PHILADELPHIA -- Phillies ace Zack Wheeler will get some extra rest before his next start.
He felt a little soreness in his right shoulder following Saturday's start against the Tigers. So instead of taking the mound for Friday's series opener against the Rangers, Wheeler is now penciled in to start Sunday's series finale in Arlington.
"Wheeler came out of his last start a little sore -- more sore than he normally is," manager Rob Thomson said prior to Wednesday's series finale vs. the O's. "We got an image done. It's clean. We're just going to give him an extra couple days."
Is there any concern?
"No," Thomson said. "The image was clean."
For now, the Phillies' actions back up the lack of concern.
Wheeler proceeded with playing catch in the outfield on Wednesday -- his typical routine for four days before a start. The Phils also had the option to skip Wheeler's turn completely thanks to Thursday's off-day, but they felt pushing him back a couple days was adequate.
Is that something they considered just to be extra cautious?
"No," Thomson said again. "Because he's fine."
Of course, the Phillies will monitor Wheeler closely over the coming days. They'll make sure he feels normal after playing catch and following each step leading up to Sunday's start.
If needed, they could slide Wheeler back to Tuesday, with Taijuan Walker starting on Sunday and Ranger Suárez on Monday, both on normal rest.
That's not the plan for now.
"He's fine, so if he's ready to go Sunday ... ," Thomson said of Wheeler. "Obviously, we can back him up even more if we need to, because we have the off-day [on Thursday]."
The Phillies aren't going to take any chances when it comes to Wheeler. They know their starting pitching is their biggest strength -- and that conversation always starts with Wheeler.
To get to where they want to go this year, the Phils need their perennial Cy Young candidate to be not only healthy, but pitching the way he was for the first three-plus months of the season.
Following his 12-strikeout one-hit complete-game win on July 6, Wheeler appeared to be the frontrunner to win his first NL Cy Young Award. He was 9-3 with a 2.17 ERA.
In four starts since, however, he's gone 0-2 with a 4.94 ERA, raising his season ERA from 2.17 to 2.64. He still leads the NL with 182 strikeouts -- just one behind MLB leader Garrett Crochet. Wheeler's 0.92 WHIP is also tied with Paul Skenes for the best in the NL.
That said, while Wheeler has maintained his overall velocity during that span, he hasn't had his usual extra zip at his disposal. Usually capable of reaching back for 97-98 mph when he needs it, Wheeler topped out at 97.5 mph on Saturday. It was his second straight outing in which he didn't hit 98 mph.
In fact, Wheeler threw only four four-seam fastballs of even 97 mph his last time out. He had just two such pitches in the start before that one and seven in the one before that.
That's 13 pitches of 97 mph over his past four starts. He averaged 23 over his previous five outings before this stretch.
Put another way, only 11.7% of Wheeler's four-seam fastballs (13 of 111) have exceeded 97 mph over his past three starts. He was reaching 97 mph with more than half (51.5%) of his four-seamers over those previous five outings.
"Whatever comes out, comes out," Wheeler said when asked about his velocity after his last start.
Wheeler, however, said he felt good during the outing itself. He actually pushed Thomson to let him start the seventh inning at 95 pitches. The leadoff hitter reached on an error before Javier Báez teed off for a two-run homer on Wheeler's 98th and final pitch.
"That was on me going back out there for the seventh," Wheeler said following Saturday's game. "I kind of told him that I really wanted to, and we just have that respect for each other, so he let me. At the end of the day, maybe I shouldn't have, but I really did feel good being able to go back out there."
Wheeler has been mostly healthy since joining the Phillies prior to the 2020 season. His only non-COVID IL stint came in '22 when he missed a month late in the season due to right forearm tendinitis. His only shoulder issue came with the Mets in July 2019, when he missed two weeks due to right shoulder fatigue.
Still, no pitcher has thrown more innings since 2020 than Wheeler's 969. His 15,143 pitches during that span are second only to Dylan Cease.
Thomson said he has no plans as of now to alter the way he uses Wheeler down the stretch because, again, they believe he is "fine."
"We'll see," Thomson said. "I'm not planning on it."