Zack Wheeler’s dominant playoff debut no surprise to J.T. Realmuto

ST. LOUIS — About 30 minutes before Game 1 of the Phillies-Cardinals National League wild-card series Friday, J.T. Realmuto crouched down and waited for starter Zack Wheeler to throw his bullpen session. He felt the ball hit his glove, and knew, after just a couple of pitches, that it was going to be one of those days.

The ball was coming in heavy. Wheeler felt good. He had his adrenaline going. And sure enough, a few minutes later, he took the mound for the first postseason appearance of his eight-year career, and gave the Phillies’ 6⅓ innings of two-hit ball in a 6-3 victory.

Wheeler allowed no runs, and one walk with four strikeouts and one hit-by-pitch. He threw first-pitch strikes to 17 of the 22 batters he faced. It was the first time a Phillies pitcher had recorded a scoreless postseason start since Cole Hamels in Game 3 of the 2011 NLDS (against St. Louis).

» READ MORE: An epic Game 1 win by the Phillies was postseason torment at its best

But more than anything else, what jumped out to Realmuto was Wheeler’s stuff. He was averaging 97.4 mph on his fastball, and hit 98.8 mph a few times. He was mixing all four of his pitches with ease. Realmuto described it as “explosive.”

“Really from the start, I could tell from his bullpen,” he said. “When he’s got his stuff going like that, he’s able to throw the ball in the strike zone and pound the zone and get ahead of guys. He’s really tough to hit.”

Wheeler doesn’t tend to show much emotion, on the mound or in the clubhouse, but the opportunity to start Game 1 surely meant something to him. When the Mets made the World Series against eventual champion Kansas City in 2015, Wheeler, who was recovering from Tommy John surgery at the time, asked the team if he could attend the games in person. His request was denied. He asked if he could sit in the stands. He was told he’d have to pay for his own tickets. So, he stayed at home, in Atlanta, watching the Mets’ postseason run from his living-room couch.

Growing up, Wheeler never got the chance to attend a postseason game in person. Friday wasn’t just his first time pitching in the postseason. It was his first time experiencing what it’s like to be in a ballpark packed with 45,911 fans, all of them standing, screaming, and waving their rally towels.

And to no one’s surprise, Wheeler stepped up to the moment. After missing five starts, due to forearm inflammation, he was activated off the injured list on Sept. 21. He made only three starts before the playoffs, and had only thrown 77 pitches in his final regular-season start, on Oct. 2.

» READ MORE: How will the Phillies’ Zack Wheeler react to the playoff stage? His former coach knows.

Before Friday’s game, Wheeler and Realmuto agreed that Wheeler would pitch for as long as he wanted to go, and the starter ended up reaching the seventh inning. He threw 96 pitches and 64 strikes against a lineup that has two NL MVP candidates (Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt) and two future Hall of Famers (Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols).

“The way he was throwing the ball, he didn’t want to come out of the game anytime early,” Realmuto said. “The way he carried the team today and kept us in it, that ninth inning probably doesn’t happen if he doesn’t pitch the way he pitched today.”

There were a couple of close calls. Wheeler gave up two hard-hit balls to Arenado, both of which he thought were gone but ended up landing in the gloves of center fielder Matt Vierling and right fielder Nick Castellanos.

“You’ve got to get ahead, pound the zone, but be careful at the same time,” Wheeler said. “They can make you pay pretty quick. You try to keep guys off the base in case something does happen. I was able to do that for the most part.

“They hit a couple of balls really well. Arenado got a hold of one; I think the wind was blowing [in] a bit today. But that’s part of the game. You try to get in and out of there as quick as you can.”

» READ MORE: Larry Bowa knows: Relax and play. How Phillies rookie Bryson Stott learned to show he belongs.

Friday’s game will be remembered for Jean Segura’s ninth-inning heroics, and the three batters who drove in runs behind him, to give the Phillies’ a lead that the Cardinals couldn’t surpass. But it was Wheeler’s two-hit performance that put them in a position to get the win.

And Realmuto knew it from the moment he crouched down for that bullpen session, and felt Wheeler’s ball hit his glove.