NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: DIAMONDBACKS VS PHILLIES

October 15, 2023

Zack Wheeler

Citizens Bank Park

Philadelphia Phillies

Workout Day Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with Zack Wheeler.

Q. J.T. was talking about your ability to locate well with quality stuff in the zone. What's your process been like to have that better command in the zone as time has gone on?

ZACK WHEELER: Kind of every time that question comes back, it always goes back to me having Tommy John, just trying to clean up my arm path when I came back from that. Obviously had a lot of time to tinker and fool with stuff and maybe watch other guys or talk to guys. Like, I talked to deGrom and those guys because they went through it before I did.

So just trying to clean up the arm path to protect the elbow a little bit more. Once you start digging into that, you start messing around with stuff. So I cleaned that up. But I think the biggest thing for me was getting rid of -- I used to curl my wrist -- when I broke it out of my glove, I used to curl my wrist. And that's one more thing that had to catch up before I went to the plate. As soon as I got rid of that, it was night and day.

I think the other part is just pitching. Just getting those innings underneath my belt and knowing how my stuff is going to move consistently, fastball and off speed. Once I got everything kind of honed in, it kind of turned around for me.

Q. Rob just talked about consistent pitching as being one of the biggest strengths that the Phillies have in this postseason. I want you to talk about your mental process a little bit, how you stay in the game, especially when you are getting to the 80-plus pitches in one game. What's your process for that?

ZACK WHEELER: Well, you know when you get a little deeper into the game or you get second, third time through the order, your stuff might not play as well. Your fastball might not have that jump that it did in the first few innings. I kind of think that's where the command comes back into it.

You know, being able to locate pitches and knowing what your stuff is going to do every single pitch. Sometimes slider may back up. You know, last time I hung that slider, d'Arnaud got me. But most of the time you know how your stuff is going to move, so you play it off of that. Maybe be a little safer later on in the game or maybe miss off the plate on purpose a little bit more to see if they're chasing.

It's all a process out there, seeing if guys are aggressive or stuff like that. So obviously depends on how the game is going also, if you need to be more aggressive or you can pull back a little bit depending on the score or how things are going.

But going deeper into the game, like I said, your stuff isn't going to play as high as it was early in the game, so you just play that cat-and-mouse game.

Q. Quick follow-up. Can you prepare for the crowd at Citizens Bank Park? Your job requires a lot of concentration. We have loud Phillies fans.

ZACK WHEELER: Yeah, they are loud, and I've pitched here in the playoffs before, so that definitely helps. But when we went to Atlanta, they were cheering like crazy when they got some guys on. I feel like it didn't really bother me that much.

At the same time we don't hear a lot of stuff out there when we're on the mound. Obviously you do hear it, but you try to zone it out the best you can and not feed into it, whether you are at home or on the crowd. If you are at home and the crowd is cheering, you may try to overthrow. You try to stay on an even line. And maybe with two strikes, you kind of let them get in there a little bit so you can try to pump it up a little bit.

I don't know, the crowd is going to be there for sure, and it's a lot of fun to pitch in front of them.

Q. A little off beat, but did you have favorite pitchers growing up and maybe guys that once you got into pro ball that were pretty instrumental and influential for you that you modelled yourself after?

ZACK WHEELER: Yeah. You know, there's different times in my life. Obviously, Phillies fans might not like this, but I grew up watching the Braves all the time. That's where I grew up. Watching Maddux, Smoltz, Glavine, those guys, basically my whole life. Just watching them pitch. They were dominant, and they won a lot of ball games. So watching them growing up.

But ever since I got into pro ball -- honestly I didn't like watching baseball all that much, but when I did get hurt, I watched a lot of baseball because I was just sitting there in Florida just watching baseball.

That was a time where I told myself I was going to watch some of the best pitchers in the game, whether they're righty or lefty, to see how they approach games, how they attack hitters, you know, maybe how they -- I don't know. Just how they attack hitters and attack the game basically.

You watch all the best. Verlander, deGrom, Kershaw, all those type of guys, Scherzer. They just go right after guys. They trust their stuff. They have the stuff to get guys out, but they trust it at the same time.

Basically here it is, hit it if you can, and if you can't hit it, it's going to be well-located. Whether it's up, down, on the corners. It's not always just -- sometimes you're going to miss in the middle, but most of the time it's missing off the plate or to one side or the other. So I think this execution was a big part of their game, and I just try to take all that in and put it towards my game after I came back.

Q. You were a highly touted prospect. You had Tommy John early in your career. Did you envision yourself as a guy that would be a Game 1 starter for a perennial playoff team, or is that something that gets built up over time year after year after year of success?

ZACK WHEELER: Yeah, I think you said it well. I think it's something that kind of -- I think you envision that. Like, that's something you always want to do for sure. I knew I had the talent to do it. I just wasn't consistent when I was a little younger.

Now I'm a little more consistent, and I take pride in taking the ball Game 1. You have Nols over here. It's definitely an honor. And Ranger and Tai and Sanchy. They're all throwing the ball really well. It's an honor to take the ball Game 1, and you take a lot of pride in that, setting the tone that first game. That's a big deal for me, so you have to set the tone the first game, and try to get that win.

Q. How much did the Phillies faith in you when they gave you that contract, I mean, does that change something in the way you think about yourself --

ZACK WHEELER: Well, you have to live up to it, right?

Q. Do you think that brings out a different part of yourself when that happens?

ZACK WHEELER: I think playing in New York made me a little tougher, for sure. You see guys coming in and out of there. Certain guys get booed that you would never have thought would get booed. I don't know. Guys that maybe you didn't expect anything out of them, they get cheered like crazy.

I think you just have to put your head down and just do the best that you can, play hard. Fans respect that. Once you mess up, you have to take ownership for it. I think that's the biggest thing. You have to have respect for the fans, and they'll have respect for you for the most part.

I think Philly is great about that. We've had instances here where guys have messed up, and they've owned it, and now look at them. So it's a lot of fun playing here.

Q. It's kind of a perfect follow-up to that. You mentioned New York. Going back to the Trea Turner standing ovation, there's a scenario where he would have went up to the plate and gotten booed. Why do you think he got that instead of the boo, which might be more normal in New York or Philly in the past?

ZACK WHEELER: Why did he get cheered for?

Q. Yeah, instead of booed.

ZACK WHEELER: I don't know. He is going to be here for a long time, and I think the fans are knowledgeable here, and they know that. I think he knows that he wasn't playing up to maybe his standard early on, and that's fine. It's going to happen over people's careers, right? Something may have been going on. I don't know.

I mean, there's a lot of pressure. He signed that contract. There's a lot of pressure, and these fans, they love their sports here. If you aren't living up to that, they're going to let you know.

At the same time that's why it's fun to play here because they understand sports, and they know he is going to be here for a long time, so they decided to cheer him. Look what he has done ever since. I mean, it's special for sure.

Q. Does that have an impact on other players, do you think? Meaning, like, if you have some failures, I'm not necessarily going to lose the crowd. They might be behind me.

ZACK WHEELER: For sure. Like I just said, you're going to have your ups and downs, but as long as you are playing the best you can and hard and own up to stuff, they're going to respect you for the most part, and that's all you can ask for as a player.

Q. A theme of this roster is that star free agents like you want to come here and play, and I'm wondering if you can reflect on your journey, your free agency. Which players on the team at that time or people with the organization were key recruiters to bring you here? Then the follow-up there is have you helped put some phone calls out there to build this roster yourself in the last couple of years?

ZACK WHEELER: Yeah. I had my options, that's for sure, during free agency. Being on the east coast I think was a big thing for me. It wasn't that in particular, but being on the east coast is a big thing for me. I get to go back home to Atlanta a couple of times a year to see the house and sleep in any own bed.

My wife's family is from Jersey, so they help out with the kids as much as possible. That's definitely a big thing when I'm away from the house all the time that my wife has some help.

Being in New York and playing against the Phillies all the team and growing up in Atlanta and seeing the Phillies all the time, the fans are one of the best in the game, if not the best. I think we've seen that in the playoffs. It's special to play here, and I think guys are starting to recognize that.

We have a good ball club, great city, great fans. You can't ask for much more. Great ownership, great front office. I mean, Dave is doing a great job putting this roster together. I mean, you have guys like Harper that are fun to watch, and Trea is one of my favorite players over the years playing against him, and I always wished I could play with him. Now I get to, so that's definitely a lot of fun to watch him play every day.

Pitching next to Nols is great. Just having guys come in that want to play here, that's pretty special. It's fun to be on a team like that.

Q. You played the whole first portion of your career without ever having made the playoffs. Once you did last year, what sort of curiosity did you have about how your own abilities would stack up in these types of games?

ZACK WHEELER: I think there was definitely curiosity. I mean, you know what type of stuff you have, and I've had good seasons before last year, so you want to carry it into the playoffs. But everybody's game steps up a little bit also.

I don't know. I mean, me being a little older now -- maybe when I was younger, I would try to overthrow in a big situation like this, but now I know you just try to stay the same person, same ballplayer, and just pitch your game. Don't try to overthrow. Don't try to do too much.

Having a great bullpen, that definitely helps; right? You don't have the pressure of trying to go too, too far in the game. It's easy to hand it off to those guys when the time calls basically.

Q. I think a big theme of a lot of the questions and throughout the season has been the cohesive unit you've built up with the rest of the guys. I was wondering how this affects your approach to every night on the mound looking to go all nine innings versus when the skipper says, Well, we have Craig in the bullpen ready to go. It's, like, all right, I'll let him. How does that affect your approach to every night knowing you have the trust of everyone on the team and the bullpen to get the job done?

ZACK WHEELER: Yeah, it's special. Especially in this day and age, starters are not going as deep. So I still have the same mindset as you want to hear the seventh inning stretch or whatever you want to call it. You want to make it past the seventh every single time, and that's my goal every single outing to make it past the seventh. If I go more, that's great. If I go less, it depends on the result if it's still good or not.

That's my goal is to go seven or more every time, and it saves the bull pen. This is what we need them the most. If you are going five innings every time, these guys are going to be struggling this time of year, and this is when we need them most. To be able to hand the ball off to those guys is pretty cool.