Evan Phillips is among the Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitchers who will be unavailable for the Tokyo Series in Japan later this month because of injury.
The right-hander is still recovering from a tear in his right rotator cuff that he sustained during the team’s run to winning the World Series.
Phillips was not able to have a normal throwing program during the offseason, which limited him at the start of Spring Training. Phillips continues to make progress, however, and threw his third bullpen session of the spring on Wednesday.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Phillips looked like his usual self on the mound during a bullpen session on Wednesday, per Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“It was the best one he’s had,” Roberts said of Wednesday’s throwing session. “He used his entire pitch mix. … Today was a big step in the right direction. If I hadn’t known any better, he was in midseason form.”
Roberts added Phillips could join the Dodgers at some point in April:
Phillips has progressed ahead of Kopech and could be activated “some time in the first, second week of April is totally on the table,” Roberts said.
Roberts previously noted that Phillips’ recovery from the shoulder injury had been going well but wanted to make sure he is completely healthy before pitching in a game.
“He’s much better off, but we feel that given his workload, intensity of it, to start a little bit later, there’s just not a whole lot of cost to that,” Roberts said earlier this spring of Phillips not being ready for Opening Day.
The 30-year-old is expected to once again have a key role in the Dodgers’ bullpen this season.
He struggled after the All-Star break last year but bounced back by throwing 6.2 scoreless innings in the National League Division Series and Championship Series before missing the World Series because of the shoulder injury.
Evan Phillips among injured Dodgers relief pitchers
Along with Phillips missing the Tokyo Series, the Dodgers will be without Brusdar Graterol, who underwent right shoulder surgery during the offseason.
Michael Kopech will likely be unavailable for Opening Day as he is recovering from right forearm inflammation that originally surfaced during the playoffs last year.
Meanwhile, Michael Grove (right shoulder) and Edgardo Henriquez (left foot) also won’t be ready for the start of the 2025 season.
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