Minor-league catchers relish chance to work with Zack Wheeler during Phillies ace’s rehab assignment
READING, Pa. — On the final day of big-league spring training, Phillies ace Zack Wheeler took the mound at Robin Roberts Field at the team’s Carpenter Complex in Clearwater, Fla.
A bevy of coaches, teammates and front-office members gathered to watch the right-hander throw in his first simulated game, but it was hardly a major production. A handful of Phillies farm hitters cycled through the batter’s box. There were no outfielders set up in the grass. And catching prospect Jordan Dissin, assigned to be Wheeler’s batterymate for the afternoon, was tasked with calling balls and strikes from behind the plate.
”I think I had a pretty good zone,” Dissin joked.
After his sim game in Clearwater, Wheeler made five total starts in the minor leagues — three with Triple-A Lehigh Valley and two with Double-A Reading. On Saturday, the veteran starter will officially come off the injured list to pitch for the struggling Phillies against the Braves at Truist Park, marking his official return from thoracic outlet syndrome.
Dissin, 23, was one of several minor-league backstops who caught Wheeler throughout his rehab process. For a local former 12th-round pick who was still a senior in high school at Malvern Prep when Wheeler signed in Philadelphia before the 2020 season, it was a meaningful experience.
“It was super cool for me personally, because I grew up a Phillies fan,” Dissin said this week at Reading’s FirstEnergy Stadium. “Having a guy of that stature be around, that’s really, really, really cool.”
René Pinto, a 29-year-old with past major-league time under his belt, caught Wheeler’s first two outings with Lehigh Valley, and Paul McIntosh, acquired from the Marlins in the Jesús Luzardo trade, was behind the dish for his third start with the IronPigs. Wheeler then made his final two rehab appearances for Reading on the road against the Somerset Patriots; Kehden Hettiger, a 21-year-old who was drafted in the 11th round in 2023, caught both games.
“Being able to catch a guy like that is something I take to heart,” Hettiger said. “You don’t get many opportunities, especially here in Double-A, to catch guys like that.”
After his four-inning, four-run performance for Reading on a chilly, wet afternoon at TD Bank Ballpark on Sunday, the Phillies decided Wheeler was ready, despite his diminished fastball velocity and some inconsistent showings. The point of his rehab assignment was to allow him to build his pitch count and work his way back to the big leagues, and he’s now done that. But it also had benefits for the others involved.
Fightins manager Al Pedrique said he was glad that his young players had the chance to see how an experienced major leaguer prepared. And for catchers like Dissin and Hettiger, Wheeler’s presence provided a crash course on game-planning and signal-calling with one of the best in the business over the past five years.
“Big-league guys, they demand more specifics than some minor-league guys,” Dissin said. “They want to be set up at a certain part of the plate for this pitch, different parts of the plate for different pitches, working the count, everything. The attention to detail is just a little bit higher with those guys.”
Hettiger heard that a gift from Wheeler — possibly a speaker or headphones — could be on the way to him and his Reading teammates. The tradition goes that the rehabbing player usually hooks up the minor leaguers in some way. But for Hettiger, the positive feedback he received from Wheeler after catching him for two games was better than anything else the pitcher could send. It was an honor he’ll take with him moving forward.
“At the end of the day,” Hettiger said, “I want to be up in the big leagues, catching him on a regular basis. So I kind of was like, ‘Maybe these will be the stepping stones to that.'”