I talked about this a month or so ago, but with the absences of Mark Melancon and Edwin Diaz, this season especially seems to not have many true 'perennial' closers, people who've closed games for more than 5 or so years. Some of the best closers of this season, people like Camilo Doval, Jordan Romano, Felix Bautista and Devin Williams, are people who are highest on the depth chart for relief, have succeeded in middle relief work before, and don't have a more senior/proven option blocking them. Remember, Romano got the ninth after Julian Merryweather, Rafael Dolis and Kirby Yates all failed to procure the designation. Williams and Bautista have held the position since last July, when the nearest closing option was traded, without a true opening for them.
Evan Phillips, to me, falls into that category. Since roughly 2012, the ninth inning in LA has essentially belonged to two people. Kenley Jansen for most of that run, obviously, and Craig Kimbrel last year. After losing Kimbrel, the Dodgers could have easily signed another closer, or gone for a reunion with Jansen, but they chose to stick with in-house options. Only issue was their preference for the ninth, former A's/Nats closer Blake Treinen, has been injured all year, like most Dodgers pitchers apparently. So next up is Evan Phillips, who is best known for his near-untouchable 2022 in relief.
Something I didn't always know about Phillips is that it took him a while to get to LA. He came up with Atlanta, then was traded to Baltimore in the deal that provided the sole awful fit of Kevin Gausman's career, then struggled through his years there. Tragic too, as Phillips is from Salisbury, MD, so...to struggle so close to home. Bruce Zimmermann must be going through something similar. Phillips also became a rare reliever that the Rays couldn't fix, so he wound up getting handed to the Dodgers, and thankfully, the kid's found a home there.
Admittedly, Phillips hasn't needed to do much as the closer for the Dodgers, because with Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy and J.D. Martinez on your team, the games aren't going to be close especially often. Phillips has 14 saves at the current moment, which is far from the league mark, or even the division high, but he's just an efficient relief asset. He's got a 2.36 ERA, which is only beaten by Brusdar Graterol and Ryan Brasier, who are both having excellent seasons. Phillips has also admittedly only needed to finish 22 games. For comparison's sake, Felix Bautista has finished out 41 games for the Orioles. If the games aren't as close, the reps aren't as needed, which is something they also experienced with Craig Kimbrel last year.
It does make me wonder what a season of closing games would be for Phillips under more normal circumstances. Would he ever be able to do up to 40 or so, as Jansen would? Or is he more accustomed to being a serviceable, relief-centric guy that occasionally does saves? It's also intriguing to see LA's approach going forward. Do they stick with Phillips in the ninth after 2023? Or do they grab a free agent and begin to farm someone into it for the future? It's a relatively open-ended approach that I can't wait to see develop.
Coming Tonight: The Orioles have had several people leap out of nowhere with RBIs at different points. At one point it's Mountcastle, then it's Mullins, then it's Rutchman, now it's this always-volatile outfield bat.
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