around and, um, and see it, it, uh, it doesn't-- They didn't mess with any of what makes it so great, uh, which is cool.

And I know there's a- additions and things that I've seen around that make it, uh, modernized in some way.

But when you look at the stadium itself, it's just as cool as it always was.

So what do you remember the most being around a big league clubhouse when you were in high school and college?

Who tells you the information before you announce it, and what do you know now about Curtis?

Well, first of all, you know, I will say, like, if you watch the entire thing, like I did say for the time being, it looks like we dodged a bullet.

Maybe, you know, like in the sense that you get x-rays after after an instance like that, immediate x-rays.

And this is pretty standard with a bone injury.

And you just, all you can do is give the information you have in the moment.

And the information we had in the moment was the x-ray, the floral scan x-ray that you get did not indicate a fracture.

The follow-up question to that, which most people didn't say, Tim Healy asked, like, is there a plan for more scans tomorrow? And I said, that's a possibility.

What went into that decision? Because he's been so good for you in the two-slot lately.

Who tells you the information before you announce it, and what do you know now about Curtis?

Well, first of all, I will say, if you watch the entire thing, like, i did say for the time being it looks like we dodged a bullet maybe you know like in the sense that you get x-rays after after an instance like that uh immediate x-rays um and this is pretty standard with a bone injury um and you just all you can do is give the information you have in the moment and the information we had in the moment was the x-ray the floral scan x-ray that you get did not indicate a fracture um the follow-up question to that which most people didn't say tim healy asked like is there a plan for more scans tomorrow and i said that's a possibility Um, so I don't know if that was out there, but it's like always possible based on how the player reacts through the night, how he's feeling.

And do we feel like we need to do a follow-up MRI? Because sometimes swelling will hide things with an x-ray.

Um, it's pretty standard.

Actually, Curtis went through that in 2023.

He broke that hand, very similar situation.

Um, scans came initial scans came back negative um and this is uh i don't know which org is it and he actually resumed some activities and was still bothering and went and got an mri and there it was so it's not uncommon for that to happen um so we get the original scans that we have let everybody know this is the information we have at this time and then if there's a follow-up scan that shows something else we give you that information at that time so um that's how that how all that goes down Um, and, uh, as far as the second part of your question, um, you know, it looks like he's got a fracture in the hand.

tonight.

Who tells you the information before you announce it, and what do you know now about Curtis?

Well, first of all, you know, I will say, like, if you watch the entire thing, like I did say for the time being, it looks like we dodged a bullet.

Maybe, you know, like in the sense that you get x-rays after after an instance like that, immediate x-rays.

And this is pretty standard with a bone injury.

And all you can do is give the information you have in the moment.

And the information we had in the moment was the X-ray, the fluoro scan X-ray that you get did not indicate a fracture.

The follow-up question to that, which most people didn't say, Tim Healy asked, like, is there a plan for more scans tomorrow? And I said, that's a possibility.

What went into that decision? Because he's been so good for you in the two-slot lately.

Has there been a less... amount of focus on analytics has there been a change in any of the ways in which you prepare this team to play that you can point to or is it just players getting hot and getting hot at the right time

um no and and to be honest with you like there wasn't much of there wasn't like you know we have i have information just like every other team in the league does but there wasn't a lot of that even when we weren't going well.

And if you want me to be perfectly frank with you, like there was a lot of conversations with Brez and people in the front office about the skill sets of our team and utilizing bunts and things like that was pushed from them too.

It's like, hey, we can, like these guys have the ability to do that.

We can create runs that way.

So it's oftentimes not what people think as far as all that's concerned.

But I think it's just a combination of, There was some different guys came in.

But how do you lean on some of those guys to, you know, especially get to the younger players who are experiencing something like this that they probably have never experienced before when you talk about a run like you guys are on?

Has there been a less... amount of focus on analytics has there been a change in any of the ways in which you prepare this team to play that you can point to or is it just players getting hot and getting hot at the right time

um no and and to be honest with you like there wasn't much of there wasn't like you know we have i have information just like every other team in the league does but there wasn't a lot of that even when we weren't going well.

And if you want me to be perfectly frank with you, there was a lot of conversations with Brez and people in the front office about the skill sets of our team and utilizing bunts and things like that was pushed from them too.

It's like, hey, these guys have the ability to do that.

We can create runs that way.

So it's oftentimes not what people think as far as all that's concerned.

But I think it's just a combination of There was some different guys came in.

But how do you lean on some of those guys to, you know, especially get to the younger players who are experiencing something like this that they probably have never experienced before when you talk about a run like you guys are on?