‘It was eating me up’: How the Phillies’ 2022 playoff run has impacted their push in 2023

Zack Wheeler has spent a lot of time thinking about Game 6 of the 2022 World Series. He thought it about this offseason. He’s thought it about this regular season. For a while, he would run different scenarios through his mind.

Wheeler felt like he had his best stuff that night. He was at 70 pitches when Rob Thomson walked out to the mound in the sixth inning, with one out, runners on first and third, and Yordan Alvarez at the plate. What would’ve happened if he hadn’t gotten pulled in that moment?

It’s not a question anyone can answer. Alvarez hit a three-run, game-winning home run off of José Alvarado, and the Phillies season ended a few innings later. Thomson still sticks by his decision. But regardless of whether it was right it made an impact on the Phillies starter.

“I think about last postseason a lot,” Wheeler said. “Especially my situation, when I got taken out in Game 6. And then what happened next. I’ve thought about it a lot. It was eating me up.

“I think that’ll push me a little bit more now.”

» READ MORE: There’s one feat still eluding Craig Kimbrel, and he hopes to ‘check off that box’ with the Phillies

Wheeler waited eight big league seasons for the chance to pitch in the World Series. He intends to pitch there again in his ninth. He’s certainly helping his team’s chances with the way he’s throwing this month. Wheeler has hit his stride at the perfect time, allowing just four earned runs and two walks over his last three starts. But he’s also been looking ahead, too.

He checks the wild-card standings. He’s worked with head athletic trainer Paul Buchheit, who was with the Red Sox for their three playoff runs in 2016-17 and World Series win in 2018. Buchheit has guided Wheeler through different modalities so he can be better recover from last year’s push and be better prepared for a potential push this fall.

“He was in Boston for a couple of their runs, so he kind of knew what to expect the next year after making a big push, as a pitcher,” Wheeler said. “From a recovery and preparation standpoint.

“We’ve got to make it there first. But it’s kind of addicting. You work your whole career to pitch in a World Series. To be able to make it there, be part of that run, celebrate, it’s all addicting.”

Wheeler isn’t alone in that sentiment. On paper, the 2023 Phillies are in a similar pace to the 2022 Phillies. That team entered Sept. 8 with a record of 75-61. This team entered Friday’s game against the Marlins with a record of 77-62. But they are in different positions. That team was just trying to sneak into the playoffs. This team is trying to win the first wild-card spot.

“I think we saw that playing at home helped us last year,” Wheeler said. “That’s where we want to play.”

» READ MORE: How the Phillies’ Seranthony Domínguez has gotten back to attacking hitters — at just the right time

The other difference is in this 2023 team’s energy. Garrett Stubbs remembers walking into the clubhouse last September, after the Phillies had been swept by the Cubs in Chicago. There was fear from the fan base that they would blow it. He ran into a reporter who had written a story about the Phillies’ ongoing September woes. The story highlighted that the Phillies went 14-16 in September and October of 2021. They ran out of gas.

“And I remember telling him, ‘This ain’t the same [expletive] team as 2021,’” Stubbs said. “We’re still in the wild-card spot, and regardless of what happened in years past, every year is different.

“There was external pressure last year. The whole mantra was, ‘Here come the Phillies to give it up again.’ And that’s a [expletive] thing to read, especially when you’re a new group of guys that have a different mentality. Whatever had been done in 2021 or 2015, we were different.

“The story had already been written. And, obviously, we proved people wrong. So I would say the energy is a lot more confident, for both us in the locker room and you all in the media, and the fans.”

For Stubbs, that is a liberating feeling. These 2023 Phillies have a written a new story. Which is why there is a confidence in the clubhouse right now. Not an arrogance, but a confidence. There are 23 games left in the season. They aren’t taking them for granted. But they have been here before. And they know what can happen come October.

“We’ve earned that right, for you guys write a different story and for our fans to feel confident,” Stubbs said.