‘Worth every penny’: Zack Wheeler finishes up excellent fourth regular season with Phillies
Former Philadelphia Phillies general manager Matt Klentak has plenty of critics, but it’s impossible to deny how well he made out by signing Zack Wheeler to a five-year/$118 million deal in advance of the 2020 season.
While Klentak would only be around for one, pandemic-shortened season that Wheeler pitched in red pinstripes, what he’s done in the three campaigns since will likely earn him consideration for the Phillies Wall of Fame one day.
Of course, there are more important things on the horizon. Whether it’s the Arizona Diamondbacks or another team, the Phillies will host the NLWCS next week, with Wheeler set to get the ball in Game 1 at Citizens Bank Park.
He made his final tune-up start Thursday against the Pittsburgh Pirates, in a game that outside of potentially determining home-field advantage in the World Series didn’t have any meaning for the Phillies. Wheeler went four innings, allowing the Pirates to record four hits and one run, while striking out five batters.
The Phillies lost the game 3-2, but most fans won’t remember the outcome of Thursday’s contest in 72 hours, other than that Bryce Harper got his money’s worth in an ejection after a horrible check-swing call from Ángel Hernández, whose been the worst umpire in the sport as long as the two-time NL MVP has been alive.
What they will remember is Wheeler’s 2023 season, which is part of one of the better four-year stretches a Phillies pitcher has ever had.
Wheeler won’t win the NL Cy Young Award, but he’s probably headed for his second top-five finish in three years. The 33-year-old righty will finish his fourth season in Philadelphia with a 13-6 record, 212 strikeouts and a 3.61 ERA. His 5.9 WAR, per FanGraphs, is the top mark among all starting pitchers this season, with Spencer Strider of the Atlanta Braves the next closest at 5.4.
Amazingly, Wheeler is already four-fifths of the way through a contract that had its critics when signed. Instead, it looks like one of the best free-agent deals ever given to a pitcher, as Wheeler has a 43-25 record with a 3.06 ERA and 2.91 FIP. Since the start of Wheeler’s contract, his 629 1/3 innings pitched are fourth among all starting pitchers. According to FanGraphs, no pitcher has topped the 19.1 WAR that Wheeler has tallied since the beginning of the 2020 season.
“What a great contract,” manager Rob Thomson said of Wheeler’s deal Thursday afternoon. “Really, what he’s given us … I heard this is his 101st start tonight … all the wins … all the innings that he’s logged over that time … all the big games that he’s pitched — he’s been worth every penny.”
Obviously, decision No. 1 this offseason for president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski will be whether or not to re-sign Aaron Nola. But for as much as it seems like Wheeler just joined the Phillies, 2024 will be a contract year for him. Power pitchers can age in a hurry as they hit their mid-30s, so the Phillies may just let the final year of Wheeler’s contract play out and see where they are at. But if the first four years are any indication, the Phillies will want to extend this relationship beyond the 2024 season.
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