The Dodgers looking to sweep the Mariners tonight. And we're joined right now by Dodgers super reliever, the one and only Evan Phillips, who hasn't been on the show in a while. But you know, we got to let the season breed, let it marinate, right Evan, you don't want to see me too much?
Yeah?
Absolutely, And I only people can only handle so much.
At David Basse, you know, thanks a lot for the time and obviously very happy that you've been able to write the ship. What's been the process for you.
You know, coming off the hamstring injury.
I think we were just a little, uh maybe too patient, too passive with getting my body completely back on track. And I think everything felt so close for you know, really about a month there, and we were just kind of towing that line for a while about how we wanted to go about it, and eventually we really just decided to challenge my lower half and and really you know,
focus on getting things back in line. And you know, when we did that, you know, we get the physical side in line, the mental peace right, and then an overall you know game plan in line as well. I think, you know, putting those pieces together has really, you know, been the reason I've seen this upswing, you know, coming off of that, that's the rough pass for me.
What about the trust factor? I hear so many guys, even as recently with Gavin Lex where you just got to trust that your body's completely healthy. Was there a mental hurdle to be crossed as well?
You know, it's hard to say, because something that I never felt, you know, wrong physically.
I think there was just some.
Some things mechanically that we're getting out of whack that you know, once we addressed it and you know, kind of took the chain of events that that created, right, So we kind of analyze the issue and then you know, get get it right in the weight room, get right in the training room, and then get my mental side you know, locked in as well. And then yeah, at the end of the day, you got to go out there and trust those factors and trust all that preparation,
and trust your talent too. I think that was a big part of it for me, is that, you know, pitching, being a reliever, those things just in general, there's gonna be some variants, right, You're gonna get You're gonna have your audience where you give up runs and the game's gonna you know, get you here and there. But being able to trust that you can go out there and get the job done still, well, uh, it's definitely a big part of it.
You know. It's funny.
I got a phone call from Oral Herscheizer this morning and he was speaking to me like you would speak to you about pitching and deliveries and all that, and he said, if you were so focused about where the ball is coming out of your hand, it's too late. Were you working on the foundation of where your delivery was at even before you got there.
No, you know, it was something that I never really
took to the mound. I think that was it was always something that would be we would talk about it after the fact, and it would always come from, you know, I'm mis executing a pitch and you know the results, you know, may have been a home run or extra base hit, something that affects the game, right, So we would you know, take a look under the hood and be like, man, I just you know, my body wasn't quite in the right spot there, and I would why is this happening?
Things like that.
But you know, especially as a reliever, it's so hard to go out there and focus on mechanics. We have to go out there and try to just be as cerebral as we can and trust that our talent's gonna and all the work that we put in is going to you know, be what takes us, you know, through
the outing. So there was a bit of frustration in that regard for you know, not being on top of it sooner, uh, you know, because it cost us games, It costs me you know, uh, statistics on the season, and obviously you know, everybody wants to perform well.
So it was very frustrating in that regard.
But I think we're also very proud of, you know, once we got under the hood and really took a closer look at things.
So how fast we've been able to come out of it.
Dodger's super reliever Evan Phillips is our guest and on Brand has a baseball in his and and is playing with grips. How often do you play with grips.
I wouldn't say I'm playing with grips.
It's more I would just treat it like a like a fidget spinner, right, It's just something something to do. I have a ball in my car that I'm just always toying around with one. I have one with me all the time in the bullpen, just messing around, and you.
Know, it's kind of like a little uh it just comforting, right.
It just feels good to play around with it and kind of lock in my feels and things like that, because, uh, you know, it's not that I'm searching for anything, right, but it's it's always good to just you feel comfort in knowing that you can go out there and trust your grips and and let things rip. So you know, there's a bit of that baked into it, but it's also us you know, a lot of fun to spin around and play with.
Yeah, you do a pretty good job of doing that in the bullpen and on the mound. I was wondering if you could take us into the bullpen because you guys have been so nimble coming in in different situations no matter what the inning is. What are the conversations like amongst relievers as the game is unfolding?
You know, I think we have a lot of leadership down there that has done a lot of different things, you know, throughout their time and throughout their careers. So being able to lean on those guys and communicate, you know, our thoughts about you know, some of the fluidness of our roles, and I think, you know, the staff does a great job of communicating that on a day to
day basis to us. But then it's our job to you know, have that expectation when the phone rings, we're just gonna get ready to be prepared to go.
Get our outs.
And so some nights it might look different than others, you know, like kudos to Anthony Banda, Alex Vesia, you know myself, Danie Hudson, you can go down the line, and we've all kind of contributed in different spots this year, and you know, we don't you know, we're not upset about it one bit because we understand that the objective is to go out there and win the game.
So however we can go out there and contribute on a day to day basis is. You know that that's our job each and every night.
You guys have been leaned upon quite a bit over the course of the second half of the season, getting guys like Brazier, Joe Kelly back, also Blake Trendon's coming back. How much does that help the rest of you guys that have been there all season long, shouldering the innings.
Yeah, you know, keeping our guys, you know, fresh and getting our guys healthy is as much as possible, is going to be a huge factor for us down the stretch. And that includes you know, Bruce Dark Gratterol as well. We are so so excited to get him back hopefully here soon. Yeah, as these pieces come together, as we get healthy in other parts of the game, We're really just hoping to build you know, what this team's going to look like going down the stretch and heading into the postseason.
All right, Evan, thanks a lot for the time. Really appreciate it. Always learns something from you, So thank you for your time and look forward to seeing you sometime in the game tonight.
Absolutely, Thanks Dave.