Evan Phillips’ slider is the key to his success

Evan Phillips has a unique talent: he can get batters to swing at pitches outside of the zone more often than they swing at pitches inside of it. He’s also great at getting batters to chase, second only to Alex Vesia on the Dodgers.

The secret lies in Phillips’ slider—so much so that the Dodgers haven’t changed the way he throws it very much. Instead, they’re worked on on improving his command of the pitch.

“It’s kind of quirky, but each pitcher has a physical or mental cue that helps lock them in on what they need to do with their hand or their arm through their release point,” Phillips said. “Once I found that physical mechanism, it was really easy to maintain the consistency.”

Whatever his cue is, it’s working. Phillips has allowed only five hits in 10 innings this season, with 13 strikeouts and one walk.

J.P. Hoornstra at the OC Register has more details.

Dodgers Links

Should Julio Urías have stayed in longer in his last start? Dylan Hernández at the Los Angeles Times thinks so, writing that pulling the pitcher shows a serious lack of trust.

The Dodgers and Giants may be bitter rivals, but they’re more alike than they are different, writes Jim Alexander at the OC Register,

Adding more fun to this year’s Dodgers-Giants rivalry is the fact that the Giants’ Carlos Rodón and Dodgers’ Trea Turner were teammates, roommates, and inseparable friends at North Carolina State, writes Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic.