The Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen continued to struggle Monday night, with Alex Vesia and Phil Bickford the culprits in an 8-6 loss to the New York Mets. Meanwhile, Evan Phillips never appeared despite a prime high-leverage situation arising.
As Vesia took over with two outs in the sixth inning to face Daniel Vogelbach with a runner on second base, Mets manager Buck Showalter countered the pitching change by using pinch-hitter Tommy Pham. He was intentionally walked and Vesia struck out Mets prospect Brett Baty to keep the game tied.
Vesia was sent back out in the seventh inning, with Tomás Nido, the left-handed hitting Brandon Nimmo and Starling Marte due up. They loaded the bases on three consecutive hits, with Nimmo’s a dribbler that went for an infield single.
Phillips never began to so much as warm up in the bullpen, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts turned to Bickford at that point. Bickford balked in the go-ahead run before throwing a single pitch.
Roberts argued with home-plate umpire Mark Ripperger about his call, though acknowledged after the loss that Bickford did violate the rule.
“I looked back at the video, and he did balk. It’s a double set that he’s always doing, and I didn’t see it, but it was more egregious than it normally is,” Roberts said.
Francisco Lindor’s RBI groundout drove in an insurance run and Bickford then gave up an RBI single to Pete Alonso.
While filling a fireman role last season, Phillips would have been the easy choice to enter a tied game with the bases loaded. But this year Roberts has more frequently saved the right-hander for eighth or ninth inning.
“I think there’s always going to be a spot every night for a guy like Evan,” Roberts said. “You can’t fire that bullet every night, and to be quite honest, I liked Vesia going back out there to get the nine hitter and the lefty.
“I don’t expect three straight hits, to be quite honest. You have to understand the rhythm of the game, too. If I knew it was going to be bases loaded and Evan was ready, but I’m not going into that inning expecting bases loaded with nobody out.
“I felt good with Alex going right there and taking one or two outs, potentially three hitters, and having Phil behind him. … Right now, we’ve got a handful of guys, half the guys that are in a good spot and trending the right way. And some other guys that are trying to figure it out.
“These are our guys, they have track records and we’ve got to keep running them out there. They’ve got to perform.”
Is Evan Phillips the Dodgers closer?
After Craig Kimbrel struggled and was not re-signed, the Dodgers went into the 2023 season without a set closer. However, Phillips is considered the de facto option for the ninth inning.
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