GLENDALE, Ariz. — Evan Phillips had a front row seat for the Dodgers’ World Series victory over the New York Yankees last October. He never left that seat.
“Man, those feelings that run through your body when you think it should have been you (going into the game) are really hard to deal with,” said Phillips, who was not on the Dodgers’ roster for the World Series due to a shoulder injury. “I was having a really hard time at home handling it.”
Phillips’ injury was more serious than the Dodgers let on at the time and seems likely to land him on the injured list to start the 2025 season.
The 30-year-old reliever led the Dodgers with 18 saves during the regular season last year and pitched 6⅔ scoreless innings over five appearances in their National League Division Series and NL Championship Series victories.
But during the NLCS, he suffered a tear in his subscapularis, a tendon in the back of the shoulder, the largest muscle in the rotator cuff.
“I did not bounce back well after Game 6 (of the NLCS). I could tell something wasn’t right,” Phillips said at Camelback Ranch on Tuesday. “I felt better after a day’s rest. I took Monday off. Tuesday, I came in and felt confident about it. Played catch and it just didn’t go well.”
The next day as the Dodgers prepared to play the Yankees in the World Series, Phillips underwent an MRI which revealed the tear. He received a cortisone injection, hoping to “accelerate” the healing enough for him to pitch in the World Series. It didn’t work and Phillips sat out the most important games of the year.
“Could I have gone out there and thrown the ball? Maybe. But I wanted to make sure if I was pitching, I was in a position to help the team and I just wasn’t there,” he said. “It was really, really hard. Fortunately those games went really well for us. But I’ll tell you what, sitting down in the bullpen with tennis shoes watching a spot for myself to go in the game and watching another guy go in … they all did unbelievably.”
Phillips said the exams of his shoulder did not show sufficient damage to require surgery but he did receive a platelet-rich plasma injection when the team returned from New York. In December, he had a follow-up MRI that showed things were “trending in the right direction” but “I think they still saw some damage in there.”
As a result, his throwing program in December was limited to medicine balls and light plyometric balls. He didn’t pick up a baseball until Jan. 1 and has only progressed to throwing long toss as camp opens this week, putting him behind schedule to be ready for the start of the season – and making him a very long shot to be ready for the games in Tokyo on March 18 and 19.
“I know they’re looking out for my best interests in the training room, the front office guys. They want to take care of me so that when I am back I’m good to go,” Phillips said.
“I’ve never been in this situation coming into a season. I’ve never been ‘off track’ for lack of a better term. I was eager to start throwing in December when I thought I felt well enough to start throwing. But got push back from the team to hold off another month just to be patient with it.
“I should be on a mound soon here. From there, chip away at it. Maybe get in some games and we’ll see where we’re at.”
With the Dodgers’ bullpen fortified by the offseason additions of Tanner Scott (a good friend of Phillips) and Kirby Yates, the Dodgers are unlikely to rush Phillips back. He understands that but tries not to look beyond each day.
“We’ll see how I progress, see how I bounce back,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a fluid progression at this point, based on how I respond. Things have been good so far. I’m just hoping that trend continues.”