The Philadelphia Phillies currently sit in second place in the NL East, one game behind the New York Mets. This year’s team, like others over the past few seasons, is loaded with talent and has real hope of winning a World Series championship in 2025. It’s too early to bank a postseason berth, but Phillies fans are hoping that the winning of the regular season can carry through the tension of October baseball.
The Phillies have many to thank for their recent playoff runs, with an abundance of handsomely paid stars and clutch home-grown talent. One man, who was paid his fair share, has been the workhorse and has led the pitching staff each run is right-handed ace Zack Wheeler.
Wheeler, soon to be 35-years-old, has already started his Cy Young campaign. In three starts, he’s 1-0 with a 3.44 ERA, 0.98 WHIP and 25 strikeouts in 18 1/3 innings pitched. Wheeler’s last start against the Atlanta Braves was his worst start to date, allowing eight hits, three walks and five earned runs through 5 1/3 innings pitched.
Even with a bumpy outing, Wheeler is an automatic Cy Young candidate as soon as he takes the mound. His numbers will surely finish among the best arms in the sport. However, based on a recent ranking, Wheeler’s workload isn’t all he has to worry about, as he has some ground to make up to get himself back into the Cy Young race against some other elite arms.
The recent starting pitcher power rankings from MLB.com shows that Wheeler has his work cut out for him already before throwing his name back into the NL Cy Young conversation, per MLB.com’s Andrew Simon. Starters that have made less than five starts in a regular season can’t immediately punch their ticket to nomination, but it shows some separation of whom the real competition could be for Wheeler.
Here’s how the early rankings shake out:
- Hunter Greene, Reds
- Logan Gilbert, Mariners
- Paul Skenes, Pirates
- Tarik Skubal, Tigers
- Logan Webb, Giants
- Framber Valdez, Astros
- Zack Wheeler, Phillies
- Cole Ragans, Royals
- Shota Imanaga, Cubs
- Spencer Schwellenbach, Braves
Wheeler has finished NL Cy Young runner-up twice in his Phillies tenure, and has gotten unlucky with other prime candidates emerging alongside Wheeler’s Cy Young campaigns. New Arizona Diamondbacks ace Corbin Burnes won it in 2021 and the Braves’ Chris Sale took it in 2024. Wheeler arguably put together his best season last year, posting a 2.57 ERA with a NL-best .955 WHIP and 224 strikeouts in 200 innings pitched.
The two-time All-Star has been one of the best pitchers in the sport and has propelled himself into elite status since signing with Philadelphia. According to FanGraphs, Wheeler is No. 1 in fWAR (25.0), second in innings pitched (847 2/3 innings), fourth in strikeouts (924) and first in quality starts (92) ove that time.
Wheeler has become a true ace in baseball and his numbers will bounce back with plenty of season to go. Phillies’ fans just hope it’ll be enough to finally push through that ceiling and finally be a Cy Young winner.
