Philadelphia Phillies starter Zack Wheeler talks ahead of Game 1 of the NLCS

Hi, Zach. JT was talking about your ability to locate well with quality stuff in the zone. What's your process been like to have that better command in the zone as time has gone on? Every time that question comes back, it always goes back to me having Tommy John, just trying to clean up my arm path. When I came back from that, obviously got a lot of time just to kind of tinker and fool with stuff and maybe watch other guys or talk to guys, like I talked to DeGrom. And those guys, because they went through it before I did. So just trying to clean up the arm path to protect the elbow a little bit more. And once you start digging into that, you start messing around with stuff. So I cleaned that up. But I think the biggest thing for me was getting rid of, I used to curl my wrist. When I broke it out of my glove, I used to curl my wrist. And that's just one more thing that had to catch up before I went to the plate. And as soon as I got rid of that, it was night and day. And then I think the other part is just pitching, just getting those innings underneath my belt and knowing how my stuff is going to move consistently, fastball, and off speed. So once I got everything kind of honed in, it kind of turned around for me. A few more for Zach. Come up here in the front on the left. How you doing? Congratulations on being here. Rob just talked about consistent pitching as being one of the biggest strengths that the Phillies have in this postseason. I want you to talk about your mental process a little bit, how you stay in the game, especially when you're getting to the 80-plus pitches in one game. What's your process for that? Well, when you get a little bit deeper into the game or you get second, third time through the order, your stuff might not play as well. Your fastball might not have that little jump to it that it did in the first few innings. I kind of think that's where the command comes back into it, being able to locate pitches and knowing what your stuff is going to do every single pitch. Sometimes, slider may back up. Sometimes, last time I hung that slider, Darneau got me. But most of the time, you know how your stuff is going to move. So you kind of just play it off of that, maybe be a little safer later on in the game, or maybe miss off the plate on purpose a little bit more to see if they're chasing. It's all a process out there. Seeing if guys are aggressive or stuff like that. So obviously, it depends on how the game's going also. If you need to be more aggressive or you can pull back a little bit, depending on the score, how things are going. But going deeper in the game, like I said, your stuff isn't going to play as high as it was early in the game. So you just play that kind of cat and mouse game. A quick follow-up. Can you prepare for the crowd at Citizens Bank Park? Your job requires a lot of concentration. We have loud Phillies fans. Yeah, they are loud. And I've pitched here in the playoffs before, so that definitely helps. But when we went to Atlanta, they were cheering like crazy when they got some guys on. I felt like it really didn't bother me all that much. But at the same time, we don't hear a lot of stuff out there when we're on the mound. Obviously, you do hear it, but you try to zone it out the best you can and not feed into it. Whether you're at home or on the road, because you're at home and crowd's cheering for you, you may try to overthrow or stuff like that. So you just try to stay on an even line. And maybe with two strikes, you kind of let them get in there a little bit so you could try to pump it up a little bit. But I don't know, the crowd's going to be there for sure. And it's a lot of fun to pitch in front of them. All the way in the back on the left. Zach, a little offbeat, but did you have favorite pitchers growing up and maybe guys that once you got into pro ball that were pretty instrumental and influential for you that you modeled yourself after? Yeah, I mean, there's different times in my life, obviously. I feel these fans might not like this, but I grew up watching the Braves all the time. That's where I grew up. So watching Maddox, Smoltz, Clavin, those guys, basically my whole life, just watching them pitch. They were dominant, and they won a lot of ball games. So watching them growing up. But ever since I got into pro ball, honestly, I didn't like watching baseball that much. But when I did get hurt, I watched a lot of baseball because I was just sitting there in Florida just watching baseball. And that was a time where I told myself I was going to watch some of the best pitchers in the game, whether they're righty or lefty, to see how they approach games, how they attack hitters, how they attack hitters and attack the game, basically. And you watch all the best, Verlander, DeGrom, Kershaw, all those type of guys. Scherzer, I mean, they just go right after guys. They trust their stuff. They have the stuff to get guys out, but they trust it at the same time. And basically, here it is. Hit it if you can. And if you can hit it, it's going to be well-located, whether it's up, down, on the corners. It's not always just a, sometimes you're going to miss in the middle, but most of the time, it's missing off the plate or to one side or the other. So I think this execution was a big part of their game. And I just try to take all that in and put it towards my game after I came back. Dave, on the right side on the aisle, towards the back. Hey, Zach. I mean, you were a highly-titled prospect. You had Tommy John earlier in your career. Did you always envision yourself as being a guy who would be a game one starter for a perennial playoff team? Or is that something that gets built up over time as year after year after year of success? Yeah, I think you said it well. I think you envision that like that's something that you always want to do for sure. And I knew I had the talent to do it. I just wasn't consistent when I was a little younger. So now I'm a little more consistent. And I take pride in taking the ball game one. It's definitely an honor. You've got Knowles over here, and Ranger, and Ty, and Sanchi. I mean, they're all throwing the ball really well. So it's definitely an honor to take the ball game one. And you take a lot of pride in that. And it's setting the tone that first game. That's a big deal for me is you've got to set the tone the first game and try to get that win. And how much of the Phillies' faith in you, Zach, when they gave you that contract? I mean, does that change something in the way you think about yourself? Well, you've got to live up to it, right? Right, right. Do you think that brings out a different part of yourself when that happens? I think playing in New York made me a little tougher for sure. You see guys coming in and out of there. Certain guys get booed that you would never thought would get booed, or less, I don't know, guys that maybe didn't expect anything out of them, they get cheered like crazy. So I think you've just got to put your head down and just do the best that you can. Play hard. Fans respect that. Once you mess up, you've got to take ownership for it. And I think that's the biggest thing. You've got to have respect for the fans. And they'll have respect for you for the most part. I think Philly's great about that. We've had instances here where guys have messed up and they've owned it, and now look at them. So it's a lot of fun playing here. Jesse, right in front of Dave. It's kind of a perfect follow-up to that. You mentioned New York. Going back to the Trey Turner standing ovation, I mean, there's a scenario where he would have went up to play and gotten booed, right? I mean, why do you think he got that instead of the boo, which might be more normal in New York or Philly in the past? And then I have a follow-up to that as well. Why did he get cheered for? Yeah, instead of booed. I don't know. I mean, he's going to be here for a long time. And I think the fans, they're knowledgeable here, and they know that. I don't think, I think he knows that he wasn't playing up to maybe his standard early on. And that's fine. It's going to happen over people's careers, right? Like something may have been going on with him. I don't know. I mean, there's a lot of pressure. You sign that contract, there's a lot of pressure. And these fans, they love their sports here. And if you aren't living up to that, they're going to let you know. But at the same time, that's why it's fun to play here, because they understand sports. And they know he's going to be here for a long time, so they decided to cheer him. And look what he's done ever since. I mean, it's special, for sure. And does that have an impact on other players, you think? Meaning like, if you have some failures, I'm not necessarily going to lose the crowd. They might be behind me. For sure. I mean, like I just said, you're going to have your ups and downs, but as long as you're playing the best you can, and hard, and own up to stuff, they're going to respect you for the most part. And that's all you can ask for as a player. John, on the left. Zach, a theme of this roster is that star free agents like you want to come here and play. And I'm wondering if you could reflect on your journey, your free agency, which players on the team at that time, or people with the organization, were key recruiters to bring you here? And then the follow up there is, have you helped put some phone calls out there to build this roster yourself in the last couple of years? Yeah. I mean, I had my options, that's for sure, during free agency. And being on the East Coast, I think, was a big thing for me. It wasn't that in particular, but being on the East Coast is a big thing for me. I get to go back home to Atlanta a couple times a year, see the house, and sleep in my own bed, that type of stuff. And my wife's family's from Jersey, so they help out with the kids as much as possible. And that's definitely a big thing when I'm away from the house all the time, that my wife has some help. But being in New York and playing against the Phillies all the time, and growing up in Atlanta, and seeing the Phillies all the time, the fans are one of the best in the game, if not the best. And I think we've seen that in the playoffs. And it's special to play here, and I think guys are starting to recognize that. We've got a good ball club, great city, great fans. You can't ask for much more. Great ownership, great front office. I mean, Dave is doing a great job putting this roster together, and you've got guys like Harper who are fun to watch. And Trey is one of my favorite players.