Evan Phillips

[baltfan]

The Orioles released him on 2021. He has the lowest ERA of any reliever the last two years.  This was one of the few development failures under Elias. 

[RZNJ]

We didn’t have him for that long but I remember a great breaking pitch and overall lack of command.  The light bulb didn’t go on while we had him.  I don’t remember if he ran out of options while we had him.   

[Sports Guy]

Was it a failure by us or just a great job by LA?

[Pickles]

Actually sounds like a developmental success.

[scarey1999]

This article explains it. Once he got to LA, he changed up his pitch mix. 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/09/the-dodgers-grabbed-an-elite-closer-off-waivers.html

[baltfan]

1 hour ago, Sports Guy said:

Was it a failure by us or just a great job by LA?

Failure by us if we couldn’t see what needed to be adjusted to make him successful.  This is especially the case since he was good literally his first year with the Dodgers after the Orioles released him. 

[baltfan]

1 minute ago, scarey1999 said:

This article explains it. Once he got to LA, he changed up his pitch mix. 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/09/the-dodgers-grabbed-an-elite-closer-off-waivers.html

Thanks. Definitely a failure by the Orioles then. It happens but hopefully Elias is learning from it.  That said bullpen was really good for Orioles in 2022. 

[Moose Milligan]

No one gets it right 100% of the time. Some guys are gonna struggle here and move on to do great things elsewhere. Some guys are gonna struggle with other teams and find success here.  That’s the way it goes. 

[SteveA]

2 minutes ago, baltfan said:

Failure by us if we couldn’t see what needed to be adjusted to make him successful.  This is especially the case since he was good literally his first year with the Dodgers after the Orioles released him. 

Didn't he go to Tampa after we released him, and then get released there?

So no only did Elias give up on him, but so did the Rays whose reputation for pitcher whispering is pretty good.

[Frobby]

We have a whole thread about former Orioles over in the MLB forum where people second guess guys we traded away or released every day.  DJ Stewart has a .974 OPS!  Tanner Scott has a 2.24 ERA!   Post this there and go to town.   

[eddie83]

Seems to be a theme all over MLB with pitching. I don’t recall this many pitchers years ago resurrecting their careers. I have no data to back this up but it just feels this way.  
 

They are there but don’t see it as much with position players. Analytics favors pitching. 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

3 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

No one gets it right 100% of the time. Some guys are gonna struggle here and move on to do great things elsewhere. Some guys are gonna struggle with other teams and find success here.  That’s the way it goes. 

Under Elias we're seeing pitchers that failed at other organizations have success with the Orioles. That's something we hadn't seen here for years. It would have been nice to see Phillips make it here, but I'll take the successes we've seen with Fuji, Webb, Cano and Coulombe.

[Moose Milligan]

3 minutes ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

Under Elias we're seeing pitchers that failed at other organizations have success with the Orioles. That's something we hadn't seen here for years. It would have been nice to see Phillips make it here, but I'll take the successes we've seen with Fuji, Webb, Cano and Coulombe.

I’m confident in Cionel to put him back in that list, too. 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

2 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I’m confident in Cionel to put him back in that list, too. 

And Grayson got through some early season troubles. I'm not sure if he makes the same progress under the last regime and their dubious record at developing starting pitching talent.

[e16bball]

15 minutes ago, SteveA said:

Didn't he go to Tampa after we released him, and then get released there?

So no only did Elias give up on him, but so did the Rays whose reputation for pitcher whispering is pretty good.

And so did the Braves, all in a couple year span. 

I was actually pretty high on Phillips as a component of the Gausman deal, but that’s probably 3 of the top 5ish FO/development groups in MLB that were willing to let him walk out the door. Just so happens that one of the other top groups also got a shot, and their approach clicked. I think you just have to tip your cap to the Dodgers for this one. 

I think what you’re getting at in this post is a pretty good rule of thumb: if the Rays also couldn’t get production out of a relief pitcher, you can’t beat yourself up too much for not getting him there. 

Edited September 12, 2023 by e16bball