August 17, 2025
Kevin Jairaj/Imagn Images
With Zack Wheeler out indefinitely, the Phillies have their work cut out for them.
Within minutes of the Phillies suffering a frustrating 2-0 loss to the lowly Washington Nationals on Saturday, nothing that had happened on the baseball field felt important.
Shortly after the team's second loss in three games in Washington, Phillies President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters that ace Zack Wheeler -- whose ongoing shoulder and velocity issues have been of concern over the last few weeks -- was going on the injured list due to a blood clot near his right shoulder. According to Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic reporting from Washington, D.C., Phillies head athletic trainer Paul Buchheit said he does not believe that previous shoulder discomfort and the newly diagnosed blood clot are related.
For at least the next 15 days -- and possibly a whole lot longer -- the Phillies, a team built around its dominant pitching, will be without their best pitcher. Wheeler has not just been a symbol of dominance since joining the Phillies before the 2020 season; he has also been a model of consistency and availability. It is why his recent struggles have been so surprising to many.
No timeline has been determined, and it is entirely unclear whether or not Wheeler returning this season is a pipe dream or a realistic goal. What condition Wheeler would return in and how many innings he could handle if he did return to the mound remain unclear, too. His upcoming extended absence creates a brighter spotlight on some of his cohorts within the team's pitching staff:
Sánchez has not just pitched like an ace this season, he has pitched like a Cy Young Award winner. With Wheeler likely to fall out of the running, Sánchez and Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates represent the two obvious candidates in the National League.
Now, for the first time in his major-league career, Sánchez is a true ace. He will spearhead a Phillies rotation that once looked indomitable but now has some serious causes for concern. Wheeler and Sánchez made up a 1-2 punch far better than any other in baseball, but the truth is that Sánchez is more than good enough to give his team a chance to win against any other starter. As Wheeler stumbled in recent weeks, Sánchez remained at his best. And at this juncture, it is actually Sánchez whose statistical profile in 2025 is superior:
| Zack Wheeler | Cristopher Sánchez |
| 24 GS | 24 GS |
| 149.2 IP | 150.2 IP |
| 2.71 ERA | 2.45 ERA |
| 2.98 FIP | 2.73 FIP |
| 11.7 K/9 | 9.3 K/9 |
| 1.9 BB/9 | 2.1 BB/9 |
| 1.1 HR/9 | 0.6 HR/9 |
| 4.0 fWAR | 4.3 fWAR |
Without Wheeler headlining the rotation, all Sánchez actually has to do to fill in is exactly what he has done all year. This version of the left-hander -- pitching deep into just about every game, minimizing damage caused by home runs, getting quick outs and dominating right-handed hitters and left-handed hitters alike -- can anchor any rotation across baseball, even one losing perhaps the best pitcher in the National League in Wheeler.
While Sánchez might be the most obvious first name to mention in a conversation like this, the far greater question marks come lower in the hierarchy of manager Rob Thomson's pitching staff.
Early on Sunday morning, Nola will fill Wheeler's vacated roster spot when he is reinstated from the 60-day injured list, ending an absence which began more than three months ago. Nola's outing against the Nationals will be his first major-league start since May 14, when a disastrous start against the St. Louis Cardinals capped off the worst stretch of his career.
Nola's problems existed long before that nightmarish game, as he owns a ghastly 6.16 ERA and 1.51 WHIP in nine starts this season, allowing 11 homers in 49.2 innings. Nola was struggling mightily, and a significant decrease in velocity across his entire pitching arsenal became the focus. Even as his velocity climbed a bit with higher temperatures, it remained substandard. Nola has never been reliant on overpowering stuff, but a slower fastball with a breaking ball that is missing up is a horrid combination.
Now Nola is back, and the importance of the veteran right-hander finding his form cannot be overstated. Just a few weeks ago, the longest-tenured Phillies player felt like a luxury; at this point, the 32-year-old turning in quality starts feels like a prerequisite to any sort of successful run the team makes from here on out.
Nola does not need to fill Wheeler's shoes. He does not even need to be as productive as Phillies fans are used to seeing him be. But he needs to be, at least, a stable presence in the middle of the rotation, someone Thomson can confidently hand the ball to in a big game. His last of three minor-league rehab starts was encouraging; he relied heavily on his curveball and struck out 11 batters in 5.2 innings. Nola allowed three earned runs across 12.1 innings of work with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Of course, the real tests will begin on Sunday.
Before Wheeler went on the injured list, Nola's return was supposed to mark the beginning of at least one turn through a six-man rotation for the Phillies. The idea of a six-man rotation felt inevitable for several months, and the reason why is Painter, the 22-year-old whose highly anticipated major league debut has still not happened. The Phillies were hoping to promote their top prospect to the majors in "July-ish," as Dombrowski and Thomson continually put it. But in his first year back from Tommy John surgery, Painter has struggled since a promotion to Triple-A. 24 hours ago, the idea of him starting a game for the Phillies in 2025 felt unlikely. Now, the possibility certainly cannot be ruled out.
If any of the five current members of the rotation go down with injury, Painter is likely the one to fill their spot with his former teammate Mick Abel now part of the Minnesota Twins organization. Right around Dombrowski's announcement regarding Wheeler, Painter was beginning another start for the IronPigs, and he looked ticketed for the same troubles that have plagued him for several weeks. Painter allowed three runs (two earned) in the first inning. But then he righted the ship, throwing four scoreless frames and earning a win.
Painter's line on Saturday -- 5.0 innings, four hits, three runs (two earned), three walks and five strikeouts on 83 pitches (50 strikes) -- was the first decent one he has posted in three starts in August. All it did was lower his ERA in Triple-A to 5.31, with a 17-start sample now reflecting the notion that Painter is not as far along as the Phillies anticipated him being. Relying on such a young pitcher with zero major-league experience would never be advisable. For now, the Phillies do not have to do it. But another injury would likely prompt the team to summon Painter, whether he is truly ready for that moment or not.
Is there a case for calling up Painter, perhaps even sooner rather than later? Resuming the plan of going with a six-man rotation would certainly help Nola and the struggling Ranger Suárez. And if Wheeler might not be available in October, an argument could be made that the Phillies should get a close look at what is still one of the most talented arms in their organization and see how Painter's stuff looks against major-league hitters.
While Painter stepping onto a major-league mound in 2025 no longer looks all that unlikely, the right-hander being a piece the Phillies are counting on in any capacity in the postseason still does. But crazier rises have happened for players with a lot less ability.
Much of the focus will be on the starting rotation now that Wheeler is absent, and that is understandable. But if Wheeler does not return in 2025, there will be bullpen ramifications as well.
José Alvarado can return to the bullpen as early as Tuesday. He can be a high-leverage weapon for Thomson for the final six weeks of the regular season. But once the postseason begins, Alvarado will be ineligible to play -- part of the terms of the 80-game suspension he was handed down by MLB after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance.
Conventional thinking around the Phillies for months now has been that once the postseason begins and the Phillies can use a four-man starting rotation, one of Suárez and Jesús Luzardo would move to the bullpen to fill in for Alvarado as a high-leverage left-handed option. Suárez has the experience in that role, while Luzardo has the stuff to inspire confidence. But the assumption that this arrangement was inevitable came off the back of another: that Nola would be reliable to start games in October. While Nola's track record certainly supports that claim, his performance so far in 2025 has not.
If Wheeler, one of the single greatest postseason pitchers in baseball history, is out of commission this October, Nola has to fill his spot. That means he cannot replace either of Suárez or Luzardo in the rotation. The Phillies will not need a fourth starter until the National League Championship Series. In theory, one of Suárez or Luzardo could move to the bullpen until then and return to starting when the time comes.
