PHOENIX — The template is beginning to wear thin.
A Dodgers pitcher goes on the injured list. The player and Manager Dave Roberts express optimism that it will be a minimal absence. And then it isn’t.
Reliever Evan Phillips is the latest to make that journey.
Phillips went on the IL on Wednesday after feeling discomfort in his forearm over a few days and “just not recovering” normally after outings. Both Phillips and Roberts said the move was precautionary and Phillips was expected back after the minimum 15 days.
“Our expectation is on that 16th day, he’ll be back active,” Roberts said at the time.
He won’t be.
It was unclear at first if Phillips would even undergo an MRI. He did and it revealed inflammation in his elbow but no structural “incidents,” Roberts said Friday. But the Dodgers will handle Phillips cautiously and he won’t pick up a baseball for “a couple weeks.” At that point, he will begin a throwing program to get back on the active roster.
“It’s inflammation in his elbow so it’s just going to take some time,” Roberts said. “We’re going to take some time with Evan because as we said from the outset he’s so valuable going forward we have to be mindful and cautious with the buildup.”
Phillips missed the World Series last fall due to a ligament tear in his rotator cuff. His recovery from that delayed his debut this season until mid-April. He made seven appearances before going back on the IL.
Roberts acknowledged that the injury is worse than originally thought.
“Yeah I think it is, just to be frank,” he said. “You’re going from potentially pitching that night to saying I just can’t get loose to going on the IL.
“But … am I concerned about it? No.”
OKC SUNDAY
Right-hander Michael Kopech will make his second rehab appearance with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Sunday. In the same game, Clayton Kershaw is scheduled to make his final rehab appearance.
Kopech started his rehab on Thursday, walking all five batters he faced and throwing 20 balls in 23 pitches. At one point, Kopech acknowledged the sarcastic cheers of the crowd when a pitch was called a strike.
“I think the positive was he came out of it feeling good as far as health-wise,” Roberts said of Kopech, who opened the season on the IL with a shoulder impingement. “But that’s never a good thing given the number of walks that he let in. I expect, we all expect, it to be considerably better the next time.”
STATUS THROW
Left-hander Blake Snell has been on the IL with a shoulder injury since April 3, but he has been with the team on this entire 10-game road trip and was expected to start a throwing program at some point during the trip.
He was supposed to play catch during the series in Miami. That was postponed until Friday. But he didn’t throw Friday and is now scheduled to play catch on Sunday.
“I think being sick set him back a couple days,” Roberts said Friday.
Meanwhile, Tyler Glasnow was supposed to begin his throwing program this weekend as well. But he did not travel with the team.
LIVE TIME
The Dodgers will bring in minor-league pitchers to throw live batting practice to Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman during next week’s homestand.
Hernandez went on the IL with a strained groin muscle suffered during Monday’s game in Miami. But he has begun taking swings in the batting cage and is “actually trending really well” early in his recovery, Roberts said.
Edman, meanwhile, is still experiencing some difficulty with his injured ankle while running.
“It’s sort of still day to day,” Roberts said of Edman, estimating he was 80 percent recovered.
“It’s going to take some time.”
UP NEXT
Dodgers (RHP Dustin May 1-2, 4.36 ERA) at Diamondbacks (RHP Corbin Burnes, 1-1, 3.58 ERA), Saturday, 5:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM