Phillies rookie right-hander Tyler Phillips aims to show what he has learned Tuesday night against the host Toronto Blue Jays in his second chance with Philadelphia.
He was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Sunday as rosters expanded to 28 players and will make his seventh major league start in the opener of a two-game set.
Phillips (4-1, 5.50 ERA) started out well in his first stint but regressed.
“I was trying to do so much to stay here when, realistically, there’s moves that are out of my control,” Phillips said. “I was pitching for results more than doing what a sinkerballer does, which is getting weak contact. I was pitching trying to put up zeros. In my head, I was like, ‘To put up zeros, I’ve got to miss bats and do all this crazy stuff that isn’t me.’ So, then you fall behind in the count, you put yourself in trouble, you throw more pitches. It just all snowballs. It never goes well.”
In his first three starts, Phillips allowed five earned runs in 16 innings. He pitched a four-hit shutout against the visiting Cleveland Guardians on July 27. He allowed 17 earned runs in 11 innings over his next three starts and was demoted on Aug. 17.
“It was more mental fatigue than anything,” he said. “Just a lot of emotions, a lot of adrenalin, and then just getting ahead of myself a little bit. A lot of it was getting back to myself, who I am, what got me here, what allowed me to have so many quality starts while I was in the minor leagues before I got called up.”
The Phillies (81-56) increased their lead to seven games in the National League East on Sunday night with a 3-2 home victory in 11 innings over the second-place Atlanta Braves.
The Blue Jays (67-72) lost 4-3 on Sunday to drop two of three to the host Minnesota Twins.
Phillips has not faced the Blue Jays, who are scheduled to start right-hander Chris Bassitt (9-13, 4.27).
Bassitt is 4-0 with a 1.86 ERA in five career starts against Philadelphia. He allowed two earned runs and three hits in 6 1/3 innings at Philadelphia in a 5-3 victory May 8. The teams split two games.
In their loss to the Twins on Sunday, the Blue Jays used an inexperienced lineup that featured five rookies. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer, Daulton Varsho and Alejandro Kirk were given the day off and should be in the lineup on Tuesday.
Toronto lost Sunday on a three-run home run by Royce Lewis in the eighth inning off Chad Green.
“They’ll get over this,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “They’re probably already over it. I hope they are, because it’s a hard-fought game and. … I love the way they went about it. I love the way the veteran guys were there supporting them. They’ll be fine going forward.”
The highlight was second baseman Leo Jimenez’s catch in the fourth inning on Max Kepler’s foul ball. Jimenez tumbled into the netting after the catch. He stayed in the game after being evaluated by Schneider and the training staff.
“Just making sure he was OK with his head, that he wasn’t dizzy or anything, making sure he had his feet underneath him,” Schneider said. “I love that he stayed in, and I loved the effort he showed.”
–Field Level Media