WASHINGTON – Zack Wheeler, the Philadelphia Phillies’ ace and the National League Cy Young Award runner-up last year, was placed on the 15-day injured list Aug. 16 with a blood clot near his right shoulder, general manager Dave Dombrowski said.
Wheeler, 35, pitched five effective innings Aug. 15 against the Washington Nationals, his second start since an outing at the Texas Rangers was pushed back two days due to shoulder soreness. Wheeler has returned to Philadelphia and is undergoing additional testing.
The club was already set to activate veteran right-hander Aaron Nola for the Aug. 17 start against the Nationals, his first outing since May after battling a pair of injuries. But the Wheeler injury shocked the Phillies clubhouse, as his velocity was up in his start the night before, but Dombrowski said he complained of discomfort after his outing.
Wheeler returned to Philadelphia Aug. 17 and no timetable for his return was established, according to Phillies head athletic trainer Paul Buchheit. The condition was termed a right upper extremity blood clot.
Wheeler was examined by Nationals medical personnel in addition to the Phillies’ training staff. He will undergo further testing Aug. 18.
‘It could have been a much more trying situation than what it is,’ Dombrowski said.
Buchheit said Wheeler’s shoulder was feeling better after his bout with soreness, yet reported feeling ‘a little heaviness’ after his start a day before.
‘The doctors here were great in helping to diagnose and expedite that diagnosis this morning,’ Buchheit said. ‘It’s still early on in the diagnosis. I think we should gather more information before putting a timeline and prognosis together.’
Zack Wheeler stats
Wheeler was having another outstanding season, with a 10-5 record, 2.71 ERA and a major league-leading 195 strikeouts. He was sailing toward another 200-inning season after hitting that mark exactly last season, but is now stalled at 149⅔ innings for the foreseeable future.
Wheeler started 32 games in three of four full seasons with Philadelphia, a remarkable run of durability interrupted only by a 26-start campaign in 2022 due to a brief IL stint with right forearm tendinitis.
Phillies rotation with Zack Wheeler out
Losing an ace is never what you want, but the timing could have been worse. Nola’s activation was going to prompt the use of a six-man rotation to give all the Phillies’ starters, including Wheeler, extra rest. Nola’s Aug. 17 start means the remaining four members will get that extra day, along with an off day Monday.
After that, they’ll likely roll back to a five-man rotation, with Taijuan Walker remaining in the rotation in Wheeler’s stead, joining Nola, Cristopher Sanchez, Ranger Suárez and Jesús Luzardo.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson indicated top prospect Andrew Painter would be under consideration for promotion should the club want to return to a six-man look, but Painter for now has had an up-and-down return from Tommy John surgery at Class AAA.
‘We don’t know the timeline and I’m thinking a lot about Zack and his family because it’s not a hamstring injury or something like that,’ Thomson said. ‘But I feel good about the depth that we have. If we have to go to a sixth (starter), it could be Painter, it could be somebody else.
‘We’ve just got to carry on. People got to step up.’
Zack Wheeler’s future
Wheeler is in the first year of a three-year extension that pays him $42 million through 2027; he has indicated he’ll likely retire after that. While he had a dominant first half, he skipped July’s All-Star Game to get extra rest.
Now, the Phillies hope he gets his health back and then a return to the diamond.
‘It’s a scary situation, right?’ Phillies All-Star slugger Kyle Schwarber said. ‘Anytime you hear of a blood clot or anything like that, that’s scary stuff. Just want to get him back in here and hear from him and hopefully it’s not going to be too serious.
‘Baseball is baseball. When it comes to someone’s health like that, we need him healthy first. He’s got a family. We want to get him feeling good for them and get him back to speed when we can.’