Zac Gallen in Philadelphia to Take Care of Business

Zac Gallen was born 10 miles from Citizen's Bank Park, and spent the first half of his youth growing up in Somerdale New Jersey. This is the ballpark that he came to games for as kid. He's not letting anything distract him from the task at hand however.

"This is about the NLCS. That's really where my emotions are. Still going to go through my routine. I'm playing for free here with all the tickets compared to anywhere else, but yeah, it's about the NLCS. The external factors, I'll block them out as best I can."

Despite having so many family members to get tickets for, he's not had to deal with family pressures as he prepares for one of the biggest games of his career.

"Everyone has been pretty solid for the most part and not necessarily asking me to do things and see them and what not. But for me it's more so we're here to handle business, so it's not a vacation. It's not a time to come home and see everyone you know, until obviously my job is done Monday night. Then I'll be able to let down a little bit and see some family. Even last night and today just obviously at the hotel kind of doing my thing really. Yeah, it's just treating it like a business trip."

The Diamondbacks were not expected to make the post season when the season started. They got off to a hot start going 48-32 over their first 80 games to shock the league. A 7-25 stretch followed however, knocking them not only out of first place in NL West, but well back in the Wild Card Race at two games under .500. Many wrote them off at that time as a fluke. They recovered however and managed to get to 84 wins and secure the third Wild Card spot and now find themselves riding a hot stretch into the NLCS. The Diamondbacks have been keeping receipts too.

"I've kind of said this numerous times in the last couple of weeks that I think a lot of people counted us out even from the start of the season." Gallen said. "But 26 guys in that clubhouse or however many guys put on the uniform this year and helped us get to where we're at, I don't think are surprised."

Asked about the confidence the team is playing with, Gallen insisted he and his teammates never stopped believing in themselves.

"I think we all expect to kind of be in this position, expect to succeed. We're just glad we're doing it at the right time really. We played a good opponent in the Dodgers, and we we're going to play another really good opponent in the Phillies. Yeah, we're playing with some confidence now for sure, but yeah, like I said, I don't think anyone is necessarily surprised in that clubhouse that we're here."

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo talked about trying to prepare the team with piped in crowd noise during a practice game on Friday in order to simulate what's in store for the team Monday night. Initially the sound at Chase Field wasn't loud enough and Lovullo had the staff crank it up even higher. All of this was to help the players work on their non verbal communication.

"The [piped in] crowd noise at Chase was a little more treble than bass.," said Gallen "It was a little more on the annoying side, which I think honestly was -- might have been beneficial. I think just to kind of simulate outfielders being able to communicate and things like that, just something super loud."

Like all pitchers in 2023, Gallen uses the PitchCom system, a communications system that allows for pitchers and catcher to communicate electronically. Sometimes the catcher calls the pitches, and sometimes the pitcher, using a push button device. The speakers are in the hat or helmet.

From time to time you will see the units malfunction and the pitcher or catcher will need to get it replaced. Asked if he had trouble hearing when the crowd noise is loud, such as it was in game two of the NLDS in Los Angeles, he said not at all, he didn't even have to turn it up to full volume.

For the most part however the system has been a real boon to Gallen in particular. Allowing him to call his own pitches, and save time has offset the pitch clock, so he does not feel hurried.

"I think it's awesome really, especially with the clock. I think without the clock, it was kind of whatever. Finger signs are the same thing, but with the clock and being able to call your own pitches, for me just kind of hit it right on the keypad. I think it's huge, and I think it seems different, but I'm kind of glad we have it."

While much of the media coverage and stories you'll see and hear are about the Philadelphia fan noise and atmosphere, Gallen is well prepared for it, as are his teammates. The only way to quiet down the crowd though is to get an early lead, play some downhill baseball, and put up zeroes. Whether that happens or not, we'll find out Monday night. One thing Diamondback fans can be assured of however is that the ace of the pitching staff will be as prepared for this game as humanly possible.