What had been a perfect night for the Philadelphia Phillies came to a halt in the top of the sixth inning, when the club announced that All-Star righty Zack Wheeler had departed the game with left low back tightness.
Rob Thomson said postgame that Wheeler’s back tightened up during a six-run bottom of the fourth inning that the Phillies had against Los Angeles Dodgers’ righty Bobby Miller in an eventual 10-1 win. Wheeler was taken out of the game after just five innings and 76 pitches.
The manager called the move “precautionary” postgame, with the plan being to check on the righty again tomorrow. When asked if he expects Wheeler to make his next start, Thomson said “I’m assuming he will, but we’ll know more tomorrow.”
Wheeler did labor through what turned out to be his final inning of the night. He allowed a 390-foot home run to Cavan Biggio with two outs, and then walked both Shohei Ohtani and Will Smith. Still, he held the Dodgers to just one run in the inning, ultimately getting Freddie Freeman to ground out to end the frame.
After the game, Wheeler said that the Phillies were “playing it safe” by removing him after the fifth, and said “that’s our goal” when told of Thomson’s belief that he is likely to make his next scheduled start. The All-Star righty did acknowledge that the area of his back has “bothered me here and there a little bit lately.”
Is Wheeler concerned that area of his back could nag him moving forward?
“I don’t know,” Wheeler admitted. “We’ve just gotta take it day-by-day and just see how it goes. Like I said, it just tightened up on me a little bit, but I don’t know. I plan on making my next start.
The 34-year-old righty said that the area has bothered him for “probably his last two starts,” and he believes he may have tweaked it landing hard on the mound at Citizens Bank Park before the most recent roadtrip.
“It just tightened up on me then, just had to deal with it and treat it a little bit here and there,” Wheeler said.
The overall concern level seems pretty low from all parties involved. Nonetheless, it’s worth monitoring given the importance of Wheeler to the Phillies’ World Series aspirations.
On the season, Wheeler has a 2.70 ERA across 116 2/3 innings, which is fourth among all starters. Wheeler was selected to the All-Star Game for the second time in his career, but will not pitch in the game because he’s slated to start in the final game before the break. He was unsure postgame if he will attend the game at Globe Life Field in Arlington.
