Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola can become the best tandem in Phillies history if they throttle the Braves

ATLANTA — It’s important to acknowledge greatness in its moment. It’s fulfilling to recognize history as it’s being made.

If Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola pitch like they’ve been pitching, they should shut down the most magnificent offense of ultramodern times. If that happens, the Phillies should sweep the Braves. And if that happens, the Phillies would reach the National League Championship Series for a second straight season, something they’ve done just four times in the 54-year history of the event.

Wheeler starts Game 2 of the NL Division Series against the Braves here Monday. Nola starts Game 3 in Philadelphia on Wednesday. Wheeler is, by any measure, the most consistently excellent pitcher in the majors since 2018. Nola is in the top 10. They’re seldom mentioned among the game’s dominant starters. That will change if they shut down the Big Braves Machine.

They will be Philadelphia legends.

The sample size is small since the Phillies, historically, rarely make the playoffs. The bar is low since, historically, the team’s playoff pitching largely has been ordinary. But Wheeler and Nola are making a compelling argument that, if postseason performance matters most, they’re the best combination in Phillies history.

They’ve pitched great in their 13 combined playoff starts over the past two seasons. In the past few weeks, they’re pitching better than they’ve ever pitched.

“Those are tough rides, I’ll tell you that,” said Braves manager Brian Snitker after a Game 1 loss Saturday. “They’re two of the really, really — two of the game’s best, I think: competitors, stuff, the whole thing. It’s not an easy task.”

It wasn’t easy for the last guy, either.

“The Nola-Wheeler combo right there was as good as you’re going to find in the major leagues,” said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, whose club scored one run in 13⅔ innings against the Wheeler-Nola combo in the Phillies’ two-game wild-card sweep.

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So, clearly, they’re the best Batman & Robin in the league today; they have been, really, since Wheeler signed as a free agent before the 2020 season. After four seasons together, they already might be the best pitching tandem in Phillies history. If they close out the Braves, they come much closer to closing out that argument.

Playoff pitching matters more; it’s the main reason Curt Schilling was a serious Hall of Fame candidate. Schill was part of the dynamic duo in Arizona with Randy Johnson and in Boston with Pedro Martinez and Josh Beckett, but not with the Phillies.

Robin Roberts and Curt Simmons might claim this title, but their Phillies only reached the postseason once, in 1950. Unfortunately, by the stretch run that season, Simmons’ National Guard unit had been called up and he missed the World Series (it also cost him the 1951 season). It should be noted, though, that until 1969, the only postseason was the World Series.

Cole Hamels and Roy Halladay put together a fierce run in 2010 and 2011, when they combined to give up 12 runs in 59 playoff innings, a 1.83 ERA. But they started just eight games and they never reached the World Series.

They also never faced the 1927 Yankees, the 1975 Reds, or the 2023 Braves.

By some advanced metrics that attempt to include base running, ballparks, and even eras of competition, these Braves, with due respect to Messrs. Ruth and Gehrig, represent the most potent offense in baseball history. This, of course, adds weight to whatever Wheeler and Nola do Monday and Wednesday. If it approaches what their lesser staffmates did in Game 1 on Saturday, the weight of evidence will be overwhelming.

Ranger Suarez opened with 3⅔ innings of scoreless, almost flawless baseball. Well-rested and eager, 98-mph relievers Jeff Hoffman, Seranthony Domínguez, Orion Kerkering, José Alvarado, and Craig Kimbrel shared the rest of the load.

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After an off day Sunday, and with an off day Tuesday, those relievers will be just as well-rested and even more eager for Wheeler’s and Nola’s starts.

They just might need them.

For all their effectiveness, Wheeler and Nola haven’t be unbreakable. At least, not every outing.

Their 3.12 ERA in 13 playoff starts is very good; superb, really, if you grade on the curve of aggregate fatigue and opposition potency. But again, these are the Braves.

Their current hitters are hitting .217 against Wheeler; but Ronald Acuña Jr., the putative MVP, has four homers off both Wheeler and Nola. Travis D’Arnaud is hitting .381 with a 1.006 OPS against Wheeler, and Austin Riley eats Nola’s lunch: 21-for-51 (.412) with five homers and a 1.180 OPS.

It’s just as notable that Bryce Harper, Nick Castellanos, Trea Turner, and J.T. Realmuto generally punish Braves starter Max Fried, but the Phillies offense, while fearsome, isn’t downright terrifying.

But this might engender trepidation in the Braves: In their last eight combined starts (four apiece), Wheeler and Nola have allowed 11 earned runs in 48 innings.

That’s a 2.06 ERA.

That’s a recipe for greatness.