WASHINGTON — Zack Wheeler didn’t strain a hamstring or tweak his groin. He doesn’t have a blister or a sore elbow. This is a blood clot, near his right shoulder, and when you hear those words in succession — blood clot — well …
“That’s scary stuff,” Kyle Schwarber said.
But the Phillies had a game here Sunday. They will play another at home Monday. And the night after that. And almost every day for the next six weeks, at least.
» READ MORE: Phillies ace Zack Wheeler placed on 15-day injured list with ‘upper extremity blood clot’
So the morning after the ominous-sounding diagnosis, with Wheeler set to undergo more tests Monday in Philadelphia, manager Rob Thomson woke up early — even earlier than necessary for an 11:35 a.m. game at Nationals Park — and watched every pitch of Andrew Painter’s start Saturday night in triple A.
Because while Phillies officials clear the lump in their throats and await the doctors’ prognosis and treatment plan, the baseball people must plan for life without their No. 1 starter for however long that will be.
“I feel good about the depth that we have,” Thomson said. “If we have to go to a sixth [starter], it could be Painter. It could be somebody else. We’ve just got to carry on.
“People have got to step up.”
Sure, but let’s be real: There isn’t any replacing Wheeler.
Wheeler isn’t only the Phillies’ best pitcher; he’s among the best two or three in the sport. The Phillies have a deep, strong rotation. But since 2022, they’re 68-46 (. 596 winning percentage) in games started by Wheeler and 275-221 (. 554) with any other starter.
It helps, of course, that Wheeler’s absence coincided with Aaron Nola’s return. After three months on the injured list with a sprained right ankle and a stress fracture in his rib cage, Nola stepped into Wheeler’s spot — on the roster and in the starting rotation — Sunday against the Nationals.
Nola’s return was a dud. Staked to a six-run lead, he gave up six runs in a span of seven batters and didn’t make it out of the third inning, his shortest non-rain-related start since June 19, 2021 in San Francisco.
» READ MORE: Phillies prospect Andrew Painter hits a rough patch in triple A: ‘That’s what the minor leagues are for’
Even so, Nola is a six-time opening-day starter, a former All-Star, and for years, Wheeler’s top-of-the-rotation sidekick. And there’s less mileage on his arm than ever before in mid-August. The Phillies need him to be like the anchor in a relay race and close strong.
But Painter was always the Phillies’ X-factor in 2025, and fairly or not, the focus will now turn back on the 22-year-old top prospect.
Based on Thomson’s Sunday morning, it already has.
Everyone knows the story. Painter tore an elbow ligament in spring training 2023 and had Tommy John surgery that July. He missed two seasons. After Painter returned to the mound last October and dominated the Arizona Fall League, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski famously said he could be in the majors by “July-ish.”
Among even rival scouts, Painter evokes comparisons to a pitching prodigy from Dombrowski’s past: Justin Verlander.
But Painter has stubbed his toe in triple A. In back-to-back starts this month against the Yankees’ affiliate, the big righty gave up a total of 12 runs on 14 hits and six walks in 8⅓ innings. His ERA in 17 starts: 5.31.
Lately, “July-ish” has felt more like “2026-ish.”
Thomson usually reviews Painter’s starts. Sometimes, he watches every pitch. But there he was Sunday — “I got up fairly early,” he said, and Thomson is known for waking up at 3 a.m. in spring training — breaking down Painter’s 83-pitch, three-run (two earned), five-inning start in Buffalo while sipping his morning coffee.
“I watched the whole thing,“ Thomson said. ”First two innings, the command was off, especially fastball command. [But] stuff was good. Third, fourth, and fifth innings, he was really good. It was encouraging. So, hopefully he can carry that over into the next outing.”
» READ MORE: The Jhoan Duran Effect is real so far, and there’s precedent for what the Phillies hope he delivers
And if he does?
The Phillies planned on using six starters for at least this turn through the rotation. Then came the Wheeler news. With a day off Thursday, they’ll stick with five starters for now.
But when the Nationals come to town Friday, the Phillies will begin a stretch of 26 games in 27 days, the only day off coming Sept. 2, a Tuesday in the middle of a Labor Day week series in Milwaukee.
Sounds like a good time to deploy a six-man rotation.
Painter time?
“Could be,” Thomson said.
The Phillies traded Mick Abel to the Twins at the deadline for star closer Jhoan Duran. The only triple-A starter on the 40-man roster is Alan Rangel, who has a 2.45 ERA in five relief appearances over multiple call-ups by the Phillies.
Are there any other candidates?
“Whoever’s pitching well,” Thomson said.
The Phillies expect to know more this week about Wheeler’s condition. As a matter of course in baseball, trainers don’t usually address the media. But head athletic trainer Paul Buchheit stood alongside Dombrowski on Saturday when the Phillies disclosed those two words: blood clot.
“There’s a wide variety of treatments,” Buchheit said. “I won’t get into specifics. I’ll leave that for the doctors.”
» READ MORE: The Phillies ask their starting pitchers to do a lot. Can it last through the playoffs?
Surgery is among the more extreme remedies. In college, Phillies infielder Otto Kemp had surgery to fix a blood clot in his shoulder, then went on blood thinners to prevent the clot from recurring and missed almost all of his freshman season.
“It’s still early on in [Wheeler’s] diagnosis,” Buchheit said.
And the Phillies surely won’t cross any bridges before it’s necessary. Instead, they’ll cross their fingers and hope that Wheeler, first, makes a full recovery and, in addition, in time to take the ball for Game 1 of a playoff series.
Anyone else and the road to the World Series gets even more difficult.
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