Speaker 1: Well weather seems to be part of this leg of
Speaker 1: the Dodger road trip. Last night an hour plus delay
Speaker 1: and then Evin Phillips came in and closed out the
Speaker 1: first safe since last season. And Evin joins us right now,
Speaker 1: the hometown kid in a lot of ways, thanks a lot.
Speaker 2: For the time. Yeah, no problem at all.
Speaker 1: What's it like coming back to Atlanta for you.
Speaker 2: It's a lot of fun. You know, for a long
Speaker 2: time here.
Speaker 3: It was just great to come back and see you know,
Speaker 3: old friends and very familiar with the area close to
Speaker 3: you know, where I grew up in North Carolina, so
Speaker 3: a family would always come down and you know, my
Speaker 3: wife and I decided to move back to this area too,
Speaker 3: so you know, now coming home and you're getting a
Speaker 3: taste of that throughout the years.
Speaker 2: It's really special for us, that's for sure.
Speaker 1: And in a lot of ways, this is kind of
Speaker 1: your coming out party here in this ballpark because I
Speaker 1: remember during the twenty one postseason, this is where you
Speaker 1: really made an impression for the Dodgers.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, that was a nice way to get
Speaker 3: eased into My first playoff experience was you know, playing
Speaker 3: against some former teammates and having that familiarity in the.
Speaker 2: Postseason made things a little bit easier for me.
Speaker 3: And you know, yeah, like I said, it's it's great
Speaker 3: to match up against these guys. And then they've obviously
Speaker 3: had a lot of turnover over there, but still some
Speaker 3: familiar faces and a lot of talented players, so it's
Speaker 3: always a good game.
Speaker 1: Last night, we asked you this after the game, how
Speaker 1: did you get ready after an hour rain delay? But
Speaker 1: Evan phillips demeanor stayed the same.
Speaker 3: It seemed like, yeah, you know, I had a decent
Speaker 3: feeling that I was going to be the guy going in.
Speaker 3: They hadn't said anything quite yet, and when the delay hit,
Speaker 3: you know, I just tried to stay mentally in it,
Speaker 3: not get too high and not get too low, stay prepared.
Speaker 2: And you know the tricky part.
Speaker 3: There is, you know, during an hour delay, you know
Speaker 3: that's another hour since I've done any prep and thrown, you.
Speaker 2: Know, been stretched out, stuff like that.
Speaker 3: So that kind of challenges the harder side of it,
Speaker 3: but not making too much of it, and then when
Speaker 3: that time comes to get ready.
Speaker 2: To just do what I always do.
Speaker 1: Considering not pitching in a major league game since last
Speaker 1: year's NLCS, how has your body bounced back for.
Speaker 2: The most part good.
Speaker 3: I think you can't, you can't really replicate the major
Speaker 3: league workload.
Speaker 2: That think that's why we do, you.
Speaker 3: Know, a pretty extensive rehab process is to try to
Speaker 3: you know, get the most out of that as you can.
Speaker 3: That way, when we're the demands of coming back to
Speaker 3: the big leagues or when you're when you're ready for that,
Speaker 3: when that time comes, you're ready to go. And I
Speaker 3: think that showed, you know, I went back to back
Speaker 3: right right off of a rehab assignment, and I think
Speaker 3: that's that's why we do those things. And being thrust
Speaker 3: into this you know, leverage role again and and you know,
Speaker 3: I'm happy to be able to you know, jump right
Speaker 3: back in and you know, pretty much pick up where
Speaker 3: I left off.
Speaker 2: But yeah, that's definitely a challenge of coming off rehab.
Speaker 2: For sure.
Speaker 1: You never seem to doubt that you would be able
Speaker 1: to come back. Why were you so confident that you
Speaker 1: would be able not only to come back, but to
Speaker 1: be your old self?
Speaker 3: You know, I think we've just worked really hard at
Speaker 3: getting back to who I who I can be as
Speaker 3: a pitcher and really locking in on, you know, what
Speaker 3: makes me successful, right so doing the certain things in
Speaker 3: the minor league games to get ready, building that confidence
Speaker 3: in myself, and then you know, when it comes up
Speaker 3: to matchups here in the big leagues, if I go
Speaker 3: out there and feel like I'm physically prepared and mentally
Speaker 3: convicted in what I'm doing, I can have success just
Speaker 3: just against just about anybody. So that's kind of been
Speaker 3: the recipe, you know, coming off of rehab and building
Speaker 3: that confidence and just trying to take all that out there.
Speaker 1: I know you're always taking inventory. What did you learn
Speaker 1: about yourself during this whole process of taking a step
Speaker 1: back because of the jury. Did you come back maybe
Speaker 1: a better version of yourself?
Speaker 2: Maybe?
Speaker 3: In some ways? I think you're always learning in this game.
Speaker 3: You know, no one's ever got it all figured out,
Speaker 3: so to understand kind of the ebbs and flows of
Speaker 3: a major league season, and you know, learning that that
Speaker 3: part of it on a rehab assignment too, where you
Speaker 3: know some of those decisions are out of my hands.
Speaker 3: You know, I'm on a rehab stand that's gonna take,
Speaker 3: you know, however long, and whether.
Speaker 2: I feel like I'm ready or.
Speaker 3: The team feels like I'm not ready, I had to
Speaker 3: kind of just stick to that process and make the
Speaker 3: most of it. So I think I definitely learned a
Speaker 3: lot about how to, you know, handle certain things while
Speaker 3: I was down there. Rehaving but certainly just blessed them
Speaker 3: and you're really excited to be back here.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the Dodgers are very fortunate to have Evan Phillips
Speaker 1: back in their bullpen. And every year is unique, Evan,
Speaker 1: and the dynamics of a team are different every year.
Speaker 1: Can you describe what the dynamics are in that Dodger
Speaker 1: bullpen this year compared to last year.
Speaker 3: Yeah, We've got a couple of new faces, but for
Speaker 3: the most part, it's a very similar group, and I
Speaker 3: think our new guys definitely add to what we have
Speaker 3: down there. So Tanner, Scott Kirby, Luis Garcia, those guys
Speaker 3: are very unselfish pitchers. They they'll do whatever it takes
Speaker 3: for us to win, you know, seeing them pitch and
Speaker 3: you know, different spots here and there to maximize our
Speaker 3: chances to win the game. You know, that's that's really
Speaker 3: Dodger baseball to a team. So it's been great to
Speaker 3: watch them get, you know, adjusted to how we run things,
Speaker 3: and you know, their personalities messed perfectly with how we
Speaker 3: operate down there. So it's been a great dynamic so far,
Speaker 3: and I just hope we continue to build on that.
Speaker 1: It's a long time coming for you and Tanner Scott
Speaker 1: to be teammates again, now that you're healthy, and now
Speaker 1: that you both are in the same bullpen again with
Speaker 1: the Dodgers. What's the dynamic between you two now?
Speaker 3: You know, it's great, and it's it's very similar to
Speaker 3: how we operated in Baltimore.
Speaker 2: It's just, uh, it looks a little bit different.
Speaker 3: You know, we're on championship caliber team instead of a
Speaker 3: rebuilding team, so the work is a little bit different.
Speaker 2: You know, we're not just trying to develop anymore.
Speaker 3: We're trying to have you know, we're trying to win
Speaker 3: and trying to be successful. So for the most part,
Speaker 3: you know, stuff in between innings and the goofing off
Speaker 3: it's all the same. But it's it's been really fun
Speaker 3: to watch us both, you know, be successful in the
Speaker 3: box score and come in and be able to you know,
Speaker 3: give each other knuckles or high fives and congratulate each
Speaker 3: other on good outings. And you hopefully can continue to
Speaker 3: build on that and be part of a championship season together.
Speaker 1: It seems like Tanner Scott's throwing more strikes than ever.
Speaker 1: Do you know why?
Speaker 2: You know, I think.
Speaker 3: From what I can speak just with Tanner and from experience,
Speaker 3: I just see him in He's mentally just much more
Speaker 3: free than I ever experienced in Baltimore.
Speaker 2: When I was with him. You know, I got out
Speaker 2: of there and he had.
Speaker 3: A couple more seasons where he had started to put
Speaker 3: it together a little bit. But you know, when you're
Speaker 3: trying to develop it, there's so much more going through
Speaker 3: your head. But I think when you start to win
Speaker 3: games and competition just takes over. Tanner's a guy that
Speaker 3: needs that competitive edge, and once you give it to him,
Speaker 3: he can really, you know, unleash it and just be
Speaker 3: the best version of himself. And there's no better place
Speaker 3: to compete than the Dodgers. So it's it's been a
Speaker 3: lot of fun to watch, and there's definitely more in
Speaker 3: the tank there too.
Speaker 1: A lot of guys can't handle pitching for the Dodgers.
Speaker 1: You obviously know that you've excelled, but some guys the
Speaker 1: lights get a little bit too bright and big markets.
Speaker 1: How has Tanner been able to acclimate from pitching for
Speaker 1: the Marlins, and obviously the Padres to a lesser degree.
Speaker 1: But what's it been like.
Speaker 3: I think he's a guy that feeds off of that
Speaker 3: higher intensity, you know. And I think in sports in general,
Speaker 3: some guys really need to dial it up, and some
Speaker 3: guys try to either tow the line like I do,
Speaker 3: or really dial it back and treat it like more nonchalant.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 3: Tanner's a guy that I think when it gets intense,
Speaker 3: he wants that moment.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: And I think we're gonna have a lot of those
Speaker 3: this year for the Dodgers, and there's really not many
Speaker 3: other guys that'd rather have than Tanner Scott.
Speaker 2: And a lot of those innings.
Speaker 1: How's baby bo doing, Baby bo Phillips?
Speaker 3: Maybe yeah, Bo Phillips. That's another part of our friendship.
Speaker 3: We share, our sons share the same name. Our bow
Speaker 3: is felt a little bit different, but it's still a
Speaker 3: lot of funn He just turned two years old. He's
Speaker 3: running all over the place, repeating everything, only the good things,
Speaker 3: and it's just been a lot of fun to watch
Speaker 3: him grow and it's happening really fast.
Speaker 1: Hey, truly a blessing, right, absolutely no thought of doubt.
Speaker 1: Thanks a lot for the time. I always love talking,
Speaker 1: tapping into your knowledge and sharing you with Dodger fans
Speaker 1: because relievers get lost in the shuffle. When you're pitching good,
Speaker 1: nobody talks to you.
Speaker 2: We're special teams, you know, and we make the field goals.
Speaker 2: Everything's good. If we miss a field goal, it's you know,
Speaker 2: all hell's breaking loose.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm glad to talk to you under these circumstances.
Speaker 1: Keep it going and stay healthy. The rest of the
Speaker 1: world wait, Thank you very much, Dave