Madison Bumgarner, Curt Schilling, John Smoltz, Sandy Koufax and Andy Pettitte may soon have company, because with each passing postseason outing, Philadelphia Phillies righty Zack Wheeler is enhancing his legacy as one of the better playoff pitchers that the sport has ever seen.
During his five seasons with the New York Mets, Wheeler never got a chance to pitch in the playoffs. He was recovering from Tommy John surgery when the Mets won the 2015 NL pennant, and would later reveal that the Wilpon family not only wouldn’t allow him to travel with the team for the postseason, but they wouldn’t even comp him for tickets.
It took Wheeler until the third year of a five-year/$118 million free-agent contract to reach the postseason with the Phillies, but he’s made up for lost time over the last two Octobers.
Wheeler made five postseason starts in 2022, and don’t let his 1-3 record fool you, he was largely excellent. Across 35 2/3 innings pitched, Wheeler posted a 2.78 ERA. He peaked by striking out eight and allowing just one hit over seven shutout innings in Game 1 of the NLCS against the San Diego Padres. He also took the ball in Game 5 of the NLCS, allowing two runs over six innings, with the Phillies later clinching the NL pennant thanks to Bryce Harper’s late-game heroics.
While Wheeler appeared to be running out of gas when he allowed five runs — four of which were earned — over five innings against the Houston Astros in Game 2 of the World Series, he responded with quite the statement in Game 6. Wheeler allowed only three hits over 5 1/3 innings pitched, but was charged with two runs when manager Rob Thomson made the controversial decision to pull him in favor of José Alvarado with two runners on and one out in the bottom of the sixth inning. Alvarado would, of course, surrender a 450-foot bomb to Yordan Álvarez, which essentially ended the World Series.
But in his second postseason run, Wheeler has arguably been even better.
He got the ball for the Phillies in Game 1 of the NLWCS, and was excellent, allowing just one run over 6 2/3 innings pitched, while striking out eight Miami Marlins batters.
The Phillies lost Game 2 of the NLDS in Atlanta, with Michael Harris II’s tremendous catch and double play — which elicited the atta-boy, Harper comments from Orlando Arcia — allowing the Braves to even the series. But make no mistake, for much of the outing, Wheeler silenced one of the most productive lineups in MLB history. The Braves didn’t get into the hits column until the sixth inning, and while Wheeler would allow a two-run home run to Travis d’Arnaud in the seventh, he still struck out 10 batters and allowed just three hits over 6 1/3 innings pitched.
For the second year in a row, Wheeler got the ball for the Phillies in Game 1 of the NLCS, and for the second year in a row, the Phillies have a 1-0 lead in the NLCS. Sure, it didn’t hurt that Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper ambushed Arizona Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen with first-inning home runs, but Wheeler impressed again. Over six innings, Wheeler allowed just three hits and struck out eight. The only real damage done against him came on a two-run home run by Geraldo Perdomo in the top of the sixth inning.
After three starts this postseason, Wheeler is 2-0 with a 2.37 ERA. The 33-year-old has averaged more than 8 1/2 strikeouts per game over those three starts, with his latest effort putting the Phillies within three wins of returning to the World Series for the second year in a row.
What’s allowed Wheeler to be so consistently successful across the 54 2/3 postseason innings he’s logged as a Phillie?
“I don’t know. I really don’t have an answer for you to be honest,” Wheeler said postgame. “I just try and step up my game, but staying who I am at the same time and not overdoing it and getting out of myself.”
Nick Castellanos and the Phillies made Zac Gallen — a likely top-five finisher in NL Cy Young voting for the second consecutive season — their latest victim Monday. Castellanos was one of three Phillies who homered off of Gallen, who allowed eight hits and five runs over five innings.
The contrast to Wheeler is stark, as he’s largely seemed able to execute his gameplan against any lineup he has faced over the last two postseasons.
“I mean other than he’s a phenomenal pitcher, he’s not shy of a big game and he attacks everybody,” Castellanos said of Wheeler. “And you add quality stuff on top of that, it’s usually a good recipe.”
For better or for worse, we may be beyond the days where Jack Morris or Cliff Lee takes the ball in the postseason and goes all nine (or 10, in Morris’ case) innings. So how postseason aces are evaluated probably needs to evolve. And across his first nine postseason outings, Wheeler has a 2.63 ERA. He’s already become one of the best postseason pitchers of his era, and if he helps pitch the Phillies to a World Series title, he may force his way into the all-time discussion.
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