The Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen has stepped up in a major way during the 2024 postseason with Evan Phillips among those finding success.
The right-hander has allowed just two hits over 5.1 scoreless innings with six strikeouts against one walk.
Phillips was key in the Dodgers staving off elimination against the San Diego Padres as he retired all four batters faced in Game 4 of the National League Division Series.
Phillips also pitched in the winner-take-all Game 5 and struck out three batters over 1.2 scoreless innings. He most notably faced Fernando Tatis Jr., Jurickson Profar and Manny Machado for the second consecutive game.
Facing the same pitcher in back-to-back games can be advantageous to hitters, but Phillips doesn’t see it that way. “A lot of that is felt in the moment within each at-bat,” he began.
“Thankfully from our game-planning point of view we have more than one way to get a guy out. So whether or not we showed our whole game plan to one guy, it’s probably unlikely that we did.
“So we still feel confident even if we faced a guy a couple times or back-to-back days, whatever it may be, we still feel confident in our plan.”
Phillips also expressed confidence in Will Smith’s and Austin Barnes’ ability to change things on the fly if a batter picks up on something. “I think that’s between the pitcher and catcher relationship,” Phillips said.
“That’s something that Will and Austin Barnes do such a great job of throughout the regular season, is getting a feel for the game. It’s something that the starters might see throughout their stint or even an at-bat that a batter had against a different reliever. It might change I do something.
“So that chemistry that is built up through the course of the year, plus that experience you get in the postseason really helps in situations like that.”
Evan Phillips praises Dodgers bullpen
The Dodgers bullpen collectively shut down the Padres in Game 4 of the NLDS to keep their season alive, which Phillips did not find surprising. “I suppose doing it at that time on a big stage like that in an elimination game, it shows that we’re braced to do it at any point,” he said.
“I think we’ve kind of built up that confidence and that equity in bullpen games over the course of the past few seasons. Really, my whole time as a Dodger, bullpen games are a piece of how we run things here.
“We’re certainly excited about the opportunity to have a piece in it tomorrow.”
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