Zack Wheeler struggles in rehab outing with Phillies ace on track for April return
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Zack Wheeler struggles in rehab outing with Phillies ace on track for April return originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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The Philadelphia Phillies starting rotation is one of the best units in all of Major League Baseball when they're fully healthy. But there is one major issue currently.
Zack Wheeler has been out to begin the year, but he's getting some rehab starts in and has looked good through one outing. But his second rehab outing didn't go quite as well.
As MLB.com's Paul Casella shared, Wheeler's five-run outing in the minors was not what the Phillies were hoping for. He is still on track for a late-April return, but there is some concern for his next rehab outing now.
Zack Wheeler has concerning rehab outing
"Wheeler threw 49 pitches, only 26 of which were strikes," Casella writes. "He threw 23 four-seam fastballs, a pitch that averaged 92.7 mph and topped out at 93.9 mph. That was down slightly from his first rehab start exactly one week ago, when his four-seamer topped out at 94.3 mph and averaged 93.3 mph."
This isn't what the Phillies were hoping for from Wheeler, who allowed five runs on four hits and two walks with just one strikeout in three innings pitched.
It's too soon to be overly concerned about Wheeler not being able to return to where he wants to be in the Major Leagues, but this is something to monitor.
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He has another rehab outing scheduled for next week, this time back at Lehigh Valley, which will be his last rehab outing before the Phillies make a decision.
That rehab outing, his third this year amid a recovery stint in the minors, could either be the last one if things go very well, or he could stay in the minors for another week or so to get more rehab work in.
While there is some worry following this five-run outing, the Phillies righty ace is still set to come back to the Major League roster at some point this spring, barring any setbacks.
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