The Phillies don't need to familiarize themselves too much with the New York Mets.
They just faced them a couple of weeks ago up in Queens, where they punched their ticket into the postseason with an emphatic 12-2 win, but did go on to drop 3 of 4 for the series – and going back further, New York is a major NL East rival. They've been seeing them all year, in London at one point even.
The Phillies don't have to think too hard about who the Mets remind them of either – a club that got hot in the back half of the season, snuck into the playoffs at the last minute, then refused to die against the NL Central champions, flipping ninth-inning leads completely on their heads in the process.
Yeah, the Philadelphia Phillies were all of that in 2022, and they rode that momentum, and the vibes, all the way to the NL pennant.
The Mets want to be all of that now in 2024, the absolute chaos-bringers of the postseason bracket, and the Phillies know, better than probably anyone else in baseball, how dangerous that really is.
"Oh, sure," manager Rob Thomson said on Friday in the quiet tunnels of Citizens Bank Park, a stadium bracing for another Red October storm. "And I said when we were in London: Do not fall asleep on the New York Mets, because they're very talented."
And can't be taken lightly. The Phillies know that better than anyone heading into Game 1 of the NLDS on Saturday.
"I definitely see a lot of similarities," catcher J.T. Realmuto said of how the '22 Phils and '24 Mets compare. "I think it's just, this game, it's such a game of momentum and success inside of baseball is very contagious. So when you start gaining confidence and you start feeling good about yourself and you see your teammates succeed, and then you come in in a big spot, that's extremely contagious.
"It just gives you confidence going forward. I think that's something you're seeing with the Mets right now. They're a really hot team. They have a lot of momentum. And that's very similar, like you said, to us in 2022. You get in late, you ride the high and then you just roll with that confidence, and it takes you through. So I think it's important for us to be able to come out and start well in this series and try to put an end to the momentum that they've clearly gained."
And if the Phils get a lead, don't sit on it.
"Put the hammer down and put them away, " Thomson said.
Two years ago, the Phillies backed into the postseason and were playing with house money all the way up to the World Series. There was little expectation, and yet the incredible kept happening. They flipped a 2-0 hole in the ninth into a six-run inning against the Cardinals in the Wild Card round to steal Game 1, and soon after, that series. Rhys Hoskins, after what felt like an eternity away from South Philly, lit up Spencer Strider and the Braves on a first-pitch fastball to send CBP into a frenzy in Game 3 of the NLDS, then Realmuto hit an inside-the-park home run in Game 4 to close it out, and Bryce Harper shook the entire building with the two-run shot that won the NLCS over the Padres – they just kept going because no one told them to stop, nor could stop them until the Astros presented the wall.
The next year in 2023, they were on a mission. They knew how good they could be, and wanted to make it all the way back to the end of October and actually cross the finish line this time.
There were more highs. They smoked the Marlins in the Wild Card round and then thumped the Braves in the NLDS again, but got stopped short by the red-hot Diamondbacks in Game 7 of the NLCS after being up 2-0 in that series.
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Looking back, Realmuto acknowledged on Friday that last year, the Phils got a bit ahead of themselves. They can't make that same mistake again either.
"Until a series is over, we can't count our eggs," Realmuto said. "You know, after we were up 2-0 against Arizona last year, we felt great about it and we didn't finish the job. So no matter what happens in the first couple of games in the series, we have to continue to push and continue to fight until the end."
This is try No. 3 in the playoffs for this era of Phillies baseball. The star-studded core of Harper, Realmuto, Kyle Schwarber, Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, and so on, they've made the run when no one expected anything, and then the one right after where everyone wanted everything.
Both hit a wall so close to the end, but the World Series is still the aim, and with arguably the most complete team they've assembled yet to try and achieve it.
It isn't perfect, sure, but after winning the NL East for the first time in 13 years and securing the first-round bye to rest up and get their starting rotation set, it might be their best shot.
It's just that now the Phillies' fiercest rival and – as much as fans will hate to admit it – the spitting image of what they were two years ago is the first to stand in their way.
They can't take any of the New York Mets lightly.
"There's some truth to just get in and see what happens, hope for the best," said Wheeler, who will be starting Game 1 for the Phils against the Mets' Kodai Senga. "They played really hard over there, they scrapped, and they played well down the stretch, and they made it to the playoffs. Credit to them. It's hard to make the playoffs, that's for sure."
But the Phillies know better than anyone: New York's momentum has to be stopped here.
First pitch for Game 1 at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday is set for 4:08 p.m.
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