As the calendar reads a little over a year since the Dodgers claimed the right-handed pitcher off waivers, it’s safe to say that the Evan Phillips experience has been an unbridled success. Heading into the final stretch of the regular season, EP has become one of Dave Roberts’ most trusted arms out of the bullpen.
This season, the 27-year-old reliever has pitched in 48 games after Friday night’s latest appearance. As you can see, the numbers are quite impressive…
Roberts decided to select Phillips over Craig Kimbrel to close the game which might have shocked some people but also might have brought some relief to others. Ultimately, it was a situation where Kimbrel — who has 5 losses this season and a 4.45 ERA — had recently come off a stretch of three appearances in 5 days. But it was also a show of where Doc’s trust is with the dominant Phillips.
Evan has one of the lowest ERA’s owned by a reliever and has shut down batters time and time again not only when he’s closing games but in other big game scenarios as a reliever. He’s collected 56 K’s this season and is projected to be a force to be reckoned with in the postseason.
Put all that together, and it’s not a shock to learn that the reliever was recently named as the Dodgers’ most indispensable player in their 2022 playoff run.
Jim Bowden of The Athletic praised the one-time unknown reliever. LA General Manager, Brandon Gomes, also had this to say about Phillips a year after acquiring him from the Rays,
“Evan has shown that he can handle any situation Doc puts him in, and that he has the weapons to attack the strike zone and gets swings and misses vs. both right-handed and left-handed hitters.”
With a few pitchers returning from the IL and Phillips continuing to dominate game after game, the Dodgers bullpen is looking more and more dangerous heading into the last few months of the season in hopes of securing a World Series pennant. Let’s just hope everyone stays healthy.
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