When Zack Wheeler pitches, he stands on as far over on the first base side of the rubber as possible. Recently, this has come into question from Major League Baseball as to its legality and whether the positioning is giving Wheeler an unfair advantage. As Wheeler described after Friday night’s loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, per Dave Uram, Major League Baseball has Wheeler “on a list” following a game earlier in the year.
The issue came to a head on Friday evening as Toronto Blue Jays hitting coach David Popkins continually called out the issue to home plate umpire John Tumpane. In the fourth inning, on a 1-0 pitch, Tumpane decided that it was time to eject Tumpane, silencing the Blue Jays on the matter.
As Wheeler described, he has not changed his motion for much of his career.
Saturday, as he met with the media, interim manager Don Mattingly gave his thoughts on the matter. Mattingly described how pitching coach Caleb Cotham has been discussing the issue with Major League Baseball.
“They send him a pitch that they thought it was off and then he sends the exact same pitch from a different angle and it feels like he's on,” Mattingly described.
While Major League Baseball has not accused Wheeler of cheating with his motion, the increased dialogue on the subject seems to indicating that Wheeler is toeing a line he may not want to cross.
Mattingly has no ill will towards John Schneider’s Blue Jays following the issue, claiming he would and has bring up the issue if the situation were flipped.
“In the same situation for us, we felt like there was a guy off the mound and we would do the same,” Mattingly declared. “And there's been a guy this year that we talked about, tell the umpire about it, and kind of believe it in the past.”
Alec Bohm is out of the lineup Saturday in what Mattingly described as a scheduled rest day. The timing sparked curiosity as it followed a frustrating night for Bohm on Friday. The first baseman went 0-for-4 on the night including a first-pitch fielders choice costing the game-tying run in the bottom of the ninth.
Bohm’s rest day also provides a rest day in the field for Bryce Harper as he takes over designated hitter duties with Kyle Schwarber manning first base. The start at first is Schwarber’s first action in the field in nearly two months, dating back to June 16.
Andrew Painter threw a bullpen session Saturday afternoon per Mattingly. Painter exited Wednesday’s start with left hamstring tightness, but Mattingly reported the right-hander should have no issue making his next start, currently slated for Monday.
As the pitching rotation currently stands, Aaron Nola’s next start will line up for Thursday’s Field of Dreams game against the Twins, scheduled for Thursday, August 13 in Dyersville, Iowa.
Nola will take the mound today against fellow veteran Max Scherzer as the Phillies look to even up their series with the Toronto Blue Jays. First pitch for the matchup is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.
