[Music] deut got Hunter Kucha out there I know it's not his major leag debut that pin but how special is it for a young player getting his first start and doing here I'm excited um it's going to be obviously it's a thrill for him um I I like the way that he's caught Gavin a ton knows them they're familiar there um and also I just feel that given will and off day uh Day game after night game makes sense so I'm excited to see what Hunter can do you had a really strong spring training what did you learn about wom and prepared him for this year I I think the thing with Hunter is he's uh from the south uh it's a slow brain heartbeat um so in the Box he's very calm I don't think This Moment's going to be too big for him um and the guys like them so I think that for me it's somebody I trust he's been the organization a long time understands what we do as an organization as a pitching staff and like I said I feel good about uh the battery today we didn't get to talk about it yesterday but sh Otani who off the mountain for the first time just says having surgery how big of a step is that and what how encouraging is that just for him I know we talked about not necess for this year but looking at it to next year it's a big step for sh I think for for the confidence to be able to get off the mound um to throw some different pitches um i i i the rehab has been great he's put in a lot of hard work the staff has put in a lot of hard work and yeah like you said that I don't think it really impacts this year but it's still continuing to build a foundation for him for 25 is plan still like that point where he's facing and kind of shut him down yeah that's when's the next time you're supposed to take them out you know um I I would say a week you know give or cake a couple days said that not really 224 is over yet like he's been throwing obviously and feel like have like how open is that door for him Poss I think it should it's slightly open and I think that's a good mindset for Tony um to kind of shoot for something this year and um if all things line up great um and if it doesn't then we can pivot to 25 but I think that his mindset that the do is not completely closed on 24 is a good thing where could he help you where could he help you more no it would be out of the pen um just looking at the calendar the buildup um his kid out of the pen um so that's where it would be potentially if it Happ did you see something in him today that leads you to believe any way you whether he could do it or long well I I think that I was talking to Ron Porterfield who's kind of man the rehab um the command has gotten a lot better uh the fast ball he's touch he's 92 to 94 so you expect an uptick in velocity he's using all of his pitches um so all that stuff lines up with kind of some optimity did River Ryan um have the surgery yet he did okay he's uh back home in North Carolina visiting his uh son but he'll be back I think next week everything went well everything went great has brw throwing his Bullpen yet what's that has brw throwing a bullpen yet um he threw a bullpen yesterday uh he is going to go on on rehab next week and so you know I'm still counting on them um another side note is uh we flipped um flarity and a walker so FL is going to go on Tuesday Walker will go on Wednesday and just to get Walker an extra day if you had copc in the E and Phillips in the n9th you have a lot of guys that have closed games this year but you have a preference would you like to get Phillips back up the speed in that spot you know I I I would just I I want Evan to just keep having confidence keep pitching well you know yesterday it was unique in the sense that theyve hit for guys at the bottom and I like if they did hit I liked copc versus some potential left-handers and there's a clear righty run in the ninth and so it just didn't work out but uh you know if I had to do it over again I would do the same thing but yeah I think in a perfect world um you know I would have Evan Ki and then um huie I feel needed a little bit of a reset so we tried to stay away from him he's available today um I wanted to give him a few days just kind of not in a game and get him back would be ideal is that a physical thing with him or more no just both I mean I just think that he's thrown more Innings than he's thrown since 2019 so he's been you know he started the season with us going wire to wire so you know certain guys have had blows and and uh so now for hudie to be able to kind of play the slice um that's what I was trying I'm trying to do so com back to sh how did he say you felt after throwing yesterday felt good Shi felt good so it's been not surprisingly it's been uh very encouraging this whole process how's Freddy felt trying to play he's not going to he's not going to let on how he's feeling I do know that throwing is is more difficult than hitting and um you know there was even a play Yesterday where he typically would have got the lead runner at second base but I think that he was a little mindful of the finger so he took the out at first but um having him in the lineup is still here you think out where he's going to go to Round Rock uh that's our triple uh Triple A with OKC he's going to be pitching on the road on Wednesday so he'll throw a bullpen on Monday and then Wednesday he'll head out we got Chris Taylor back from the lineup playing in second today what do you hopeing to see from him with his return um I just want to see good at bats uh I I think that uh yeah I just want to see good bats and I think that before he got hurt uh he was trending he was swinging the bat well and so I think now I just want to see him have competitive [Music]