After a tough outing, Tyler Phillips seizes redemption, showcasing aggressive dominance as the Marlins' new closer.
One of the benefits of being a relief pitcher in the major leagues is the quick opportunity for redemption if the previous outing doesn’t go as planned.
Tyler Phillips came into Tuesday’s game in the ninth inning and closed out the Miami Marlins’ 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The previous night, he inherited a bases-loaded situation with one out after closer Pete Fairbanks exited after feeling numbness in his thumb.
Phillips got the second out, but gave up the game-winning single to Kyle Tucker, the Dodgers’ big free-agent acquisition of the year. Phillips told Marlins Radio Network after Tuesday’s win that he was “just very excited to get back out there.”
"I was fired up," Phillips said. "I was thinking about the outing from last night. If you saw me down in the bullpen, you probably would've thought that there was something wrong.”
The Marlins signed Fairbanks to a franchise-record $13 million contract to provide this emerging team with a proven closer. With him out, for as long as they hope is the minimum stay on the injured list, McCullough said the plan for the Marlins' bullpen is to go closer by committee.
It’s a similar strategy that saw the emergence of Phillips last year. As he stepped up, Phillips came out of the bullpen slapping himself on the face before jogging towards the mound. He put up a 2.78 ERA with four saves in 77.2 innings over 54 appearances last year. This season he has pitched 18.1 innings with a 1.47 ERA and two saves in 10 games.
Now, Phillips is the likely option to come into the game in a save situation.
“For me, there was no hesitation to put him in that spot,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said during his postgame press conference on Tuesday. “We've seen him get so many big outs over the last couple of years, so he got right back out there tonight and did a great job."
His declaration of hating hitters made him an intimidating force on the mound. Marlins TikTok showed a much different side to the 6-foot-5 reliever.
"Tyler can go to a different place when he is on the mound," McCullough said. "You couldn't find a nicer person, great dad. But when the gates open, Tyler has a switch that he has found and he is going to go out there and be incredibly aggressive and is a great competitor.”
Join our ROUNDTABLE community! It's free to join. Share your thoughts, engage with our Roundtable writers, and chat with fellow members.
Download the free Roundtable APP, and stay even more connected!