NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: METS VS DODGERS

October 12, 2024

Jack Flaherty

Dodger Stadium

Los Angeles Dodgers

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. You started with the Tigers and the Yankees made an effort to get you too. What was the trade deadline like? And how do you feel like it worked out for you?

JACK FLAHERTY: It felt like déjà vu a little bit where it went down to the very end. Like, I was sitting around waiting, trying to figure out what was going to happen, hearing from a couple different people about, hey, you could end up here, you could end up there.

Ultimately, I really enjoyed my time with Detroit and what those guys were able to do in the second half and the run that they made, I think, surprised a lot of people. I don't think it really surprised me.

I sat with A.J. afterwards and talked to him about the group they had there and what they were doing. And you could see it, and it was just about it coming together.

What they were able to do, tough for them today. Skoob has been unbelievable all year. It came down to one swing. I had an unbelievable time there.

But to be here in this situation that we're in is special, so to be here in L.A. and to come home, there's really no words for it. The trade deadline was just kind of just a big waiting game to see kind of how everything happens.

Q. What did you know about Doc before you got here? And what do you think of him now as a manager in terms of everything that's happened managing the staff and just in general as a guy and as a skip?

JACK FLAHERTY: I didn't know whole lot about him as a person. I knew he was intense and he really cared. He was just somebody who cared. He looked after people.

I talked to him last year when they came to St. Louis because I was probably going to get moved. There was a potential to come here. We talked for a little bit.

I know that he just appreciated -- when I came over here he told me he appreciated the way I go out and compete and to keep that same thing, keep that going.

Then what he's been able to do and the way that -- hats off to our guys and the way they threw the ball the rest that series. Our bullpen was amazing.

But you've got to give a lot of credit to him as well the way guys were brought in and put into situations to succeed and just be put in those right situations. He has confidence in everybody he runs out there -- lineups too. Kiké has been unbelievable.

You've got to give him a lot of credit. He shows up and he's ready to work and he cares. When he comes around and watches us throw and is over there, you can feel his energy and his presence. And he's been a lot of fun to play for.

Q. If you had to roughly guess over the last three or four days how many time has Kike used an F bomb with you guys?

JACK FLAHERTY: You know, I think that's just part of -- I don't want to say it's part of sports, but locker rooms are our place. And he's fired up in an interview after the game. It happens. It just comes out sometimes. You're excited and things happen.

That was an emotional, emotional series. Emotions were running high and everything. So, but you've got to let Kiké be Kiké.

Q. This is a team in years past that has had this kind of edge especially this time of year. What have you made of the persona of this group since you've gotten here? And how much does that kind of stuff matter, you've been on playoff teams before, how much does that matter when you get in these kind of environments and you are facing elimination and being able to respond from that kind of spot?

JACK FLAHERTY: I mean, I can't speak on prior teams. I don't know that it's necessarily true that they didn't have any edge because it's a good amount of the same guys. Obviously there's a couple guys here that are different.

I think just because a team loses doesn't mean they don't have any edge. I think you're seeing a lot of it. You're seeing the guys come out of the pen one after the other in the way they go out and fill up the zone.

And the same thing with the lineup, one after another picking each other up, the way Mookie was able to bounce back after a rough first two games. But I don't think we would be saying that second game was rough if that first-inning home run ends up not getting robbed.

I think these guys have shown a lot of fight and weirdly having not a lot of people believe that we had any chance in that last series. Picking that team, which is again a great team, but I think that stuck with a bunch of guys. And hoping we keep that same energy going forward in this next series.

Q. How would you say that starting pitching in the postseason has evolved since you first pitched in the postseason in 2019?

JACK FLAHERTY: I think it's a little bit of the same. It's been, I think you saw it last night with Darvish, where you ride the hot hand. It's always kind of been a quicker hook when you get into the postseason. It's kind of the way it is.

I've seen guys go super deep in a game, like Darvish did yesterday. But I think when you get deeper into the series and you get into those must-win games, like those hooks become quicker just because you just don't always have your great stuff every day.

When I look back on some of the starts that I've seen, in 2019 the guys that went deep in the games, they all were shoving from the get-go. I look at Foltynewicz in 2009, Game 2, he absolutely shoved. And I look at that NLCS against Washington on both sides. Aníbal shoved, Miles shoved.

You look at Game 2, Scherzer and Waino both went seven, seven-plus. And then Game 3, I got pulled because we were down 4-0 -- obviously it was different settings where you had to -- there was no DH so my spot was coming up, so they had to hit for me. But we've also seen throwing deeper in a game.

I think it's a matter of just reading guy's stuff. And it's a tough job as a manager to figure out how long do I stay with this guy, do I go to my bullpen. We've got more games in the series.

But once it gets towards the end of the series, it's like, okay, we don't know -- there's no saving guys at that point. It's just guys feel good, everybody's going to throw. It's kind of been all hands on deck. I think you've seen a little bit more all hands on deck this postseason from teams in terms of a lot of bullpen games and a lot of just like, hey, we're going to throw everybody out there and we're trying to win every game.

It's interesting the way it goes, but like I said when guys are rolling, you see them -- they stay in there longer.

Q. Does your purpose change? Do you empty the tank earlier? Do you go harder early?

JACK FLAHERTY: I don't know about "empty the tank early" but it's on go from pitch one. And it's pretty much that way during the regular season, but you might see a little bit more jumps in velo when you get into those tight situations.

But every pitch matters and everything is just amplified when you get into playoffs. You want to come out and start strong and just keep going from there.

Q. Last night, before the game, what were you told your availability was, what the plan was for you?

JACK FLAHERTY: Last night was in case of emergency. And I was told if we win this game, you're going to throw Sunday. But this is in case of emergency.

In those situations, I don't necessarily want to be in the dugout and then try to mentally get in the mode of, like, if things start going south or going a certain way, the trajectory of the game changes, I don't want to have to mentally try to lock in at that point.

So I just went down to the pen to try to stay in that mindset. And then you can start to check out a little bit as you see Yoshi go out and do what he did, which was incredible, especially against that team.

And then the bullpen guys, one after another -- and hats off to Kopech coming in after that situation after Vesia has to come out. It's sad to see in any situation, but especially in a playoff game in the eighth inning up 2-0.

So for me, it was be locked in in case something happens. It's a lot easier to go from locked in to kind of relaxed as opposed to going from relaxed to now I have to lock in in the seventh, eighth inning. That doesn't work for me.

Q. I know you got to come to a lot of games when you were younger. Are there like any strongest memories of being in this ballpark. And were there any playoff games mixed in there in your minor league time?

JACK FLAHERTY: I'm trying to think of which games really stick out that I've been to. I know the game that sticks out happens to be -- it was 2015 against the Mets when Chase went into Rubén Tejada hard, I think I was at both of those games. And watching Syndergaard throw. Those are special arms.

I remember those playoff games. Those were a lot of fun. I was just getting into pro ball. But came with my little brother, who is still, he was like, I'm going to be a Dodgers fan until you happen to make it, and then we can reassess from there. He's happy that he gets to cheer for these guys for the Dodgers again.

I'm trying to think of other games that I can think I've been here for. But those two stick out the most to me.

Q. Having been down in the bullpen the last couple of games, what have you learned about that group? Or is there an appreciation you developed especially watching Game 4 how that bullpen game unfolded?

JACK FLAHERTY: Yeah, I mean, those guys were incredible. They're together. They're a really cohesive group. You see the way they interact out there and see them being together.

I didn't want to mess with it. I just stayed off to the side and was in my own little world and just trying to watch the game and stay as focused as I felt I needed to.

But they're together. I think that's what you see out of really good bullpens. And they just pick up after one another. You see it in starting rotations, too, where one guy goes out and does it and the next guy picks up on that.

We're going to try to ride off what Yoshi did the last game and don't try to do too much. And I think there's been an element of trying to do too much and letting emotions get in the way of things, and try to go out and play our game and continue to do that.

Q. You didn't take part in any of the typical bullpen games or anything like that?

JACK FLAHERTY: No, I did not. I would talk a little bit here, but I kind of wanted to stay and just let them do whatever they want to do and not try to mess with the vibe down there too much because they were really good. They were really high.

The guys were rolling and you just want to keep that going, especially like with what Braze did to start the game in Game 4 was incredible. And the guys just picked up after that. It was awesome.

Q. Your performance suggests you were completely 100 percent healthy. There was some suggestion at the deadline of some minor issue. How are you feeling, and any thought on obviously (indiscernible) about it?

JACK FLAHERTY: There was nothing that came out. I felt great. We had the hiccup in the middle of the year there, and the Tigers staff did an amazing job of giving me the time I needed without putting me on the IL.

They navigated through maybe like a two-week stint there where I was dealing with some things and pitched through some pain, and then but since then I've been great. Whatever the reports were, were the reports. But I've again great. I've been healthy. Nothing has affected my performance. I think I've just been trying to do a little too much.

And just from here going forward don't try to be perfect and go out and pitch my game and let the results happen, but focus on the process and the days in between and making sure that I'm just mentally locked in and focused, not trying to do too much.

Q. What do you know about the Mets and what's been going on with them? Around Labor Day, they looked like they weren't going anywhere. They've been probably the hottest team in the league the last two months.

JACK FLAHERTY: You get to this point in the season or this point in the year, everybody that's still playing is a really good team.

What they've been able to do, especially to go in, beat a really good Phillies team and also beat a really good Brewers team, and what they've been able to do in the second half, with their lineup, their pitching, their bullpen, it's a good group, it's a really good team, and it makes for a good series.

You're expecting the best, and at this point they've been really good. But that's what baseball is. That's what baseball is for. That's why we play 162 because you can go through a little cold stretch maybe in the beginning and the guys start rolling, and for them it hasn't stopped.

Q. Obviously it's the nature of the playoffs, but how do you abruptly shift from what you were doing against the Padres to now getting involved in a longer series against the Mets?

JACK FLAHERTY: Just continue doing what we've been doing, which is throwing the ball really well. Timely hitting. We'll allow some guys to relax a little bit and just go out and play. There was some tension going on in that series.

A five-game series was a little tighter and whatnot. The guys relaxed a little bit and just go out and play our game and continue to keep that energy up, after playing an emotional-filled series with San Diego, but just to take back and continue to roll with it, roll into Sunday and on into New York.