‘Dude’s a dog’: Phillies pitcher Tyler Phillips had a role model in a fellow Bishop Eustace grad

PHOENIX — During Tyler Phillips’ sophomore year at Bishop Eustace, college and professional scouts were a familiar sight at his baseball games.

But they were not there for him. The scouts were there to get a look at the Crusaders’ star senior shortstop and pitcher, Zac Gallen, who played for North Carolina before becoming the Diamondbacks’ ace. At the time, Phillips split time between Bishop Eustace’s junior varsity and varsity teams.

During one such game with Gallen on the mound and the stands full of scouts, Phillips’ coach told him to start warming up in the bullpen. Phillips made it all the way out to the mound before Gallen told him to sit right back down.

“Nah, I’m staying,” Gallen said.

He ended up finishing the game.

“That’s something that I learned, just be a competitor, want the ball the entire game,” Phillips, now a member of the Phillies’ starting rotation, said. “A moment where you’d probably be upset, I learned something from that. Dude’s a dog, you know.”

Because of the age difference, Phillips said he and Gallen weren’t close as teammates, but he learned a lot from watching Gallen. He hasn’t had the chance to meet up with his old classmate yet while they’re in Phoenix because of differing schedules, but they have run into each other when they’re back home.

“It was a lot of fun to watch him go out there,” Phillips said. “You see him now, he’s still got a ton of confidence. He’s still a competitor; he’s kind of always had that. And as a sophomore, I think I was like, 15. I had a little intimidation factor.”

Once Phillips started to get more opportunities in high school, he blossomed. He left Bishop Eustace with an 18-0 record and was drafted by the Rangers in the 16th round. And he credits some of the attention he got to Gallen.

“Because of him, scouts saw me. They saw the size, they see me warm up, or something like that: ‘Who’s that guy?’” Phillips said. “Zac would be pitching, and if I ever got an opportunity to throw in front of a scout, they would be there to see him.”

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Phillips stays in touch with his former coach, Sam Tropiano, who still leads the Crusaders’ program. Tropiano has season tickets to the Phillies and has been in attendance every one of Phillips’ appearances at Citizens Bank Park so far.

“It’s really cool to see all the people, everyone comes out and supports,” Phillips said. “I get texts from all kinds of teammates, coaches, whatever it is, and they wish me luck every game. ... Just people who know who I was in high school. They kind of see that same guy out there, like, ‘There’s our high school pitcher.’”

Gallen is set to start against the Phillies on Saturday. The last time he faced them was during the opening game of the National League Championship Series, back when Phillips was still a free agent. Phillips attended Game 2 of the series as a fan — and ended up being very late after getting caught in traffic — and missed seeing Gallen’s start by one day.

Phillips isn’t scheduled to pitch during the Arizona series. The next time the teams meet could be in the postseason.

Some of Phillips’ friends have brought up the possibility of him dueling his old teammate at some point. But while it certainly would be an exciting matchup for Tropiano and Bishop Eustace alumni everywhere, Phillips said it wouldn’t change his mindset.

“I try to take emotions out of it when I go out there, and just turn it into ‘I have to put these hitters away,’” Phillips said. “I have pitched against friends before, in the box and on the mound, and there’s no room for me to think about, ‘Oh I went to high school with this guy. This is like a crazy experience. This is so surreal.’ There’s no space for me to think of that in that moment. It’s lock in, pitcher, catcher.”