Zack Wheeler has parlayed Mets tenure into top-of-the-game stature with Phillies
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - OCTOBER 09: Zack Wheeler #45 of the Philadelphia Phillies reacts against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning during Game Two of the Division Series at Truist Park on October 09, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) Credit: Getty Images/Elsa
PHILADELPHIA
The Mets’ version of Zack Wheeler was another high-ceiling member of an updated Generation K, the guy on the far end of that infamous spring training photo, the one that featured a group of pitchers with futures so bright you couldn’t look directly at them without squinting.
The year was 2016, with Wheeler still on his way back from Tommy John surgery, which is why Bartolo Colon was included in that Port St. Lucie photo at the opposite end, next to Matt Harvey. But now, seven years later — in what already feels like another lifetime — Wheeler stands alone this October. The Phillies’ ace is set to start Monday’s Game 1 of the NLCS against the Diamondbacks at Citizens Bank Park.
Given his path to this point, I asked Wheeler if this is a spot he always figured to be in or if it is more the product of confidence accumulated over time. He was the guy the Giants traded to the Mets for Carlos Beltran, after all, but a bumpy ride through Flushing has been known to dent people’s self-esteem.
“I think you envision that,” Wheeler said Sunday of his ace stature for a Phillies team poised for a second consecutive trip to the World Series. “That’s something you always want to do for sure. I knew I had the talent to do it. I just wasn’t consistent when I was a little younger.”
Jacob deGrom is with the Rangers, of course, but only as a spectator as he rehabs from a second Tommy John surgery. That leaves Wheeler as the sole survivor this year, thanks to a remarkable durability equal to his mound talent, a combination that puts him atop the FanGraphs WAR leaderboard (19.3) by a considerable margin since signing his five-year, $118 million contract with the Phillies.
By that measure, no one has been a better value than Wheeler, whose $24.5 million salary this season ranked 10th overall among starting pitchers and was about half the value of the contracts of the two highest paid in the sport, the twin $43.3 million paychecks of Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander. The irony is that those record-breaking contracts were made possible by the Mets and that Wheeler now comes off as a relative bargain at age 33 with two more seasons left on his current deal.
How Wheeler wound up on the Phillies is not something that can be hung on the Mets anymore. That was the preceding administration, at least five GMs ago, back, when Brodie Van Wagenen credited Wheeler for “parlaying two good half-seasons” into $118 million.
Since then, Wheeler has the fourth-most innings pitched (629 1⁄3) in the majors behind Gerrit Cole (664), Sandy Alcantara (661) and rotationmate Aaron Nola (650 2⁄3). In those four years, the first being the COVID-shortened 60-game season, Wheeler ranks fourth in ERA (3.08), fifth in WHIP (1.06) and ninth in opponents’ batting average (.224) among pitchers with at least 500 innings. His 5.00 K/BB ratio ranks fifth in that group, which Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto sees as a huge difference-maker.
“For me, it’s been his ability to command the strike zone,” Realmuto said. “He is just so consistent. Because I remember back when he was with the Mets and I would face him, it was every now and then he would get a little wild. He would walk some guys and get himself in trouble with a couple of walks, and then bloop singles, a couple of runs.
“Now it feels like he really makes the opposing lineup beat him. He is going to attack you inside the strike zone. I think his off-speed has gotten better. I think his slider is better . . . Now he’s using two different fastballs, both at 96 to 98 miles an hour, where they’re moving completely opposite directions, so it’s so hard to find the barrel.”
Wheeler definitely showed flashes of greatness with the Mets, but he finished up there with a 100 ERA-plus, meaning he was right on the league average for his time in Flushing. Also, when the Mets passed on Wheeler, they still had deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz to pay. It came down to simple economics with the cash-conscious Wilpons in charge, and that obviously turned out to be a mistake.
As for Wheeler, being handed his first massive check by the Phillies changed his perspective, too. He wasn’t in the background anymore. This was his career-changing opportunity, and the contract is working out perfectly for both sides.
“You have to live up to it, right?” he said. “I think playing in New York made me a little tougher, for sure.”
That hasn’t been much of a concern for Wheeler. He has a 2.89 ERA in eight career postseason starts for the Phillies and is 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA this October, having pitched into the seventh in both of his starts. Wheeler held high-powered Atlanta hitless through 5 2/3 innings at Truist Park but got knocked out in the seventh when former Mets teammate Travis d’Arnaud smacked a two-run homer.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson took some heat for sticking with Wheeler despite having a superb bullpen at the ready. But given his knack for going deep into games — a rare commodity these days — Wheeler tends to be a decent bet in those scenarios.
“Highly competitive guy,” Thomson said. “It’s like a fistfight on the mound to get him out of the game, but I love that about him.”
The feeling is mutual, and the Wheeler lovefest again has kept Philly in the World Series picture deep into October.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
