Phillies News and Discussion 2025 Season

[Austinfan]

That would get him back by May, and probably in game shape by June 1.
If Nola can bounce back, Sanchez, Luzardo, Nola, Painter, Walker would get them through the first couple months.

[andyb]

Not certain they can count on Wheeler at all. Even if this is the less serious version of the surgery it is still very uncertain as to whether he can come back. The Luzardo trade seems really smart at this point. The Abel trade more risky than it seemed a few weeks ago.

[flyers19rw]

The best course is not to rely on Zac going forward. Re-up Ranger and extend Luzardo. Painter makes the show next season. Hopefully the college draftees from July can be quick risers.
IMO something has to be examined about the way that pitchers are developed and used. I don’t believe that there is a club in the game that hasn’t had its pitching staff decimated this year. Skenes is a monster of a human being and perhaps can maintain his velocity without suffering an injury. However most mortals will have their bodies ruined trying to throw at this mph rate along with spin.

[andyb]

Free agent decisions will be tricky next year. Schwarber is playing himself into a $30 million a year deal but there will be pressure to keep him. If we had Wheeler letting Ranger go would be the right call. And we don't have a hint of a catcher so I am fully expecting them to bring JT back for 2-3 years at what is only a slight discount. Letting Crawford play in Kepler's spot saves a bit of money, but the other salary pressures elsewhere will be significant.

[zambonir]

They are optimistic. But certainly it makes you think differently about re-signing Ranger.

Phillies’ Zack Wheeler to undergo season-ending surgery

“We figure that he’ll come back in the six to eight month time period and come back and be the Zack Wheeler of old,” said Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. “That’s what we’ve been told. And unless something unanticipated happens, he’ll be able to come back and pitch like he has before this.”

Phillies head athletic trainer Paul Buchheit said that pitchers can typically begin throwing again eight weeks after undergoing the procedure, although the timeline can vary.

“With Zack, it was an acute onset, and so he doesn’t have that long, protracted time period where he’s been battling things,” Buchheit said. “The surgeons say that he’s going to have a really good prognosis with this.”

[flyers19rw]

For a lot of reasons I’d expect Dombrowski to say what he did. Sorry, DD, not buying it. Six to eight months is the typical recovery period. Then to be able to throw in the high nineties with the spin that Zach generates, I’ll believe it when I see it. He’s had great years here in Philly but it’s time to be realistic. When it goes, it’s gone. Koufax was done at age thirty. It happens

[zambonir]

Well of course, that's possible too. Cliff Lee and Roy H were both pretty much done at 35. Oswalt at 33. No telling what we have in 32 year-old Nola now either.

It does seem like there are more older outliers these days, even as we see more injuries. It also seems like the Phillies have been better - or have had better luck - than most teams managing their pitching staffs. But, the bodies and pitches and the nature of the game is what it is. You can expect your career to be over at 35 if you're a major league pitcher just like you can expect it to be over (or on the way to over) as an NFL running back at 28. Or, to look at it another way, what NBA centers do to their knees, MLB pitchers do to their arms.

[zambonir]

Phillies’ Zack Wheeler to undergo season-ending thoracic outlet surgery

> This procedure is considered far riskier than, say, elbow reconstruction through Tommy John surgery. It has ended careers or transformed pitchers into far diminished versions. But Wheeler’s version of thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) is not the most common among pitchers, the one that can damage nerves.

The sport is littered with TOS survivors and horror stories. It’s an ailment that ended Stephen Strasburg’s career, but Strasburg suffered from the nerve-related TOS. The closest comparison to Wheeler might be Merrill Kelly, who developed a blood clot in his shoulder late in the 2020 season. He was diagnosed with venous TOS and underwent surgery to remove a rib on Sept. 9, 2020, about a month before his 32nd birthday. He returned to start the second game of the 2021 season for the Arizona Diamondbacks and has made 129 starts since.

[Austinfan]

Nola was hitting 93-94, and still threw 92 after 90 pitches.
So he may have needed to be shutdown to fix what was ailing him.
We'll see after a few more starts, but that's a good omen.

[biggsphils]

Abel shelled in Twins debut and another 3 hit night for Miller. seems to be picking it up of late (ave. up to .255)

[Austinfan]

Miller having a great August, seems to have figured out AA pitching.
Look for him to start in Lehigh next season.

[andyb]

Are we ready to see Bryce Harper emerge from the corn field? Does Schwarber want to re-sign just for this?

Phillies, Twins to face off in revival of MLB’s Field of Dreams game

[Philsmania]

Are we ready to see Bryce Harper emerge from the corn field? Does Schwarber want to re-sign just for this?

Phillies, Twins to face off in revival of MLB’s Field of Dreams game

Will the two teams wear vintage 1918 uniforms? If so, would the Twins wear a Washington Senators uniform from that era?

[Since75]

100% chance I roadtrip to the Field of Dreams to see the Phillies. I assume I'll have to buy tickets on the secondary market because sales will go through Minnesota. Does that sound right?

[andyb]

I bet MLB runs the sales. Warning though. It looks like they built a new park there with fewer seats. 7,800 was the old capacity and the article says less than that. If there are only 5,000 seats it unfortunately will be an insider/sponsor driven process that will be very expensive for everyone else.

[zambonir]

I feel like the fact that they have built a permanent ballpark there kind of scotches the whole concept, even if you can still see the corn.

[Since75]

I'll pay whatever it takes. We went to FoD last year and it was really cool. Put the Phils on that field and there's no chance i miss it over a few bucks.

[Since75]

Not sure how common the knowledge is but the corn (not the farm) is owned by former MLB pitcher Drew Storen. He uses it to produce a Field of Dreams bourbon.

[andyb]

Looks like they are ready to move on from Romano.

Phillies, haunted by postseason defeats, lose eighth straight game at Citi Field

“Again, the velocity fluctuated,” Thomson said. “The last pitch was 97 (mph). And the slider was just kind of backing up. He had six days off. We were trying to give him some rest, but now we have to really check on him tomorrow and see what’s going on.”

Frankly a DFA versus IL stint is practically the same. It might be hard to show an injury with fluctuating velocity. And when he says the last pitch was 97 it totally ignores that he is averaging a couple mph less and clearly has less command when he reaches back for more.

[zambonir]

September 1 is pretty close at this point. But even in the scenario where they don't want to lose a body/see him elect free agency, which is what I always figured, it's pretty hard to imagine he'd actually catch on with a good team in any kind of role. He might just be willing to go to LV, work on stuff, and know there's a small possibility of coming up again, or at least know he'll be part of the playoffs in the clubhouse. Otherwise he's probably just pitching for a non-playoff team or in AAA in hopes that he can get another job next year.

And with those pitch counts they probably do need a new arm tonight, though you still have to hope they don't need it.

When the Phillies did this with Covey in '23 I'm not sure we believed he was really injured, turned out he very much was.