We had bad luck with the bullpen," or, you know, "We had too many injuries," or do you still feel like, "Okay, even though we're winning games now, and it looks like we're playing the way we're supposed to, there's still some flaws that need to be fixed in the off-season"? Like, how, how do you, how do you take this nine-game winning streak considering the different challenges the team has faced this year?

Yeah, I think that's a good question.

I mean, I don't think you can...

Y- you can't take a nine-game winning streak and say, "Oh, well, everything's fixed, and this was a perfect roster," just like we had mentioned, which no one...

You know, when when you leave spring training, you don't, you don't think you have a perfect roster.

You know what your flaws are.

You hope you can overcome them, um, you know, in a long season, and you can, you can add guys and fortify, you know, whatever your holes are throughout the, the course of the season.

And so, you know, improving the outfield and getting help next year isn't just about trading or free agency, because now it seems like there's at least one guy that's knocking the door internally that could force the issue.

Um, do you think that, uh, that that's a good thing, or are there Fourth Amendment violation concerns?

Well, this is a very interesting topic, and I've been getting some emails on it.

I've been looking at it, not only this, but the telematic control units that are inside vehicles.

Uh, the flock cameras can be a really good investigative tool.

My big concern that I have with them is the other stuff they're gonna add to just a camera.

They're gonna put in other sensors that are gonna collect any Bluetooth items, cell phone data, stuff like that.

That, to me, is a big concern.

But I mean, if there's, um, if there's somebody who swerved to miss a deer, and then they swerve to miss a pothole, uh, and the, the, the computer thinks that they're drunk, and it shuts down their vehicle, and this is a, say a, a young mother with a, with a toddler, and they're out in the middle of nowhere in Kentucky, and their cell service doesn't work, what are they supposed to do when their car shuts down?

I mean, obviously hitting triple digits and big frame and everything else, but that's another guy that you could maybe look at and hope could be a part of a rebuilt bullpen next year.

Yeah, and that's exactly what it is.

I mean, we have struggled to get strikeouts in the bullpen this year.

The idea was to add more power.

Nate Pearson kind of goes back a couple years.

Zach Bove, our former assistant pitching coach, coached Nate in college and had always raved about his ability, his stuff.

as a starter when he was with the Blue Jays and then as he sort of transitioned into that relief role.

part of this.

And that says something about him, his work ethic and athleticism, because it's not always that easy.

No, you nailed it.

I mean, absolutely.

It's not easy at all.

Especially, you know, again, I don't want to continue to emphasize this, but it's at the major league level, right? Guys hit the ball different.

The slice is different.

You know, the speed of the game is so different.

What about Gavin Cross and the way he's hitting the ball right now?

What do you, uh, what do you make of the 6'7" Carlos Duran?

Yeah.

So Steven, this is a guy that we actually tried.

So he had an assignment clause, um, in his contract.

So his, his history's kind of interesting.

He was one of the...

Um, I wanna say he was Dodgers' top five prospect a few years ago when he was at like the Midwest level.

[laughs]

Now, you were gonna talk about magnolias.

Ooh, yes.

Magnolias.

I had a bit of a, a, a rave about them, uh, on, uh, Friday morning when I was talking to Todd.

Um, because look, they are out and about, about at the moment, and you can see when you're driving around Newcastle and the Hunter, um, you know, all the, the pink and mauve and, and, you know, white-flowered ones you can get as well.

They're a nice little tree.

They don't get too big.

[laughs]

Is there a consensus? Is that what he is, you think, moving forward, viewed as a starting pitcher? And if so, what are we looking for? I know you mentioned some of those things, but when he goes out there and pitches every fifth day from now to the end of the season, what are you hoping to see to suggest that he's developing at the pace that you need him to?

Well, to answer sort of the first part of the question, I think when we left spring training, there was a lot of desire to have him on the team as a reliever, but we felt like for our depth and for sort of the long-term health of Lou Ender and the organization, having him in AAA starting and lengthening him out was best.

So that's what we did.

He's up.

He's in the rotation.

I think the things that I touched on earlier is what you want to see from start to start.

I mean, the stuff is undeniable.

What do you think he will be when it's all said and done? Where will he have played more baseball in the field when his career is over, first base or outfield?

And so how about the excitement of adding Zion Rose as a number six overall pick?

Yeah, I think we were extremely ecstatic.

When you're picking six, you feel good about who you're going to select, right? You have a really good group of players, and I know that they spoke of him very highly.

I was not in the draft.

I was with the team in Baltimore.

You know, I know they spoke very highly of him and a group of those college outfielders, and I think they were really excited.

I've heard comparisons of, you know, Ron Gant and, you know, Kirby Puckett, you know, from the body size and the build and the strength.

And so there is, you do have to deal with a lot of outside noise that just wasn't around 15 or 20 years ago.

What an incredible story, right?

I mean, it really is.

And, you know, obviously records kind of happen, you know, at times.

But for that player... for as special of a human being as he is.

And we, you know, you said that about a lot of people, but you've interviewed him.

I mean, he is as good of a human being as there is as polite as a kid.

He's a man, he's my kid, but as hard of a worker, as good of a teammate and none of it's fake.

So maybe could you speak to how excited you guys were for him to be named to a second All-Star game and maybe what he means to the team in the clubhouse that would lead to your reluctancy to make a deal for him?

How do you factor all of those things in when you come to the determination, okay, this is what our approach is going to be at the trade deadline?

Yeah, I think that's – it's a really good question, and I think it's unique given each situation.

I mean – and I know people probably don't want to hear about 14 and 15 anymore, but – You know, in 15, like, there was one single path, right? Like, you're going to win the World Series.

You're making a trade that's going to impact.

I think where we are now, you know, we're, you know, not as far down that trail.

The trail basically has, you know, we're in a fork where there's three different paths you can take, which is, you know, and you're looking at the information you have in front of you, which is, yeah, we're injured, right? and that does factor in, but when will those players be back? How much do they think they'll impact the rest of the season? You know, are those players coming back for 27? You know, how good do you believe in the team playing better in the second half, even without the players coming back? And do you want to take a little bit of a step back for the remainder of 26 to impact 27? I think you have to look – you just have to be much more wide open because there isn't just this singular focus for the remainder of the season.

You know, you're looking at it both what is your short-term goal for 26, you know, to be as competitive as possible, to push, push, push to try to get into the playoffs, or, you know, to maybe lose the battle to win the war next year, one of those, you know, sort of mindsets.

How much does that factor in what the scenario is of perhaps this being a seller's market?

And so what's the latest on Bobby and the knee and Michael Garcia and his hand?

Yeah, so Bobby did a lot of functional work on the field yesterday.

Hit, infield, ran.

You know, he's in a pretty good spot.

You know, yeah, everybody, you know, you get concerned when you see that.

You know, we are... reasonably being cautious.

You know, you want to make sure that, you know, when he's back, he's, you know, he's ready to play at the level of which, you know, Bobby can play.

Is that fair that, you know, no decisions have been made about, you know, buying or selling, but you're playing well, see how much ground you can make up at the all-star break, and then decide where to go from there?

What kind of growth are you seeing from him in that regard?

Well, it's been tremendous in that regard.

And to hear him say that, that's an extremely mature approach, right? There aren't guys that even spent a couple years in the league that have have been able to at least articulate that, right? It's still a challenge to do it.

You know, it's like anybody in life.

I'm 53 years old, and when you're having a rough week, like, it's a challenge to clear your mind and know that you're going to put it behind you, even though you've gone through things, you know, before.

You know, but with Jack, what we always have to keep in mind is, you know, this is a college player who didn't play – seven days a week, you know, 30, 26 to 30 games in a month.

I mean, you know, the college game's different.

Why was that plate appearance so significant in your eyes?

But, I mean, could it have been handled a better way for transparency's sake? I mean, you know, ultimately that company, Terrowolf, did not elect Cheney and Hall, the people of Boyd and Greenup counties did.

Well, you know, I'm not particularly happy with the way this is rolled out.

I think it could have been done better.

You know, one of the things the voters got to do is put people like the judge executives that they trust in there that are going to look out for them.

You know, there's going to have to be a compromise at some point, especially if we want economic development.

Like, you know, Patrick was saying, this is pretty standard in the business world.

And, you know, Our problem is we need to get businesses here.

But are there any assurances as far as Kentucky state law that, A, the construction jobs are local people, and B, at least a good majority of the permanent jobs are Kentucky people or local people?

How much of a difference is that for a pitcher?

Well, look, I mean, you're not going to pitch into the eighth until you are given the opportunity to pitch into the eighth or pitch into the ninth.

And, you know, Stephen Cole threw a complete game the other day.

I mean, these things happen.

You have to push them.

at times to get them to go further than they've gone before.

We know that.

The guy that we thought he was going to be after the 24 season, but he's looked good this week, right?