The Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen was an area of strength for the team during the 2022 season, highlighted by Evan Phillips being among the relief pitchers to take a significant step forward.
Phillips had some moments of pitching well after getting claimed off waivers by the Dodgers last year and benefitted from spending an offseason working with their coaching staff.
Behind a refined pitch mix, Phillips went 7-3 with two saves, a 1.14 ERA and 1.26 WHIP over a career-high 64 appearances. That level of success earned the right-hander praise from Justin Turner.
In a response to MLB Network on Twitter, Turner named Phillips as the relief pitcher who was “most underrated” this past season.
— Justin Turner (@redturn2) December 4, 2022
Although Phillips was inexplicably snubbed from the 2022 All-Star Game, he’s among the Dodgers’ nominees for the All-MLB Team.
Phillips established himself as a high-leverage option for Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, but found comfort with the bullpen not having defined roles.
“Our staff does a great job of communicating what might be expected of us each and every night,” Phillips said last month.
“So I think on a day-to-day basis they approach us with maybe a stretch of hitters or a line of innings that they’re expecting out of us. They do a great job of letting us know early enough to where we can prepare in the bullpen.
“Even if they don’t, even if for whatever reason they haven’t communicated that message, each of us has a good feel for what the starting pitcher is doing and when we need to prepare and how we need to move around and get ready to go in and pitch.”
Evan Phillips arbitration
Phillips is among the Dodgers eligible for salary arbitration heading into the 2023 season, which he qualified for as a Super Two player.
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