Sep 19, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets shortstop Luisangel Acuña (2) is tagged out at home plate by Philadelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto (10) in the seventh inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
There's an old adage that familiarity breeds contempt. It is especially true in sports. Play against another team enough times and things are bound to get a little frothy when the competitive juices are flowing.
It's especially heightened when two fan bases that absolutely despise one another are able to intermingle a bit more than usual and with the stakes raised - like in a playoff game or series.
There is a narrative here that those stinking New York Mets fans are going to infiltrate Citizens Bank Park enough to spoil what is normally is Philadelphia's rite of passage each fall - the awesome experience of Red October.
Similarly, once the scene shifts 100 miles north, the New York folk are going to be chortling that the filthy Philadelphians are invading their space at Citi Field.
These are the spoils of a long-standing rivalry that also has the added fuel of proximity and vitriol that is special to sports fans in the Northeastern part of the U.S.
But when you get past the outward animosity and dig below the surface of the testosterone-induced contempt and disdain, you are left focusing on the familiarity.
Which is why the Phillies are preparing for the Mets in a little different way as they prepare to start the first playoff meeting between the rival franchises today in the NLDS.
"They know me and I know them so it's kind of a cat-and-mouse game at this point," said Phillies Game 1 starter Zack Wheeler. "I just pitched against them, what, two starts ago? It's pretty fresh. At the same time you go out there and 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 if we need to veer from that, we will."
Zack Wheeler is asked if it will be "a little bit crazy" to face the Mets in the playoffs:
"It's fun playing against those guys always, but I've been over here for a while now and there's no hard feelings." pic.twitter.com/6ZQk2CbGr6
And the strategy that goes into facing a familiar opponent is what the Phillies have been meeting about and discussing all week.
Even before they knew they were playing the Mets, they were discussing the possibility. There was some familiarity with the Brewers too, because they had just played them as well a couple weeks ago, so the meetings were robust.
"From a scouting perspective it helps us because there's not a whole lot of work to do," manager Rob Thomson said. "(But) you're always trying to find an edge. I don't know if there's a disadvantage one way or the other. We just got to go out there and we know each other very well and you got to make some adjustments here and there and go out and play the game."
The Phillies, for their part, have experience with this, having faced the Braves in the playoffs the past two years. There were new wrinkles that they tried to add in each series, but for the most part just trusted what the do best and went mano y mano with the Braves and come out on top.
There are little things you try to do differently though. Take for instance their gameplan against the Braves in Game 1 last season. With Atlanta having such a high-powered lineup, the Phillies tried to exploit their one "weakness" - high velocity up in the zone.
It was a masterclass of matchup pitching as the bullpen relieved starter Ranger Suarez in the fourth inning and one after another mowed down the potent Atlanta lineup en route to a 3-0 shutout win.
Suarez had pitched well. He had allowed just one hit and one walk against the 13 batters he faced. But the gameplan was to pull him early regardless of how well he was pitching and then go after the Braves with a different high velocity arm to get the final 16 outs of the game. The Phillies blindsided Suarez though and didn't tell him of the plan. They wanted him to go out and pitch like he was going to go as long as he could. It worked to perfection.
Ranger Suarez is locked in through the first three innings in Atlanta. 🔒
[via @PitchingNinja] pic.twitter.com/AFRuyIEe4F
It was a masterclass of matchup management by Thomson, but it was something the Braves likely weren't expecting in Game 1. It gave the Phillies a head start, and they won the series in four.
They likely won't employ the same strategy against the Mets - at least not with Wheeler on the mound in Game 1 - but there might be something else they look to do. Maybe it's on offense. Maybe they look to run more and put the pressure on the Mets pitchers to hold runners - which they don't do very well - or play defense with runners in motion. Who knows.
For the Mets part of the familiarity challenge, they're trying to get the Phillies guessing right off the bat and are doing it by naming Kodai Senga the Game 1 starter. Senga has made one start all season because of various injuries, and it lasted 5 1/3 innings in July.
So, there's not much for the Phillies to go off of based on video this season. He had one rehab stint in the minors that's on tape, but he's mostly been building up in the privacy of the Mets Spring Training complex.
The Phillies have no idea how long he can go. They know he was baffling at times last season, but that was a long time ago.
Also, starting Senga allows the Mets to keep the Phillies guessing on which bulk inning pitcher will replace him. Will it be a lefty in David Peterson, or a righty in Tylor Megill? The Phillies have to decide how to best construct their lineup with so much unknown staring at them in Game 1.
The Mets are hoping a little uncertainty helps alleviate some of the advantages available from familiarity.
The Phillies held meetings on Thursday for a variety of reasons. Some were related to this new pitching situation the Mets were throwing at them. Others were more traditional - as in the pitchers and catchers meeting to talk about how they are going to go after the Mets lineup.
"It's kind of a back and forth of 'are we going to make this adjustment and hope they don't,'" said J.T. Realmuto. "So, there is a game of cat and mouse there. But at the end of the day, it's just we have to go out there and execute. We can't try to think too much about what they're going to do to us. We have to have our own approach. Our own plan and try to execute that to the best of our ability.
"At the end of the day, if we do that, it doesn't matter too much about what adjustments they are trying to make. "
