GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Being a power-armed right-handed reliever wasn't the role Connor Phillips envisioned this time last year. The transition from starting pitcher wasn't a roster numbers issue, a stuff issue or even performance-based.
It was a diagnosis of thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) during 2025 camp that explained why Phillips' arm and fingers were feeling funny.
TOS can be a serious condition where nerves and blood vessels are compressed between the clavicle and rib cage. A solution for pitchers is often to undergo surgery that removes the first rib near the right shoulder. Phillies ace Zack Wheeler successfully had it in September, but the recovery time is 6-8 months.
Instead, Phillips underwent Botox injections near his neck and shoulder.
“It’s a maintenance thing that I just have to be proactive with," Phillips said. "There’s times when I go out there and my hands or fingers feel really fat. That’s just a blood flow thing. As long as I stay on top of it, then I feel pretty good for the majority of the time. Here and there, it’s like, ‘Hey, this feels terrible.’
"Whenever I had the injections last year, it took a little bit, and then when it kicked in, I said, ‘OK, I feel pretty good.’"
As the Reds and Phillips digested the diagnosis, he opened last season on Triple-A Louisville's injured list. The decision was also made to convert him into a reliever.
"It was going to be pretty hard to go out there and start," Phillips said. "It was a pretty easy transition."
Still managing his condition, Phillips hasn't needed the injections yet this year.
"They’re obviously on the table if I want to do them again," he said. "I’m just going to hold off for now.”
Phillips made four appearances for Cincinnati in June before returning to Louisville. When he reintroduced himself to big league hitters later in 2025, he showed the dominant power stuff that previously made him an exciting starting pitcher prospect.
Those performances during a playoff chase helped put Phillips into contention to be part of the 2026 bullpen.
“You don’t give guys jobs, but we certainly hope because what he did really made our bullpen different. He was a big part of that," manager Terry Francona said on Tuesday.
Phillips, 24, pitched well in three of his four appearances in his stint with Cincinnati in June. But when he returned Aug. 18 to boost a heavily-worked Reds bullpen, he often dominated.
In 17 appearances down the stretch, Phillips was 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA, eight walks and 28 strikeouts over his final 20 innings. He mostly works with two pitches, a four-seam fastball that averaged 98.2 mph last year and a sweeper that moves in on left-handed hitters.
“For me, it’s just a lot of confidence from knowing I can go out there and be an extremely good piece for this bullpen," said Phillips, who was part of the 2022 trade that sent Eugenio Suárez and Jesse Winker to the Mariners. "I can be one of those back-end guys in baseball that goes out there and just shuts it down.”
When the Reds were strapped for starters near the end of the 2023 season, Phillips made his big league debut and endured inconsistent results. He did not make the club in '24, and he then struggled with his command enough that it warranted a timeout.
The Reds sent Phillips to their Arizona complex for a couple of months to figure things out after he had developed bad mechanics.
"I hate going back to it. I can’t even tell you what really happened," Phillips said. "I was out there just trying to get through. I knew going out there every time, ‘OK, I don’t have my stuff.’ So it was either I get whacked around the field or I try to spot up. That’s not who I am, I know that."
But in the process, Phillips showed the Reds his resilience and they noticed.
“A lot of hard work and determination on his part, for sure," pitching coach Derek Johnson said. "There wasn’t any magic formula. It took a long time. It was a long process. You’ve got to give the guy credit. He’s sort of the one who pulled himself together and got it right."
The Reds significantly upgraded their bullpen in the offseason with veteran arms like Caleb Ferguson, Brock Burke and Pierce Johnson. Late-inning fixtures like Emilio Pagán, Tony Santillan and Graham Ashcraft are back.
Phillips is competing with several others like lefty Sam Moll and righties Zach Maxwell and Luis Mey to make his first Opening Day roster.
“[Phillips] can be a difference maker," Johnson said. "We’re going to give him every opportunity to show what he can do this spring."