Zack Wheeler is still getting everyone out—just not in the way we're used to seeing. Through four starts, his stat line looks like vintage Wheeler: a 2.55 ERA, 2.70 FIP, and a .193 batting average allowed. Those numbers rank among the best of his career. But dig a little deeper, and you'll see a pitcher who has reinvented himself on the fly.

Coming off thoracic outlet syndrome surgery last year, Wheeler hasn't yet rediscovered his signature fastball velocity. He's averaging 94.7 mph on the heater, down from 96.1 mph last season and about 1 mph below the upper-95s he consistently featured from 2022 to 2024. That dip has had a ripple effect: his strikeout rate has fallen to 23.2%, a steep drop from last year's elite 33.3%. Simply put, he's not blowing hitters away in the zone right now.

Instead, Wheeler has swapped strikeouts for groundouts—and at an impressive clip. His ground ball rate has jumped to 48.5%, his highest since 2021 and a significant uptick from last year's 39.9%. That shift is a key reason he's been so efficient with his pitches this season. In fact, he needed just 16 pitches to get through the first three innings of a recent start—the fewest pitches thrown by a starter through three frames since at least 2000.

So how is he doing it? Wheeler is leaning more on his secondary pitches, throwing his fastball just 34% of the time in his first four outings, down from 41% in each of the previous two seasons. With six pitches at his disposal, he's mixing things up and keeping hitters off balance. He's also amped up the movement on his pitches, particularly the horizontal run on his sinker and sweeper. His sinker has gradually increased its horizontal movement since 2023, while his sweeper—a pitch he first introduced that same year—has seen a dramatic jump. Both now generate 18 inches of horizontal run, sweeping through and out of the zone in a way that keeps batters guessing.

The big question: is this sustainable? Wheeler has proven he can adapt, trading velocity for deception and ground balls. For now, the results speak for themselves—and they're still very, very good.