NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: DIAMONDBACKS VS PHILLIES

October 16, 2023

Bryce Harper

Citizens Bank Park

Philadelphia Phillies

Postgame 1 Press Conference

Phillies 5, Diamondbacks 3

THE MODERATOR: First question for Bryce.

Q. Bryce, Gallen had mentioned how aggressive they were in their approach to him. Was that the focus to try to be aggressive early against a guy like Gallen?

BRYCE HARPER: Zac is really good, man. He goes out there. Like I said before the game, he relies on everything. Like, he just doesn't have one good pitch. He has four good pitches. As a whole we didn't want to miss pitches over the plate, and we were able to do that and do some damage.

It wasn't thinking about, hey, one pitcher or one pitch and not another pitch and just try to sit on this or sit on that. It was just trying to don't miss the ones over the plate because when you get in deep into counts against him, he is really tough to hit.

I thought we just did a great job of really starting it off. Schwarber, big swing right there, kind of gets the crowd going and gets us into it and gets the vibe going. I thought that was really good.

Q. As for the other Zack, Wheeler is starting to put up numbers that stacks up in the postseason greats. What have you seen from the last two years and what's it like watching him do this on this stage?

BRYCE HARPER: It's awesome. I mean, he's so much fun to watch. I mean, just the way he kind of prepares and the way he goes about it on his start days, and he is such a good person and good teammate as well. He just works, man. He works hard, and he understands what he needs to do.

He pitches to his strengths. I just really enjoy having him as a teammate. Every fifth day we have a chance to win, and whenever you're able to do that in the postseason, it's huge.

Like I said the other day, ace one and ace two, just because of the way that both of them kind of throw, the way they go about it. It's a pretty similar approach of how they act in the clubhouse before games and what they do. It's really cool to see it working out for Wheels, and it just doesn't surprise me either.

Q. Congratulations on your birthday. Did you tell anybody before the game that the plan was swing at the first pitch you saw, hit a homer, and then watch the place go crazy for you?

BRYCE HARPER: No, I mean, I'm just very thankful to play this game. I'm very thankful to be able to be in that spot in that situation. It's fun. I mean, it's a lot of fun.

Being 1-0 in the series is huge, and we have a big one tomorrow as well. And that's a good team over there, man. They're not going to lay down. They fought, and I thought we battled as well. I thought it was a good Game 1, and looking forward to tomorrow.

Q. You did mention pregame that you had always want to play on your birthday. Did it live up to your expectations?

BRYCE HARPER: Yeah, I mean, like I said, after the game, I was pumped, man. Just being 1-0, that's all I care about. Good opportunity to hit a homer. That was great, but at the end of the day, if I hit a homer and we don't win, there's nothing else.

Just very excited that we're 1-0, and looking forward to tomorrow.

Q. How did you come up with the candle celebration?

BRYCE HARPER: It's crazy. Sometimes I just do stuff, and that felt right, so I thought I would step on home plate and do that.

I just thought about it as I was running around third base that I would do it.

Q. Schwarber is one of those guys where you just kind of always assume the break-out is going to come? You know, he scuffled a little bit last year in the first couple of rounds. This year first couple of rounds, but just seems like there's always that moment.

BRYCE HARPER: Yeah, you know, Schwarbs, we kind of know what we're going to get him out of him. We know what kind of leader he is. We know what kind of person he is every day. You couldn't tell if he was 0 for 4 or 4 for 4 at any spot or moment. We know he's going to break out. We know what type of player he is. He has come through clutch for us a lot this year and last year as well. We're going to expect him to do the same this postseason.

Q. Bryce, this team came in off of a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers, sixth seed and all that. How important was it for you guys to get off to this good start because they were coming in hot?

BRYCE HARPER: Yeah, it's a good team. We said it before in pregame and stuff like that. We've talked about it. That's a really good team over there. When you get into the postseason, everything starts over. It doesn't matter if you are a Wild Card team or if you are this, that, or the other. Anybody can win. That's the great thing about baseball, and it's the great thing about our sport that we play. Anything can happen at any spot.

We just have to keep playing our game, worry about us, and understand they're not going to lay down. They're not going to do anything different. They're going to be the Arizona Diamondbacks that they have been all year, and we just have to play our game and understand that.

Q. I know you love studying the game, Bryce. When you see Nick really evolve during the course of the season and certainly the last week or so, what do you see in his swing when he stands out and hits the ball with that kind of authority to right field?

BRYCE HARPER: Yeah, I mean, it's super impressive. Any time you can go to all fields like he is, it's huge for us as a lineup. It makes our lineup so deep, especially him in that 7 hole or 8 hole. It just gives him a good opportunity to have success. You know, whenever he is staying on the baseball, driving the ball to right center and then hitting the curveball or hitting the heater to left, that's how Nicky is, too.

We all know what we're going to get out of him as well. I've seen it since we were 15, 16, 17 years old. He has came through in so many big spots. We played in the JOs together out in Venezuela, and that's the same thing. It's just big moments, big spots. He has always came through. You can see that now.