PHILADELPHIA - News broke shortly before 3:00 PM today that the Philadelphia Phillies will be without their ace, Zack Wheeler, for the remainder of the 2025 campaign. The club and fans alike were holding out hope for a positive update after Wheeler underwent a successful thrombolysis procedure to remove a blood clot that was discovered near his right shoulder.
Surgery went well, but the team reported via a press release that Wheeler had a follow-up evaluation and received second opinions this week and the situation required a more aggressive treatment. He was diagnosed with venous thoracic outlet syndrome, and the recommendation is to undergo thoracic outlet decompression surgery in the coming weeks. The timeline of recovery from the surgery is generally 6-to-8 months.
Wheeler's outlook
Prior to Saturday's contest, Phillies head athletic trainer, Paul Buchheit, spoke more about Wheeler's diagnosis and outlook:
The protocols on (recovery) are pretty general. A guy can start throwing maybe about 8 weeks after the procedure, but that really all depends on how he's presenting, how the procedure goes, and how he's doing in the rehab process.
While the estimation is general, the outlook and direction is based heavily on the amount of time Wheeler has dealt with this issue. High-level athletes who repetitively do overhead maneuvers (like pitching) are at a greater risk for VTOS. Because it was caught early, the outlook is much better and made the treatment path very clear.
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Wheeler saw two additional experts in the field for second opinions, and they, along with Buchheit, were all in agreement that this treatment was clearly the best option. With him being more vulnerable to VTOS being suddenly onset due to his job, it is different than if you or I had a blood clot that we dealt with for some time.
"If you have symptoms from a neurological perspective, they may be present for a long time. It takes a while to kind of evaluate and treat through and a lot of times you don't go to a surgical option right away," Buchheit explained. "With Zack, it was an acute onset, and so, he doesn't have that long contracted time period where he's been battling things. So the surgeons would say he's going to have a really good prognosis."
“We figure that he’ll come back in the six-to-eight month time period and come back and be the Zack Wheeler of old,” Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Saturday. “That’s what we’ve been told. Unless something unanticipated happens, he’ll be able to come back and pitch like he has before this.”
Manager Rob Thomson also spoke with reporters about the loss of his ace, and said he was informed of the prognosis late yesterday. While no team meeting was held, the rest of the roster found out throughout yesterday evening and today. I asked him what the atmosphere in the clubhouse was like today as the news spread:
"It's disappointing, but I think everybody knows it's out of our control and we're happy that he's going to be healthy," Thomson said. "This is a very serious thing that he went through and I think - they’re baseball players, they just kind of move on. You know, you got a game today and they're not going to cancel it. We got another game tomorrow, so we just keep moving forward."
While the overall plan is not confirmed as of yet, Thomson is hopeful that Wheeler will be around the club the rest of the season, as he is able to be. "I haven't talked to him about that. I'm sure he will because he'll have some rehab to do. Whether he's here every day or not, I don't know."
While it is never simple to lose your ace, the Phillies set a franchise record for strikeouts by a starting staff in a three-game series, at least in the Modern Era (since 1900) after they placed Wheeler on the injured list. Their depth will be tested, but if everyone pulls their weight a little more, this team can use this loss to galvanize them en route to another run at the World Series.
Top photo of Zack Wheleer: Credit Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
