LOS ANGELES — Dodgers closer Evan Phillips will miss at least two weeks after suffering a right hamstring strain on Saturday, the latest bullpen injury for Los Angeles. Phillips is the 12th Dodgers pitcher to land on the injured list this season.
“Yesterday he was just finishing up his catch play and he caught a spike,” manager Dave Roberts said Sunday morning at Dodger Stadium. “We got a scan, and it’s a Grade 1 strain, so very benign. We put him on the IL, and just feel that it shouldn’t be long. The hope is once his stint is up, he’ll be ready to go.”
Phillips’ 15-day IL stint is retroactive to Saturday, meaning the earliest he can return is Saturday, May 18. His injury occurred six days after Ryan Brasier strained his right calf while doing pregame sprints in Arizona. The Dodgers haven’t yet decided to ban running.
“It’s a little bit of bad luck,” Roberts said. “It’s really freak, but if you look around the league there are a lot of managers and teams in the same situation. I guess the one solace is these last two aren’t arm issues, so that’s probably a good thing.”
Phillips’ injury opens a roster spot for Blake Treinen, who was activated from the injured list Sunday after missing the first 35 games. It wasn’t for the shoulder injury that cost Treinen most of the previous two seasons, but rather taking a line drive off his chest in a spring training game in March.
Roberts didn’t name a closer in Phillips’ absence, but Daniel Hudson has saved a game this season and has in the past. Dinelson Lamet also saved a game this year — the first of his career — but is currently in Triple-A and off the 40-man roster. Ryan Yarbrough’s save this season is of the three-inning variety.
Joe Kelly and Hudson have pitched in the highest-leverage situations on average among active Dodgers relievers, followed by Alex Vesia, the lone short-stint left-hander active in the bullpen. Roberts said Treinen is also an option to close games now that he’s active.
“It’s just figuring out the leverage of the game and however the ninth inning falls out,” Roberts said. “We’ll see and just sort of try to win every inning and just manage the leverage.”
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