NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: PHILLIES VS PADRES

October 22, 2022

Rob Thomson

Citizens Bank Park

Philadelphia Phillies

Pregame 4 Press Conference

Q. What kind of advantage does a pitcher like Falter have when he is pitching against a team that has not seen him before?

ROB THOMSON: I believe they've seen him, haven't they? I looked at the -- I think there's some numbers on him.

Q. Seen them because of the Washington games? Two early appearances.

ROB THOMSON: Two early appearances against him, yeah. They haven't seen him in a while, have they?

I think there's a little advantage depending on how he throws. With Bailey, it's been a while since he's been on the mound.

My only concern with him is maybe a little bit of rest. That's it.

Q. What have you guys done to keep him sharp? Anything?

ROB THOMSON: Just heavy bullpens, stand-ins. It's hard to get guys BPs because they're on the roster. You might need them today or tomorrow. So it's just some heavy bullpens and that type of thing.

Q. I was just wondering what you've seen from Castellanos' at-bats of late?

ROB THOMSON: He's always been an aggressive guy. Trying to get him to step back a bit and not jump out there. I thought his last -- but the double. He stayed back a little bit more last night.

I know him and Kevin had a long session yesterday, and they did some good work. Kevin was pretty pleased about that.

Q. Do you get a sense of why Rhys struggles at times at first base?

ROB THOMSON: Yeah, I don't know why. He was pretty upset last night. I saw him in the tunnel, and it was a high chopper so I didn't know really what happened. I asked him if maybe it got in the lights or something. And he was real upset, and he said, no, I just whiffed it. I just can't believe I just missed that ball.

I don't know. I guess it happens to everybody. Segy dropped a ball yesterday that normally doesn't miss, and then he followed it up with two highlight reel plays.

Q. Just a real quick follow-up. When they were struggling, you said the day off can help or this and that. How do you approach defensive struggles?

ROB THOMSON: Yeah, days off, extra work, that type of thing. There's no days off now, though. Yeah, just extra work, flip fungo. Bobby has all kinds of drills.

That to me last night is probably more lack of concentration, seeing the ball in the glove and just finishing the play.

Q. You guys have gotten five starts of six innings or more. How important has that length been to keeping the bullpen fresh and especially on a day like this where you might have different relievers in there?

ROB THOMSON: I think it's huge. It means that those starters are throwing the ball well too. So that's good.

Yeah, especially now when we've got five games in a row and we've got to be really judicious with our bullpen, those long outings, those long starts are really important.

Q. So I was going to ask you, we've asked you about the uniqueness of the potential for five games in a row. When you've got your horse going tomorrow, does that impact how you might use the bullpen tonight given that you know Zack will probably give you six or seven or maybe more?

ROB THOMSON: Not really. I think you play it just like you normally would. I think we've got some flexibility today. We've got to be careful with the guys who pitched last night. If they pitch today, then there's great potential they'll be down tomorrow.

You've got Robertson, you've got Brogden, you've got Bellatti, you've got Brad Hand that if you throw them today, they're still available tomorrow. We've still got some flexibility, and we can play this one like we normally would to win.

Q. After you got Marsh at the deadline, how much did that impact your outfield defense, just to have somebody like him who's an elite defender who can really run down balls in center field?

ROB THOMSON: It's huge because he really -- he's got great instincts. He really hasn't played a whole lot of baseball, but he's got great instincts in the outfield. His first step is tremendous, and his routes are direct, and he gets great reads off the bat.

Yeah, it's pretty unique. It's a lot of innate ability and sense that he has.

Q. Going back on the defensive question, there have been three errors but so far they haven't evolved into big innings for you. How big is that for your pitching staff to be able to pitch over those types of situations?

ROB THOMSON: Yeah, and the other thing that's been good for us is we're not walking people. I think in the three games at home -- I'm not sure how many walks we had, not many anyway.

You add on walks with errors, and that turns into crooked numbers usually. So I think that's the biggest thing. Our pitcher has been able to bear down, and usually we're making pretty big plays after an error to shut down innings.

So it's been good so far, but I don't like to see too many errors.

Q. With Bailey, hasn't pitched in a while, but he's going to have the adrenaline of his first postseason start. What are you looking for to know when the tank's empty? Are you watching velocity, just mechanics, eye test.

ROB THOMSON: It's probably going to be velocity. Is he still pounding the zone? He's a tough kid, and if he's not in the zone, it's because of rust, it's not because he's going to be afraid of the moment.

We'll be watching that because it's been a while.

Q. If you could, just speak to the power of the leadoff home run. Schwarber, that low point the double header in Washington, he leads off the second game with a homer; the clincher in Houston, he leads it off. Last night he leads it off. Even your first game as manager, he leads off with a home run. Just speak to the power of what that does for the dugout and for the bench.

ROB THOMSON: It's a huge moment, especially when you're at home, especially when there's 46,000 Philadelphians screaming their heads off and getting into the game and creating an energy and an atmosphere that is probably second to none.

It just gives the guys life. We get them out 1, 2, 3 in the first inning, and all of a sudden, we're up 1-0, and you feel really good about yourself and that's a good start.

I don't know what the numbers are, but I would assume the team that scores first is probably going to win most of these playoff games, so it's huge.