 I'm sorry. Yeah, I'm gonna start with a couple announcements first CC will not be on our roster for the division series And then our starters tomorrow will be James Paxton Masahiro will go in game two with Sevi in game three Okay, yeah with that we'll start with questions for Aaron Meredith Why did you decide James Paxton was your best option to go in game one and how difficult was the decision between three pitchers? Yeah difficult decision. Frankly, I went back and forth on it You know daily sometimes a few times over the course of a day and really what it came down to The reason that was is because I feel like all those guys are in a good place And and I throw Jay happen that mix to who I feel like is throwing the ball as well as he has at any point in the season So felt like it was a good decision and then just trying to You know, hopefully maximize those guys as best we can and So frankly, I would have been comfortable going a lot of different ways with those guys But I feel like James is the guy to get us off on the right foot Aaron with CC is that a matter of his knee? Just not being quite right or is it a strategic? No, it's it's it's actually more shoulder not bouncing back Just just wasn't bouncing back as well as we would have hoped in Texas He ended up getting a cortisone shot was able to go out and throw in a sim game Tuesday and Frankly through the ball pretty well, but just not quite You know where it needs to be to be in the kind of role We're gonna ask him to be in where you know, he's potentially getting up on the spot and then maybe having to get enough later in the game just probably not real comfortable with that he'll continue to to work and You know try and get himself As ready as he can to be an option moving forward But I felt like this was the best thing for him and for us Aaron your main reliever is one of getting a fair amount of rest the last few weeks How much of that was by design how much of that was kind of organic just because we're the games were one of the teams We're in and how beneficial do you think that could be? I Think we played it pretty straight frankly You know always mindful of of their usage You know striking that balance between trying to keep them sharp, but keeping them fresh and rested and You know frankly that didn't really change much at all down the stretch Obviously the last game where we were down a bunch We wanted to make sure those guys through because most of them hadn't in the first two games You know but keeping them as sharp as possible was something that we're we certainly were trying to do In terms of the rest of the roster you said last night you were hoping to finalize Those decisions have those decisions been fine. Yeah, pretty much, but we'll we'll keep it I know you guys would love to have it, but We don't have to give that out till tomorrow morning, so we'll We'll We'll take advantage of that on some level. Can you give an indication whether you went with 12 or 13 pitchers? It'd be like Christmas morning tomorrow. You wake up and You got something waiting for you under the tree, okay? George go ahead how about a lineup? That'll be that'll be a bonus gift for you around the around the corner What's your plan for a hat at this point? So J'll be an option for us right away, you know again feel like There's potential role for him in these first couple of games But then you know after that over there He'll fall into the mix is you know a possible starter for us could use him as a as a bulk guy We'll try and have him prepared for a lot of different roles But he'll certainly In some way shape or form be in play these first two games and how does not having CC impact the rest of the Pitching staff because that was a multi ending guy. I thought you were gonna have yeah, although frankly, you know, I Mean that was potentially one of the roles we saw with CC, but it was more a couple lanes Even potentially a couple of short lanes where a lefty hitter switch hitter those kind of things so I Kind of envisioned him maybe a little more in some shorter roles You know, obviously we won't have him for this series so But I wasn't Looking at him so much as as a bulk guy Because I thought there were some a couple of matchups that we'd like that we thought he would he would be good in In Formulating roster and lineup. How heavily do you weigh September slumps? I mean, I would say everything matters and everything factors into you know, trying to put what we think is the best People in the best positions to succeed. I mean, I don't really know how to answer that. I mean it It all matters and we're trying to make evaluations and judgments about what gives us best chance to win game one against the twins and and beyond that, you know So I'd say to some degree at all factors in but it's not You know, this happens so he plays, you know, we're we're trying to We're we're trying to predict You know a little bit and make evaluations You mentioned you saw CC is more of a matchup guy, you know, and I know his splits against lefties is still been very good this year Do you see him or other? Do you see anyone else? Filling that kind of role of like a lefty on lefty sort of a matchup person Sure I mean other guys are gonna have to step up into that role. So we'll have hopefully some options there We also have, you know, a Lot of our right-handed pitchers are You know You would even classify as reverse split right-handed pitchers so more adept at getting left-handed hitters out But yeah, so we'll have people to fill those roles And and expect them to fill them fill them well Jack in the back Aaron, I know every game every pitcher in every situation is different But you've been pretty adamant about saying you're gonna be aggressive and going to your bullpen Can you be a little more specific about what kind of leash you're going to give to your starters? Um Not really. I mean, you know, we'll have a Good idea going into the game of of certain matchups we like certain lanes we like for particular pitchers You know, but then you're still watching and evaluating what's going on, you know You know starting out with packs, you know Reality is if he's throwing the ball really well, he's probably our best option For a good chunk of the game. So but we'll You know, especially coming into that first game where you have four days off where you have a very well rested bullpen and Hopefully guys that you can extend even more You know, if if we like a better matchup, you know, we won't hesitate to go to it Minnesota is one of the teams that gave you some trouble in the second half Just because of the way they you know, they match up offensively a lot of lefty switch hitters the Cleveland was kind of the same way How does that impact what you're trying to do trying to get guys into your lanes? As you say when they can disrupt that. Yeah, no question. And that's where You know having having the option of having both handed guys down there Matters take an advantage of our of our guys that get the other hand out well or even better So it makes it a little bit more of a challenge, but we feel like with most of our guys And especially our high-leverage guys, they're they're pretty adept at whatever hand you throw at them If we're throwing the ball well, they're equipped to handle that My hero in his career and especially this year they was better at home than on the road Was that why you slated him for for game two or were there other no Actually had nothing to do with my decision You know considered masa for one considered savvy, you know, they all in my mind Considerations and that didn't really play in you know, I've heard a lot about you know the masa and the splits and everything Most of our guys I think have been better at home You know, I think a lot of Masa's numbers this year if you dig a little deeper Two games kind of skewed that quite a bit you look at some of the underlying things He's not much of a different picture either place the bottom line is if he's throwing the ball the way He's capable of in top of his game. We feel like he's a good matchup anywhere Dan I was judges shoulder and you expect that to be a factor. He's he's good I don't expect it to be a factor. Just the time off was enough. Yeah Yeah, and he and even the last weekend when got him back out and right field felt like He was doing fine and responded well. So yeah, look at him. It's totally good to go Do we expect in Carnot or is another you want me to not see there we go Yesterday went well with Edwin so want to see how he is coming in today, but my expectation is yes He will he will be on the roster We'll take one more for Aaron Aaron you didn't have stenton and judging the lineup together very often this year How different of a look do you think it gives your lineup when the two of them are both in there? I'm excited about in my mind what we're gonna run out there tomorrow night, you know, the length that it has You guys know when talking to me how important I place and just making it difficult on the opposing pitcher and and you do that sometimes in numbers and You know, even when a pitcher makes it through a lineup a time or two as long as We're routinely making it difficult I feel like eventually that serves us well and with John Carlo and the guys that we think we're getting back here for for game one, I feel like our lineup has that ability to To be long and to be able to wear you down just with the abat quality. So that's something I'm looking forward to seeing Okay, Aaron. Thank you so much for the time