Phillies' Zack Wheeler to make another minor league start amid rehab
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Phillies' Zack Wheeler to make another minor league start amid rehab originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Philadelphia Phillies have been struggling as of late, dropping their third consecutive game in their Friday night loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
While you could pin it on their offense failing to produce after a surge of energy in the early innings, their pitching could be another reason.
Jesus Luzardo, who has been a consistent force in the Phillies’ rotation, was sailing until he let five runs in the top of the fifth inning, which was enough to give up the lead and the match for that matter.
But Philadelphia’s rotation as a whole has been somewhat shaky, and part of this could be due to the absence of their star ace, Zack Wheeler.
Wheeler has been out since the latter half of the 2025 season following a procedure to remove a blood clot in his right shoulder. While he began throwing again during spring training, the 35-year-old has been making appearances in the Phillies’ farm system to help get himself back up to speed.
In his third start with the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, Wheeler went for 4.1 innings in which he allowed one run and three hits, while fanning six batters.
Will Wheeler make another appearance in the minors?
It appears that his outing with Lehigh Valley won’t be the last time that the 35-year-old will take to the mound in the minors, as he’ll go down a level and pitch a game for the Reading Phillies next week, as reported by The Athletic’s Matt Gelb.
Zack Wheeler will pitch at least one more time in minors, Tuesday for Double-A Reading at Somerset, N.J. He might do one more for Reading, or rejoin the Phillies. Remains to be seen.— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) April 10, 2026
It’s not known at this time if that match will be Wheeler’s final outing before making his return to Philadelphia, but it’ll be another storyline to follow.
When Wheeler makes his return to the majors, he’ll be certain to want to reach his 2025 level of effectiveness, posting a 10-5 record, ERA of 2.71, and FIP of 3.00.
