Phillies Ace Zack Wheeler Goes On IL With Blood Clot In Throwing Arm

Yes, this is worrisome. The Philadelphia Phillies placed their ace Zack Wheeler on the 15-day injured list Saturday with a blood clot in his right arm.

Wheeler had a start bumped back earlier this month due to shoulder stiffness and recently showed diminished velocity on his fastball. But he said he felt normal pitching against the Nationals in Washington Friday night. His velocity returned, and he didn’t want to leave the game after five innings and 97 pitches. Then later that night, Wheeler’s arm felt strange — “a little heaviness” near his shoulder, as head athletic trainer Paul Buchheit called it. The Phillies consulted the Nationals’ doctors and a clot was discovered in his arm.

The Phillies placed Zack Wheeler on the IL with a blood clot in his throwing arm. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)

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After the Phillies’ 2-0 loss Saturday to the Nationals, the team announced that Wheeler was placed on the injured list with an ailment described as a “right upper extremity blood clot.” He has since returned to Philly for more testing.

The timeline for Wheeler’s absence remains unclear but he’ll miss at least 15 days, likely more.

“It’s still early on in the diagnosis,” Buchheit said. “I think we should gather more information before we put prognosis and treatment plan together.”

Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski praised the doctors for discovering the clot but said, “There’s not a lot that we can say on it at this time. It could have been a much more trying situation than it is.”

The news of Wheeler’s injury rattled his teammates. “It’s obviously scary. … Obviously, we’re praying for him, trying to keep in contact with him,” pitcher Taijuan Walker said. “But I know that he knows we’re all here for him.”

Wheeler, 35, is 10-5 this season with a 2.71 ERA and has looked this dominant:

He has 195 strikeouts in 149⅔ innings. But he has struggled since the all-star break, compiling 4.23 ERA and only winning one game in five outings.

Wheeler, who made the All-Star team for the third time this season, finished second in the National League Cy Young Award voting in 2024. His IL stint begins one day before Aaron Nola, who has been out for three months with a rib injury, will rejoin the rotation Sunday.