Wheeler's Return To Form Good Sign For Philadelphia Phillies

It's been an interesting year for the Philadelphia Phillies' ace Zach Wheeler. He has above a 3.00 ERA for the first time since joining the team back in 2020.

After the deep playoff run last season, it's not all too surprising that he might have started this year slowly.

That was the case in April when he recorded just under a 4.00 ERA in his six starts. The struggles were exasperated in June when he had a 4.45 ERA across five starts.

The pitching staff concerned the Phillies' front office enough to trade for Michael Lorenzen at the trade deadline to ensure they still had a high level starting rotation.

So far, the acquisition has paid off with two earned runs over 17 innings pitched in his two starts.

The other good sign for Philadelphia is their ace Wheeler seems to be returning to the top level form he's shown since putting on a Phillies uniform.

In August, the right hander has an ERA of 2.84 across three starts. The success goes back even further with an ERA of 2.76 in his last seven games played.

Wheeler was in peak form against the Toronto Blue Jays during Tuesday night's game when he allowed one earned run on three hits in seven innings pitched.

Philadelphia ultimately lost the game 2-1 due to late inning errors, but big picture, they're getting a major boost from their ace that could pay off when it matters most.

If Aaron Nola is also able to find his normal form this year and Taijuan Walker comes back from the IL strong, this starting rotation is a four headed monster the Phillies haven't had since their 2008 World Series winning team.