The Philadelphia Phillies are rallying around starting pitcher Zack Wheeler, who is reeling from a disturbing and rare medical diagnosis.
Wheeler is suffering from a ‘right upper extremity blood clot’ and could face a lengthy spell away from the team as he receives urgent medical attention.
Phillies doctors are planning for Wheeler to undergo further testing within the next few days, and if the situation requires more serious treatment, he could be elevated to the 60-day injury list and miss significantly more time.
‘There’s not a whole lot we can say on it at this time,’ Phillies GM Dave Dombrowski said, ‘but I commend [head athletic trainer Paul Buchheit] and the doctors for finding this because it could’ve been a much more trying situation than what it is.’
Buchheit confirmed that the clot is located in Wheeler’s throwing shoulder.
The pitcher initially had a start in August pushed back due to shoulder soreness before making two on-schedule appearances. But, he noticed a decrease in his velocity and only tossed five innings on Friday night against Washington.
The Phillies are rallying around Zach Wheeler, who discovered a blood clot in his shoulder
Wheeler, the father of three, has been a superstar since moving to Philadelphia in 2019
‘Zack had been feeling better after his right shoulder soreness, but yesterday some symptoms had changed,’ Buchheit said. ‘He felt a little heaviness. The doctors here were great in helping to diagnose and expediting that diagnosis this morning.’
No definitive prognosis has been reached and doctors don’t believe the clot was responsible for his previous shoulder soreness, but he has initially been placed on the 15-day injury list.
The 15-day IL designation does not mean Wheeler will necessarily be back in 15 days, and he will continue to receive urgent treatment as the team decides their next move.
His Phillies teammates, understandably, have reacted with much concern and a number of them have spoken out about their friend and colleague.
Fellow starter Taijuan Walker said, ‘It’s obviously scary. … Obviously, we’re praying for him, trying to keep in contact with him. But I know that he knows we’re all here for him.’
‘I shot him a text,’ said star slugger and NL MVP front-runner Kyle Schwarber. ‘Sounded like everything was getting the tests done and things like that. It’s a scary situation, right? … Just want to get him back in here and hear from him.
‘Hopefully, it’s not anything too serious. I don’t know what the prognosis is going to be or what they’re going to have to do. I don’t know if it’s surgery.
‘I don’t think anyone knows right now. … But get him in here and get him healthy. I think that’s the biggest thing.
‘Baseball is baseball. When it comes to someone’s health like that, we need him healthy first. He’s got a family, so we want to get him feeling good for them and get him back to speed whenever we can.’
Teammates Kyle Schwarber (L) and Taijuan Walker (R) have sent him messages of support
It also throws a wrench in the plans of manager Rob Thomson to run a six-man starting rotation. But that’s not the main thing on his mind at the moment.
‘We don’t know the timeline,’ Thomson said. ‘I’m thinking a lot about Zack and his family because it’s not a hamstring injury or something like that. But I feel good about the depth that we have. If we have to go to a (six-man rotation), it could be (Andrew) Painter, it could be somebody else. We’ve just got to carry on. People have to step up.’
Wheeler signed with Philadelphia in December 2019 and has been a star for them ever since.
He’s posted a record of 69-37 and averaged a 2.91 ERA in his time in the City of Brotherly Love.
So far this season, he has an ERA of 2.71 and a record of 10-5.
