Philadelphia Phillies Star Catcher Admits Teams Was 'Tight' Coming Into Playoffs

The Philadelphia Phillies are ready to play their style of baseball after their star catcher admitted they were "a little tight" coming into this NLDS matchup.

Sep 27, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Philadelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto (10) looks out to the crowd during the first inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park / James A. Pittman-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies got a day off to breathe after their Game 2 showdown of the NLDS ended with a dramatic Nick Castellanos walk-off single.

It was a must-win after they squandered the opener when Zack Wheeler pitched a gem.

Through 14 innings of this series, the Phillies were struggling on offense with only two runs scored after they failed to get on base at a consistent rate.

That changed in the sixth inning during Game 2 when Bryce Harper hit a patented clutch homer that was followed up by a solo shot from Castellanos one batter later that tied things up at three.

Philadelphia was able to blow the lid off their offensive drought, putting up three more runs in the eighth before Castellanos walked it off in the bottom of the ninth.

The hope is that will propel this lineup for the rest of the series, something their star catcher J.T. Realmuto hinted at when admitting the team didn't come into the playoffs as loose as they would have liked.

"A couple of us were saying after the game, 'All right. We can breathe now.' For whatever reason, it felt a little tense, a little tight coming into the series. We just weren't really ourselves in the box. I feel like now we can let loose and play our brand of baseball," he said per Matt Gelb of The Athletic.

That's certainly understandable.

There is a ton of internal and external pressure on the Phillies to get back to the World Series and ultimately bring home the trophy after they were two games shy of winning it in 2022 and came up short in the NLCS last year.

It feels like Philadelphia might have survived the early onslaught from the red-hot New York Mets team who came into the NLDS with nothing to lose and a belief they are in the midst of a magical run.

Winning Game 2 was imperative to give themselves a fighting chance to get back to the Championship Series, and with the off day to regroup and take a breath, the Phillies are now in a best-of-three set that will determine if they can accomplish that goal or not.

They have the pitching advantage with Aaron Nola on the mound and a rested bullpen compared to what the Mets are going to throw out there going forward, but this team will only go as far as this lineup takes them.

Realmuto thinks the offensive explosion late in Sunday's contest will get them back on track.

That will be proven right or wrong in Game 3.