NL WILDCARD GAME: PHILLIES VS BRAVES

September 28, 2026

Walt Weiss

Truist Park

Atlanta Braves

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. Walt, when you send Chris to the mound tomorrow, will it kind of be like when you're playing shortstop here and playing behind (indiscernible) -- does it have that similar feel?

WALT WEISS: For sure. It's a different feeling when a guy like that is taking the mound that day. Like you said, we felt it those years with the big three. Felt it other times in my career. Oakland years it was Dave Stewart.

So, yeah, it's a different feeling. I think it elevates the room the day that guy is pitching.

Q. How much did it help to think about every pitcher he faced, (indiscernible) Yamamoto and Sanchez -- anyhow, who he faced down the stretch here, how much might that help him?

WALT WEISS: Yeah, I'm not sure. I don't know how much he thinks about that. I don't want to speak for him, but I mean, I think Chris is just so locked in on what he does, and he's so competitive that his battles are against himself. You know, he's trying to live up to the high bar that he has set for himself.

I will say that the games that we played in September, the pitchers we faced, the scenarios that we were involved in, I think has made us pretty battle-tested. Let alone all the injuries we've had to overcome since literally the first day of Spring Training.

So I do think that helps. We seem to play a one-run game every night. That probably helps too because that's typically how it goes in the postseason. Games are tight, and that's business as usual for us.

Q. One of those guys was Luzardo, obviously. Just thoughts on having to face him again?

WALT WEISS: Yeah, look, great pitcher, had a great year. I know he's coming back from some stuff. We'll prepare for him and everybody else on their staff. Not sure how they're going to approach it, but yeah, obviously a really talented kid.

Q. Does that make the series a little trickier that the state of their pitching is in flux that they could throw anybody at any time?

WALT WEISS: I mean, there's always challenges to a bullpen-type game. There always is, but I think, again, the fact that we play these guys, like, 87 times a year, I think we know each other pretty well. So there's not going to be any surprises that we're going to spring on them or they're going to spring on us.

Q. In the season you were managing the bullpen to win games as early as May and June. How do you feel like that time kind of helps you set up being in a position in the postseason where that's essentially going to be the same thing?

WALT WEISS: Look, I think that's my mindset anyway, and I think early on, to be honest with you, I wasn't sure exactly what we had with our rotation. There were some question marks. Guys hadn't established themselves quite yet. Eventually they did, but early on I knew our bullpen was a big strength for us, so I was going to them early and often to win those games.

Much like the postseason really. I think the last handful of years there's been more innings out of the bullpen than from starters in the postseason. The leash is always shorter in the postseason, and you're going to your guys.

You know, truth be told, if I could do that for six months, I'd do it. I mean, that's how I would want to manage a game. Obviously you can't, because you got to -- these guys got to make it through a season. But that's what's fun, managing when you can go after it.

Q. You had a lot of guys out there. I know you're focused on tomorrow and stuff, but at the same time with Bryce, Martin, Bryce threw the live, Jimenez and then Lane threw. Is there any updates for all four guys there? Martin, you know --

WALT WEISS: It's tough to look into the future. I just know these guys obviously aren't available for this round. Are they available for next round? I have no idea really.

So, yeah, those are conversations for later date. The focus is on this round right now, but it was good. It was good to see Bryce out there. He looked good. So, yeah, all I know is they're not available for this round.

Q. With Jimenez, it feels like he's not going to come back until next year, but could he pitch this year? I know I've asked you that four or five times, but as long as he keeps throwing --

WALT WEISS: I think you look at it from 10,000 feet. He hasn't pitched in two years. I love Joe, and I love his perseverance, and I'm happy for him for where he's at right now relative to what it was six months ago, but you know, it's obviously a long shot for that to happen. He hasn't pitched in a couple of years, and to throw him into a postseason game, I don't even know if that's fair to him, you know?

Q. You have your roster pretty much set going into tomorrow? Would there be discussions throughout the night?

WALT WEISS: Yeah, we're still having those discussions. We had some already. I think it's a little different when it's a three-game series. You're not going to use a lot of arms.

Like I said, you're going to your guys, so that's one thing I think to keep in mind. The roster may look a little different that way just because, yeah, you're not pitching like a 12th or 13th guy in a three-game series.

Q. What did you think of Suarez when he got to see action on Tuesday and Saturday?

WALT WEISS: I thought the ball was coming out well. He rebounded and responded well to the outings. Look, I'm sure when someone has been out that long, it's not going to be perfect. There's some rust to knock off, you know what I mean? But it looked pretty darn good, so I feel comfortable putting him in a big spot in a playoff game because of how talented he is and what the upside is even though he's missed a lot of time.

Q. Michael Harris has probably had his most consistent year at the plate. How big has it been for you guys to have him play like that?

WALT WEISS: Yeah, huge. He's had a great year. You look at the numbers, and really good and playing Gold Glove defense as usual. So, yeah, he's been one of our most consistent performers. Absolutely. And moving the needle on both sides of the ball, so heck of a year from Michael. Really starting to come into his own as a player.

Like I've said many times this year, I think he's just maturing as a player and figuring some things out after a handful of years in the league. But, yeah, outstanding year from him.

Q. You set out every year to get to this, to get to this opportunity, and coming from where you were in '25 dealing with a lot of injuries, a lot of different things, has anything about this team and this resilience of what it's accomplished this year surprised you and even whatever expectations you came to Spring Training with?

WALT WEISS: I don't know if it surprised me, but I'm really proud of the way they've responded to all that stuff this year. I've said this before, but I think it's because of the strength of the room and the people in that room. You don't overcome those things just with talent.

Again, I said the first day of Spring Training when I got in front of them that our talent wasn't going to be enough to get to where we wanted to go. I think they're living proof of that.

It's a talented room, and I said this to them. We're talented, but there's other teams in the league that are just as talented or maybe more talented than us. That's not going to do it. It's got to be all the other stuff. It's got to be performing for their team, you know, holding each other accountable, all those other things that you can't quantify, but we know are real. Our guys have been really good at that stuff.

Q. Considering how well the team has performed here at home, how big is it to have that home field advantage for the entire series?

WALT WEISS: Yeah, I think it's huge. You know, obviously you still have to go out and play well. You don't play well, it doesn't matter where you're playing, you're not going to win.

But we've played well here. It's a great atmosphere. I think our guys are -- I think they really enjoy playing here in front of this crowd. So, yeah, I think it's a big deal.

Q. There's been a number of occasions when guys were throwing live BP, and we might be able to tell during the game sort of this chemistry that everybody talks about, but when you look to your left and right, you see everybody out there watching Joe Jimenez throw, watching Martin Perez throw, watching Bryce throw today. Is that maybe the tell that is really more representative of what these guys think and feel about each other?

WALT WEISS: Yeah, I think that's one of the tells. I think you just watch 'em interact over the course of a day every single day. You can tell it's real.

You know, again, I told them on day one, the ideal clubhouse is one that's loose and fun, but focused. I think that's exactly what they are. I mean, they have a good time in that clubhouse, and I think they really look forward to getting here every day so they can be in that environment and that clubhouse, because I think they love it. They love being together.

But then when it's time to play, the focus is good, and that's when they take care of business.

Q. Is it easier to kind of handle personnel when you have a good group of guys that just is all in it together like this?

WALT WEISS: Oh, for sure. That's the last thing you want to do as a manager is to be babysitting. That's the stuff that drives you nuts in any leadership role. You know, I always talk to them about we need grown men, right? We need grown men to get through the challenges that this league is going to throw at us.

I think when your great players, your best players are your best pros, it really raises the bar. You got a guy like Chris Sale and a guy like Matt Olson that do everything right, and I'm just naming a couple. I can go on. That really raises the bar. I think it's one of the most powerful things on a team in our sport because we're together every day.

If those guys are operating the way they do, the other guys have to too, because our best players, the way they operate, I guess that's how we do it. You know, it's very powerful.