The Phillies have been with out ace right-hander Zack Wheeler of their rotation since August 15, and late final month it was introduced that he had been beneficial for surgical procedure to appropriate thoracic outlet syndrome. At this time, the Phillies revealed to reporters (together with Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic) that Wheeler is about to go underneath the knife on September 23.
On the time of the membership’s unique announcement about Wheeler needing surgical procedure, it was instructed that the process sometimes got here with a 6-8 month restoration timeline. Assuming that holds true, Wheeler going underneath the knife later this month would imply that he might return to the Phillies’s rotation someday within the first half of 2026. A finest case state of affairs would appear to recommend that he’d miss the primary few weeks of the common season, with the longer finish of that projected timeline getting Wheeler again on the mound a few weeks earlier than the All-Star break. In fact, timelines like this are all largely hypothetical till the process really happens, and even afterwards there’s all the time the chance or a setback or different developments altering the agenda even additional.
Nonetheless, the concept that Wheeler ought to be again on the mound in some unspecified time in the future within the first half subsequent yr ought to certainly be encouraging for followers in Philadelphia. The unquestioned ace of the membership’s rotation, Wheeler has turn into extra necessary to the crew than ever as Ranger Suarez enters what may very well be the ultimate weeks of his Phillies tenure with free company developing in November whereas Aaron Nola scuffles by means of a career-worst season. Cristopher Sanchez’s emergence as a respectable front-of-the-rotation arm will go an extended method to serving to the crew get by with out Wheeler to take the lead, however it nonetheless goes with out saying that the earlier the 35-year-old can return to the mound, the higher off the group might be.
The membership’s information on injured right-hander Jordan Romano gives much less motive for optimism. Romano has been on the shelf since August 26 attributable to finger irritation, and as we speak supervisor Rob Thomson supplied the replace to reporters (together with Varnes) that Romano has been feeling numbness in his center finger and stiffness in his neck. Thomson went on to recommend that it may very well be a “nerve factor” that Romano is coping with, although he didn’t elaborate past that.
Romano has had a tricky season with the Phillies after signing a one-year deal this winter. He’s pitched to a brutal 8.23 ERA in 42 2/3 innings of labor this yr regardless of stable peripherals (together with a 3.65 ERA) thanks largely to an unbelievably low 49.0% strand fee after coming into the season with a profession 81.3% determine. Whereas it’s not unimaginable to think about Romano righting the ship if he can solely come again wholesome, the opportunity of a lingering nerve downside being the reason for his irritation would seemingly create pessimism about his potential to return this season and assist the Phillies out through the postseason earlier than he returns to free company in November.
There’s extra optimistic information available on the positional facet of issues, no less than, as each Alec Bohm and Trea Turner are each making progress as they appear to return from the injured checklist. Each gamers have been positioned on the shelf on September 8. Bohm was coping with shoulder soreness, whereas Turner had been recognized with a grade 1 hamstring pressure. With the Phillies within the thick of the playoff race and in place to say a bye by means of the Wild Card spherical of the postseason, getting the left facet of the membership’s infield again in motion as quickly as potential can be an enormous increase. Thankfully, Varnes relays that Turner did some working and performed catcher as we speak with an eye fixed in the direction of swinging a bat later this week, whereas Bohm is already set to hit off a tee as we speak.
