2024-10-26 02:40:04
Evan Phillips tried to play it coy Thursday, during World Series media day on the eve of the Fall Classic.
When asked if he had suffered an injury in Game 6 of the NLCS, when he only pitched one inning of relief in a situation that would have made sense to pitch two, Phillips tried to deflect.
“I wouldn’t say that,” he claimed. “It was just some overall arm fatigue setting in. Something we all kind of deal with late in the year.”
Then, Phillips proclaimed he had “no worries” about his availability for the World Series.
“The decision the other night,” he said, “just came down to making a smart decision to keep me available throughout the series.”
So much for all that.
On Friday morning, the Dodgers announced a 26-man World Series roster in which Phillips was not included.
While the team did activate injured left-hander Alex Vesia (who missed the NLCS with an intercostal injury) and injured right-hander Brusdar Graterol (out since late September with a shoulder injury), Phillips’ absence serves a major blow to an all-important relief corps, which had counted on him for 6⅔ scoreless innings of work in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
The only other changes on the Dodgers’ World Series roster were the addition of shortstop Miguel Rojas (back from an adductor injury), and the removal of rookie pitcher Edgardo Henriquez and outfielder Kevin Kiermaier.
Here is the full group:
