Speaker 1: Now an exclusive interview with David Basse Say or Dodger Talker.
Speaker 1: We're in the mile high and it hasn't got us yet.
Speaker 1: I'm joined right now by Dodgers super reliever Evan Phillips. Evan,
Speaker 1: thanks a lot for the time. I appreciate it, Yes, sir, anytime.
Speaker 1: So you've been here enough times now, how do you
Speaker 1: handle being a mile high above sea level?
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, it's a I honestly love coming to
Speaker 2: the games here. I think the ballpark's beautiful. The bullpen's
Speaker 2: definitely a different vibe down there than you see at
Speaker 2: a lot of ballparks, you know. Aside from that kind
Speaker 2: of stuff and the physical adjustments we have to make
Speaker 2: being here for a three game series, there are some small,
Speaker 2: like subtle things I change on the mound just to
Speaker 2: try to, you know, execute execute pitches better, just the
Speaker 2: way the ball gets impacted.
Speaker 3: But like you said, I've been here a hand full
Speaker 3: of times now, so I feel like I've got a
Speaker 3: good grasp on what I need to do.
Speaker 2: And truthfully, I feel like it's kind of a it's
Speaker 2: beneficial for the rest of the season because it's kind
Speaker 2: of like just getting back to the foundation and the
Speaker 2: fundamentals of what I do well there in the mound.
Speaker 3: So yeah, I mean I've gotten gotten used to it
Speaker 3: and hopefully we can get a few wins here.
Speaker 1: Are you saying, when you go back to the fundamentals,
Speaker 1: you have to be more mindful of that here?
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a great way to put it, just being
Speaker 2: a bit more mindful of how I'm trying to execute
Speaker 2: and where I'm trying to throw the pitches out there,
Speaker 2: just because.
Speaker 3: I feel like when I haven't performed well here, it's
Speaker 3: been because of laps in.
Speaker 2: Execution, and that could just come from a small mechanical
Speaker 2: flaw that maybe you get away with sometimes, but here
Speaker 2: you're not going to get away with it as much.
Speaker 1: Evan Phillips is our guest. I had a first pitch
Speaker 1: between the Dodgers and Rockies. You're a great guy to
Speaker 1: talk to because I've been talking about you and preaching
Speaker 1: to people that have never gone through an arm surgery
Speaker 1: that it's really difficult to go through it and then
Speaker 1: be thrown into the fire in the middle of the season.
Speaker 1: How have you been able to manage all that? And
Speaker 1: do you feel like you're getting closer to where you
Speaker 1: believe you should be.
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely, I think, you know, I didn't know how
Speaker 2: hard it was going to be until yeah, getting back
Speaker 2: really at this level and competing out here on a
Speaker 2: consistent basis. But yeah, there's just been you know, small
Speaker 2: things really within every outing that I've thrown and where
Speaker 2: I wish I could have that one moment back. So
Speaker 2: just what I've done differently to try to circumvent that
Speaker 2: is to be a.
Speaker 3: Bit more mindful of, you know, my practice reps.
Speaker 2: Similarly, just playing in Colorado, just kind of taking my
Speaker 2: throwing program daily back to the fundamentals of what I
Speaker 2: think I need to do well to have success, and
Speaker 2: I have seen progress. So it's been itching to get
Speaker 2: back out there after every outing, just to continue to
Speaker 2: get all these reps built up that way, you know,
Speaker 2: when the game's really you know, start to count, you know,
Speaker 2: down the stretch and into the postseason, I'm ready to
Speaker 2: be at my best.
Speaker 3: You're not the only one.
Speaker 1: Edwin Diaz had surgery during the season. He's the closer,
Speaker 1: and he's expected to come in where the tension is
Speaker 1: the highest. How much do we fully not appreciate what
Speaker 1: he has to come back from.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I think similarly to my situation. Right,
Speaker 2: just we don't really have the luxury of getting too
Speaker 2: much of a soft landing when it comes to like
Speaker 2: getting back into games like Edwind's the closer, I have
Speaker 2: expectations to.
Speaker 3: Be, you know, part of the back end mix as well.
Speaker 2: And when you get into those situations, you just want
Speaker 2: to perform. You're not worried about, you know, the lack
Speaker 2: of repetitions that you missed out on because of injury.
Speaker 2: So for Edwin's case, you know, similar to myself, just
Speaker 2: got to keep on running back out there, hopefully get
Speaker 2: him a few more opportunities with a bigger lead to Hey,
Speaker 2: you know, let him take a deep breath out there
Speaker 2: and get through the outing more comfortably.
Speaker 3: But he's gonna be just fine.
Speaker 2: This guy is one of the best pitchers on the planet,
Speaker 2: one of the best closers we've ever seen here. So
Speaker 2: you're gonna give him some more time, more reps, and
Speaker 2: he'll be fine.
Speaker 1: Evan Phillips as one of the highest baseball IQs I've
Speaker 1: met of any player since I've been doing this with
Speaker 1: the Dodgers, So I don't want to just put him
Speaker 1: in the box of talking about the bullpen and his
Speaker 1: comrades down there. What do you feel about the team
Speaker 1: and where it's at right now, and how encouraging is
Speaker 1: it to have the starting pitchers that you guys have
Speaker 1: now in the rotation.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean not just our starters, but you know
Speaker 2: what our lineups capable of doing. I think even within
Speaker 2: a stretch like this, everybody knows what we're capable of
Speaker 2: one hundred and sixty two game season, and we've got
Speaker 2: you know, bigger aspirations beyond that as well. So I
Speaker 2: think little ruts like this are just you know, part
Speaker 2: of the long season. So it's kind of magnified right
Speaker 2: now because I think every facet of the game is
Speaker 2: having a moment or two of struggling base running, fielding,
Speaker 2: and starting pitching at times or relievers at times.
Speaker 3: So it's just a mix of putting it all together.
Speaker 2: And when it does, it's you know, we've already seen
Speaker 2: what this team can do and the ceiling that this
Speaker 2: group can have. So we'll just you know, keep on
Speaker 2: plugging away because I promise, like the work inside each
Speaker 2: and every day hasn't waivered, you know, our guys, or
Speaker 2: our leadership with our our veterans and our superstars.
Speaker 3: You know, they're those guys are the hardest workers on
Speaker 3: the team.
Speaker 2: So those guys set the tone every single day and
Speaker 2: set the standard for us.
Speaker 1: And then can you take us inside a little bit?
Speaker 1: Obviously not too inside, but the Dodgers are the only
Speaker 1: team in baseball that has a player's only playing where
Speaker 1: you guys fly to these different cities players only. Do
Speaker 1: you guys talk the game on those flights or is
Speaker 1: it no baseball talk? Is that where you guys can
Speaker 1: actually hammer out whatever is going on in these type
Speaker 1: of situations.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it's a mix, and I think it
Speaker 2: all started mostly it's just as a camaraderie thing. I
Speaker 2: think we started doing it the twenty four postseason as
Speaker 2: a way to just you know, really dig in with
Speaker 2: that time together and you know that way when you're
Speaker 2: out on the field, you're playing for you know, a
Speaker 2: brother out there more so than just like a teammate
Speaker 2: that you would on any other day. But you know,
Speaker 2: if those conversations need to happen, I don't think anyone
Speaker 2: will shy away from having it, and even if it's
Speaker 2: here in the clubhouse. Right So the travel has been great,
Speaker 2: but I think it's more so just a way to
Speaker 2: get the guys together more. All of our guys, most
Speaker 2: of our guys have families, you know, so this season
Speaker 2: takes us away from things of the personal, you know,
Speaker 2: side of life. But you know, while we're in season,
Speaker 2: I think everyone's decided that it's best that we stay
Speaker 2: as connected as possible.
Speaker 1: Is there what they used to call players only meetings?
Speaker 1: Does that still happen? Have you experienced that this year?
Speaker 2: You know, that's something that's you know, seldomly been done here.
Speaker 2: It was my time with the Dodgers, I think, you know,
Speaker 2: Dave Roberts has such a good grasp on the clubhouse
Speaker 2: and kind of lets us you handle the business each
Speaker 2: and every day. There have been moments here and there
Speaker 2: where you know, I know, the bullpen, we got the
Speaker 2: guys together last year at one point. But we do
Speaker 2: that kind of stuff, you know, every few weeks, just
Speaker 2: to kind of check in with each other.
Speaker 3: But yeah, that's a you know, we're a different group
Speaker 3: done there.
Speaker 2: We've got a lot of personalities coming in and out
Speaker 2: of the clubhouse from time to time, so we take
Speaker 2: a lot of pride and like keeping that unit solidified.
Speaker 2: But you know, same kind I would imagine the same
Speaker 2: thing goes for the guys that work in the cages. Right,
Speaker 2: you just have little conversations here and there, but you know,
Speaker 2: not no formal, you know, team meetings as of yet.
Speaker 2: I think we've had to do a couple in my
Speaker 2: time here with the Dodgers, but we'll seem to be
Speaker 2: more and more rare because of how Doc leads this team.
Speaker 1: Thank you for explaining that, Evan, you're the best. Appreciate
Speaker 1: the time, and definitely you will handle course Field and
Speaker 1: hopefully the Dodger starters starting with tonight's snail Zilla bump Day.
Speaker 1: You guys will be used minimally.
Speaker 3: Hey, we'll take whatever we can get. We're always ready
Speaker 3: down there.
Speaker 2: You know that