Good news has been hard to come by for the Phillies lately, but this qualifies: Zack Wheeler is returning to the rotation this coming weekend. He'll take the mound Saturday against the first-place Braves with Bryce Elder as the opposing starter.
Wheeler had part of a rib removed during thoracic outlet decompression surgery this past offseason, a procedure that followed the discovery of a blood clot in the area of his right shoulder late last season. He made five minor-league rehab starts between Double-A and Triple-A.
"I think he's basically at the end of spring training," manager Rob Thomson said Tuesday (via MLB.com). "The fastball velocity's gone up. It's not where it's gonna be, I don't believe. The command has been some days good, some days not as good. But I'm expecting on a normal day, weather-wise, that he's gonna have his command.
"He's really spun the ball well during all of his outings, so I feel good about him."
In terms of the statistical results, Wheeler had a 5.85 ERA and 1.20 WHIP during his rehab assignment. Keep in mind that Thomson said it's basically like spring training, in that it's more important for the pitcher to get his work in and utilize all his pitchers instead of only focusing on preventing runs. In 20 innings, he struck out 23 and walked only five.
Still, Wheeler allowed four runs on six hits in four innings in Double-A last time out.
The big-league club is doing its share of struggling, too. The loss to the Cubs Tuesday night was the Phillies' seventh straight and they've dropped nine of their last 11 games. They've only scored 80 runs (3.47 per game), ranking 28th in the majors, ahead of only the Giants and Mets. The team ERA (4.99) also ranks 28th, ahead of only the Nationals and Astros.
Wheeler, before his blood clot, was arguably the most reliable ace in baseball. In his six years with the Phillies, he's 69-37 with a 2.91 ERA (146 ERA+), 1.02 WHIP and 1,094 strikeouts against 220 walks in 979 innings. He twice finished second in NL Cy Young voting and was tracking toward another top-two finish before going down last season.
What version of Wheeler the Phillies get remains up in the air. This is a tricky procedure that has worked on some pitchers while others have never recovered.