NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: DIAMONDBACKS VS PHILLIES

October 24, 2023

Rob Thomson

Citizens Bank Park

Philadelphia Phillies

Postgame 7 Press Conference

Diamondbacks 4, Phillies 2

THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with Rob.

Q. Rob, what did you see from the bats tonight and the last two nights? Was this more about the way Arizona attacked you, and what were the Diamondbacks able to do that these previous teams weren't this month?

ROB THOMSON: Yeah, I think they pitched very well. First of all, congratulations to Torey and his staff and the Diamondbacks. That's a good club, and they really played well. You come into this building and beat us twice in this type of atmosphere, you're doing some things right.

But they pitched well. They really did. Pfaadt, he backed it up, what he did over in Arizona. He pitched well, and their bullpen did a great job.

We had some opportunities, one for ten with runners in scoring position. But that's baseball. That stuff comes and goes.

But I'm proud of our guys. They never gave up. They fought like hell right until the end, and I'm proud of them. We're all disappointed, but you know, they played hard, and that's all you can ask really.

Q. What do you think happened in this series with Nick Castellanos that he went from scorching hot to kind of the polar opposite of that?

ROB THOMSON: That's Nick. Sometimes from day-to-day, he might strike out three times one day and hit two home runs the next. That's who he is. It's just more about staying back and trying not to do too much. It's the same thing I say about him every day when he has a bad day. But he carried us there for a bit. He's a really good hitter, and I'm glad he's on our side.

Q. A couple of things. Your one through three hitters were 1 for 18 the last couple of nights. I mean, your team is built to score in those spots. Can you address that? And there were several spots where you could move runners, fly ball scores from third, that sort of thing. It didn't seem like your situational hitting, tonight anyway, was where it needed to be.

ROB THOMSON: They pitched those guys really well, and that's the ebbs and flows of offense. People aren't going to hit every single day of the season. It's just not going to happen.

Other guys got to pick it up. Other guys got to get it done, and you have to pass the baton and move people up and get people on base and put pressure on people.

We had some people on base tonight. We couldn't get the big hit.

Q. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth and you had Rojas up there, was there any thought of maybe pinch-hitting with somebody or doing something --

ROB THOMSON: Well, it was kind of like the situation last night, only this was earlier in the game. They had Mantiply up. So in order for me to get the right matchup, I would have had to use two players. Because I bring Cave in, they bring Mantiply, and then I have to pinch-hit for Cave.

And in the fourth inning, we had the lead at the time. Taking two out -- taking your best defender out of the game, and wasting two players, I just didn't think that was the right time.

Q. Rob, obviously second year in a row a disappointing ending. Just how tough is that, and what was the message you shared with the guys?

ROB THOMSON: Just that. That I'm proud of them. Those guys, they prepared, and they competed every day this year, and we had to go through some tough times.

You know, we lost Rhys in Spring Training, but they kept -- and we lost some pitchers during the course of the year. But they kept grinding, they kept fighting, and I'm proud of them for that. I'm proud of this group that our front office has put together, because they're talented, and they have great makeup, and they're great to be around.

I love them all. I really do. So it is disappointing, but it's tough to get back to this position two years in a row. It is. But they fought like hell to get here, and we came up short. That's baseball sometimes.

Q. You mentioned Rhys. Obviously I know you've been focused on the games and the World Series, but Rhys and Nola, there are some decisions to make this offseason. They've been such a big part of this team, this core, for a while. Where do you go from here, and what do you say to those two guys on a night like tonight where you don't know what the future holds?

ROB THOMSON: I'm not really a part of that, per se, but those guys are Phillies to me. They came up through the system, and they've done some great things not only on the field, but in this city. They've raised a lot of money for a lot of people, and they're great people, and I love them.

What happens in the future, I'm not sure, but I will stay in touch with them for sure.

Q. A couple of things. One, you talked a lot about this group and getting back here, and so often teams are judged on do they win it all or not win it all. With the playoff format being where it is now, do you view the last two seasons collectively as a sign that this team is built to win in October, having won so many series, or is it still just about are you getting that final out in the World Series?

ROB THOMSON: Well, it's always about getting the final out in the World Series, but we're built for October because of our starting pitching, because of our offense, and we have a good bullpen.

Now, sometimes those areas break down a little bit, but we've got a good ball club. But our goal isn't to get to the playoffs. Our goal is always to win the World Series.

Q. Just in terms of Zack Wheeler and what you got out of him tonight.

ROB THOMSON: Unbelievable.

Q. Take me through when you made that decision, what that conversation was like, and what you were looking to get from him.

ROB THOMSON: That he was going to pitch tonight? That was last night after the game. And he came in, and he said, I'm all in on tomorrow. This is my side day.

I said, are you sure?

He said, absolutely, I'm all in.

He got to about the 30-pitch mark, and that's like his bullpen number. Then you take the intensity of the game and the three-ups and add -- so that's probably more pitches than 30. And I didn't want to take him any further because I don't want to hurt that guy.

Q. Where do you think the momentum in this series kind of switched, because through the first two games it felt like you had all of that?

ROB THOMSON: You'd probably say the first two games in Arizona, but then we won game 3 in Arizona. You know, probably the fact that they got the lead in the first game back here. That probably changed the momentum a little bit. They started to run a little bit, started to put pressure on us. They started playing their game.

They did a good job with that. So I'm not exactly sure, but it did change.

Q. Coming into that playoff a little different than last year when you were the sixth seed and kind of playing with house money to some degree. How do you feel like the weight of the pressure of the expectations, particularly after you guys went up 2-0 in the series, affected the team?

ROB THOMSON: I don't think it affected us at all really truthfully. I think these guys were laser-focused every day coming to the ballpark, not really thinking about where we were at in the series, whether we were up, whether we were down.

These guys are really a focused club, and they really think day-to-day as opposed to long-term. So I don't think that had anything to do with it.

Q. Rob, last year was kind of a fairy tale. You came out of nowhere. You were the sixth seed, and you lose in Houston to kind of a dynastic team. But this year you were the higher seed. You had a 3-2 lead. Then you lost the last two at home a round shorter than last year. Does it hurt more? Is it more of a gut punch considering there were kind of expectations this time, and it happened here?

ROB THOMSON: Yeah, it's very disappointing. It really is. I told the club if you asked me two days ago, two weeks ago, two months ago if we would be going home tonight, I would have said no. So that's how much belief I have in this club.

So it's very disappointing, but our clubhouse, those guys, they have nothing to be ashamed of because they played their asses off all year for us.