PHOENIX — As Phillies clubhouse employees prepared a celebration for Zack Wheeler last weekend, his catcher intervened. The team had ordered a cake to mark Wheeler’s achievement — 10 years of big-league service time. But J.T. Realmuto was thinking bigger.
“You can’t just get him a cake,” Realmuto said to the clubbies. “You have to get him McDonald’s.”
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There is something about Wheeler, 33 years old and still one of the elite starting pitchers in the sport, that does not align with his meticulous dedication to his craft. It is a secret everywhere but inside the Phillies clubhouse.
He loves junk food.
Wheeler is not bashful about this — no matter what the team’s nutritionists have advised him over the years. They have encouraged him to think otherwise. Sometimes, he listens. Sometimes, he doesn’t. Everyone understands.
“That’s what I grew up eating,” Wheeler said. “Still enjoy it. I’ve been doing it, and I am where I am.”
In Realmuto’s mind, this was the only proper surprise Sunday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park after the Phillies sealed a series win over the Dodgers.
“He’s one of the only guys in the clubhouse who eats that way,” Realmuto said. “One of the only Major League Baseball players who probably eats that way.”
So, the postgame spread was a feast catered by McDonald’s — Double Cheeseburgers, McNuggets and french fries. The cake followed.
“We had a good meal,” Wheeler said. “My type of meal.”
On Tuesday, in his 83rd regular-season start with the Phillies, Wheeler did not fire a fastball that hit 97 mph. He threw a lower percentage of fastballs than he had in an outing all season. “To be honest,” Realmuto said, “it was probably the worst fastball he’s had this year as far as the life and the carry on it.” And Wheeler held the dangerous Diamondbacks, who have scored the second-most runs in the National League, to one run in six innings.
“He wasn’t getting the swing-and-miss up in the zone,” Realmuto said after a 15-3 Phillies win. “So we kind of had to change our game plan a little bit and pitch a little differently. Three years ago, that’s one of the outings where he gives up seven runs in three innings because he has to keep going to the fastball and it’s not his best fastball that day. Today, because he’s evolved and gotten better with his off-speed pitches, he was able to pitch differently than he normally would.”
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Wheeler struck out seven and lowered his ERA to 3.73. It ranks 15th in the National League. He’d like it to be better. It probably should be better; his worst start, two weeks ago at Washington, yielded seven runs in 3 2/3 innings. If a few plays that should have been made behind him are made, it looks different. Outside of Tuesday, he’s featured a more powerful fastball this season than he did for most of 2022.
The traditional numbers might not show it yet, but Wheeler has been among the league’s best once again.
“It seems like,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said, “he’s getting better and better and better as the season goes on.”
It’s more than that. As Wheeler reached the 10-year service-time mark, it was worth reflecting upon his path. He’s a frontline starter because, with age, he’s adapted and improved. Maybe he’s not at his peak, but he remains close to it.
Wheeler has a 2.96 ERA since he signed a five-year, $118 million deal with the Phillies before the 2020 season. It’s the eighth-best mark in the majors in that span. Only three pitchers — Sandy Alcantara, Aaron Nola and Gerrit Cole — have thrown more innings than Wheeler since the beginning of 2020.
“You have your good years and bad years, but ever since I’ve been here, it’s been pretty solid and consistent,” Wheeler said. “That was my biggest thing coming into this contract. Just being who they paid me to be. I feel like I’ve done that so far.”
The contract runs through 2024. It is already one of the best big free-agent deals the Phillies have ever signed. When former general manager Matt Klentak pursued Wheeler, it was perceived as a risk because Wheeler did not have the typical track record of pitchers who landed nine-figure deals.
The Phillies were not paying for past performance. They were betting on Wheeler finding a higher level. He’s done just that.
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“He just continues to evolve and continues to get better,” Realmuto said. “I see the work that he puts in off the field. He works harder now than he did when he first showed up, and that’s a testament to his character. He wants to continue to be successful. He’s not just happy with what he’s done in his career. He’s working harder than he ever has. And he’s also learned himself. He realizes what he does really well. He has confidence in what he does.”
This is something Wheeler was not always certain would happen. He missed two full seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2015. He was limited in 2017 with a stress reaction in his throwing arm. When he reached the 10-year mark, an achievement big-league players consider one of the loftiest in the game, he joked with Nola.
“I’ve only pitched, like, seven years total,” Wheeler said. “But I got 10 years. I cheated the system.”
It’s all part of the journey.
“It is,” Wheeler said. “Everybody’s journey is different. That’s been mine. I don’t take it for granted, that’s for sure.”
His outing Tuesday was another piece of evidence that Wheeler has unlocked something special. He can thrive without his best stuff. His fastball, when right, is enough to plow through an opposing lineup. As he nears his mid-30s, he won’t always have that fastball. He can pitch — the whiffs by Arizona hitters on his sliders and curveballs were good indicators of that.
“He never gets himself in trouble,” Nick Castellanos said. “There’s a lot of guys that can throw upper 90s now, right? But he doesn’t shy away from anybody and he’s always in the strike zone. The only time he really gets beat is when he gets hit. But his stuff is so good that the majority of the time, it’s going to be in his favor.”
Wheeler has learned how to make it all work for him. Last season was the longest and most enjoyable of his life, but he’s minimized the hangover. Junk food is good for that. Wheeler, for one day, had a chance to share his guilty pleasure.
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“I’m not going to name names,” Realmuto said, “but there were plenty of guys who were having Double Cheeseburgers.”
“I did not have anything,” Castellanos said. “But I did give him a big hug and said, ‘Bro, congrats.’”
Wheeler appreciated it. He’s done it his way, and not everything was meant to evolve.
“They know what I like,” Wheeler said. “It was funny. It was a good 10-year surprise.”
GO DEEPER
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(Top photo: Chris Coduto / Getty Images)
