NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: DIAMONDBACKS VS PHILLIES

October 17, 2023

Rob Thomson

Citizens Bank Park

Philadelphia Phillies

Pregame 2 Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions for Rob.

Q. I know you said Sanchez and Walker threw a sim game Sunday. What's the rest of their week looking like now in preparation for potentially being used Friday, or earlier if needed, for whatever reason?

ROB THOMSON: They'll be available for the next two games out of the bullpen.

Q. A key moment last night. You stay with Alvarado against Pham. What were some of the thoughts you had there staying with the lefty against the righty in really a huge spot?

ROB THOMSON: Just the fact that I trust Alvarado, and he gets right-handers out as well as he gets left-handers for the most part. I thought it was a good matchup. I thought just stay right there. And if he didn't get Pham, then his pitch count would have been up a little bit, so then we probably would have moved on.

Q. You've known Kevin Long for a long time. As circumstances would have it, you wind up together again here. What do you think has made him such a good hitting coach? He's had such a long track record of success.

ROB THOMSON: Obviously his knowledge of hitting and putting game plans together is a real strength for him. I think Kevin's biggest strength is how he communicates with the players, how much the players trust him. I think a player could go into the cage and have the worst cage session that he's ever had in his life, and walk out of the cage just because of Kevin and feel like he can go hit.

Because that's how he makes a guy feel. He gives our hitters a great deal of confidence.

Q. Just to follow on that, Trea Turner was just up there and said what they've tried to do as hitters is maybe simplify things a little bit. They have all the numbers, all the data, but they have just mentally to try to keep it simple. Do you think that's been a part of that, a little bit of a throwback approach?

ROB THOMSON: No doubt. There's a roomful of information that we get now, and I think the greatest coaches, what they do is they take this roomful of information, they put it in a little thimble to hand to the player. And just keep it as simple as possible so they can go up to the plate, they can put their body on autopilot and just hit. That's what they need to do.

Q. When you look at Aaron Nola's last four starts, the last two in the regular season and then these two in the postseason, what's kind of been the biggest difference from what you've seen, and what does it say about him that he's kicked it into gear kind of when it matters the most?

ROB THOMSON: Well, I've always said he is a big game pitcher, and I've seen it for many years here, and especially the last two years in the playoffs. He's stepped up.

The last four or five starts, I guess, it's the ability to throw strikes, the ability to command the baseball because that's his strength. He changed his stride direction a little bit, so now he can get the ball to his glove side so he can front hip lefties, he can back door righties.

It gives him the ability to get on top of his breaking ball a little bit more, so that makes his breaking ball better. It gives him a chance to get on top of the changeup a little bit more, so there's a little bit more depth in the changeup.

He's just been really good and really consistent the last four or five starts.

Q. How do you balance the success that Castellanos is having now with wanting to keep him where he is comfortable in the seven spot? He could get one more at-bat if you move him up potentially.

ROB THOMSON: One, I think he is comfortable there, and, two, I think Bohm and Stott will hit. Bohm hit two line drives last night. You can't do much about a baseball after it leaves your bat. You just have to make a good swing on it and hit it hard someplace, and he did that.

With Casty down and as hot as he is right now, it makes our lineup really, really, really long. You've got Schwarber -- you've got Trea as well -- but you've got Schwarber, Harper, and now you got Casty at the end. You get some guys on base in between them, you have got some chances to put up some crooked numbers.

I kind of like the way the balance of the lineup is right now. We're having success. So I tend not to try and overthink the situation. Just let them go play.

Q. What's your relationship like with Dave Dombrowski, and what do you think separates him from other people who run baseball organizations?

ROB THOMSON: Our relationship is great. It really is. I respect him a great deal. I think he's a future Hall of Famer, to tell you the truth, as an executive.

He's taught me a lot about the game and a lot about front office, how it works. Because I think I have to have some type of knowledge of how the front office works. It helps me do my job.

The greatest thing that happened to me was to go to the winter meetings last year with Dave and our front office and our pro scouts and watch them work and see how much they care about winning and they care about this organization.

I said at the time that I wish all the coaches and all the players could have been in those meetings just to see their work ethic and just see how much they care.