WEBVTT - Evan Phillips (7-4-26) 

0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:04.840
<v Speaker 1>And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talker.

0:00:06.559 --> 0:00:10.879
<v Speaker 2>Happy fourth of July, we are with America's super reliever,

0:00:11.200 --> 0:00:14.760
<v Speaker 2>actually the Dodger super reliever, Evan Phillips, who has emerged

0:00:15.040 --> 0:00:19.200
<v Speaker 2>from Oklahoma City forty days, forty nights on a rehab

0:00:19.239 --> 0:00:23.680
<v Speaker 2>appearance on the verge of returning from Tommy John Rehab. Evan,

0:00:23.800 --> 0:00:25.639
<v Speaker 2>Happy forth, and thanks a lot for the time.

0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:28.000
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, Happy forth. What a great day to be back.

0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:28.840
<v Speaker 3>Yeah right.

0:00:28.880 --> 0:00:32.159
<v Speaker 2>You get the flashy new hats, flashy jerseys, and you

0:00:32.240 --> 0:00:33.680
<v Speaker 2>get the music behind us.

0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:36.680
<v Speaker 3>Yeah. Yeah, it's hopefully going to be an exciting night.

0:00:36.720 --> 0:00:39.720
<v Speaker 1>I get to see my family tonight for essentially the

0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:40.720
<v Speaker 1>first time in a month.

0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:42.760
<v Speaker 3>So yeah, I'm really excited to be back.

0:00:42.800 --> 0:00:45.360
<v Speaker 2>I'm sure your youngest is doing a lot more things

0:00:45.400 --> 0:00:47.320
<v Speaker 2>than they were doing before you left.

0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:48.000
<v Speaker 3>Oh yeah, yeah.

0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:50.880
<v Speaker 1>I was telling my wife, Millie's got to slow down

0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:52.360
<v Speaker 1>with the whole like growing up things.

0:00:52.400 --> 0:00:54.680
<v Speaker 3>She's getting way too big, too fast. It's crazy.

0:00:54.880 --> 0:00:57.640
<v Speaker 2>What was it like being away that long in Oklahoma

0:00:57.760 --> 0:01:01.040
<v Speaker 2>City trying to get fine tuned for your return?

0:01:01.760 --> 0:01:05.960
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, you know, I'm physically speaking, being being in Oklahoma City.

0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:08.640
<v Speaker 1>I tried my best just to really immerse myself with

0:01:08.640 --> 0:01:11.000
<v Speaker 1>the team and lean into those teammates down there that

0:01:11.040 --> 0:01:13.520
<v Speaker 1>I have and you know, be a soundboard for guys

0:01:13.600 --> 0:01:14.959
<v Speaker 1>answer questions as needed.

0:01:15.240 --> 0:01:17.960
<v Speaker 3>Uh, you have to want to ask questions. I tried

0:01:17.959 --> 0:01:19.080
<v Speaker 3>to open myself up to that.

0:01:20.200 --> 0:01:21.400
<v Speaker 1>And then, you know, on my side of things that

0:01:21.480 --> 0:01:24.039
<v Speaker 1>rehab wise, just trying to stack good days, you know,

0:01:24.200 --> 0:01:27.080
<v Speaker 1>just one thing after another. Once I started getting into games,

0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:31.240
<v Speaker 1>my mindset was just you know, initially really focused on

0:01:31.280 --> 0:01:33.960
<v Speaker 1>recovery and keeping my arm in good shape, and then

0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:36.280
<v Speaker 1>about the halfway point really started to flip the script

0:01:36.280 --> 0:01:40.280
<v Speaker 1>into you know, starting to dominate outings and execution and

0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:42.520
<v Speaker 1>scouting hitters to a certain extent.

0:01:42.319 --> 0:01:43.880
<v Speaker 3>Getting ready for what I'm gonna have to do here.

0:01:44.240 --> 0:01:47.039
<v Speaker 2>How close are you to returning, Dave Roberts. I've talked

0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:50.120
<v Speaker 2>about this homestand but you being here is a great

0:01:50.160 --> 0:01:51.320
<v Speaker 2>sign things went well.

0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:51.720
<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

0:01:51.760 --> 0:01:54.520
<v Speaker 1>I did pitch last night in Oklahoma City, so I

0:01:54.520 --> 0:01:56.520
<v Speaker 1>don't believe I'm act to it tonight for this game,

0:01:56.560 --> 0:01:58.960
<v Speaker 1>but I'll be ready whenever they need me. I think

0:01:59.360 --> 0:02:01.320
<v Speaker 1>they might have a and in place, but whenever they

0:02:01.320 --> 0:02:03.520
<v Speaker 1>tell me, I'm you can clean up and get back

0:02:03.520 --> 0:02:03.840
<v Speaker 1>in the pen.

0:02:03.880 --> 0:02:04.640
<v Speaker 3>I'll be ready to go.

0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:08.200
<v Speaker 2>It's been a long road, Evan, at this point, what

0:02:08.320 --> 0:02:11.560
<v Speaker 2>feelings do you have so close to being activated and

0:02:11.680 --> 0:02:13.480
<v Speaker 2>being back in that bullpen.

0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:16.880
<v Speaker 1>It's a lot, Yeah, I think rehab is it's very

0:02:16.919 --> 0:02:20.960
<v Speaker 1>time consuming. My brain has been so focused on this

0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:23.040
<v Speaker 1>process for so long. I sure hope when I do

0:02:23.120 --> 0:02:25.040
<v Speaker 1>get back on the mound for the first time, I'll

0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:27.400
<v Speaker 1>I'll be able to really take it in and I

0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:30.840
<v Speaker 1>appreciate what this last year has meant for hopefully for

0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:33.400
<v Speaker 1>the rest of my career. Right, So it's going to

0:02:33.480 --> 0:02:36.480
<v Speaker 1>be probably a little bit emotional for about five seconds,

0:02:36.480 --> 0:02:38.639
<v Speaker 1>so'll give myself and then be right back to work.

0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:41.520
<v Speaker 2>What was the process like for you? What was the

0:02:41.600 --> 0:02:43.600
<v Speaker 2>journey like for you to get back here?

0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:44.880
<v Speaker 3>Well, you know, I was.

0:02:45.080 --> 0:02:47.639
<v Speaker 1>I kept on telling myself that it was pretty chopped up, right,

0:02:47.639 --> 0:02:49.920
<v Speaker 1>So I had surgery in June fourth of last year,

0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:52.840
<v Speaker 1>and for the first couple of months, I wasn't really

0:02:52.840 --> 0:02:54.320
<v Speaker 1>able to do a whole lot, you know, just kind

0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:55.720
<v Speaker 1>of in your slaying in the brace.

0:02:55.560 --> 0:02:57.960
<v Speaker 3>You don't get to do much activity as it is.

0:02:58.639 --> 0:03:01.880
<v Speaker 1>So as I got out of the brace, the postseason

0:03:01.919 --> 0:03:04.560
<v Speaker 1>was coming around, so I was starting to physically do more.

0:03:04.600 --> 0:03:05.960
<v Speaker 3>The team was doing more.

0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:09.240
<v Speaker 1>And I got pretty good distraction to have right chasing

0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:12.320
<v Speaker 1>another World Series ring. So that was a good distraction,

0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:15.440
<v Speaker 1>and then rolled right into the offseason when I started

0:03:15.440 --> 0:03:19.720
<v Speaker 1>playing catch and dealing with free agency was interesting for sure,

0:03:19.760 --> 0:03:22.480
<v Speaker 1>But I just feel like there's been chunks of rehab

0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:24.200
<v Speaker 1>that have made it go by a little bit faster.

0:03:24.960 --> 0:03:26.440
<v Speaker 3>We welcomed our daughter in March.

0:03:26.680 --> 0:03:28.960
<v Speaker 1>My son turned three in April, so there's just been

0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:31.959
<v Speaker 1>big events, you know, early across every every month or

0:03:32.000 --> 0:03:34.480
<v Speaker 1>two that I've helped keep this thing going at.

0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:35.040
<v Speaker 3>A decent pace.

0:03:35.360 --> 0:03:37.760
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that's a lot of life events to go along

0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:38.800
<v Speaker 2>with the baseball light.

0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:41.480
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, without a doubt. You're like my wife and I

0:03:41.520 --> 0:03:42.200
<v Speaker 3>we I think we.

0:03:42.440 --> 0:03:44.440
<v Speaker 1>Try to do a good job of really leaning into

0:03:44.480 --> 0:03:47.160
<v Speaker 1>the life aspect of being a baseball player, not just

0:03:47.480 --> 0:03:50.960
<v Speaker 1>the baseball side of it. And having that healthy dynamic

0:03:50.960 --> 0:03:51.240
<v Speaker 1>at home.

0:03:51.280 --> 0:03:52.480
<v Speaker 3>I think it really helps us a lot.

0:03:52.800 --> 0:03:56.320
<v Speaker 2>I can tell when you go through that whole year timeline.

0:03:56.600 --> 0:03:58.720
<v Speaker 2>When I saw you the first day in your sling,

0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:01.480
<v Speaker 2>the mood was obviously not as great as it is

0:04:01.560 --> 0:04:04.720
<v Speaker 2>right now. I did your mood start to get better

0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:07.800
<v Speaker 2>as you got closer to throwing and getting closer to this.

0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:08.440
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, yea.

0:04:08.440 --> 0:04:10.080
<v Speaker 1>I think it kind of went in waves, right, So

0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:12.600
<v Speaker 1>I kind of felt helpless in a sling, you know,

0:04:12.800 --> 0:04:14.760
<v Speaker 1>that's when you really feel like you can't do much.

0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:17.920
<v Speaker 1>And then once the activity really started to ramp up,

0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:20.440
<v Speaker 1>my throwing started to ramp up. I think the hardest

0:04:20.440 --> 0:04:23.040
<v Speaker 1>part was around spring training, when I was really starting

0:04:23.040 --> 0:04:25.400
<v Speaker 1>to look the part again. But I just had so

0:04:25.520 --> 0:04:28.559
<v Speaker 1>much tolerance to rebuild, you know, so that was probably

0:04:28.600 --> 0:04:29.040
<v Speaker 1>the hardest.

0:04:29.120 --> 0:04:30.600
<v Speaker 3>Was You're watching games on.

0:04:30.560 --> 0:04:34.839
<v Speaker 1>TV feeling you're feeling really good, but not quite to

0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:37.919
<v Speaker 1>the point where I can come contribute. So you chipped

0:04:37.920 --> 0:04:40.800
<v Speaker 1>away at the those mile markers.

0:04:40.360 --> 0:04:41.240
<v Speaker 3>And you know, here we are.

0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:41.920
<v Speaker 1>Well.

0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:44.920
<v Speaker 2>I feel like I speak for your teammates, I speak

0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:47.680
<v Speaker 2>for the fans. When I saw Evan Phillips, when I

0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:50.240
<v Speaker 2>first saw you in the clubhouse at Dodger Stadium today,

0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:53.120
<v Speaker 2>I was really happy to see you because not only

0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:56.480
<v Speaker 2>the picture, but what you stand for as a person,

0:04:56.520 --> 0:04:58.840
<v Speaker 2>as a dad, as a father, as a friend. And

0:04:59.040 --> 0:05:01.680
<v Speaker 2>certainly we're happy to have you back and looking forward

0:05:01.720 --> 0:05:04.320
<v Speaker 2>to you officially being activated. So thank you for the time.

0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:05.839
<v Speaker 3>Yes, sure, anytime, Dave. Thank you