The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Phillips makes living off of his deception
LOS ANGELES >> It wasn’t the best pitch Evan Phillips threw on the Dodgers’ homestand, but it might have been the most telling. It’s called a “back foot slider” in the baseball parlance — a breaking ball that starts over the plate, then veers inside and down — and it isn’t a literal term. Usually.
The Dodgers and Tigers were tied, 1-1, in the seventh inning on Saturday when Jeimer Candelario, a left-handed hitter, dug in against the right-handed Phillips. The 1-and-1 pitch started over the plate. Candelario started to swing. By the time he held up, the ball was careening off his left knee, which had buckled to the ground.
Phillips, 27, has mastered one skill better than anyone in the Dodgers’ bullpen. He gets opponents to swing at pitches out of the strike zone and rarely gets them to swing at pitches in the zone.
Through Tuesday, 466 pitchers had thrown at least five innings this season. Only two, Phillips and Oakland’s Sam Moll, had batters swinging at fewer than half of all pitches thrown in the strike zone, according to Fangraphs. Phillips is also getting batters to chase; among Dodger pitchers, only lefty Alex Vesia is better. It’s the surest sign of deception.
“I wouldn’t say it’s something I lock in on and see how (hitters) react or anything, because at the end of the day I’m going to do what I do well,” Phillips said. “You take it in. More advanced hitters may have a different reaction to certain pitches. It really doesn’t change too much.”
One night earlier, Phillips struck out Miguel Cabrera on three consecutive pitches. The future Hall of Famer walked back to the Tigers’ dugout shaking his head.
In each case, Phillips’ deception rested on his slider, a pitch he’s been throwing since late in the 2019 season when he was still with the Baltimore Orioles. The Dodgers haven’t tinkered much with Phillips’ favorite pitch but rather focused on helping him command the pitch in and out of the zone.
To that end, the righthander said he was able to lock in on a physical cue that allows him to be consistent.
“It’s kind of quirky, but each pitcher has a physical or mental cue that helps lock them in on what they need to do with their hand or their arm through their release point,” he said. “Once I found that physical mechanism, it was really easy to maintain the consistency.”
An infield single Wednesday was only the fifth hit Phillips has allowed in 10 innings this season. He has struck out 13 batters and walked one.
Pitching probables
Friday’s game in Chicago marks the beginning of a stretch of 30 games in 31 days for the Dodgers. Tyler Anderson will start that game against the Cubs, followed by Clayton Kershaw on Saturday and Walker Buehler on Sunday.
The Cubs have not announced their probable starters for the three-game series.
Julio Urías and Tony Gonsolin, who swapped spots in the rotation when the San Francisco Giants came to town, will maintain that order when the Dodgers visit Pittsburgh for three games beginning Monday. That lines up Anderson to pitch the finale of the series.
Also
David Price was cleared to rejoin his teammates in the clubhouse after passing MLB’S COVID-19 protocols. The veteran pitcher will join the Dodgers on the road trip, but Roberts said there is no timeline for Price to be activated. … Oklahoma City Dodgers pitcher Ryan Pepiot was named Pitcher of the Month for April by the Triple-a Pacific Coast League. The right-hander went 2-0 with a 1.66 ERA in five starts, with 29 strikeouts in 21-2/3 innings. … The low-a California League chose Rancho Cucamonga outfielder Damon Keith as its Player of the Month for April. The Dodgers’ 18th-round pick in 2021 slashed .391/.519/.672 for the month.