Zack Wheeler’s ‘poise and calmness’ will help set the tone in Phillies’ Game 1 vs. Mets in the NLDS

When the Phillies ended an 11-year playoff drought by squeaking into the 2022 National League wild-card series, Zack Wheeler was their Game 1 starter against the Cardinals.

He was a playoff novice himself then. Wheeler started his MLB career with the Mets, but he wasn’t along for their 2015 run to the World Series. He was rehabbing from Tommy John elbow surgery that year, and the team told him that he would have to buy his own tickets to the playoffs. He instead opted to watch from his couch at home.

Fast-forward to this version of Wheeler, who is preparing for yet another Game 1 this Saturday, the version who now has 63⅓ postseason innings under his belt. In the Phillies’ first-ever Game 1 against the Mets in their 141-year franchise history, who better to take the ball than the player they snubbed once upon a time?

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Though he has made the walk out to the mound to start a postseason game 10 times in the last two years, Wheeler said that in some ways, it still feels like that very first time in St. Louis.

“You always get nerves,” he said. “But once you get out there, they kind of settle down a little bit and you kind of forget about them. Just do your normal job and just pitch and try to do the best you can.”

But even if Wheeler still gets nervous, that isn’t what he projects to the people around him.

“I don’t think he gets rattled at any time,” said Phillies manager Rob Thomson. “I think it’s just his poise and his calmness that gives him an edge.”

Aside from his overpowering fastball and his durability, that demeanor is what makes Wheeler built for this time of year. It’s also what’s behind his 2.42 postseason ERA, which ranks fifth-lowest all-time out of qualified pitchers in the playoffs.

Catcher J.T. Realmuto also made his playoff debut in Game 1 of the Phillies’ wild-card series in 2022, and has been behind the plate for each of Wheeler’s postseason appearances since then. He has never noticed any hint of nerves from his teammate.

“Talking to him in meetings before every single game, sometimes it looks like he’s actually about to fall asleep, and this is like an hour before the game,” Realmuto said. “He’s just that calm. It’s almost like he’s — I don’t know if he is or not — but it almost seems like he’s meditating. He’s just laying there listening and focusing, it seems like.”

Despite Wheeler’s history with the team in the opposite dugout, this series won’t be any more significant for him than any other start in October. He said it’s always fun for him to face the Mets, but he holds no hard feelings against the organization, as most of the personnel has changed since he left.

Still, there’s a lot of familiarity between him and the club, which could impact how he approaches his start on Saturday. He last faced the Mets on Sept. 22 and posted a quality start but was charged with the loss.

“They know me; I know them. And it’s kind of a cat-and-mouse game at this point,” he said. “It’s pretty fresh, but at the same time, get out there, see how the game starts going, maybe we change some things up; maybe we don’t. I’m going to pitch to my strengths and how I pitch. If we need to veer from that, we will.”

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But no matter how he’s feeling internally, or what challenges he’s facing on the mound, Wheeler can be counted on to project calm — which sets the tone for the rest of his team.

“He really enjoys being that guy for us that we all look to and we all count on,” Realmuto said. “I just think there’s a little more intensity in him when it comes to the postseason, and that’s saying a lot for somebody who’s clearly intense all season long.”