Phillies’ Don Mattingly drops Jacob deGrom admission while talking about Zack Wheeler

Story by

Matty Breisch, ClutchPoints

Sat, May 2, 2026 at 10:44 PM UTC ·

2 min read

Phillies’ Don Mattingly drops Jacob deGrom admission while talking about Zack Wheeler appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .

After watching the Philadelphia Phillies struggle at basically every aspect of the game so far in 2026, Don Mattingly has found a way to get his team back on track since taking over for Rob Thomas as the interim manager.

And another reason for the Fightin’s resurgence? Reinforcements in the form of star pitcher Zack Wheeler , who has now pitched two games since returning from IL following a venous thoracic outlet syndrome diagnosis last summer.

Discussing Wheeler’s return and the process that got him there, Mattingly compared it to his former Miami Marlins pitcher Jacob deGrom , even if he thinks the Phillies employ the better arm .

“Well, I don’t think, I see him here in Miami after DeGrom one night, and I’m like, Better than DeGrom,’ alright? So, I mean, throwing bullets. So, you know, a guy that’s kind of coming back from what he had to go through last year, early in the season, probably velo’s gonna keep ticking a little bit as we go. But he still gets swing and misses and knows what he’s doing.

“He’s not gonna give in, he holds runners, the whole thing with this club that’s important. So, it’s just been impressive to see what he can do. And you feel like it’s just gonna get better and better.”

While some may take issue with Mattingly’s assertion on the surface, as deGrom is a five-time All-Star, a two-time Cy Young winner, and a potential Hall of Famer, he is relatively new to the role and likely didn’t mean anything by it other than a vote of confidence towards Wheeler.