Bryce Harper may not have had the best season of his career, but he’s right there with the Phillies in the NLDS against the Dodgers — and one of his veteran teammates, J.T. Realmuto, is already setting the tone with confident words about how good this group really is.
Standing alongside Harper, Realmuto praised the team’s depth: “In my opinion, this is probably the deepest team we’ve had. I think the lineup is as deep as we’ve had it.” He also made it clear that their strength goes beyond the bats. “I think our bullpen, in my opinion, is the best, top to bottom, that we’ve had since I’ve been here.”
Realmuto admitted it’s a blow to lose Zack Wheeler, but his message was clear — the Phillies still have arms that can dominate. “Obviously it’s tough losing Wheeler. You can’t replace a guy like that. Our starting lineup is very deep. We’ve got guys that throw the ball really well and have had success at this stage.”
About the Dodgers, Realmuto said: “In my opinion, they’re the epitome of what Major League should be. They go out every year and try to win,their ownership is awesome,their front office is great. It’s an organization that the other teams look up to.And I see us as the same way.”
Phillies ready for the challenge despite setbacks
Harper and Realmuto finished sixth and seventh in batting average among Phillies players this season. The veteran catcher knows the Dodgers and other playoff contenders are dangerous, but he insists that won’t shake their confidence. “Obviously we’ve had some good teams here, but I do feel like this is our deepest team we’ve had.”
Even as the team faces multiple contract discussions once the season ends, Realmuto said nothing has distracted them from their ultimate goal — winning the World Series.
“I don’t think any of our contracts really necessarily changes the way we feel about this postseason compared to others. We’ve always had a sense of urgency here, and every year you go into the ultimate goal is to win a World Series. At the end of the day, that’s all that matters. There’s different contracts expiring every season. I don’t look at this one any differently as far as seasons in the past. From the start of this year, we wanted to win a World Series, and that’s the only thing we’re thinking about.”
