The Philadelphia Phillies are one of the teams looking to complicate things and compete for the National League East title, but to do that, they hope to get back one of their best pitchers-perhaps the only one who could truly challenge Paul Skenes‘ Cy Young campaign.
If the New York Mets want to reign in the division, they’ll have to get past the Phillies, who just received a very positive update on Zack Wheeler.
Good news for the Phillies
The Phillies‘ top pitcher threw his first bullpen session this Thursday morning since undergoing thoracic outlet syndrome surgery on September 23, which even included the removal of a rib.
In the session, Wheeler threw 21 pitches-all fastballs.
“It was very good. He’s been recovering pretty well,” manager Rob Thomson said. “A couple days ago, we identified possibly today would be the day. He came in, he felt good, so we went after it. The velo was good, the ball flight was good. He felt great. We’ll check him tomorrow and find out how he’s feeling and get a plan going for moving forward.”
When asked if Zack Wheeler could be ready to pitch in an MLB game in six weeks, Thomson said it was “possible,” though everything would depend on his recovery progress and how he feels.
“He’s worked awfully hard. That’s the key to it. He’s worked harder than he’s ever worked in the offseason. He’s strong, shoulder’s stronger than it ever has been. Really feel good about it.”
It’s unclear whether Zack Wheeler will pitch in Spring Training games, but the next step is another bullpen session after two days of rest, as planned by the team.
At the very least, this is an excellent outlook for the Philadelphia Phillies-and bad news for their division rivals-because having this pitcher available means they’ll rack up wins that will only tighten the NL East race.
Taijuan Walker is the only member of the Opening Day rotation who has already pitched in the Grapefruit League. He worked two innings but will travel to represent Mexico in the World Baseball Classic-something that will also happen with Aaron Nola for Italy. In Cristopher Sánchez‘s case, he will play with the Phillies before reporting to the Dominican Republic.
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