The Philadelphia Phillies avoided a worst-case scenario with ace Zack Wheeler after imaging on his sore pitching shoulder came back clean.
Manager Rob Thomson revealed Wednesday that he’s pushing Wheeler’s start back two days to Sunday after the right-hander reported shoulder soreness to the training staff.
“Wheeler came out of his last start a little sore — more sore than he normally is,” Thomson told reporters. “He got an image done, it’s clean. We’re just going to give him an extra couple days.”
Zack Wheeler is being moved back a couple of days to Sunday because he had more soreness than usual with his shoulder after his last start.
— Dave Uram (@MrUram) August 6, 2025
Rob Thomson said they took an image and it came back clean.#Phillies @KYWNewsradio pic.twitter.com/yw3IGzZCQg
Thomson added that Wheeler’s July 6 complete-game one-hitter against Cincinnati “affected his pain.”
Since that complete game, Wheeler has struggled through four starts, surrendering 13 earned runs and six home runs, including at least four earned runs in two outings. He’s been battling command issues while experiencing a slight velocity dip.
Despite the injury scare, Thomson says he’s not concerned about Wheeler long-term and doesn’t expect him to miss a turn in the rotation. However, the manager is now hesitant to let any pitcher go nine innings the rest of the season.
“I hope not,” said Thomson. “It bothers me, it really does. It scares me. It concerns me. When a guy’s got a low pitch count, he wants it, so it’s hard to take it away.”
Losing Wheeler for any stretch this close to season’s end would be devastating. If he’s not healthy entering October, it would dash the Phillies’ hopes of winning their first World Series since 2008.
