Phils place Wheeler on IL with blood clot near right shoulder

WASHINGTON -- Phillies right-handed starter Zack Wheeler was placed on the injured list with a right upper extremity blood clot, Phillies president of baseball operations David Dombrowski announced Saturday following the Phillies’ 2-0 loss to the Nationals.

Wheeler tossed five innings Friday against the Nats in a no decision, throwing 97 pitches, 62 for strikes. Phillies head athletic trainer Paul Buchheit said Wheeler felt “a little heaviness” on his right shoulder after the game.

"Zack had been feeling better after his right shoulder soreness,” Buchheit said. “But yesterday, some symptoms had changed. Doctors were great in helping to diagnose and expedite that diagnosis this morning."

Dombrowski said Wheeler will be evaluated early this week by doctors back in Philadelphia: "I commend Paul and the doctors here to find this because it could have been a much more trying situation than what it is."

The Phillies will place Wheeler on the IL and activate right-hander Aaron Nola to start Sunday’s finale. A corresponding 40-man roster move will occur during Sunday’s pregame but has not been announced.

Manager Rob Thomson said the club has the pitching depth to absorb this injury to Wheeler because of their six-man rotation, but the focus now is on making sure the veteran right-hander is getting the care that he needs.

"We don't know the timeline,” Thomson said. “I'm thinking a lot about Zack and his family because this is not a hamstring injury or something like that."

Taijuan Walker allowed only two runs in 6 2/3 innings in Saturday’s loss to the Nats, but afterwards focused on the health and recovery of his teammate.

"I texted him a little bit this morning,” Walker said. “Obviously scary. [This loss today] doesn't mean anything. Obviously, we are praying for him. Trying to keep in contact with him. I know he knows we are all here for him, we love him."

Wheeler was putting together another solid season for the Phillies, going 10-5 with a 2.71 ERA in 24 starts over 149 2/3 innings with 195 strikeouts. But he had struggled a bit since tossing a complete game July 6 against the Reds. His last start was pushed back two days because of shoulder soreness.

Wheeler’s teammate Kyle Schwarber knew something was unusual when he didn’t see the right-hander in the clubhouse Saturday during pregame.

"We heard some rumblings,” Schwarber said. "When we got to the field, he wasn't here. I made sure [to shoot] him a text. Sounded like [he] was getting the tests done.

“It's a scary situation, right? Anytime that you hear anything that visceral like if it's a blood clot, that is scary stuff. I 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 we need him healthy first. He's got a family. We want to get him feeling good for them and then get him back to speed whenever we can."