Philadelphia Phillies Ace Playing Into Cy Young Contention

It's been the offense that has gotten all of the headlines for the Philadelphia Phillies, and rightfully so, as the bats are powering the team further into the playoff picture.

However, during the offensive explosion, the Phillies' ace has started putting together his best pitching performances of the season.

Zach Wheeler started the year shaky, going 4-4 with a 4.33 ERA in his first 12 starts. His form has completely flipped, recording a 2-1 record with a 2.51 ERA during his last seven starts.

The right hander put together one of his best starts of the year Saturday against the St. Louis Cardinals, going 7.0 innings, allowing one earned run on three hits and striking out 10 batters.

Manager Rob Thomson highlighted how good Wheeler was in that game and what he's seen from the ace in recent starts telling MLB.com's Mark Feinsand after Saturday, "He was electric tonight. That's maybe the best stuff I've seen him have the whole year. The four-seam had jump to it, the two-seam had power-sink to it, all of his secondary pitches were good and he threw strikes. You can't ask for much more than that."

The ace's recent form has also put him into the National League Cy Young conversation with the race still wide open.

"That's what [Cy Young winners] look like right there," Thomson told Feinsand.

Wheeler would like for his name to be mentioned in the award conversation as well. He told MLB.com, "I want to be in it, too. I appreciate that from [Thomson], but you’ve got to pitch well and you’ve got to put yourself there.”

He now has a record of 10-6 with an ERA of 3.59. If he can continue pitching like he has over the last month, Wheeler will definitely be putting himself in the discussion for the NL Cy Young.