Zack Wheeler won’t pitch Tuesday as MRI shows ‘little bit of inflammation’

The Philadelphia Phillies still expect Zack Wheeler to return at some point during the final month of the season, but it won’t be as soon as they had hoped.

Before Friday’s series opener in San Francisco, interim manager Rob Thomson told the collective media — including Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer — that Wheeler underwent an MRI Thursday on the forearm/elbow area.

“There’s nothing, no structural [damage],” Thomson said. “It’s just a little bit of inflammation in [the elbow]. We’re just going to wait until that gets out of there and until he’s comfortable.”

The original hope had been that Wheeler could be activated for Tuesday’s series opener against the Miami Marlins at Citizens Bank Park, but this news will push everything back.

Wheeler, 32, is 11-7 with a 3.07 ERA, 2.98 FIP and 3.6 fWAR in 2022, which is the third season of a five-year/$118 million free-agent deal. It’s at least worth pointing out that Wheeler is a veteran of Tommy John surgery, having undergone the procedure in March of 2015. Wheeler led baseball in innings pitched in 2021, tossing 213 1/3 frames. This was a massive jump from the 71 innings that Wheeler logged during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

To this point, though, there’s no indication that this could be a long-term injury. But the Phillies would certainly like to get Wheeler back in their rotation as soon as possible, as they try to return to the postseason for the first time since 2011.

Fortunately, Bailey Falter has been excellent in his last three starts, posting a 2.45 ERA across 18 1/3 innings. For at least one more turn through the rotation, it looks like the Phillies will count on the 25-year-old lefty to fill in for Wheeler.

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