J.T. Realmuto and Rob Thomson Talk About the Diamondbacks

It's workout and media day in Philadelphia at Citizens Bank Park ahead of Monday's National League Championship Series game one contest between the Diamondbacks and Phillies. First up we had catcher J.T. Realmuto and manager Rob Thomson for the Phillies. Here are some of the things they had to say about the Diamondbacks, and the series in general.

Challenges with Facing the Diamondbacks

J.T. Realmuto:

I would say they're playing a lot like us right now. They're hot. That's what the postseason is all about. When you get in a rhythm you get confidence, you get momentum, and that's something that they've really played with this postseason.

Their lineup is really deep. They have really good right-handed hitters. They have really good left-handed hitters. They hit for power. They hit for average. They walk. They take their walks. Most of them are stealing bases.

So it's definitely a challenging lineup to navigate through, but the most daunting thing about them right now is how much confidence they're playing with.

Game One Starter Zac Gallen

Rob Thomson:

"Well, you know, the fastball has got life on it. It's a true four-seam. He pitches above the zone, and then he has really a breaking ball, and he throws strikes. When you have that combination, I think you can be just like he is. He's an All-Star pitcher. We started him in the All-Star game, and he's really good."

J.T.R.

Realmuto and Gallen were in the Marlins organization at the same time but didn't actually play together.

"I had heard about him through the system. Obviously a lot of Marlins brass were talking about him. They were excited about him. So I followed his career kind of throughout the minor leagues, but I never actually got to -- I never even got to watch him throw a bullpen. But heard great things about him, and obviously he has lived up to everything they said.

Controlling the Running Game and Small Ball

As I sit here typing and looking out over the field, the Phillies are working on second base pickoffs and pitcher fielding sacrifice bunts to get the lead runner. According to Realmuto the Phillies doubled down on their efforts to stop the running game in early September. It had been a weakness all year and they started out the month allowing eight straight stolen bases. Their caught stealing rate improved somewhat, but was still just 4-for-19, 21%, from September 11th on. In the postseason however the Marlines only attempted one steal and were caught. The Braves ran three times and were caught once.

J.T.R.:

I think just being a little more diligent and, honestly, just paying more attention. Throughout most of the season we didn't do enough as far as changing up our times, being a little faster to the plate, being able to back-pick guys, stuff like that, to slow down the running game.......Against a team like this in Arizona, obviously that's going to be really important because they have a lot of guys that can steal bases. One, we're going to try to keep them off the bases, but when they do get on, we're going to have to really pay attention to them. Some extra picks, some back picks, changing up our times. Because that's what they do well.

Torey Lovullo

Thomson and Torey Lovullo go all the way back to being teammates for a brief time in 1987 in A Ball for the Lakeland Tigers. They got to know each other then and over the year have remained in contact through mutual friend, coach Brian Butterfield. Thomson has the utmost respect for Lovullo.

"I knew he was a prospect, high draft pick. Just a great guy. Very quiet, unassuming, went about his business, very humble, and a really talented player. He is a really good baseball man. Really good man, very humble. He cares about his players. He cares about the game and respects the game. I have a lot of respect for Torey."

Merrill Kelly

Realmuto and Kelly were teammates in the WBC but he only caught Merrill one inning.

I did get to see his stuff and kind of have a couple of conversations with how he likes to work and how he likes to attack hitters, but that was six months ago, so who knows if anything has changed there.

Getting to know Merrill, he's a competitor, so it's going to be fun to go out there and compete against him. He is a guy who is going to pound the strike zone, so we know that, and we're going to have to be ready for it.

Phillies Rotation

Much like the Diamondbacks, games one and two bullpen usage will go a long way to determining how they line things up for games three and four. Zack Wheeler will start game one and Aaron Nola is going in game two. Beyond that Ranger Suarez is the probable starter in Game 3. After that it looks like former Diamondback Taijuan Walker could be the Game 4 starter, but Christopher Sanchez is a possibility too. Both Walker and Sanchez threw live BP today. Sanchez has some experience relieving whereas Walker does not, so that could be a factor.

R.T.

That's the key right there. I think we have two really good options. They both threw BP today. Both were a little bit rusty, but that's why we do it. But it's all about how we use the bullpen in the next says couple of days and also Game 3.

Phillies Game One Starter Zack Wheeler

Wheeler went from a hard thrower with control issues with the Mets, to becoming the ace of the Phillies staff. Wheeler said it was the mechanics changes he made after having Tommy John surgery that allowed him to be able to command his stuff. Realmuto and Thomson talked about what makes him so effective.

J.T.R.

I remember back when he was with the Mets and I would face him, it was every now and then he would get a little wild....Now it feels like he really makes the opposing lineup beat him. He is going to attack you inside the strike zone. I think his off speed has gotten better. I think his slider is better. He is able to use both fastballs with two-seam and four-seam. Before he was using one more predominantly, so as a right-handed you could look for that one fastball. Now he's throwing using two different fastballs both at 96 to 98 miles an hour where they're moving completely opposite directions, so it's so hard to find the barrel.

R.T.

He just has great stuff, and he holds his stuff, which allows him to go deeper into games, and that's what his goal is at the start of the game. It's a good combination to have stuff and competitiveness and being able to hold your stuff.