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Evan Phillips threw a scoreless inning in a rehab outing as he continues working his way back to the Dodgers following Tommy John surgery, per MLB.com. The appearance marks another significant checkpoint in what has been a long road back for the right-hander, and it puts him squarely on the radar for a return to the big league bullpen in the near future.

Phillips, 31, had established himself as one of the more reliable late-inning relievers in baseball before the elbow injury derailed his 2025 season. He emerged as the Dodgers’ closer in 2023, posting a 2.05 ERA across 70 appearances with a devastating splitter that generated swings and misses at an elite rate. That season cemented him as a cornerstone of the bullpen — a guy who could pitch the seventh, eighth, or ninth and dominate in any of those slots. He carried that role into 2024 as well, though he dealt with some inconsistency before the elbow ultimately gave out, leading to Tommy John surgery. The recovery timeline for relievers coming back from Tommy John typically runs around 12 to 14 months, and Phillips appears to be right on schedule. A clean, scoreless rehab inning is exactly what you want to see at this stage — command over stuff, getting outs without stress on the arm.

The Dodgers’ bullpen has been a patchwork operation for much of 2026, which makes Phillips’ return all the more important. When healthy, he’s a pitcher who misses bats, limits hard contact, and doesn’t walk people — the trifecta you need from a high-leverage reliever. His splitter is one of the best in the game, and when it’s right, hitters simply cannot lay off it. The question coming back from Tommy John is always whether the feel for that pitch returns quickly or takes time. A scoreless inning in rehab doesn’t answer that definitively, but it’s the right direction.

I think this is one of the more underrated storylines of the Dodgers’ summer. We’ve been talking about trade targets and rotation depth (and rightfully so), but getting Phillips back is like adding a proven closer without giving up a single prospect. If he comes back at even 80 percent of what he was in 2023, he immediately slots into the highest-leverage role in the bullpen. That’s a massive upgrade over some of the arms that have been asked to handle those innings this season.

We’ll likely see Phillips make at least one or two more rehab outings before the Dodgers activate him, which is the smart play. There’s no reason to rush this. But the fact that he’s pitching in games and looking clean is genuinely exciting. The bullpen has needed this kind of reinforcement, and Phillips is the type of arm that can change the entire complexion of a late-game situation. Once he’s back, our options from the seventh inning on look dramatically different — and that matters a lot as we push into the second half.

Source(s): Staff (MLB.com) | First reported: June 19, 2026 1:04 AM UTC

God Bless and Go Dodgers