October 04, 2023
When Zack Wheeler stepped out of the Phillies' dugout to go to the bullpen and stretch, the sellout crowd at Citizens Bank Park – which was quickly filling in ahead of Tuesday night's Game 1 – went nuts.
"I got chills," Wheeler said.
And by the time the 8:08 first pitch finally arrived, he came out throwing nothing but heat.
Only one pitch in the opening frame fell under 97 miles per hour: An 85 mph sweeper that took Miami's Jorge Soler down looking.
The rest? Eight blazing fastballs and a sinker. Wheeler only needed 10 pitches in total to get out of the first inning, and things never really got any easier for the Marlins from there.
The Phillies took the 1-0 lead in the NL Wild Card Series by an opening score of 4-1 Tuesday night in front of an electric Red October crowd, and Wheeler, once again, set the tone for it with a dominant showing in Game 1.
The veteran right-hander pitched 6.2 innings of one-run ball, allowing just five hits while striking out eight, and until the seventh when he finally ran into trouble, was just mowing through the Marlins' batting order with ruthless efficiency.
In the third, when Jesús Sánchez singled into left to register as Miami's first baserunner, Wheeler responded with a strikeout and an inning-ending double play to Bryson Stott at second that took all of nine pitches. His pitch count in total by that point: 32.
In the fourth, he forced batting champion Luis Arráez into a three-pitch groundout, got Soler again (swinging this time), and after surrendering a base hit to Josh Bell, came right back and had Marlins star outfielder Jazz Chisholm spinning himself into the dirt – three straight fastballs and a curve that dove straight into the ground with zero chance of ever being hit. Chisholm swung anyway, and Wheeler walked back to the dugout having completed four with just 46 pitches.
Zack Wheeler, 97mph Fastball and 84mph Sweeper, Overlay pic.twitter.com/XmLE6RsnLA
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 4, 2023
His stuff was just on Tuesday night, with tons of velocity behind his fastball and perfect command over his sweeper. It may have caught up to him in the seventh, when his pitch count climbed as neither he or his teammates could seem to get him that last out he needed to escape, but the bullpen – of José Alvarado, Jeff Hoffman, and Craig Kimbrel – were able to pick up and bail him out after he managed to get them deep into the first postseason game.
Arguably, it was his best start of the entire year so far, even after all the mileage of 192 regular-season innings pitched already – "It's gotta be the atmosphere and the adrenaline going," Wheeler quipped postgame.
But hey, so long as it works.
"Wheels was fantastic all night," said manager Rob Thomson. "This guy's been consistent all year. He's been really good, but I thought tonight, his stuff was as good or better than any other start all year."
At the very least, the performance, once again, set the tone for what is, hopefully, going to be another long Phillies postseason run.
Going back to 2022's miracle run to the NL pennant – his first postseason appearance – Wheeler started six playoff games leading up to the World Series and put up a 2.78 ERA while pitching at least five innings in all of them.
Of those six starts, two were Game 1s – the NL Wild Card against the Cardinals and the NLCS against the Padres, both on the road – and both times, he shut the opposition down out of the gate.
Against the Cardinals in the Wild Card, he went 6.1 innings with no runs and just two hits surrendered, though the Phils ultimately had to make that surging ninth-inning comeback to win. Then against the Padres in the NLCS, it was a goose egg again, with Wheeler going a full seven having allowed just a single hit all while Kyle Schwarber launched a baseball to the moon.
The Phillies went on to sweep St. Louis 2-0, then took down San Diego 4-1 to go to the World Series, and both times it started with Wheeler putting those clubs into an early hole that they ultimately couldn't escape from – a mark of a great top of the rotation pitcher, even if Wheeler doesn't necessarily get viewed as such lately in the conversation across baseball.
A title and more lights out performances on the way to it can definitely shift opinions though, and that plan can start gaining more runway if the Phillies can complete the Wild Card sweep Wednesday night in the best-of-three set.
"I hope they appreciate it, because I certainly do," Thomson said of Wheeler's postseason success so far. "I think everybody in this organization appreciates what he's done, because it's been phenomenal, and tonight was no exception. Hopefully, he keeps it going."
"I just feel like I'm doing my job," Wheeler said. "It's why I came here, and why the Phillies signed me, to pitch like I am."
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