PITTSBURGH — The Phillies needed a starter for a Grapefruit League game near the end of spring training and, even though they had sent Tyler Phillips to minor-league camp, they called the right-hander back. It was unexpected. They wanted to see more.
Phillips faced the Pittsburgh Pirates that afternoon. The game was televised in Philadelphia, so his family and friends could watch. The Pirates crushed him. He allowed eight runs on 11 hits in 2 2/3 innings. It wouldn’t weigh too much in the club’s evaluation, but Phillips botched the final impression.
“It didn’t feel good in the moment there,” Phillips said Sunday.
Now he is a big leaguer and, hours before he tossed six shutout innings against the Pirates to prevent the Phillies from being swept, Phillips sat in the bathroom at PNC Park.
“I just looked in the mirror,” Phillips said. “I was telling myself, ‘These guys tried to screw me in spring training. I’m not going to let that happen again.’ I don’t necessarily think of it as revenge. I think of it more like, ‘Screw those guys. I’m going to go out there and I’m going to show them what I’ve really got.’”
If it works, it works.
By the sixth inning, with the top of Pittsburgh’s order set to face the 26-year-old for a third time, there was no doubt in Rob Thomson’s mind about Phillips. “I thought,” the manager said, “he had the game in hand.” The Phillies won 6-0. If Phillips did not make the impression he intended in the spring, he’s making a hell of a one this summer.
“Trying my best,” Phillips said.
Tyler Phillips used his rough spring outing against the Pirates, pictured here, as motivation. (Jonathan Dyer / USA Today)
Phillips is living a very specific version of the dream. He wanted to become a big leaguer and, now, he’s pitching for his childhood team. He is contributing to a Phillies team that has championship aspirations. The past two weeks have been dizzying. It has yet to slow down.
“Not really,” Phillips said. “I’m just still super happy to be here. Living and loving every moment. Just trying to take it all in as much as I can.”
There is a legitimate opportunity for Phillips to be a summer hero. The Phillies do not have a fifth starter; Taijuan Walker has not faced a hitter in a month and won’t throw in a simulated session until next weekend. He’s a few weeks from returning. Spencer Turnbull has started a throwing program in Florida but needs time before he steps on a mound again. Thomson said the Phillies might have to bring Turnbull back as a reliever. For now, they will attempt to stretch him out as a starter.
The Phillies won’t need a fifth starter in October. But they need one over the next nine weeks. They are not asking Phillips to be as good as he was Sunday. They just need five competitive innings every fifth day.
He is building confidence.
“He goes after hitters and he throws strikes,” Thomson said. “With the stuff he’s got, he’s going to get people out.”
The Pirates do not boast a strong lineup. But they were on a six-game winning streak, averaging 5.3 runs scored per game. Phillips did not allow an extra-base hit in six innings. The Phillies avoided a four-game losing streak for the first time all season. Their lead in the National League East was restored to 8 1/2 games.
Phillips became the first Phillies pitcher to throw six shutout innings in one of his first two career starts since 2015. Jerad Eickhoff did it in his big-league debut. It’s a fun coincidence because there is a little Eickhoff in Phillips. Both were Texas Rangers draft picks. Neither were heralded prospects. Neither had overpowering stuff and had to spin the ball to succeed. Eickhoff made himself into an effective big-league starter for a few seasons.
Tyler Phillips soaks it all in after earning the win over the A’s in his first major-league start. (Kyle Ross / USA Today)
There is something unusual about Phillips’ initial impression. His stuff has improved in the majors. Phillips’ sinker averaged 93.1 mph at Triple A this season, according to the league’s tracking data. The sinker averaged 94.1 mph in his big-league debut as a reliever, then 94.6 mph in his first start against the Oakland A’s.
It sat 94.5 mph in Sunday’s outing. A tick or two extra makes a difference — especially against the best hitters in the world. It wasn’t surprising to see Phillips have some extra juice in his debut. How has it stuck?
“Possibly still adrenaline,” Phillips said. “I mean, you go out there and every game matters here. I’m not saying the games in the minor leagues don’t. But every game here really matters. I think that I just go out there and I’m in full compete mode. It’s just going out and just trying to put hitters back into the dugout.”
Thomson sees it as repeatable.
“Probably adrenaline,” Thomson said. “It’s a little bit different here. But he’s got great composure.”
Phillips has a 2.81 ERA with one walk in his 16 innings with the Phillies. Garett Stubbs has caught all of them. He’s noticed that Phillips, an outgoing and carefree guy between starts, has to adopt a different persona before stepping on the mound. Sometimes, it involves some self-reflection in the clubhouse bathroom.
Whatever it takes.
“You can see out there on the mound when he’s pitching that his demeanor is completely different from who he is as a regular person,” Stubbs said. “That’s important — if that’s what you need. Get in whatever flow state you need to pitch.”
It was a nice story when Phillips debuted. His late grandfather loved the Phillies so much that he called his son, Dan, after most games. That passion passed to another generation in Tyler, who named his 3-year-old son, Frank, in honor of his grandfather. Little Frank loves the Phanatic, and he’s not old enough to understand what is happening to his dad.
He could become something more than a novelty.
“I have a job to do,” Phillips said. “I don’t like losing.”
Phillips talks in clichés and, after his strong outing Sunday, he said he “flushes outings” once they’re done. It’s back to work. Maybe so, but that ugly March afternoon stayed with him. He repurposed it as fuel. It was silly, and it worked.
“He just throws strikes,” Stubbs said. “They have to be able to believe that you can throw a strike at any time, and then you can start to expand. He just doesn’t back down, which I think is a big thing.”
(Top photo of Tyler Phillips: Matt Freed / Associated Press)
