The Phillies announced that Zack Wheeler has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a right upper extremity blood clot. According to Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic, the clot is near his throwing shoulder. The team has not announced a timetable for his return.
Philadelphia will activate Aaron Nola from the 60-day IL tomorrow. He’s listed as the probable starter for their series finale in Washington. They initially intended to go with a six-man rotation. Instead, Nola will take Wheeler’s spot in a five-man staff that also includes Cristopher Sánchez, Ranger Suárez, Jesús Luzardo and Taijuan Walker. They’ll still need to open a 40-man roster spot for Nola and make an active roster transaction to clear space for Alec Bohm, who is expected back from a 10-day IL stint tomorrow.
The immediate roster considerations take a back seat to concern about Wheeler’s future. The Phils should be able to withstand a short-term absence, at least with regard to the division. They’ve built a five-game lead over the Mets in the NL East. Their hold on the #2 seed in the National League and the associated first-round bye is tenuous. They’re only half a game up on the Dodgers and Padres, who enter play Saturday night tied for the NL West lead. (San Diego and L.A. are playing one another, so one of them will tie Philly this evening.) The scorching hot Brewers have pulled well ahead of the pack for the NL’s top seed.
If this requires a longer-term absence, it’d obviously be a massive blow. Wheeler remains on the short list for the title of MLB’s best pitcher. He has a 2.71 earned run average and leads the majors with 195 strikeouts. He’s averaging more than six innings per start. This will probably be Wheeler’s second consecutive sub-3.00 ERA showing and his fifth time allowing fewer than three earned runs per nine over his six seasons in Philadelphia. Wheeler has been exceptionally durable. This is just his second IL stint as a Phillie, with the other being a month-long absence due to forearm tendinitis in 2022.
A healthy Wheeler would be Philadelphia’s Game 1 starter. There’s no indication that the team is concerned about his playoff availability, but a blood clot comes with a level of uncertainty. The Phillies will presumably provide more specifics in the next few days.
AND NOBODY BOTHERED TO MAYBE RUN SOME MORE TESTS EARLIER?
I saw two cars collide right in front of me today
I wish Waze had warned me about that earlier
“And nobody bothered”..Yes. Let’s rip somebody..anybody really a mere 5 minutes after the story breaks and only scant details are even known.
Why do some people need someone or something to demonize all 7 days of the week.
They ran a MRI 10 days ago. He’s obviously looked off for probably close to a month now. Yet they continued to insist that nothing was wrong. Why skip a start? Why throw him on the IL out of precaution. No. They had him take two more starts where he predictably continued to not look like himself. He made two starts after a MRI with a blood clot in his shoulder. I’m sorry, that’s malpractice. And obviously it was on a lower key, but they did a similar song and dance in saying Harper wasn’t injured earlier on in the year, and then suddenly he’s out for a month.
Hey smarty pants, you need an ultrasound to see a blood clot, can’t see it on MRI. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Really bad take. Wheeler was still throwing 96-97 with movement, just couldn’t locate, both before and after coming off 10 days rest. MRI shows nothing. Seems to me you are dismissed.
I am unsure whether to make a “Bloodclot!” or “Dopplers for everybody!”
joke.
Thank goofus for Doctor Doofus
Doofus, MRIs do detect blood clots.
Ummm…MRIs don’t pick up blood clots.
As someone who almost died from blood clots in 2004, I can verify this. It was an ultrasound that found mine.
Who would’ve thought a rando would know better than trained professionals treating another professional who has made over $170M? And you’re offering your big brain expertise all for free?
Always looking for someone to blame seems to be the trend in America… wonder where we got that from… or perhaps our leader is just reflecting what is already true in America
Whatever happened to take responsibility for your own actions ?
Ruh roh. What’s it mean mlbtr docs?
IT AINT GOT NO GAS IN IT.
Cancer mixed with STDs all thanks to steroids. Sharing needles with Harper, etc. Its a grim world
A+ post, Delgado
blood clots can be 100% deadly. killed my brother..age 36
Sorry to hear that.
Yes….you need to be super careful…i did not realize how serious they were …i know a few people in my life too…that had this
That’s awful, sorry for your loss
That’s really sad he was having his best or 2nd best season and had a shot at the cy young
Wishing Wheeler the best. I hate to hear any player is facing serious health issues.
Yes, I have no medical training but I know blood clots are very dangerous.
That scary. I hope they can get rid of the clot. I’m glad they were able to catch it.
That stinks for him. It explains lot though There goes the season. No chance he comes back this year but hopefully he recovers for next season
Damn- good luck to Zack and his family.
Not good. I think Jamie Moyer had something like this post sports hernia that developed complications that included an infection.
Lots of blood clots these days. Scary stuff. All the best to Mr. Wheeler!
Tuna-Yup. Wonder what events led up to them. /s
Even as a Braves fan I feel for this guy who seems to have the Cy elude him every year. At least it’s not because of a Gagne-like result (elite closer with help), but still. Only getting older and he’s been the most consistent pitcher of this decade. Hope he can get back on the horse and finish as a finalist a few more times…while somehow taking a L in every game he’s opposing ATL.
I think you meant why not skip a start and why not go on the IL.
Wow, that’s horrible news. I really hope he’s going to be ok. Wheels was great for my Mets and great for baseball.
This is real serious, I know he discuss retiring after this contract ends, I wonder now if he will reconsider and may walk away earlier now. Family comes before baseball. He’ll more than likely be on blood thinners after surgery, then there is rehabbing the shoulder, this is worse than a TJ recovery. Hoping for a solid health recovery for Zack Wheeler. Prayers to him and his family.
Chris Bosh did it for this reason.
So, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna or Pfizer?
You actually think any of this core took a vaccine?
Wheeler and Eflin skipped the vaccines and both had COVID in May 22
Fool
Go back to the Middle Ages.
That gets a mute from me
Some of you have been incapable of learning anything or evolving over the past 5 years apparently. Mute me. Go ahead. Live in your own vacuum.
Take the foil hat off dude, Life’s too short to be that paranoid,
That’s scary stuff. I’m old enough to remember JR Richard. At least medical treatment should be better now than it was 45 years ago.
thanks guys. appreciate it 🙏
This is no small matter about Wheeler. This could involve surgery to physically remove the clot and/or dissolving the clot by injecting medication through a catheter, plus anticoagulation. He could be out a while, and if he’s on anticoagulants, he’ll have to exert a whole different level of caution when he pitches.
Duran bears more watching before everyone starts forgetting about yesterday’s line drive to the right ankle. He has to push off that ankle when he throws, and even if he just sustained a minor bone and/or muscle contusion which will completely heal with time, his velocity and control could be adversely affected for a while. There’s also the possibility of aggravating the injury and converting it into something worse, like a fracture. I get very concerned when I see a pitcher throwing 100+ mph with most pitches, like Duran has. The human arm can only do so much, and more often than not, that kind of stress on the arm can lead to shoulder or elbow damage that requires surgery and prolonged rehab.
162 games is a long season. A lot is going to change for all the playoff-bound teams before the playoffs begin. Having the two top records in either league may not be a good thing. Teams that drew byes for the first wild card round haven’t done well in recent years.
All it could take is for an ace to get injured or a slugger to get hit by a pitch in the wrong place for the playoff picture to change on a dime.
What ever team is healthy and has momentum going into the playoffs usually has a better chance than a team that has cruised there for most of the season..
Diamondbacks went on a run.
Rangers too.
I agree with this view. Ya never know. Gotta get in, even just barely.
This is so serious let’s hope for a 2026 worry free return.
therealman, If the news about his condition is accurate, and nothing else is being hidden, your return window may be realistic.
What’s the treatment for a blood clot? Pills like blood thinners? Or something more invasive?
kyle,
The initial treatment will probably be surgical removal of the clot, and/or insertion of a catheter and infusion of clot-dissolving medications, either followed by aggressive anticoagulation for a prolonged period of time. Considering he’s a professional athlete and otherwise in good health, the treatment plan will undoubtedly be aggressive.
Wheeler is a class act. I hope and pray, he’ll be able to get past this.
The good news is that this should clear up my October
Long live football.
You know see his last two starts he was off and they let him pitch
The clot could have come after he pitched.
Was there anything in particular that caused it? Did he get by a line drive in the shoulder in one of his recent starts?
It just happens from the motion of pitching. The exact thing happened to David Cone back in the day, It’s scary, but luckily they caught it before it traveled anywhere.
I’m a Braves fan, but this is life impacting and I hope he recovers fully. But is cleared to throw in November ( kidding, kind of) i don’t want this to be a serious thing though for real.
Sucks but this a bigger than baseball thing. Blood clots will kill ya. Just get healthy.
fan, The important thing here is Zack Wheeler’s health. Everything else is secondary.
There goes the Cy Young.
Blood clots can be tricky business. Hoping he’ll be OK moving forward
Iirc woody Williams had a similar malady. He should be fine since it was found. Blood thinners, maybe vascular surgery to pick it out. Even drip some tPA on it like they can do now with certain ischemic strokes.
Likely done for season and post season.