Phillies vs Diamondbacks Game 5 of the NLCS: pitchers, lineups, stats, etc.

On Friday night, the Phillies experienced what can only be considered a meltdown which allowed the Diamondbacks to get themselves back into the series. Both teams will now turn to their best pitches for what promises to be an intense showdown.

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Phillies vs Diamondbacks: It’s about Aces

During Game 4 of the National League Championship Series on Friday night, the Philadelphia Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks used a combined total of 16 pitchers. Needless to say, neither team is looking to repeat such a feat on Saturday night when they meet in Game 5. Indeed, both will see the return of their top pitchers and will understandably be hoping for longevity from them. This brings us to Zack Wheeler and Zac Gallen, who faced each other in Game 1 in Philadelphia on Monday night. With the series now even at 2-2 following the D-backs win on Friday, it’s about fielding the strongest team possible, something that Phillies manager Rob Thomson intends to do.

“You come back tomorrow and play good baseball, and you get your ace on the mound,” Thomson said. “I think that’s the best way to do it.” To be fair, there probably isn’t a better word to describe Wheeler than ‘ace.’ Across the three postseason games that he’s played, he’s registered a 2.37 ERA with 26 strikeouts and a single walk. To be clear, Wheeler and Nathan Eovaldi are the only pitchers to post at least six innings in three playoff starts. As for Gallen, one could actually argue he was the better of the two during the regular season. To that end, the approach of D-backs manager Torey Lovullo in Game 4 appears to be rooted in reason as we imagine he was banking on Gallen being able to go this distance in Game 5. “I feel like where I’m at, I would be doing myself and the guys in that clubhouse a disservice if I was just like, ‘I’m going to conserve the energy,’” Gallen said. “[I’m] trying to still be smart about it. But I feel pretty good in terms of my tank.”

So, who are the starting pitchers?

Philadelphia Phillies: RHP Zack Wheeler

If it wasn’t made clear above, Wheeler is the best the Phillies have. At present, he is 2-0 with a 2.37 ERA in three starts for the postseason so far. In total, he is 3-3 with a 2.63 ERA in nine career postseason starts. If you’re wondering, that’s the 15th-lowest ERA in history among pitchers with at least nine postseason starts. As for Wheeler’s WHIP, it stands at 0.70 which is the best right now.

Arizona Diamondbacks: RHP Zac Gallen

As mentioned before, it was Gallen who started Game 1 of this series and while he did concede five runs including three home runs across the five innings he pitched, he is undoubtedly the most trusted of all of the team’s pitchers. Where the regular season is concerned, Gallen went 17-9 with an ERA of 3.47.

What about the projected starting lineups?

Philadelphia Phillies

As everybody knows, Bryce Harper is a real problem. That’s not to say the Phillies roster isn’t stacked, but as most teams in the league will likely agree if you can stop Harper then you’ve got a chance. What that means is that we can expect to see no changes to the Phillies lineup as they will almost certainly maintain the team that has enjoyed so much success against right-handed pitchers. Below you can see the full projected lineup for Game 5.

Arizona Diamondbacks

It’s interesting to note that Lovullo altered his lineup for both Game 3 and 4. Firstly, there was Alek Thomas who was benched and then there was Gabriel Moreno who moved higher up in the order. Following his eighth-inning two-run homer in Game 4 to tie the game, we have to imagine that Thomas will be back in the order. As for Moreno, we’ll have to wait and see. Below you can see the full projected lineup for Game 5.