PHILADELPHIA -- Zack Wheeler is putting up some remarkable numbers this season -- even by his lofty standards.
The biggest number to watch when he starts Monday night's series opener against the Marlins, though: Seven.
That's how many innings Wheeler needs to pitch to officially qualify for leaderboards for the first time this season. Now, even if he does that, Wheeler's name would appear only temporarily on those lists.
After all, pitchers need to average one inning per team game to qualify. Wheeler has pitched 100 innings this season, while Monday marks the Phillies' 107th game.
In other words, Wheeler will likely bounce on and off the leaderboards for stats such as WHIP and ERA over the next couple of weeks, but if all goes well, he'll stick as a qualified starter by September. Wheeler's numbers have ranked among the league's best all season, but his name has been noticeably absent given his delayed start coming off thoracic outlet surgery in September.
Since debuting on April 28, though, he has a 2.16 ERA, a 0.88 WHIP and a .186 opponents' batting average. All three of those would rank second in the National League behind only Jacob Misiorowski (1.58 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, .149 opponents' average).
With seven innings on Monday night, Wheeler's name would finally appear below Misiorowski's for the first time this season.
Those same two names just might be atop the NL Cy Young race at the moment.
Wheeler has taken his already impressive season to a whole new level this month. Though he hit the ground running upon his return, Wheeler had struck out 74 batters in 75 1/3 innings in his 12 starts through the end of June.
In four July starts, he has 43 strikeouts in 24 2/3 innings. Only five other pitchers have ever recorded that many strikeouts in fewer than 25 innings over a four-start span within a season: Spencer Strider (2023), Cristian Javier ('22), Justin Verlander ('18 and '19), Chris Sale ('18) and Kerry Wood (1998).
As for Wheeler, those 43 strikeouts are the second-most in any distinct four-game span of his career. The only time he had more was a stretch in May/June 2021 when he peaked at 46 K's over a four-game span.
“You do see stuff like that,” Wheeler said after Tuesday's outing in which he struck out nine over seven innings vs. the Dodgers. “You know, maybe my strikeout numbers aren't what they have been in my career per game, so I do see that and I wanted to get that back up. I'm not going to lie to you. And maybe with two strikes, I make a little more concerted effort to punch a guy out or take care of the pitch a little bit better maybe so they don't put it in play.”
Wheeler has certainly done plenty of that against the Marlins over the years. In 28 career starts against Miami, he's 14-4 with a 2.59 ERA and 198 strikeouts over 177 innings. That includes going 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA and 17 K's in 12 innings across two outings vs. Miami this season.
Oh, and those seven innings he needs?
Wheeler has completed at least seven innings in six of his past 13 starts, including three of the past five.