NL WILDCARD GAME: PHILLIES VS BRAVES

October 1, 2026

Mike Yastrzemski

Truist Park

Atlanta Braves

Pregame Press Conference

Q. Yaz, one of the things everyone is talking about is just that Ray is going to take the mound tonight. You obviously get to see him in the clubhouse every day. What kind of guy is he, and why do you believe he's ready for this moment tonight?

MIKE YASTRZEMSKI: I mean, I think as part of the media, you guys probably read the article about him in The Athletic. He's a guy who's been through a lot in his life, and a moment like this is probably minuscule compared to the things that he's experienced.

But that doesn't define him. So I think he's gone through a lot this year. He's been in Triple-A, he's been with us for a while. He's opened. He's closed. He's pitched in every scenario that we've needed him to. He's an even-keeled guy. You're going to get the same guy that's shown up all year. So looking forward to watching him, and it'll be a really cool experience for him.

Q. After a pair of 2:00 starts, what does it mean to you knowing that Braves fans gobbled up every single seat ready to watch you guys put on a show and support you in this situation?

MIKE YASTRZEMSKI: Yeah, I mean, that's always the goal in these situations is to give us a home-field advantage. We worked so hard for it all year to be able to play these games here, so hopefully we can apply a little bit more pressure to them with some crowd noise and have some fun out there with it.

Q. What was the night like last night not really knowing what time you were going to play today?

MIKE YASTRZEMSKI: Kind of the same, right. You prep for your earliest morning, and if you woke up at your alarm, you could check and see that we got a text and shut it off and go back to sleep for a little bit if you could. I was fortunate enough to wake up for 4:00 a.m. bathroom break in the middle of my sleep, so I got a little head start on finding out that we were playing the later game. So just shifted the alarm and was able to get some extra sleep.

Q. Mauricio said regardless of what happened with before, 45, 50 home runs, it doesn't matter. It's all about what happens today. How important is it to carry that mindset into a winner-take-all?

MIKE YASTRZEMSKI: I think that's the only way to go about it, right. There's only two outcomes here; we either win or we lose. I think the only thing that can get in our way of playing our best is fear. So not having fear of making a mistake, not having the fear of going home, you've got to put all that aside and play aggressive, play hard, leave everything you have on the field.

That's part of the beauty of this game is if you go out there, play your best game, you may not be on the winning side of things, but you can at least go home and get a good night's sleep knowing that you left nothing else possibly out there. And the only thing that holds you back from that is fear.

I think what Duby talks about all the time is playing with that aggression, playing like dawgs and just being ourselves. You'll see a lot of smiles from us today. There's going to be laughs. There's going to be -- that's who this team is. We enjoy being here. We have fun doing it. The fact that it could be the last game isn't going to change the fact that we're going to have fun. It'll be a good atmosphere for sure.

Q. Going off that a little bit, what is it like in the clubhouse? Are there conversations? Is it more lighthearted? How are you harnessing that moment? A peek behind the curtain, if you will, of the mindset?

MIKE YASTRZEMSKI: Yeah, it feels like any other day right now. I don't know if you like to hear that or not, but that's just the reality of things. It's another game. There are repercussions at the end of the game, but for us to play our best, it has to be just another game. Because if we start thinking about things and overanalyzing how a pitcher is going to throw, what a hitter is going to be looking for, that's how you get locked up in those moments.

Trusting our preparation, trusting all the work we've put in the whole season is the way we're going to be able to play loose. Guys like Ozzie and Ronny and Duby that are laughing and having a good time and bringing out the best in everyone, that's what they're going to be doing today because that's how we operate.

Q. What's the challenge of facing Aaron Nola tonight?

MIKE YASTRZEMSKI: You know, for a veteran pitcher like that, I think it's a big game for him, which is usually when you get the best version of those guys.

With Nola recently, it's been command heavy. You expect him to command the fastball to both sides of the plate. He's been working his curveball a lot recently.

I think it's about preying on his mistakes and hoping that he makes a lot of them early and we're ready to go in those situations. It's time to be aggressive today. You've got to be ready to jump on them from inning one and stay on them and hope that you just take the wind out from their sails.