Philadelphia Phillies Ace Shockingly Omitted From Controversial Rankings

Philadelphia Phillies ace Zack Wheeler continues to be criminally underrated.

Mar 4, 2025; Clearwater, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler (45) throws a pitch against the New York Yankees in the second inning during spring training at BayCare Ballpark. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

It's an exciting time to be a Philly sports fan.

The Philadelphia Phillies are coming off three straight postseason appearances and look like World Series contenders heading into Opening Day, while the Philadelphia Eagles just won their third NFC title and second Super Bowl in seven years.

The Philadelphia Flyers and Philadelphia 76ers are both struggling and will likely miss the playoffs, but most cities would kill to have one championship-caliber team, let alone two.

It helps that Philadelphia is home to some of the biggest stars in sports.

From Bryce Harper and Jalen Hurts to Saquon Barkley and Joel Embiid, there are plenty of high-profile names for Philly fans to root for.

There are so many, in fact, that FOX Sports made a glaring omission in their recent power rankings of the city's top 10 athletes.

Who are the most notable athletes in Philadelphia?

We ranked the Top 10. pic.twitter.com/EFUPbkHvdA

— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) March 5, 2025

As expected, Eagles players dominated the list, taking up five of the top 10 spots and three of the top five. Three 76ers made the list despite being on one of the worst teams in the NBA this year, while two Phillies cracked the top 10.

No Flyers made the list.

FOX made several questionable choices in their rankings, but the one who was most notably excluded was Phillies ace Zack Wheeler.

Putting Trea Turner in the top 10 over Wheeler makes little sense.

Granted, Turner's 11-year, $300 million contract with Philadelphia is one of the largest deals in baseball history, but he's only been with the team for two seasons and has been a mild disappointment, slumping for much of his first campaign and failing to earn any MVP votes.

Wheeler, on the other hand, has been the Phillies' top pitcher for five years. He's also one of the best hurlers in baseball, finishing runner-up in the NL Cy Young voting twice during that span.

For reference, MLB Network had Wheeler at No. 19 and Turner at No. 35 in their top 100 rankings for 2025, suggesting the former is superior.

It's also hard to justify including NBA star Paul George (No. 9) in the top 10 instead of Wheeler.

He's only in his first season with the 76ers and has missed considerable time, playing just 41 of 62 games. He's also only the third-best player on his team behind Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, and his team has been terrible (21-41).

Meanwhile, Wheeler is arguably the best player on the Phillies.

He's led Philadelphia in WAR in three of his five seasons there, including last year.

Harper and Turner may be more famous, but they've never paced the Phillies in WAR.

The Phillies are loaded with stars, but Wheeler might be the brightest one on the roster.

The 34-year-old righty is used to being overlooked and underappreciated. He's still searching for his first Cy Young award despite dominating the 2020s, and he's only made two All-Star teams. He's been great in the postseason, too, but just never seems to get the credit he deserves.

Maybe if he helps Philadelphia win the World Series, that will finally change.