CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler feels good, which is the most important thing people need to know.
He threw a two-inning live BP on Wednesday morning inside a mostly empty BayCare Ballpark, facing teammates Brandon Marsh, Edmundo Sosa and Justin Crawford. It was Wheeler’s second live BP of the spring, which is another step toward his return to the Phillies’ rotation, following a blood clot near his right shoulder that required thoracic outlet decompression surgery in September.
“What’s next?” Wheeler said. “Have to ask the higher ups.”
If this were a normal spring for Wheeler, he would be in the late-February stage of camp, meaning he should be close to his first spring start. His next step could be another live BP or his first start, most likely in a Minor League game at Carpenter Complex.
“I feel like I am right now where I’d be in a buildup situation,” Wheeler said. “I feel like I should be going into live BPs, that’s how I’d normally feel in years past. … Felt good. Arm felt good. Still need to figure it out, out of the stretch a little bit, just a tick off. Other than that, everything seemed to be working and coming out well. Just another step.”
Wheeler said he threw everything but his cutter and slider, which is nothing out of the ordinary.
“Early on, you need to work on your most important pitches, which is obviously my fastball, getting the four-seam, two-seam going, feeling that come out of the hand at competitive speed,” Wheeler said. “Sweeper, split, curve, keep going down the list, I’ll probably start mixing them in soon and get the cutter going.”
Wheeler figures his velocity is around 93 mph, which is where he thinks it normally is during a typical build up.
“Fastball felt really good out of the windup,” he said. “It was just a little tough out of the stretch for whatever reason. My bullpens have been a little wacky out of the stretch. But it felt better than that, so we’re going in the right direction.”
If everything continues as planned, Wheeler could rejoin the Phillies’ rotation in April. The Phillies will be in a lot of cold-weather locations in the season's opening month, including Philadelphia, Colorado and Chicago.
No big deal.
“It’s not fun to pitch in cold weather in general,” Wheeler said. “But I don’t think it affects me. When I get back, I get back, it doesn’t matter where or when.”