Off the injured list for nearly two weeks, the Dodgers called on Phillips for his first save chance of the season and he got through it with little stress. Most interesting, the Braves sent the heart of their order up in that ninth inning after manager Dave Roberts pitched their presumed closer Tanner Scott the inning prior against the bottom of the lineup. There were some strange circumstances in this game as a storm rolled in and caused a lengthy delay before the ninth inning began, but that usage pattern seemingly opens the door for Phillips to siphon off more save opportunities from Scott moving forward.

Phillips returns as a high-leverage option for the Dodgers ahead of Saturday’s game against the Rangers with Blake Treinen (forearm) heading to the injured list. The 30-year-old former closer opened the year on the shelf working his way back from a rotator cuff strain that he suffered last postseason.

Phillips opened the year on the shelf continuing to recover from a rotator cuff strain. The 30-year-old should be ready to return to the Dodgers’ high-leverage relief mix by mid-April.

Phillips is trending towards being ready to rejoin Los Angeles’ high-leverage mix at some point in April, but he’s going to need to head out on a minor-league rehab assignment first. That should be coming up soon.