NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: DIAMONDBACKS VS PHILLIES

October 18, 2023

Rob Thomson

Chase Field

Philadelphia Phillies

Workout Day Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with Rob Thomson.

Q. What was it like getting out here today? How were the guys after -- I think they're 7-1, and they haven't lost in a week. What was the mood like?

ROB THOMSON: It was good. We got up early this morning, got on the plane. Everybody seemed to be relaxed. Everybody had their families with them, and so it was a good flight out.

Q. I presume you're not ready to say who might start Game 4?

ROB THOMSON: That's correct. That's correct.

Q. And with Ranger, there were times during the season in which he was not the pitcher that we normally see. Why did you have confidence that he was someone who could rise to these moments if you did get into situations like this?

ROB THOMSON: I think it's just his poise on the mound. Nothing seems to bother him. When he didn't have his best stuff, it was coming off that injury. So he was still kind of building back up.

Once we got towards the end of the season, he had it going on, and he's continued that through the postseason. So I always expect him to give us a good start, expect him to give us length.

His first two starts we could get him out a little bit earlier because we had the opportunity with off days built in. It was a little different. We have three in a row here. Hopefully he can give us some length tomorrow.

Q. How would you evaluate the addition Craig Kimbrel has been both on the mound and just kind of as a presence in the bullpen?

ROB THOMSON: Yeah. I mean, he's really had a really good year for us. Probably better than expected, to tell you the truth you. But more than that, what he's done in talking with the younger relievers down in the bullpen about handling situations and slowing the game down and breaking the game down into little segments where they can work through situations and tough situations.

He's been great on, off the field, in the bullpen. He's been a great addition.

Q. This team has been pretty fantastic since you took over last year, but has there been a period where the starting pitching, relief pitching, bats and gloves, have coalesced as well as they seem to have over these last eight games? If so, when was that?

ROB THOMSON: Yeah, I really can't remember. There may have been a period of time, a week or ten days, where we played this well, but I can't specifically remember. But we're really playing well right now.

I told the guys at the start of the series, I said if we take care of the baseball defensively and don't give them free passes, you are going to be able to kill some of the chaos that they create because they're really good at that. Running, bunting, taking extra bases, tagging up at first base on fly balls to the outfield, that kind of thing. They take advantage of mistakes, and you have to eliminate that.

I think we've done that. We've played very good defense, and we've played, what, 16 postseason games, and we've walked 15 hitters. You know, we're not giving free passes. Knock on wood that we continue to do that, but those are the things that stand out to me.

Q. What do you think the biggest difference is between this year's team in the NLCS and a year ago at this time?

ROB THOMSON: Well, I think we have some more talent. You add a couple of relievers, and you add Trea. You add Taijuan Walker, who hasn't even pitched yet. He had 15 wins during the regular season.

I think just the experience of going through this last year, especially for the guys that have never been there before, really helps. It really lets them settle down a little bit. They understand what's coming and what's to be expected, and they can sort of slow the game down a little bit better.

Q. Is it a more confident team this year?

ROB THOMSON: I think so. We're playing pretty well, so that gives you confidence too.

Q. With Kimbrel, how much do you think he has accepted the idea that he's not a traditional closer necessarily, that you are going to use him whenever you want to use him?

ROB THOMSON: He has accepted that, and I think he accepted it right at Spring Training, to tell you the truth. He just pitched so well. And then Alvarado went down during the season, and he sort of stepped right in and became that dominant guy for a while.

I think going into camp, even Spring Training, he knew that he might be a seventh inning guy, might be an eighth inning guy, might be a closer. We didn't know. That's sort of where we're at now.

He's accepted it. He just wants to know basically what part of the game that he's going to be coming into.

Q. Do you think most managers at this point have kind of gone to that model, that there's not necessarily -- there's a few. Cleveland has their guy -- but it seems like most managers are kind of comfortable with the idea of doing what they want to do in particular innings?

ROB THOMSON: I think so. I was always more on the traditional side where, okay, we have a seventh inning guy, an eighth inning guy, and you have a closer in the ninth. I've sort of warmed up to this, and it worked out pretty well for us last year where we were mixing and matching.

And now with the additions that we've got, you've got Kimbrel who has been a closer, Soto that's been a closer, Alvarado, who's closed, and Domingo that has closed. You have a lot of guy that have felt that ninth inning heat, if you will.

I feel comfortable with almost anybody.

Q. If there's a word that you could use to describe the personality of your clubhouse, what would it be? What allows you to let them be themselves and monitor themselves the way that they seem to?

ROB THOMSON: I think, I mean, that's what it is. They're just themselves. And that's two words.

The reason I trust them is because I know when a game starts or when it's not time to have fun, they lock it in. I trust them with that, and they're really good about it because I know what fun is, and I know what messing around is, and they know that I know that.

So I think they have a good sense of when to have fun and when to get after it and compete.

Q. If that's a light switch, who is the one person who flips it for the team?

ROB THOMSON: It's the entire clubhouse really. I don't think there's one guy that really stands out.

Q. Stubbs didn't play at all last postseason. He hasn't played yet in this postseason. What did you say to him before that ninth inning?

ROB THOMSON: Well, he said he was a little sore today, so he wasn't sure if he could play tomorrow.

He was great, though.

And I felt bad last year that we went the entire postseason -- he was the only guy that didn't play, and I felt bad because he is such a big part of our clubhouse. He's such a great team guy that I just felt awful, and it took me a while to get over it really.

Q. So you have been thinking about this at least a little bit?

ROB THOMSON: I was hoping there would be a spot where we could get him in and hopefully there's another spot.

Q. You said there's not one guy, but if you look at the way the last two seasons have really mapped out, when Harper came back from the elbow injury last year and you got him in as DH, you started to make a run to the playoffs, and then you were great in the playoffs and to the World Series. This year when he came back from the surgery, you were struggling. Then when he got going, it's been lasting through the season. Does he make everybody in the lineup better? Does he take pressure off of Castellanos? Does he take pressure off of the way your lineup is structured just him being in the middle of it?

ROB THOMSON: Yeah, I think so. Even when he's not hitting -- because he came back from the thumb last year, he came back from the elbow this year. And so it took a while for him to get going. But just his presence there. I mean, everybody knows where that spot is, so everybody around him gets pitched to a little bit differently. Even when he's not hitting, he's a difference.

Q. That takes pressure off the rest of your lineup and everybody contributes?

ROB THOMSON: Yeah, no doubt. And I think you see that.