NL DIVISION SERIES: PHILLIES VS BRAVES

October 12, 2023

Austin Riley

Citizens Bank Park

Atlanta Braves

Pregame 4 Press Conference

Q. Austin, you've seen Ranger a few times. Looking back at Game 1, what can you guys take from that game to benefit you tonight?

AUSTIN RILEY: I think just gotta get him in zone. I feel like we swung at some pitches, quite a few pitches out of the zone. I think you just gotta zone him up and try to get him in the middle of the plate as best as possible.

Q. Austin, in an elimination game, do you guys treat it the same? Does there have to be more sense of urgency or is it important to keep the same mindset?

AUSTIN RILEY: I think you gotta keep the same mindset. I feel like it's just that unwanted pressure. We just gotta go out there and play our game, trust in ourselves, trust in our ability. And I like our chances then.

I think when you try to build this picture of something, like I said, that unwanted pressure, you start pressing and things kind of spiral. So I think we just gotta go out there and play our game and trust our ability and know that our game is good.

Q. Austin, you guys had some stretches during the season longer than three games where you didn't really hit and then you kind of exploded. I don't know, is there anxiety thinking, you know, we can't really wait for it to happen naturally, it's gotta happen now? It's an elimination game?

AUSTIN RILEY: Yeah, kind of back to what I just said, I think it's trusting ourselves and not trying to do too much. There is some sense of urgency. Obviously it's an elimination game. And we want to try to get this thing back to Atlanta.

We just gotta go out there and stay inside ourselves. I think that's the easiest, best way. Feel like I'm beating a dead horse. But I think that's a simple answer. There's no secret behind it. Like I say, play our game and trust ourselves.

Q. Kind of piggybacking off that, these series are so quick, the Dodgers, I think Mookie and Freddie had one hit between them, and they were over with. How do you sort of strike that balance when you're such a good offense of it's going to come, it's going to come versus, yeah, that best of five format. That's so tricky?

AUSTIN RILEY: I think it's just trying to get it to that next guy. I feel like that's where it's kind of what we've missed the last few games is just we get some guys on and then not being able to really get the ball rolling. And I think that's ultimately what we're missing.

We just gotta get it to that next guy and continue to move down the line, because like I said, this lineup is deep. And anybody in this lineup can change a game one swing of a bat. It's just a matter of trusting ourselves and, like I said, moving it down the line is the best way to describe it.

Q. Same subject. Just to follow up. Have you felt since the layoff that the offense just -- you've struggled to sort of get back in sync to what you guys had during the season?

AUSTIN RILEY: I think it's evident that we haven't been what we were capable of being. I thought the break that we had, the intersquad games that we played, I thought they went really well. Guys were swinging the bat well.

Like I said, I think now we're just putting too much pressure on ourselves of trying to do too much. And every one of those guys in that locker room cares a lot, and they want to help this team win. I think it's just a matter of trusting your preparation, trusting your work and letting the game come to you and not trying to go get it.

Q. Austin, I know that we were asking you similar things last night, but how much confidence do you have in Strider on the mound today?

AUSTIN RILEY: A lot. A lot. I think this is the game he's been dreaming about. I really do. He's a bulldog. He's wanting the ball. His presence is there. I think he's made for moments like these. And I'm super pumped. Can't wait to get the game started.

Q. How would you describe the mood in that clubhouse right now? In 2021, you had guys like Joc and Stuck keeping everyone loose. Do you feel that again today?

AUSTIN RILEY: Yeah, I think we're still loose. Anybody that knows Vaughn, he's very light, Grissom, and he's doing a good job of keeping it light.

And like I say, guys are -- I feel like there's a really equal balance of keeping it light, but guys are focused and are prepared and ready to go to battle.

Q. Austin, a little bit of a bigger picture thing here. There's been a lot of focus this year on teams with high payrolls that didn't make it to the postseason. But you look at you guys, you look at the Phillies. One way or another there's going to be three top 10 payrolls in the NLCS this year. I wonder why you think it is. There may not be a single way to get there, either through free agency you guys took care of yourselves through retention. But why is the focus do you think on that and not on the fact that the teams that are built with big payrolls are doing well this year?

AUSTIN RILEY: You know, I think it's -- I've always gone back to -- speaking from us. I can't speak for other teams. But I think Alex has done a great job of going to get good players, but also great people. And I think a clubhouse, when it goes deep into a season in the postseason, a clubhouse really matters.

And you can pay guys all you want, but for me if a clubhouse isn't right, they're not connected, meshed, good bonds in there, when things go south, a clubhouse really goes south. So I think from our standpoint, we got a really good clubhouse, and I think that's a huge factor in a run in a postseason.

Q. Being able to retain players plagued you with extensions has helped to keep the clubhouse there. It obviously is not a negative to be able to run that higher payroll?

AUSTIN RILEY: Yeah, I definitely think so. I think there's a fine line of mixture of you can't -- I don't know. It may be a GM question. Like I said, for me, the biggest thing for me is just that camaraderie in the clubhouse.

Q. Austin, you talked about how Vaughn is keeping it loose, that kind of thing. Did you notice any difference at all in Snitker coming in today or is he the same guy always regardless?

AUSTIN RILEY: I think he's the same guy regardless. I think he's seen a lot. He's been around the game so much. He's, like I say, seen it all. There's no panic.

He understands, and I think we all do, how crazy this game is and how things can change on the flip of a dime and how things can go your way and how things can't go your way. No, there's nothing I saw.

Q. And the same thing with the rest of the guys. Everybody seemed like exactly the same thing?

AUSTIN RILEY: Yeah. Like I said, I think we're in a good spot mentally. Obviously know the task at hand and are ready to play tonight.

Q. We don't know how long Suárez is going to go tonight, but when you are maybe struggling to get the ball rolling a little offensively, how difficult is it to time that stuff up when you're seeing a bunch of different relievers in a game?

AUSTIN RILEY: It can get tough. It can. I think it goes back to just we've faced these guys a ton. We've seen them all quite a bit. So it's just a matter of this time of year, I think it's a matter of capitalizing on mistakes and just when you get those opportunities, you can't miss them. And I think that's what we gotta do tonight.

Q. Before you came in here today, you got a million questions about elimination games before. Does the thought cross your mind as you're getting ready to come here like this could be it? How do you approach that?

AUSTIN RILEY: Yeah, I mean you definitely are aware this could be the last one, and I think that's a sense of urgency that you don't want it to be the last one.

So you try to prepare and focus and just, you know, I think you go back to your fundamentals of the game of what you've done all year in the off season and what got you to this point and try to lean on that as much as possible.

Q. The Phillies said that they used what Orlando said as kind of motivation for last night. I was curious if you all talked in the locker room about the Phillies fans saying we want Strider or doing the chop last night as something to kind of motivate y'all?

AUSTIN RILEY: No. You know, that's yesterday's news. It's a new day today. We're just focused on getting ready to play a good ballgame.