PHILADELPHIA — Christian Walker’s trip to Philadelphia has been too busy to include a voyage to Norristown for his mom’s Italian cooking. After fielding enough ticket requests that he fears he’s “playing for free,” Zac Gallen doesn’t have a trip to Gibbsboro on the itinerary.
The National League Championship Series will feature more home cooking – figurative, thanks to Mrs. Walker’s busy schedule – in the visiting dugout than the home one. That’s thanks to Walker, the Kennedy-Kenrick High grad, and Gallen, a Bishop Eustace alum from Somerdale via Gibbsboro.
Being four wins from a surprise World Series berth is enough of a dream come true for either of the local Diamondbacks that layering on the hometown aspect is just a bonus. It’s reason to, as Walker said Sunday, “narrow the focus and stay locked in on baseball” this week.
The hometown feel will be slightly different for each. Walker, a Gold Glove first baseman who had 33 home runs and 103 RBIs this year, grew up a Phillies fan. He drew inspiration from Ryan Howard in crafting his game.
“I felt like he kind of rewrote what I knew about power hitting a little bit at that younger age,” said Walker, a 2009 grad of defunct Kennedy-Kenrick who was part of two College World Series titles at the University of South Carolina.
His familiarity with riotous postseason environments as a fan of the Phillies and Eagles is something he hopes to lean on this week.
“My personal stance on it coming in is I’m going to try to harness it,” he said. “It’s going to be a lot of energy. It’s no secret. It’s for the Phillies, but also there’s a certain buzz in the air. It’s hard to explain.”
Gallen grew up in South Jersey but not as a fan of the hometown team, saying, “I dreamed of pitching for the Cardinals. I was a Cardinals fan. I wasn’t a Phillies fan as a kid growing up. (Mark) McGwire was my guy.”
But Gallen found a more recent connection to postseason baseball when his mother attended World Series games last year and raved to her son about the environment. Not that it wasn’t already a goal of his, but it reinforced his desire to be in a situation like Monday’s, when the NL Cy Young Award candidate will oppose Zack Wheeler in Game 1.
“I think it’s interesting for sure to start Game 1 in the NLCS at the field, stadium you grew up coming to as a kid, coming to see teams play,” Gallen said. “But this is about the NLCS. That’s really where my emotions are. Still going to go through my routine.”
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Rob Thomson likely won’t name the Game 4 starter until after Game 3, he said Sunday. It will likely come down to Taijuan Walker and Cristopher Sanchez. Both threw two innings of batting practice at Citizens Bank Park. Neither has pitched in a game since Sept. 30.
“We’ve got two really good options,” Thomson said. “They both threw BP today. They both are a little bit rusty, but that’s why we do it.”
Thomson said the bullpen workload in the first three games of the series is the primary factor in making the determination. Both are likely to play some role in Game 4.
Walker went 15-6 in 31 starts with a 4.38 ERA but struggled after the All-Star break. He has made one postseason start, in the 2017 NLDS as a Diamondback, allowing four runs in one inning.
Sanchez went 3-5 with a 3.44 ERA over 99.1 innings in 19 games (18 starts). The 26-year-old is probably more amenable to a bullpen role, so Walker could start with Sanchez soon to follow.
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Thomson was cryptic in an update on the status of Rhys Hoskins, saying, “I wouldn’t tell you that because that would give away some of our roster.” That might imply Hoskins, who was thought to only be in play for a possible World Series, is progressing quickly.
Hoskins tore his ACL on March 23 and underwent surgery March 30. He’s been working back diligently but the NLCS always appeared a little too early to possibly DH or pinch-hit.
“He’s doing pretty well,” Thomson said. “He’s getting live at-bats and he’s getting at-bats off the Trajekt machine. He’s running bases, he’s sliding. He’s doing pretty much everything except for taking ground balls.”
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NOTES >> Right-handed pitcher Dylan Covey, on the IL since Sept. 30 with a back issue, is healthy. He threw a bullpen session Sunday, and Thomson declared him a possibility for the NLCS roster. Covey had a 3.77 ERA in 29 games with the Dodgers and Phillies this year, mostly in low-leverage chances. But since the middle of June, he had a 1.86 ERA in 29 innings, including seven straight scoreless appearances to end the season. … Speaking of local connections, Torey Lovullo spent the last season of his eight-year big league career with the Phillies in 1999, playing 17 games and hitting .211 with two homers and five RBIs. Lovullo and Thomson were briefly teammates in Class A Lakeland in the Detroit organization in 1987 and have become friends through their coaching journeys. Lovullo: “I’ve always been a huge fan of his because I know how much he loves baseball, I know what type of player he was and his appreciation of the game.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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