NL DIVISION SERIES: PHILLIES VS BRAVES

October 10, 2023

Aaron Nola

Citizens Bank Park

Philadelphia Phillies

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. Aaron, the challenge of facing a Braves team that can explode almost at any point during a game, how much of a challenge is that for any pitcher and the fact that you guys know each other? Does familiarity help or does it come down to a matter of execution?

AARON NOLA: Yeah. It's a matter of execution. We're very familiar with each other, played each other a lot of games, a lot of times.

So it just comes down to execution for a pitcher's side, executing our pitches, especially when we need to and when guys are on base. It's a good hitting team with their nine.

We know how good they are. It's obviously not going to be an easy one, but we gotta battle. I know we will and just gotta compete as best we can.

Q. Aaron, you've been on flights after bad losses, tough losses, wondering how last night's flight home might have compared to those, and what's the team's mindset, do you think, coming into today?

AARON NOLA: Good. It's good to be back home. Obviously it was a tough loss last night. It was heartbreaking. They made a good play at the end.

Harris made a really good play, and then thought Casty actually got that ball out. But definitely heartbreaking one, but we got another chance, right? We're one and one. It's good to split over there, come back home and hopefully get one tomorrow.

Q. How can you guys get that out of your mind so Game 3 you guys come in clear headed, I guess, and not lingering from that?

AARON NOLA: Yeah. Off day helps for sure. It's a new day. I mean, we gotta forget about that, gotta have a short memory about that. Try to take the positives away from that series -- or those two games over in Atlanta.

And it's just good to be back home with our home crowd. We got three games left to do something. So we just gotta take it game by game. It's going to be a tough one, but it starts tomorrow, and just take it pitch by pitch.

Q. Aaron, Kyle is not your typical leadoff hitter. Doesn't have that type of skill set. What makes him so good out of that spot, and what would the effect of having somebody who could pop 47 home runs leading off a game do for a pitcher?

AARON NOLA: I love it. I mean, how many times have you seen him hit a lead off home run and we're up one and nothing, right? He's not a guy who gets on and steals bags and stuff like that. But he can hit the ball out anytime.

And I think that's tough for a pitcher, especially to lead off a game. And he's super selective at the plate. So, yeah, I feel like you don't really see that too often when a guy has almost 50 home runs in the lead off spot, 100 RBIs, 100 rounds, 100 walks. It's pretty cool to see a guy that disciplined at the plate.

Q. I think the Phillies are 8-2 at this ballpark in the postseason the last couple of years. How would you describe home field advantage? Does it make players play better? What do you gain from that being at home?

AARON NOLA: I think we gain at lot. I think we have the best home field advantage in the league. I think our crowd is the rowdiest, and we love playing in front of that.

And I feel like it is tough sometimes for opposing teams to play in this stadium, but we like it a lot. We feed off of it, and the fans are in it from pitch number one until the very end, which is pretty special.

Q. Aaron, I want to ask you about the rivalry. Most people think Philly, New York. But does this kind of heighten things with two playoff series in a row and last night's game? Do a lot of family and friends, you gotta beat the Braves. It's about the Braves all year long type thing?

AARON NOLA: Yeah. They're obviously a tough squad. They won the division six years in a row. And it's pretty cool to match up with them again in the ALDS for the second year in a row.

Just got two really good clubs going against each other, and obviously tied one and one right now going into Game 3. So it's pretty cool.

For us, I feel like we want to face really good competition, right? I mean, everybody's good competition this time of year, but the Braves are exceptionally good, and we know that. So I feel like we usually play them pretty good, and it's always a fun series.

Q. Aaron, the first two games in the NLDS last season transpired differently, but you guys took the first one last year, they took the second one. What can you draw from that heading into tomorrow to try to bounce back?

AARON NOLA: It's always a chance. We got Game 3. It's another chance for us to take a win. But we gotta take it pitch by pitch. I mean, last year it was fun, but it's out the window. We gotta forget about that one.

And this is a new year. So I mean, you can't expect things to just happen the same exact way as last year because this is a new season and a new year. But, yeah, we want to look to take tomorrow's game, but we gotta focus from pitch number one.

Q. Aaron, there was a lot of talk this year about you and the pitch clock. In your last start, runners on first and second, one out in the fifth, JT came out, had a long mound visit, and then after the first pitch, Sanchez called a timeout.

Was that any kind of a turning point in your mind?

AARON NOLA: Not really. I think he called timeout because he thought that pitch was a ball, if I remember. Yeah, for sure. Obviously the pitch clock took the pitchers and I think a lot of guys time to adjust to over the course of the season, and especially in playoff game.

Obviously everything is a little bit more heightened and the stakes are a little bit higher than the regular season. So I feel like the more time we get, the better, especially in big situations with guys on base, and you need a ground ball or something to get out the inning. But we were lucky enough to get that ground ball and get that double play.

Q. Aaron, obviously different approach than Zack, and like we talked about earlier, you know these guys pretty well. Is there anything you can take from watching the first two games on how you guys approach their hitters, anything you've seen or that you will build off of that or are you just relying on your own game planning?

AARON NOLA: Yeah. Just gotta get ahead. They're obviously going to have a different approach to me than they do Wheels. Wheels threw great last night, dominant again against those guys. That's what he does against a lot of teams.

But I think it comes down to trying to get strike one against these guys and getting ahead and staying ahead.

Q. The crowd is such a story line, and it's like a national thing, and everybody knows what tomorrow is going to sound like and feel like, but a year ago, you didn't really know that it was going to be nuts and that it was a game that you pitched. It was crazy.

Were you surprised a year ago -- now you know what it's going to feel like. Were you surprised a year ago, or maybe didn't know what it was going to be like?

AARON NOLA: Yeah, kind of. I saw videos, right? But obviously never experienced it until we finally did it last year. But it's kind of addicting being out there in front of our fanbase over here and to feel the electricity. It just kind of heightens every pitch, and it's fun to be in the moment here.

Q. You've had a couple of really good starts against Atlanta, one that didn't go your way. When you're on your game against the Braves, what are you doing and what's the particular challenge of a lineup so deep?

AARON NOLA: Just commanding the ball, like I said, getting ahead and staying ahead and trying to eliminate big innings. I feel like any one of their guys can hit home runs at any time, and they're pretty fast on the bases, too.

So anytime we can try to eliminate the big inning and just to try to get them out early. They're a team that they can spoil some pitches on you and work good at-bats. So all comes down to just execution and just try to get them out anyway.

Q. Sort of a followup to that. Like Tyler said, big home run hitting team. If someone hadn't watched your starts and just saw you gave up this amount of home runs, would you say you made some bad pitches? How would you describe some of the home runs you gave up, a few too many in your mind or they hit pitcher's pitches, hitter's pitches? How would you describe it?

AARON NOLA: I feel like some of the pitches I made were good that they hit out. But I feel like the home runs for myself and that you see all the time that guys hit the ball in the ballpark are pretty good pitches for them.

I don't know how many were solos and how many were with guys on base, but solos are a different story than with guys on base. So obviously the ones with one or two guys on base are a little bit tougher to swallow.

Wasn't my best year from eliminating the home run. But I mean, regular season is done with now. We're in the postseason, and I gotta forget about that. And anytime we can keep the ball in the ballpark is good.