Phillies Get Great News Just As Spring Training Ends

Zack Wheeler continues to zoom ahead of initial expectations and toward a return to the Phillies' rotation as soon as late April.

Wheeler is ready for the next phase of his ramp-up, a three-inning rehab start with Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Saturday in its second game of the season, according to MLB.com.

Mid-May was once viewed as a realistic timeline for Wheeler, who underwent venous thoracic outlet surgery in September, which involved the removal of a rib. He missed the final 40 games of the 2025 season and the NLDS.

He was brought along slowly in spring training, throwing a handful of bullpen sessions before progressing to live batting practice and now an actual rehab assignment.

Mapping out Wheeler's timeline

When a rehab clock window opens for a pitcher, it lasts for a maximum of 30 days. The 31st day from Saturday would be April 27, a Monday the Phillies are off before hosting the Giants for three games. That home series could be when Wheeler returns. The Phils spend the prior week on the road with four games at Wrigley Field and three in Atlanta.

The Phillies will want to see Wheeler extend from three innings in his first rehab start to four, then to five. He still needs to build up the way a starting pitcher ordinarily would in spring training, the game action is just beginning about a month later for him than it did for his rotation-mates.

What's the move?

It will be interesting to see what the Phillies do to their starting staff if everyone is healthy when Wheeler returns. The most straightforward solution would be moving Taijuan Walker to the bullpen, where he pitched effectively last season with a 3.15 ERA in 13 appearances.

Another option would be using a six-man rotation. It's not as realistic in early April when the Phillies have so many off-days because even without going to a six-man rotation, they will have a starting pitcher go on extra rest in 19 of the first 20 games.

But the end of Wheeler's rehab clock, April 27, is when the Phillies' schedule normalizes. They have five off-days before playing their 29th game of the season, but from there, they play 13 in a row and 22 of 23 days.

That might actually be an ideal time to go to a six-man rotation. It wouldn't be the norm all season, but could be a way to ease Wheeler back in early while also preserving the innings of rookie Andrew Painter, who set a career-high last year with 118 in the minors.

Built for tight games

The Phillies' rotation is obviously their strength, but when Wheeler returns, it has a chance to lap the field. No team has a 1-2-3 like Wheeler, Cristopher Sanchez and Jesus Luzardo, nor a fourth and fifth starter with the bounce-back upside of Aaron Nola and ceiling of Painter.

Beyond that, they've built what they think is the best Phillies bullpen of this current era of contention: Jhoan Duran, Brad Keller, Jose Alvarado, Tanner Banks, Jonathan Bowlan, Kyle Backhus, Tim Mayza, Zach Pop, with Orion Kerkering beginning the season on the injured list but likely back after two weeks.

There will be plenty of nights when an opposing lineup has to deal with six or seven innings of Wheeler, Sanchez or Luzardo, and then the reward for getting the hard-throwing, multifaceted starter out of the game will be facing the 101 mph fastballs and devastating secondary pitches of Alvarado and Duran.