Phillies gear up for playoffs with new mantra ahead of NLDS

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Rob Thomson punctuated the Phillies' postseason clinchers over the last three years with a call-and-response in the clubhouse asking catcher J.T. Realmuto how many more wins were needed to win the World Series.

Realmuto and the Phillies never did count their manager down to zero.

So Realmuto mixed it up this season.

When Thomson bellowed out the same question earlier this month once the Phillies clinched the NL East, Realmuto didn't have a number handy, just a new catchphrase.

"Whatever the hell it takes, Topper!"

Realmuto's quote and his image were turned into a T-shirt, the fall fashion must-have around Philadelphia and in the clubhouse.

More than a few Phillies wore the shirts during Tuesday's workout, when the countdown to the playoffs truly kicked off.

The Phillies are trying to stay sharp with steady action over their five-day layoff before Game 1 of the NL Division Series on Saturday. They hit and took fielding practice — some teammates egged on NL batting champion Trea Turner to chuck a baseball at a specific spot in the stands — and will play an intrasquad scrimmage Wednesday night at Citizen Bank Park, where nearly 30,000 tickets at $10 a pop already have been sold.

Playoff enthusiasm hasn't dimmed around the city even as the Phillies — who finished 96-66 as they chase their first World Series title since 2008 — have slid backward by playoff round each of the last three seasons.

They lost to Houston in the 2022 World Series, to the Arizona Diamondbacks a year later in the NL Championship Series and were knocked out by the Mets last year in four games in the NLDS.

They lost to the Mets after an off week, the same one they earned this season by taking the No. 2 seed in the league. They will play the winner of the Dodgers-Reds series — raising the question, better to play and stick to a winning routine or risk rust and lost momentum over the break?

It's a spell of down time that also doomed a pair of 100-win Braves teams eliminated by the Phillies in 2022 and 2023 in the Division Series.

In the MLB postseason, no No. 2 seed has reached the World Series since playoff expansion in 2022 and not a single No. 2 in the National League has won a series.

"Well, it's an advantage if you win the first series and a disadvantage if don't," team president Dave Dombrowski said with a laugh. "I think it's an advantage in the sense, for us, there's probably some guys, for example a guy like Turner, gives him a little extra time to get ready. You can set your rotation up as you want, where you maybe wouldn't have been able to do that."

Turner could benefit the most as he continues to recover from a strained right hamstring suffered more than three weeks ago. He returned for the regular-season finale — and clinched the batting crown with a .304 average — and proclaimed himself fit to play in October.

Dombrowski said the days off should help a veteran core that played a heavy load this season. NL home run and RBI champion Kyle Schwarber played all 162 games. Turner and second baseman Bryson Stott both topped 140 games played while Realmuto, Bryce Harper and Brandon Marsh were all in the 130-games-played range.

"That was the big goal for us, get a few extra days for guys to get back to 100% and see where it takes us," Stott said.

Harrison Bader played 50 for the Phillies (146 overall) after he was acquired from Minnesota at the trade deadline. He hit .344 with 11 multihit games, 15 extra-base hits and 23 runs scored over his final 33 games game of the season. He locked down the center field spot and was a menace batting leadoff when Turner was out — though the shortstop will return to the top spot in the playoffs.

"The supporting cast I think, is deeper in the lineup," Dombrowski said. "I think a guy like Bader has brought a lot to us. I think when you look at our lineup, I don't think you look at one spot and say, wow, there's an out there. We play solid defense. Our starting pitching is deep. I think right now our bullpen is probably a little bit better than it's been at various times."

The bullpen is anchored by a true closer in Jhoan Duran. Duran had 16 of his 32 saves with the Phillies since the 103.3 mph fastballer was acquired in a separate deadline deal with the Twins.

"I think we have a legitimate closer," Dombrowski said.

Phillies fans remain triggered by the playoff failures out of the bullpen the last three seasons.

Take last season, when ace Zack Wheeler (sidelined in 2025 with complications from blood clots) struck out nine and tossed seven shutout innings against the Mets in Game 1 of the NLDS before the bullpen imploded for six runs in a loss. Or how about when Francisco Lindor hit a grand slam off reliever Carlos Estévez in Game 4 that helped the Mets advance?

Craig Kimbrel was 0-2 with a 6.00 ERA in seven relief appearances for the Phillies in the 2023 playoffs.

The Phillies have the closer they sorely needed in the playoffs.

Is it enough for them to finally close the postseason countdown door at zero and prepare for a World Series parade down Broad Street?