NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: DIAMONDBACKS VS PHILLIES

October 16, 2023

Rob Thomson

Citizens Bank Park

Philadelphia Phillies

Postgame 1 Press Conference

Phillies 5, Diamondbacks 3

THE MODERATOR: First questions for Rob.

Q. Torey was just sitting here and felt like you guys just ambushed Zac in the first couple of innings where, was the plan to go after him early in the count?

ROB THOMSON: Well, he is a strike thrower, so yeah, being aggressive against him is kind of the plan, but I thought we had good at-bats against him.

I think that I've seen Zac Gallen better than that, if you will, but he's still a good pitcher, but I thought we had good at-bats against him.

Q. Since Game 2 of the NLDS you look at your payroll, and you look at the production, and every guy making a lot of money is going giving you a lot of production. What is it like to be at the helm of that kind of ship and see those guys producing to their baseball cards and their paychecks?

ROB THOMSON: Yeah, it's a lot of fun. Our guys have really played well, and we're getting great at-bats from Castellanos -- Casty and Harper the entire playoffs. It was nice to see Schwarber break out today. Trea has been swinging the bad great.

Yeah, I mean, that's what they get paid to do.

Q. And Zack?

ROB THOMSON: And Zack, Zack was great.

Q. Wheeler at this point is starting to pile up quite a few postseason starts. Through nine starts, he's that the best WHIP in playoff history. What he has given you in these big games, what can you say about him?

ROB THOMSON: He steps up. His stuff was really good tonight, especially early in the game. I thought he started losing a little bit in the fifth and sixth inning, but he was dynamite early.

It's command. It's stuff. It's power. It's competitive nature. It's everything. He is complete.

Q. Rob, with the work that Castellanos has done with Kevin Long here in the course of the year to really stay on time and true to that ball to right field, how do you see his mechanics come together on a swing like the one that he had tonight?

ROB THOMSON: Yeah, it's just keeping his head still and staying behind the baseball and letting it travel. When he's good -- when he's really good, he's driving the ball to right center field, and that's what he did tonight. Every once in a while he'll clip something out front and pull it like he has the last couple of nights.

He's on a tear right now. Knock on wood he keeps going.

Q. Schwarber seems like a guy that takes his job very seriously. Just always locked in even coming off that series that he had against the Braves. What do you see out of him, and what kind of tone does he set at the top of that lineup, and do you ever have any doubt that he is going to bust out?

ROB THOMSON: I never have any doubt with him. I have so much trust in him, and all of our guys really. You know, that's what he does at the start of the game is he can put the other team on their heels a little bit and get the lead. And we added on tonight, which was good.

We weathered the storm because this club over here, the Diamondbacks, they're not going to quit. They keep fighting. They compete. They're a lot like us in that way. You just have to stay after them.

Q. Rob, Alvarado doesn't have a lot of up-downs during the year where he comes back out, and then against Atlanta he doesn't finish the second inning when he comes back. Tonight obviously he was able to do it. What did you see different there to be able to get through?

ROB THOMSON: Throwing strikes. The last game against Atlanta he walked a couple of guys in the last inning. You know, he finished it up. He was throwing strikes. The cutter was good. Velocity was good.

Again, I don't know whether it was the first time all year where we did an up-down with him, but it was the first time in a long time the other night against Atlanta. Maybe he settled into that a little bit.

Q. I had my head down, but I thought I saw you made a visit to Seranthony when he was out there. Why did you go, and what did you say?

ROB THOMSON: He had walked the lead-off hitter and then he got a come-backer, and that was the throwing error. I just wanted to slow everything down for a minute, make sure that he understood that he has to get after it, and we have all the confidence in the world in him. We're going to get a double play here. We almost did. It was a line drive, but we almost did.

Just wanted to make sure to give him some time to get settled in.

Q. Is it important to get a big lead or get a lead early against a team coming in here Game 1 at home? Does that change the complexion when you kind of jump out early?

ROB THOMSON: I think it does. Everything is about momentum this time of year, you know, and Arizona is really good at creating momentum and then keeping it. So that's one of the things we need to do is get momentum, keep it, don't let them back in the game.