Dodgers pitcher Evan Phillips delivers against the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 26. Phillips will undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery on June 4, Dave Roberts said. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Dodgers reliever Evan Phillips is scheduled to get Tommy John surgery next week and will miss the rest of the season, manager Dave Roberts announced Friday.
Phillips had missed the last three weeks because of forearm discomfort — and had not progressed in his recovery despite initial optimism that he would only miss the minimum 15 days on the injured list.
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“Obviously, very disappointing,” Roberts said, acknowledging some unfortunate surprise that what started as a seemingly minor issue became so severe. “More disappointed for Evan, but he just wasn’t responding to the rest and then try to ramp back up. Ultimately, that was kind of the advice and the route he decided to go.”
Phillips, 30, started this season in the IL while recovering from a partially torn rotator cuff he suffered in last year’s postseason.
He returned in late April and made seven scoreless appearances before getting hurt during the Dodgers‘ trip to Miami earlier this month.
“I do feel like I can still contribute,” Phillips said at the time of his initial placement on the IL as a “precautionary” move. “But I think what it comes down to is we don’t want to mess around with something in early May.”
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The abundance of caution didn’t lead to a better result.
Despite getting plasma-rich platelet injections, according to general manager Brandon Gomes, Phillips’ arm didn’t feel right as he attempted to restart playing catch in recent days.
“As we started getting into it, it wasn’t really responding,” Gomes said. “We felt like this could be a possibility. So as he got deeper into the process and it wasn’t really getting better, the decision to do it was pretty much evident with our information.”
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Asked if Phillips’ elbow injury might have been a byproduct of his offseason shoulder issue, Gomes shrugged.
“It’s tough to go down a thousand different rabbit holes.”
Without Phillips, the Dodgers will be down one of their most trusted right-handed arms in recent years. Already, the club had been without Blake Treinen, Michael Kopech, Kirby Yates and Brusdar Graterol because of injuries. While they’re all expected to return in the…