The Philadelphia Phillies are right to be cautious with ace Zack Wheeler’s health.
Wheeler, a strong contender for the National League Cy Young Award, has been a bit off in his last four starts, giving up 13 earned runs and failing to pitch more than six innings in any of them.
Following his latest start on Saturday, a 7-5 loss to the Detroit Tigers, it seems there might be some minor injury concerns contributing to Wheeler’s recent struggles.
On Wednesday, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reported that Wheeler was experiencing some shoulder stiffness. He even got an MRI, but the results came back clean. As a result, the team is rescheduling his next start.
“Phillies are bumping Zack Wheeler back two days to Sunday,” Gelb wrote on X. “He complained of some shoulder stiffness. They sent him for an MRI. It was clean, Rob Thomson said. Wheeler played catch (Wednesday).”
Wheeler, 35, has a 2.64 ERA and 4.9 bWAR in 22 starts this season, and he’s one strikeout behind Boston Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet, who has 183 punchouts, for the major league lead.
August is known as the dog days for a reason. Everyone, from rookies to veteran All-Stars, is going through a variety of aches and pains. But pitchers have to be treated with extra care, especially pitchers who project to pitch Game 1 of their teams’ first playoff series.
Whatever the Phillies need to do to ensure Wheeler isn’t compromised the rest of the way, they should do it.
Moving a start back two days is a good first step, but they must keep a close eye on him when he faces the Texas Rangers on Sunday for any further signs of fatigue or discomfort.
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