Zack Wheeler admits he’s ‘gotta step it up’ in second half of season

Relative to most MLB pitchers, Zack Wheeler has pitched pretty well in 2023. Relative to what Zack Wheeler has done since joining the Philadelphia Phillies prior to the 2020 season, his production this season has been underwhelming.

The 33-year-old admitted as much Saturday afternoon.

It was a bit of a strange situation for Wheeler to be in. On one hand, the Phillies scored 19 runs and finally broke through with runners in scoring position. On the other hand, Wheeler doesn’t hit — although he says he “always misses” doing so — and he gave up seven hits and four runs over just five innings against the Washington Nationals Saturday. So while he’s happy with how the team performed, he was disappointed with his individual output.

“I don’t like how it’s been going,” Wheeler acknowledged. “I think … I don’t know, it’s hard to say just because I’m not happy with it. I think I’ve been doing well, just not up to what I’ve been doing in years past. So it’s kind of frustrating personally.

“As long as we’re getting wins, that’s all that really matters. But personally, it’s not where I want it to be, so I gotta step it up a bit in the second half.”

Over Wheeler’s first three seasons with the Phillies, he posted a 2.82 ERA. The former All-Star admitted that when he compares that with the 4.03 ERA he has after 17 starts in 2023, it leaves a bad taste in his mouth.

“I’m still more old school, so yeah, ERA is something to me still and it’s not where I want it to be,” Wheeler said. “It’s not where it’s been, so I think that kind of does reflect on how you’ve been doing.”

To Wheeler’s credit, his 2.81 FIP is signifcantly lower than his ERA and suggests both that he’s been unlucky in the first half of the season and that positive regression is coming. On top of that, Wheeler’s racked up 98 1/3 innings pitched and according to FanGraphs, his 3.3 WAR is second to only Kevin Gausman of the Toronto Blue Jays.

But until the back-of-the-baseball-card numbers start to meet with the more positive picture painted by the advanced statistics, Wheeler will be discontent.

“I mean, I’ve seen them, but at the same time, you’re still letting up four runs at the end of the day,” Wheeler said. “So, it doesn’t matter how soft contact happens or luck or any of that kind of stuff, you’re still letting up four runs. So, [I’m] not where I want to be.”

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