'Hope he keeps it going': Phillips filling need for Phillies

PITTSBURGH -- Tyler Phillips entered the Phillies’ rotation to fill the need for a fifth starter with two veteran pitchers on the injured list. His first start resulted in a sweet hometown win in front of the home fans in Philadelphia, and his second start was even more dominant in his first Major League road test.

Phillips held the Pirates scoreless over six innings to secure a 6-0 win in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at PNC Park, continuing a great start to his young MLB career.

Phillips’ sweeper was a huge asset against the Pirates. He threw it 31 times, the most of any of his five offerings, and 39% of them were either a called strike or forced a swing and miss. Phillips was in attack mode, affording only one walk while drawing a ton of weak contact (84.4 mph average exit velocity).

“A big thing about pitching is just throwing strikes, being in the strike zone,” Phillips said. “It’s the only way to get guys out. You’ve got to make them swing the bat, and putting a lot of trust in the guys behind me has been helping me out a lot.”

From Phillips' first two appearances -- a four-inning relief outing in his July 7 MLB debut and a six-inning win in his first start -- Phillies manager Rob Thomson knew that this rookie pitcher could prove to be valuable.

“I think he’s pitched better than what I expected to a certain degree,” Thomson said. “I hope he keeps it going. His stuff is good and his command is good, so that should get him by.”

Phillips has gotten this opportunity due to injuries to Taijuan Walker and Spencer Turnbull. Walker is throwing bullpen sessions, including one scheduled for the Phils’ upcoming series in Minnesota this week. The right-hander will then progress to throwing live batting practice when the team returns home, if all goes well.

Walker was put on the IL in late June with right index finger inflammation, and he was dealing with a blister that Thomson noted was hampering Walker’s ability to throw a splitter -- his most effective pitch. Because of that, Walker had endured one of his toughest seasons to date, posting a 5.60 ERA in 10 starts. So beyond the question mark of health, there’s also a question of performance with Walker, who is the second season of a four-year, $72 million deal.

Turnbull, on the other hand, was off to a great season before going on the injured list on June 27 with a right lat strain. He has a 2.65 ERA over 17 outings this season, but he’s produced a phenomenal 1.78 ERA in his seven starts. Needless to say, the Phillies would love to have his arm back.

Turnbull is in the midst of a throwing program in Clearwater, Fla., and Thomson said the right-hander is scheduled to throw out to 120 feet next week, then hopefully progress to bullpen sessions. Thomson didn’t rule out that Turnbull’s first bullpen could be late next week if he checks all the boxes. The skipper added that he’s open to Turnbull pitching out of the ‘pen when he first returns.

“It’s going to be tough to get him stretched out fully, so it could be,” Thomson said. “We’ll have to see where he’s at [and] at what time, then we’ll just make an adjustment and make a decision.

“And if there’s a need before he gets fully stretched out, maybe we pull the plug and go.”

For now, the Phillies have Phillips to round out the rotation, and they have to be impressed with what they’ve seen. The one batter he walked on Sunday is his only base on balls in 16 big league innings. He’s needed only 79 and 85 pitches, respectively, to get through six innings in each of his first two starts.

Thomson said Phillips has great composure, and that unshakeability has led to wins in his first two starts.

But the newest Major Leaguer on the Phillies’ roster knows that his sights are on a much bigger prize than simply a good start to a career or filling a temporary need, given that he’s contributing to the team with the best record (63-36) in the Majors.

“It ends up in me getting a win, but I don’t play the game for my personal stats,” Phillips said. “I play to try to help with the ultimate goal of winning a World Series.”