NL WILDCARD GAME: PHILLIES VS BRAVES

September 29, 2026

Walt Weiss

Truist Park

Atlanta Braves

Pregame Press Conference

Q. Walt, when you made the decision to have Baldwin catch and Murphy sit today, what went into that?

WALT WEISS: It's a bit of a challenge with not knowing how long Luzardo is going to go. I staggered the lineup a little bit not to stack the lefties. I wanted a left-hander down to the lower part of the order to split up the righties, and that's why I've got Yas down there.

At the same time, Baldwin has had a lot of success catching Chris Sale. Probably every catcher that's caught Sale has had a lot of success. They have a good thing going.

Murph will catch tomorrow, but yeah, there was a few different reasons why I did that.

Q. What's the thought process of Rowdy being on the roster as well as Keirsey and Williams together?

WALT WEISS: Yeah, Rowdy is a big left-handed hitter over there that maybe puts some fear into some people. We got a glimpse of him during the season and he hit a pinch-hit homer for us. He can do that.

Keirsey obviously as a base runner did a great job, Triple-A, stealing bases, running the bases. He's been impactful in that role in his short time here at the end of the year. I think virtually every time I've pinch ran him, he's scored a big run for us.

Was there somebody else?

Q. Luke Williams.

WALT WEISS: Yeah, same thing. Luke is a really smart base runner. Luke is a guy that can cover you all over the field too. Without the ghost runner at second base, these games could go 15, 16 innings. That kind of versatility helps if you get to that point.

But primarily base runner, base stealer, Luke.

Q. We talked to Matt yesterday. He unsurprisingly had a lot of nice things to say about Ronald and the impact he can make. But he said you can take all of those things and apply those to Michael Harris as well. What have you seen out of Harris this year, because it seems like when it comes to the talent, he's put it all together this season?

WALT WEISS: Yeah, I think he has. I've said this multiple times this year. I think it's just an example of a young kid that's starting to figure some things out in this league. He's still young. Doesn't feel like it because he's been around for a little while. But yeah, just making adjustments, figuring things out, maturing as a player. He's had a heck of a year both sides of the ball. It's Gold Glove defense too.

Michael, he's turning into a star.

Q. For the Wild Card series, 15 position players, 11 arms. What kind of went into prioritizing what to have for a three-game series?

WALT WEISS: In a three-game series you're just not going to use as many arms. Typically you're going to your high-leverage guys during this series. You don't necessarily need the inning eaters and those types of guys that you would typically have in the bullpen. We have some guys that go multiple innings anyway.

Yeah, just the fact that it's a three-game series, again, we went heavy on the position player side. Most teams do. There's some teams that even get down to 10 arms in a series like this. But that's the reason.

Q. You guys got Tyler Mahle. That seems to have been the perfect fit to help this rotation. Over the last couple of months you've gotten a chance to watch him pitch and pretty much looked like the best version of himself. How confident are you in what he's able to bring to this team and this Game 2 start?

WALT WEISS: Tyler has been huge for us. He's provided us with top-of-the-rotation type stuff. Been outstanding. The last one, had a bit of a tough one, but the other eight were just incredible.

Been a big boost to our club. I'm not sure we're here without him. I can say that about a lot of guys, but he's one of them.

Q. Where do you think Baldwin has grown the most defensively this year?

WALT WEISS: Probably game calling. He's a sharp kid, great kid. I always say he's made of all the right stuff: intelligent, tough, great teammate.

But I think his game calling has probably taken the biggest leap. But it's a tough position, man, for a young player these days. There's so much on a catcher's plate. It's always been a difficult position, toughest on the field. But now with ABS, they've got to be umpires too. There's a lot on their plate.

But like I said, he's made up of all the right stuff. He's a good one.

Q. In the playoffs when everything is magnified, how much do you value having the series here in Atlanta?

WALT WEISS: Yeah, it's huge. We've played well here. It's a great environment. Our guys love to play here.

Yeah, it's a big deal, I think, getting this entire series at home.

Q. One of the arms included on the Wild Card roster is Ray Kerr. What's stood out the most so far in what he's brought to the table this season?

WALT WEISS: Ray has been great. Been great for us. He's most of the time been a multi-inning guy and he's done that very well, performed very well in that role. Left-handed, it's a good arm. It's good stuff.

Another one of those great stories, right, on our club that guys that probably weren't on the radar earlier in the year and ended up making an impact. He's been really good for us.

Q. Don called Luzardo more of an opener yesterday. How skeptical are you of that and how long do you expect Luzardo to go in this game?

WALT WEISS: Who said that?

Q. Don Mattingly.

WALT WEISS: Very skeptical. (Laughter).

Donny is great, man. I think if he's pitching well, he'll keep going. That's kind of how I look at it, and that's typically how it works. I didn't put a whole lot of stock into that. I'm sure the game will dictate how deep he goes.