NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: DIAMONDBACKS VS PHILLIES

October 15, 2023

J.T. Realmuto

Citizens Bank Park

Philadelphia Phillies

Workout Day Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, we're going to get started with J.T. Realmuto.

Q. I wonder, going back to Marlins Spring Training 2018 when Gallen got traded over there. Did you catch him at all, and what memories do you have of him at that time?

J.T. REALMUTO: I actually did not. I never got to catch him. I had heard about him through the system. Obviously a lot of Marlins brass were talking about him. They were excited about him. So I followed his career kind of throughout the minor leagues, but I never actually got to -- I never even got to watch him throw a bullpen. But heard great things about him, and obviously he has lived up to everything they said.

Q. You guys have had a lot of success in playoff series that have started on the road the last two years. I wonder if there's anything different mentality-wise about being able to start a series at home?

J.T. REALMUTO: I don't think it necessarily changes our mentality at all. It is nice, though, to be able to start at home and be able to feel this crowd from Game 1. We've done a good job, I believe, in every series of starting off on the right foot and winning Game 1, and that's such an important piece of everything series.

So we'll have our home crowd behind us for the first couple of games, and have Wheels and Nols going on the mound for us well. That's definitely something you look forward to, and hopefully it gives us an advantage.

Q. Yesterday your manager was in here talking about how you guys kind of cracked down on the opponent's running game in recent times, maybe a month ago or so. Can you take us inside that process a little bit, how that all developed, cracking down on it?

J.T. REALMUTO: I think just being a little more diligent and, honestly, just paying more attention. Throughout most of the season we didn't do enough as far as changing up our times, being a little faster to the plate, being able to back-pick guys, stuff like that, to slow down the running game.

Then it was kind of costing us some games there in September, so finally we paid a little more attention. We made some adjustments. Our pitchers were out there working on it before batting practice, stuff like that.

Against a team like this in Arizona, obviously that's going to be really important because they have a lot of guys that can steal bases. One, we're going to try to keep them off the bases, but when they do get on, we're going to have to really pay attention to them. Some extra picks, some back picks, changing up our times. Because that's what they do well. That's one of the things they do really well, so we're going to have to combat that.

Q. From the WBC having been around Merrill Kelly for two weeks, you know him. You caught him. Any advantage there?

J.T. REALMUTO: I think I only caught him maybe one inning in the WBC. Will caught him his other start or two, so I wouldn't necessarily say there's an advantage.

I did get to see his stuff and kind of have a couple of conversations with how he likes to work and how he likes to attack hitters, but that was six months ago, so who knows if anything has changed there.

Getting to know Merrill, he's a competitor, so it's going to be fun to go out there and compete against him. He is a guy who is going to pound the strike zone, so we know that, and we're going to have to be ready for it.

Q. It's been two months since Trea got that ovation, and it really changed his season obviously. We know how well he has played since then. As a teammate, when you saw that and felt that, what was that experience like for you?

J.T. REALMUTO: It was special. You know, I've said it before that as a team, none of us like to see anybody on the team struggle, especially somebody of that stature, with that much pressure. He comes in with a huge contract, similar to what we saw with Nick coming in.

It's tough as a teammate to watch one of your guys go through that. So obviously it has an effect on the whole team. You know, when one person is getting booed, it feels like we're all getting booed out there. To see the team jump -- or, sorry -- the fans get behind him and give him that show of support and then him come through and be successful almost immediately from that point, that was just like a weight lifted off the entire team's shoulders.

I think it showed on the field. We played much better. We played more free. Trea especially was a completely different player after that. It was definitely a pivotal moment in our season, and it was special to be a part of and get to watch it.

Q. J.T., as somebody who has played some first base, I was wondering what your reaction was to the news when Bryce said I'm going to try to learn to play a position I've never played before at the big league level. And then, B, what have you thought about how far he has come and how well he has played?

J.T. REALMUTO: Initially I thought if anybody can do it, it's Bryce. You know, he is a really good athlete. He is a baseball player first and foremost. He is not just a guy that's throw him in one position and make him play that spot. He is an athlete and can really learn on the fly.

As somebody who went through the process -- like, learning first base is not easy by any means, but it's a position where with reps and with timing, you get a little more comfortable fairly quickly, I think, and he did a really good job of that.

I think he's made tremendous strides. He's done a really good job. He has filled the position well. He gives us confidence. Obviously we want to keep his bat in the lineup, and him stepping up and playing a good first base has been huge for our lineup.

Q. At every level of the postseason the competition gets stiffer, the pressure gets ramped up. What is your mental process for handling things at every level, and then is there a joint process that is happening within the team itself?

J.T. REALMUTO: Yeah, I think for the most part we just have to take it one game at a time. Every game at this point in the season is huge for us, and they all matter so much. So you really just have to step up the intensity and the focus a little bit every day.

For us, really, that started back in September, even before the postseason. Every game for us mattered because if we have a bad week, you know, our season is over, and we don't get to where we want to go. We don't make it to the postseason.

So we've kind of been going through that grind for a while now, which when we step into the postseason, it's almost like second nature for us. It's like, hey, these games matter a lot. This is very important. We just lay it all out there and go out there and compete.

There's really not a different focus or mentality for us because we've had to go through it since the beginning of September where every game has mattered because we're fighting for one goal.

Q. Zack obviously had a pretty nice career with the Mets. You faced him a lot with the Marlins, had a lot of success against him. Have you seen what's kind of been the difference since he got here that's made him now an elite pitcher in baseball, top of the rotation guy. Can you see what the difference has been?

J.T. REALMUTO: For me it's been his ability to command the strike zone. He is just so consistent. Because I remember back when he was with the Mets and I would face him, it was every now and then he would get a little wild. He would walk some guys and get himself in trouble with a couple of walks, and then bloop singles, a couple of runs.

Now it feels like he really makes the opposing lineup beat him. He is going to attack you inside the strike zone. I think his off speed has gotten better. I think his slider is better. He is able to use both fastballs with two seam and four seam. Before he was using one more predominantly, so as a right-handed you could look for that one fastball.

Now he's throwing using two different fastballs both at 96 to 98 miles an hour where they're moving completely opposite directions, so it's so hard to find the barrel.

For me that's one of the biggest differences is his ability to absolutely attack the strike zone with every pitch he throws, and there's no fear in him. He is not scared of any hitter. He is going to make you beat him in the strike zone, and when you have stuff as good as he does, you're going to be successful with that.

Q. You guys -- I think the six starters so far this postseason have an ERA of 1.5. There's only been four walks from those three guys. How important has that command been, and what have you seen from those three starters so far of raising their level when it comes time to command in these big at-bats.

J.T. REALMUTO: In my opinion that's everything in the postseason, not giving away free bases. Every lineup we're going to face here is going to be really good. Every hitter is going to be focused and locked in. So you're just giving the offense a little bit of momentum every time you give them a free pass instead of making them earn it.

What we've said all year long, with our pitching staff is we really like our stuff. We think we have some of the best stuff in the league from top to bottom. So why not throw in the strike zone and attack the hitters and make them hit it. Every now and then you're going to give up a hit because you're being aggressive and you're throwing the ball in the strike zone.

But more often than not even if they're swinging a little bit, ambushing, you're going to get them out, which creates early contact and early outs. And that's something that Caleb has preached since Spring Training, and really all of our pitchers have bought into it, and that shows here in the postseason.

Our starters just absolutely attack the strike zone, not scared of contact, going right at guys, and that's why they're able to be more successful and pitch deep in the games.

Q. In addition to the running game, are there any special challenges that the Diamondbacks present that maybe the Marlins and Braves didn't?

J.T. REALMUTO: I would say they're playing a lot like us right now. They're hot. That's what the post sen season is all about. With you get in a rhythm. You get confidence. You get momentum, and that's something that they've really played with this postseason.

Their lineup is really deep. They have really good right-handed hitters. They have really good left-handed hitters. They hit for power. They hit for average. They walk. They take their walks. Most of them are stealing bases.

So it's definitely a challenging lineup to navigate through, but the most daunting thing about them right now is how much confidence they're playing with.

Q. I just want to do ask about what your journey has been like here in Philadelphia. The team didn't make the playoffs for more than a decade, and then last year you make it all the way to the World Series, and you're four games away. I guess what's it been like watching the team blossom and develop over the years and if you have been reflecting on your first years with the ball club?

J.T. REALMUTO: Obviously ever since I've been here in 2019 every season we come in and we have high expectations. Those first few seasons didn't pan out. We just didn't play well enough. We didn't make the postseason.

Last year we started off really slow, so it kind of felt like, oh, man, we're going through the same thing again. We're not going live up to our expectations. The whole city is going to be disappointed in us.

Then we get hot second half. We have that run in the postseason, and I think that run just really gave this group the confidence of, hey, like, we are who we think we are. We're as good as we thought we were.

Now this season we just kind of played with that confidence all season long. Obviously we started off a little slow, but even when we weren't playing well early in the season, we had the feeling, like, hey, guys, we're going to turn this around. We're going to get back to where we want to go.

And now we just have to take that next step this postseason and continue to play with confidence and get a couple more wins than we did last year in the postseason. If we do that, goal is accomplished.