Zack Wheeler was supposed to be the answer to every October question. Instead, the Phillies spent Saturday night in Washington announcing that their ace had been placed on the 15-day injured list with a blood clot in his right arm.
The news came after a 2-0 loss to the Nationals, but it turned a forgettable August game into something else entirely.
Doctors identified what the team called a “right, upper extremity blood clot.” Wheeler will return to Philadelphia for further evaluation. Officials made clear that the clot is unrelated to the shoulder stiffness he battled earlier in the year, and they emphasized that it was diagnosed quickly. Multiple treatment paths exist, but no timeline has been offered.
Wheeler had started just 24 hours earlier, limited to five innings for the second straight outing. He gave up two runs on four hits, striking out six. On the season, he is 10-5 with a 2.71 ERA, 195 strikeouts in 149⅔ innings. At 35, he has again been the backbone of a rotation built for October.
That’s what makes this announcement so jarring. The Phillies are 70-53, built to contend now, with Wheeler as the pitcher who makes them dangerous in a short series. Blood clots, though, are not the sort of injuries you plan around. They’re bigger than pitch counts, bigger than rotations, bigger than baseball.
Only after all that did the actual game register.
Taijuan Walker turned in another strong performance, scattering six hits and two walks over 6 2/3 innings while allowing just two runs. His ERA now sits at 3.34 in 91 2/3 innings, a dramatic turnaround from a disastrous 2024 campaign. He didn’t allow a run until the fifth, when a potential inning-ending double play ball instead slipped into center. Two batters later, James Wood ripped a two-run double into right.
That was the difference. The Phillies put together eight hits, three of them from the red-hot Trea Turner, but failed to score. They also ran themselves out of innings, with Turner thrown out trying to steal third in the first and Brandon Marsh cut down on a fielder’s choice in the second.
Cade Cavalli shut them down over seven scoreless innings to earn his first big-league win, and Jose A. Ferrer locked down a six-out save.
So, the Phillies left Nationals Park on Saturday night with a 70-53 record, and a series still hanging in the balance. But more than anything, they left with a season-defining question: what comes next for Zack Wheeler?
Loading Phillies schedule...
Loading NL East standings...
Support the Mission. Fuel the Movement.
You’re not just funding journalism — you’re backing the future of youth baseball in Philly.
👉 Join us on Patreon »