Evan Phillips goes on IL, but Dodgers bounce back with blowout win against Marlins

Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times on May 7, 2025

Published in Baseball

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MIAMI — When minor-league reliever Matt Sauer showed up in the Los Angeles Dodgers clubhouse Wednesday afternoon, it was a sign that something was amiss.

In the middle of the first inning of the team’s 10-1 win against the Miami Marlins, the reason for his arrival finally became clear.

In yet another blow to their increasingly banged-up pitching staff, the Dodgers placed right-handed reliever Evan Phillips on the injured list with forearm discomfort, leaving an already overworked bullpen without one of its most trusted arms.

Phillips missed most of the first month of the season while recovering from a tear in his rotator cuff he suffered during last year’s postseason. He hadn’t given up a run in seven outings since coming back, but was bypassed in the bullpen during Tuesday night’s loss when the Dodgers instead called upon lower-leverage relievers in high-leverage spots.

The severity of Phillips’ injury was not immediately known.

The good news for the Dodgers: Phillips’ absence didn’t harm them Wednesday.

In fact, in the team’s ninth win out of its last 11 games, it was Sauer who got some of the biggest outs.

With the Dodgers protecting a 1-0 lead in the sixth, right-hander Landon Knack got the hook after back-to-back leadoff singles, ending his spot start after five scoreless innings. Sauer was then summoned, making his first appearance since an important five-inning relief outing against the Marlins (14-22) in Los Angeles last week.

This time, Sauer played the role of high-leverage reliever, getting a double-play and strikeout to extinguish the threat.

The next time he took the mound, the Dodgers (25-12) had broken the game open, exploding for a six-run rally in the seventh.

After a one-out pinch-hit walk from James Outman and a single from Kiké Hernández, Hyeseong Kim rolled an RBI single through the right side of the infield, part of a two-hit day that has him batting 5 for 12 since being called up last week.

Shohei Ohtani, who helped the Dodgers get on the board in the sixth with a triple, came up next but was intentionally walked by Marlins manager — and former Dodgers first-base coach — Clayton McCullough with first base open, leaving the bases loaded for Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.

They each promptly took advantage, with Betts drawing a run-scoring walk before Freeman cleared the bags with a three-run triple. Freeman finished his day 3 for 4 with four RBIs, extending a 12-game hitting streak and raising his early-season batting average to .362, trailing only Aaron Judge (.412) among MLB hitters with 90 at-bats.

Teoscar Hernández’s timeline

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had a more encouraging update Wednesday on injured outfielder Teoscar Hernández, saying the veteran slugger could return from his groin strain in as little as two weeks if he progresses well.

“That’s my hope, and that’s his hope,” Roberts said. “But obviously we’re not going to activate him until he’s good and ready to get back and stay healthy.”

Though Roberts didn’t offer a timeline on Hernández’s injury — which he suffered running down a fly-ball in right field Monday night — he had said on Tuesday that the MLB’s RBI leader would be “inactive for a while.”

By Wednesday, however, Roberts said Hernández told him he was already feeling better, raising hopes that his absence will ultimately be on the shorter side.

Clayton Kershaw’s return

The Dodgers have only four true starting pitchers in their rotation right now. But in a couple more weeks, that could finally change.

Clayton Kershaw is eligible to come off the 60-day injured list on May 18. And Roberts said the future Hall of Fame left-hander is on track to be ready when that date arrives, showing more progress in his return from offseason toe and knee surgeries on Tuesday with six no-hit innings in a rehab start in the Arizona Complex League.

Kershaw is expected to make one last rehab outing with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Sunday, Roberts said. After that, the 37-year-old left-hander should be ready to make his return to the majors.

In the meantime, the Dodgers will likely keep swingman Ben Casparius stretched out to pitch bulk innings every time the open spot in the rotation is up.

Roberts said the team’s other injured starters, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow, are scheduled to begin throwing by the end of this week, an important step in their recoveries from similar shoulder inflammation injuries.

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