AL WILD CARD SERIES: WHITE SOX VS ASTROS

September 29, 2026

Hunter Brown

Daikin Park

Houston Astros

Pregame Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: All right. We'll get started with Hunter Brown.

Q. Hunter, what do you remember about your first playoff starting assignment and maybe a few lessons that you can take that will help you this time around?

HUNTER BROWN: Yeah, I think reflecting back on that it was a really good opportunity. I think postseason baseball is all about that. You just try to take advantage of the opportunity that's in front of you and that's exactly what I'm going to try and do tomorrow.

Q. We talked about it a little bit at the time, but when you injured yourself early this year that was really the first time in your career you've ever really been injured. Looking back, how do you think you handled that and just the comeback of the uncharted territory of kind of not knowing what it was going to be like?

HUNTER BROWN: Yeah, I think the biggest part of that was regaining the feel of your pitches. I think once physically you're healthy, then you kind of got to go through spring training where it takes a couple weeks, month, month and a half to really dial in, like, the feel of your pitches. I mean, that was just kind of how it went. I think going forward, at least having been through it before now, I mean, hopefully I don't get injured ever been again, that's the plan, but at least I'll be prepared for it.

Q. What concerns you for or excites you about facing the White Sox' lineup?

HUNTER BROWN: Yeah, I know that they're a really good lineup. They got a lot of power throughout the order. They can make you work. I've faced 'em twice this season, so at least I'm familiar with the lineup a little bit. And what's exciting about it is it's postseason baseball. That's all there is to it. It doesn't matter if it's the White Sox or anybody, really.

Q. What do you take out of the Wild Card series two years ago, just the briefness of it or the almost sudden death of it or anything like that?

HUNTER BROWN: I think the series can change super quickly. It's important to jump out to a good start, and then unfortunately, I think it can be solved by one run over the course of three games or two games. So it's just different than the longer series, but I know that this team is ready to handle that.

Q. How do you feel about tomorrow's start in comparison to your first postseason start against the Detroit Tigers in 2024?

HUNTER BROWN: Yeah, I think I was a lot younger then. I've made however many starts since. I feel a little bit better about who I am as a pitcher now versus then. I feel like in 2024, I was still kind of trying to figure out my arsenal and things like that. Now I kind of know, you know, what I do and what I like to do, what I'm good at executing, what maybe I'm not as good at. So yeah, I think I'm just a little bit more confident and know myself a little bit more as a pitcher.

Q. Has AJ Blubaugh or any of the young guys talked to you about how to prepare for a playoff game?

HUNTER BROWN: Yeah, I mean, Blubaugh not specifically, I'm sure he's getting mentally locked in right now. But yeah, definitely some other guys that have talked to me. More so about the atmosphere and just kind of the little nuanced changes where -- kind of like opening day where you get intro'ed and things like that and obviously there's a lot more media here. There's a lot of different things.

But yeah, talking to me just a little bit about -- I mean, everybody's excited for this game today and tomorrow and being here in Houston. That's kind of the -- what's going around is how loud the crowd gets and things like that. So just kind of trying to manage that and be prepared for that.

Q. How do you manage that?

HUNTER BROWN: Well, I think you use it to benefit you, right. I think as a home team it's, you know, personally I think it's better getting cheered than booed. You know, maybe they will boo you if you do poorly enough, but, you know, I think it's better to get cheers than that, so...

THE MODERATOR: All right, Hunter, thank you.

HUNTER BROWN: Thanks, guys.