CLEARWATER, Fla. – The few Phillies fans lucky enough to be at BayCare Ballpark on Saturday morning watched Zack Wheeler take his latest step toward his return to the rotation.
Wheeler threw a live batting practice session.
“Awesome,” said Phillies right-hander Orion Kerkering, who followed with his own live BP before Philadelphia's 6-4 Grapefruit League win over the Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field. “Just good seeing him compete again. Just see like the excitement back in his face, even though there’s not really much you can see. But you can just tell there’s some excitement in it.”
It was exciting enough for fans to cheer. It was Wheeler’s first time facing hitters since Aug. 15 in Washington, his final start before doctors discovered a blood clot near his right shoulder. The clot led to thoracic outlet decompression surgery in September, which required the removal of the first rib near his right shoulder.
The Phillies said then that Wheeler’s recovery would take six to eight months.
It remains unclear when Wheeler might rejoin the Phillies’ rotation. But when he threw his first bullpen session on Feb. 26, manager Rob Thomson said it could be considered the beginning of a typical six-week Spring Training ramp-up.
Six weeks from Feb. 26 is April 9.
“I think I’m probably just on track,” said Wheeler when asked if he might be ahead of schedule. “You guys know me by now. I really don’t try to get too excited about certain things.
“Like I said before, just kind of take it day by day. Just look forward to the next one and try to crisp it up a little bit more, try to get the velo up just a tick more. You just look for each time out with the velo maybe just a tick higher. That’s usually how it goes during the spring.”
Wheeler threw about 20 pitches to Phillies batters Otto Kemp, Rafael Marchán and Garrett Stubbs. He threw every pitch except his slider, which he doesn’t throw much anyway. He said he heard his fastball velocity was in the 93 mph range.
“A little better than what it had been,” Wheeler said. “It went well. I felt a little bit more in sync. I thought that might happen, just facing hitters instead of just throwing bullpens. In the bullpens, I was just a little out of sync. I was just trying to fight the timing and all that type of stuff. I was hoping once I faced some hitters that it would kind of sync up and everything. It seemed like it did.
“I’m happy with today, getting through it healthy and kind of accomplishing what I was looking to do.”
Wheeler will throw at least one more live BP – it likely would be a simulated two-inning affair – before he takes his next notable step: pitching in a game. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Wheeler pitch in a game – it could happen at the Carpenter Complex against Minor Leaguers – before the Phillies break camp on March 23.
“Kind of just take it day by day and hope for the best,” Wheeler said. “But yeah, so far, so good. We’ve still got a long way to go. Just keep my head down, keep going.”