{"id":125082,"date":"2026-07-04T19:27:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T23:27:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=125082"},"modified":"2026-07-04T19:35:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T23:35:00","slug":"dodgers-pitcher-activated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/07\/04\/dodgers-pitcher-activated\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Dodgers Closer To Be Activated off the IL"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Los Angeles Dodgers right-handed reliever <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/phillev01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Evan Phillips<\/a> is set to be activated off the Injured List tomorrow, according to Fabian Ardaya of\u00a0 The Athletic. The former closer has missed most of two seasons <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/06\/04\/dodgers-reliever-rehab\/\" target=\"_self\">due to injury<\/a> and recovering from <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/j\/johnto01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-07-02_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tommy John<\/a> surgery.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Evan Phillips\u2019 30-day rehab clock is up. And as expected, he is in the Dodgers clubhouse.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FabianArdaya\/status\/2073528077498650668?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 4, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><\/blockquote>\n<h2>Necessity Is the Mother of Invention<\/h2>\n<p>Evan Philips came to Los Angeles by way of the Tampa Bay Rays organization in 2021. Phillips averaged 11 strikeouts every nine innings, which earned him an ascending role on Manager <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=roberda07,roberda05,roberda06,roberda03&amp;search=Dave+Roberts&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-07-02_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dave Roberts<\/a>&#8216; trust tree. His 95 miles per hour fastball and devastating sweeper were a lethal combination for hitters and elevated him to closer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\"><smartframe-embed class=\"smartframe_wp_element\" customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBjpbpay38\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 2162px; aspect-ratio: 2162\/3072;\" ><\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n<p>He was virtually unhittable as reflected by a minuscule Earned Run Average of 1.30 over a period of almost two years. The right-hander has struggled to stay healthy since injuries kept him off the World Series roster in 2024.<\/p>\n<h2>Just in the Nick of Time<\/h2>\n<p>The Dodgers were hoping that their former closer would be able to contribute in the second half of the season when they <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/11\/21\/dodgers-non-tender-evan-phillips-nick-frasso\/\" target=\"_self\">restructured<\/a> his contract at the beginning of the year. They have been careful not to rush his return to a major-league mound. Phillips has had a full thirty days to rehab his arm at Triple-A Oklahoma City. He has completed back-to-back outings and done &#8220;pitcher things,&#8221; \u00a0Manager <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=roberda07,roberda05,roberda06,roberda03&amp;search=Dave+Roberts&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-07-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dave Roberts<\/a> said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_125189\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-125189\" style=\"width: 7048px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/07\/USATSI_25990908.webp\" alt=\"Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Evan Phillips pitching during the game between the Texas Rangers and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas on April 20, 2025.\" width=\"7048\" height=\"4699\" class=\"size-full wp-image-125189\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/07\/USATSI_25990908.webp 7048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/07\/USATSI_25990908-768x512.webp 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/07\/USATSI_25990908-600x400.webp 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/07\/USATSI_25990908-1200x800.webp 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 7048px) 100vw, 7048px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-125189\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Apr 20, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Evan Phillips (59) pitches during the game between the Texas Rangers and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Los \u00c1ngeles could use a high-leverage reliever from the right side. <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gratebr01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brusdar Gaterol<\/a> is unavailable. <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/t\/treinbl01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Blake Treinen<\/a> has struggled to be effective and is going to be out for some time. <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hurtky01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-07-02_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyle Hurt<\/a> has shown flashes of dominance, but struggled with consistency at times. If Phillips can be anywhere near his dominant self, the Dodgers would welcome him.<\/p>\n<h2>The Murky Waters of Recovery<\/h2>\n<p>Los Angeles was pretty accurate with Phillips&#8217; timeline to return. Unfortunately, it hasn&#8217;t been so cut and dried with catcher <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=smithwi05,smithwi04,smith-090wil,smith-091wil,smith-094wil&amp;search=Will+Smith&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-07-02_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Will Smith<\/a>. What was a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/06\/10\/dodgers-all-star-catcher-seems-headed-to-the-il\/\" target=\"_self\">&#8220;stiff neck&#8221; <\/a>and a day-to-day issue has now turned into the backstop missing more than a month, and he won&#8217;t return until after the All-Star Break. He has resumed &#8220;baseball activities&#8221; previously, but he has had pain every time he &#8220;ramps up.&#8221; The Dodgers will proceed with caution. In the meantime, Eliezer Alphonso has been called up to replace <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/robinch04.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-07-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chuckie Robinson<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Los Angeles Dodgers right-handed reliever Evan Phillips is set to be activated off the Injured List tomorrow, according to Fabian Ardaya of\u00a0 The Athletic. The former closer has missed most of two seasons due to injury and recovering from Tommy John surgery. Evan Phillips\u2019 30-day rehab clock is up. And as expected, he is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5226,"featured_media":125188,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33,1071,35],"tags":[991,3321,257,2154,28397,305],"class_list":["post-125082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dodgers","category-mlb","category-news","tag-blake-treinen","tag-brusdar-graterol","tag-dave-roberts","tag-evan-phillips","tag-kyle-hurt","tag-will-smith"],"modified_by":"Augustus Oswald, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5226"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125082"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125191,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125082\/revisions\/125191"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}