Evan Phillips tried to play it coy Thursday, during World Series media day on the eve of the Fall Classic.
When asked if he had suffered an injury in Game 6 of the NLCS, when he only pitched one inning of relief in a situation that would have made sense to pitch two, Phillips tried to deflect.
"I wouldn't say that," he claimed. "It was just some overall arm fatigue setting in. Something we all kind of deal with late in the year."
Then, Phillips proclaimed he had "no worries" about his availability for the World Series.
On Friday morning, however, the right-handed veteran was not on the Dodgers' roster.
While the Dodgers did activate injured left-hander Alex Vesia (who missed the NLCS with an intercostal injury) and injured right-hander Brusdar Graterol (out since late September with a shoulder injury), Phillips' unspecified injury forced the Dodgers to leave him off the roster, serving as major blow to the club's all-important relief corps
"Evan came out of the game Sunday and just wasn't rebounding the way that he was hoping," president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. "He had tightened up some after that inning and said, 'Hey, I can go back out.' But [manager Dave Roberts] and [pitching coach] Mark Prior in that moment said this doesn't make sense right now."
"Each day has gotten better," Friedman added. "But not to the point where -- first and foremost, we're not going to put him in harm's way. And where there's an ambiguity around it, it's not clear ... So just balancing and weighing all of that, this is the decision we came to."
The Dodgers had another factor to consider with Phillips, who had pitched 6 ⅔ scoreless innings in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
Because his injury dated to a previous round, Friedman said, MLB postseason roster rules would have prevented the Dodgers from replacing him with another player if he was unable to contribute.
And since the Dodgers wouldn't know exactly how healthy Phillips was until "he really ramps it up in any kind of intensity," Friedman said, the team decided the risk was too great -- finally dropping the smoke screen that had surrounded his availability in recent days.
"At the end of the day, the chances of that resulting in either him compromising himself health-wise and actually creating a much bigger issue, or not being very effective or all of those things [were too great]," Friedman said, adding that while Phillips won't be shut down for now -- leaving open the possibility he could be activated in the event of another injury this week -- the severity of his injury remains unclear.
"Obviously losing Evan was a blow," Roberts echoed. "But getting two nice additions is big."
Indeed, the Dodgers will need to rely on Vesia, their top left-hander, and Graterol, a hard-throwing right-hander with a track record of October success, to navigate the New York Yankees' star-studded lineup.
"I think it just adds a little bit of variance," Roberts said. "We don't have to lean on the same guys. Now we have two lefties in the pen versus the one. Brusdar has a different repertoire than, let's say, [Ryan] Brasier. So I think that just being able to give these guys different looks is important."
The Dodgers also announced another roster addition for the World Series, getting back shortstop Miguel Rojas after he missed the NLCS with an adductor injury.
Rojas was not in the starting lineup for Game 1 -- NLCS most valuable player Tommy Edman continued to man shortstop, while postseason hero Kiké Hernández remained in center field -- but was available to pinch-hit and was expected to start at shortstop in Game 2.
To make room on the World Series roster for Rojas, the Dodgers left off veteran center fielder Kevin Kiermaier, who had only been used a late-innings defensive replacement in the NLCS.
"He's in a good spot," Roberts said of Rojas. "And we're going to need him."
As expected, first baseman Freddie Freeman (sprained ankle) and second baseman Gavin Lux (hip flexor) were also in the starting lineup for Game 1, despite being hampered by injuries in the NLCS.
Freeman's health could be particularly vital in the World Series, with the veteran slugger entering the Fall Classic in a one-for-15 slump in which his ankle injury had started to impact his swing.
"I do know that he's kind of in the position he was when he started the DS, [when he got] the time before that series," Roberts said, hopeful that the four off-days leading into the World Series had helped Freeman's ankle progress.
"So I'm just hoping -- we're all just sort of hoping -- that we've got out of the woods and we can kind of maintain where he's at now," Roberts said. "Because what happened as the [NLCS] progressed, prolonged, then it went south."