‘Wheeler and Nola, those guys are going to haunt my dreams' — Phils' top 2 set the tone again

The Phillies' latest clubhouse celebration had been underway about 20 minutes when J.T. Realmuto walked back in with cigars.

After finishing the unboxing process, he took a few minutes to meet with reporters and was asked if these sorts of jubilant scenes ever get old or if each one is sweeter than the last.

"I say it every series we go into," Realmuto replied, "don’t give the Phils a reason to party. We like to have a good time and we like to celebrate together. That's part of the reason we play so well on the field together."

They gave themselves a reason to party with two decisive wins over the Marlins in the wild-card series. They outscored Miami 11-2 as Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola dominated, just as they did to begin the 2022 postseason.

Wheeler and Nola combined to pitch 13⅔ innings and allow one run against the Marlins. In last year's wild-card series in St. Louis, they combined for 13 scoreless innings.

"Wheeler and Nola, those guys are going to haunt my dreams," Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. "They were — the common denominator, and he doesn't get enough credit, at least I don't hear enough — is J.T. He's good back there, as good as anybody in the big leagues, and he is maybe the best in the big leagues, honestly."

Realmuto did damage with his bat as well Wednesday night, doubling in the second inning and homering in the fourth as the Phillies beat the Marlins, 7-1.

"It's all too familiar to what happened last year," Realmuto said. "(Nola and Wheeler) set the tone for our offense and our team as a whole, and then the bullpen came in and shut things down. When those two guys are going well, that's usually a good sign for the Phillies."

Nola appears to have found something over his last three starts. His changeup and curveball have looked much better, generating swinging strikes and weak contact. He's been able to avoid the big inning, minimizing damage in a way he could not for most of the summer.

A mechanical adjustment made in September to keep his shoulders more square to the plate has helped him locate.

"I just tried my best to follow Wheels up," Nola said. "He set the tone in Game 1. He's awesome. I love watching him pitch and following him up. He's such a competitor, and he's such — he's a perfect guy for us to start a series off. You know what you're going to get when Wheels is on the mound."

For large chunks of the 2023 season, it was unknown what the Phillies would get with Nola on the mound. He allowed home runs at a career-worst rate in the first three months, then he corrected the home run problem but was more hittable over the final two months. These last three starts against the Braves, Pirates and Marlins have all been quality starts. He had three consecutive quality starts only once in the regular season, April 16 through 28.

"That's the Nola that we ride on, that can carry the team," Realmuto said. "When he goes out and pounds the strike zone, when we score runs and he goes out there and has quick innings, that just gives us so much confidence and keeps the momentum on our side."

Manager Rob Thomson never lost faith in Nola, constantly referring to him as a big-game pitcher even at the right-hander's lowest moments. Thomson often cited the track record of Nola, who was in the running for NL Cy Young three times in the last six seasons. He was excellent last September and in his first two playoff starts. He's shown an ability throughout his career to hold in check some of baseball's top offenses, whether it was the Red Sox and Yankees in interleague play early in his career or the Braves and Dodgers in recent seasons.

"I feel so proud of him," Thomson said. "He went through a lot this year because he struggled at times and there were the home runs and the big innings and things like that, but he just kept grinding and he kept fighting, kept working. Finally, he found some stuff at the end of the year, and he's been lights out.

"I expected this. I really did because I know who he is. I've seen him do this before, and he just came through. But I'm so proud of him. He's a warrior. He really is."

Wednesday's series-ending celebration was the Phillies' sixth in the last 12 months. They've shown over the last year that clubhouse chemistry can be a real, tangible factor in success. This isn't a 26 players, 26 cabs sort of team. These are guys who enjoy each other, who want to hang out away from the stadium, who feed off each other's successes.

"I saw it from afar last year," veteran Craig Kimbrel said. "It was the reason I came here, understanding the passion these guys have, the fun they want to have, how much they enjoy doing it with each other. It's a big part of coming over here. You come over here and you're part of the family. You can feel it and see with the fans and everybody in this clubhouse."

Beating the Marlins in a Best-of-3 is one thing. Beating the Braves in a Best-of-5 is another. Miami scored the fewest runs in the National League. Atlanta scored the most runs in baseball and tied the MLB record for home runs in a season with 307.

But the Phillies are familiar with every top bat and arm the Braves have to offer. It was just a year ago, in this same round, that the Phils sent Atlanta home for the winter after a 101-win season.

They rarely hit Spencer Strider, but they won't go into the NLDS feeling like they're facing the big, bad Braves.

"We feel like this is what we're built for, we're built for the postseason," Realmuto said. "That run we went on last year, all it did was give us more confidence. Obviously, it's a really good team in Atlanta but we're confident in the guys in this clubhouse. It should be a lot of fun."