Schumaker on Phillies’ Wheeler and Nola: ‘Those guys are going to haunt my dreams’

Sometimes, you don’t have to overthink it.

Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola combined to cover 13 2/3 of the 18 innings needed to take down the Miami Marlins in two games to advance to the Division Series and take on the Atlanta Braves.

The pair of Philadelphia Phillies aces allowed only one run across those 13 2/3 innings.

The Wild Card round is a scary time. Six months and 162 games comes down to a best-of-three series. Some say the playoffs are a crapshoot, but when you have two of the best starters in the sport at your disposal, the winning formula is simple.

Through four starts in the Wild Card round dating back to 2022, Wheeler and Nola have a combined 0.34 ERA over 26 2/3 innings.

Marlins manager Skip Schmaker has seen enough. He’s fallen victim to the duo twice over the last two years — once as the St. Louis Cardinals bench coach and once as the manager of the Marlins.

“Those guys are going to haunt my dreams,” Schumaker said postgame. “Last year they kicked us out in St. Louis, and this year they kicked us out here in Miami. They were the common denominator.”

Wheeler turned in perhaps the most dominant start of his 2023 season in Game 1 Tuesday, striking out eight batters and limiting the Marlins to one run on five hits over 6 2/3 innings pitched. It was exactly the type of outing you would expect from the pitcher who led all of baseball in FanGraphs‘ calculation of WAR this season, and has been one of the five best pitchers in baseball since signing a five-year/$118 million deal to join the Phillies in advance of the 2020 season.

It may be overstating things to call Nola’s Game 2 performance a pleasant surprise, but there were unquestionably some trials for the longest-tenured Phillie during a regular season that saw him surrender a career-high 32 home runs and post a 4.46 ERA over 193 2/3 innings pitched.

But with a chance to close the Marlins out, Nola also had what may have been his best start of the season. While he struck just three batters out, he induced two double plays and allowed only three hits over seven shutout innings. It was quite the follow-up performance to his excellent Sept. 26 outing against the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he allowed just one run over 6 2/3 innings pitched in the game that the Phillies eventually clinched a playoff berth in.

When you follow a team for 162 games, you’re going to notice things that more casual observers — or those primarily focused on other teams — don’t. And it’s OK to voice valid criticisms. But the NLWCS was a reminder of just how good of a pairing Wheeler and Nola can be when they are both on, and perhaps the best argument for re-signing the latter this offseason.

Phillies Nation’s Destiny Lugardo contributed to this story.

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