Phillies' Options if Zack Wheeler Returns to Healthy Rotation in April

What if Zack Wheeler really is ready by mid-April?

It would be a good problem to have for the Phillies, who will open the season a week from today with a five-man rotation of Cristopher Sanchez, Jesus Luzardo, Aaron Nola, Taijuan Walker and Andrew Painter, though not necessarily in that order.

The Phils are off twice in the first week and five times before their 30th game, so the starters will get extra rest throughout the opening month. If the solution when Wheeler returns is a six-man rotation, it will mean even more time between starts.

Extra rest all month?

If Sanchez pitches on Opening Day, he will receive an extra day of rest before his second, third and fourth starts.

In fact, April 8 in San Francisco is the only game among the Phillies' first 20 in which a starter will pitch on the standard four days' rest.

The Phils don't play a full week's worth of games until April 19, which is right around the time Wheeler could return. They have a 10-day, nine-game homestand from April 10-19, followed by a weeklong road trip to Wrigley Field and Atlanta April 20-26.

Ahead of schedule?

Wheeler underwent thoracic outlet surgery on September 23, missed the Phillies' final 40 games and the National League Division Series loss to the Dodgers, and was expected back this season around May 1. But Wheeler continues to make good progress. He threw a handful of bullpen sessions and then advanced to live batting practice. Wednesday was his second live BP.

"I think I'm probably just on track," Wheeler told reporters, including MLB.com. "You guys know me by now, I really don't try to get too excited about certain things. Just take it day by day. Look forward to the next one and try to crisp it up a little bit more, try to get the velo up a tick more. Just look for each time out, the velo to be a tick higher. That's usually how it goes during the spring.

"Facing hitters instead of just throwing bullpens, in the bullpens I was a little out of sync and you're just trying to fight the timing and stuff. I was hoping once I faced some hitters that it would sync up and it seemed like it did. I'm happy with today, getting through it healthy and actually kind've accomplishing what I was looking to do."

When asked in late February after his first bullpen session whether he thought it would be wise to ramp up slowly with October in mind, Wheeler said, "If I'm ready to go, I'm ready to go. I don't think I have any problems when October comes, usually. I don't think this year is any different than any other year trying to preserve."

If they don't use a 6-man rotation

If Wheeler returns in mid-to-late April to a healthy Phillies starting rotation, the only options aside from a six-man rotation would be sending Walker to the bullpen, or optioning Andrew Painter to Triple-A. While doing so with Painter could preserve his innings by having him sit for two weeks, teams often bring their top prospects to the majors when they feel they're ready to stay there and might not want to risk affecting his mindset, especially if he succeeds early.

Walker bounced back and forth from rotation to bullpen more than ever before last season and quietly did his job in both roles with a 3.15 relief ERA and 4.25 ERA in 21 starts. He is in the fourth and final year of a $72 million contract.

Best in baseball?

When Wheeler returns, the Phillies should again boast the best starting rotation in baseball. Their first regular-season opponent, the Texas Rangers, owned MLB's top rotation ERA in 2025 at 3.41, but no starting staff has a 1-2-3 stronger than Wheeler, Sanchez, Luzardo, nor a No. 4 and 5 with as much upside as Nola and Painter.

"I can't speak for others, I don't know what their mentality is, but basically, it's worked, because they're good," Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters last week when asked about his penchant for building around starting pitching.

"Anytime you have a good starting pitcher going out there who can set the tone, it gives you a better chance to win that particular game. For me, I've always felt when you go out there daily and you look at who's on the mound — it doesn't always work this way — but do you have the edge or not? I really like having the edge when you look at the guy out there versus the other club's. And normally, it works out for you in the long haul when you work percentages."