25 things you need to know about the Diamondbacks going into the NLCS

Not many teams have miserably lost their final four regular-season games, sneaked into the playoffs through the back door, and then rolled through two division winners like they were the ‘27 Yankees.

But that’s what Arizona has done.

It’s been a long time since the Phillies last saw the Diamondbacks, who bring with them some local flavor, a rookie who is all the rage, and a pitching staff that has never pitched at Citizens Bank Park in October.

Here are 25 things to consider as these teams meet in the postseason for the first time ever as the National League Championship Series begins Monday at Citizens Bank Park.

1. Arizona’s staff ace is Zac Gallen, a Bishop Eustace graduate who will probably finish in the top five of the Cy Young Award balloting for the second consecutive season. Gallen, 28, signed a $5.6 million contract before this season. He’ll be arbitration-eligible again this winter and is in line for a hefty raise.

2. Gallen, voted the Diamondbacks MVP by the local media, is 1-1 in his career at Citizens Bank Park. He had a no-decision there on May 24, when the Phillies beat the D’backs in 10 innings.

3. Arizona hasn’t played in Philadelphia since before Memorial Day, when it nearly swept a three-game series. The Phillies rallied from a 5-0 deficit capped by a Trea Turner home run in the ninth and Alec Bohm’s RBI single in the 10th.

4. The Phillies won the season series, 4-3, but five of the seven games were decided by one run. After a rough start, the Phillies finally got above .500 when they won three out of four in Arizona in June.

5. Arizona manager Torey Lovullo played for seven teams in his major league career, finishing up with the Phillies. His last game as a player was on Oct. 3, 1999, at Veterans Stadium.

6. Lovullo’s late father, Sam, was a TV producer who most notably worked on the country music variety show Hee Haw, which was most popular in the 1970s and ‘80s.

7. Arizona stuck with Lovullo despite going 52-110 in 2021. The D’backs improved to 74-88 last season and went 84-78 this year. They went to the playoffs in his first season (2017). Arizona beat Colorado in a one-game wild-card meeting but was swept by the Dodgers in the NLDS.

8. The Diamondbacks had 43 comeback wins during the regular season. Only the Orioles (48), Reds (48), and Phillies (44) had more. Arizona had to come back to win both games against the Brewers in the wild-card round. But in their NLDS sweep of the Dodgers, the D’backs jumped out to leads of 9-0, 3-0, and 4-0.

9. The Diamondbacks have hit 13 homers in five playoff games. During the season, Arizona was tied for 10th in the NL with 166 bombs in 162 games.

» READ MORE: Diamondbacks’ Christian Walker walks barefoot on the stadium grass before games. Here’s why.

10. Arizona set a playoff record with four homers in one inning when it finished off the Dodgers on Wednesday night. Geraldo Perdomo, Ketel Marte, Christian Walker, and Gabriel Moreno each went deep off Lance Lynn in the third inning.

11. Walker, who hails from Norristown and played at Kennedy-Kenrick High, led the D’backs with 33 home runs. He was the NL’s Gold Glove winner at first base last year and is one of the favorites again this season.

12. “He means so much to this team in so many ways,” Lovullo told USA Today during the stretch run. “We’re not in this position without him.”

13. Give Walker, 32, credit for perseverance. He was waived by the Orioles, Braves, and Reds all within about a month in 2017 before Arizona took a chance on him. After Walker hit a career-high 36 homers in 2022, Arizona gave him a one-year, $6.5 million deal in January. He responded with career highs in hits (150), RBIs (103), and OPS (.830) this season.

14. Walker was just 1-for-12 this year at Citizens Bank Park.

15. Arizona lost its last four regular-season games (scoring a total of three runs!) but backed into the playoffs when Cincinnati and the Cubs faltered. The Diamondbacks have won five in a row since.

16. Third baseman Evan Longoria, 38, was a rookie in 2008, when the Phillies beat the Rays to win the World Series. He went 1-for-20 in that five-game series, and is a career .180 hitter in the postseason (27-for-150).

17. The Diamondbacks were 60-1 to win the National League pennant before the season started, according to SportsOddsHistory.com. The Phillies were around 7-1.

» READ MORE: Murphy: The Phillies are a different sort of NLDS champion this year. Suddenly, they are World Series favorites.

18. This will be the second time a Philadelphia team has played a team from Arizona in the playoffs. The Eagles lost to the Cardinals in the 2008 NFC championship game, which was essentially the last run for the Andy Reid/Donovan McNabb era. Also, Penn State won its last football championship by upsetting Miami in Tempe, Ariz., in the Fiesta Bowl following the 1986 season.

19. Arizona acquired veteran DH Tommy Pham from the Mets at the trade deadline. Pham is a career .342 hitter in the postseason, though he’s probably more known for getting suspended for three games last year for slapping San Francisco’s Joc Pederson in a wild dustup over fantasy football.

20. Getting closer Paul Sewald from Seattle at the deadline solidified the back end of the bullpen. Sewald, a right-hander, has not allowed a run in four postseason appearances (all saves).

21. Rookie starting pitcher Brandon Pfaadt’s last name is pronounced “FOUGHT.”

22. The D’backs were 21st in total payroll this season, according to Spotrac.com, at $117.4 million. This is less than half the payroll of the fifth-ranked Phillies ($245 million) and well below the league-leading Mets, who spent more than $343 million and have nothing to show for it except for early golf reservations.

23. Marte is Arizona’s highest-paid player at $11.6 million. That would put him ninth on the Phillies. His uncle is Wilson Valdez, a popular former Phillies utility man who played here in 2010-11.

» READ MORE: This time, Nick Castellanos is locked in for the Phillies’ playoff run: ‘That’s why you’re here’

24. Right fielder Corbin Carroll is the presumptive NL rookie of the year. He had 25 homers and 54 steals this season, the first rookie ever with a 25-50 season. He signed an eight-year, $111 million contract in March, which is probably already a bargain for the D’backs.

25. Carroll, who has been called “The Machine” because of his laser focus, is hitting .412 in five postseason games. “If you really want to see my adrenaline flowing,” he joked, “make me do a public speech or something.”