Story by
How Phillies’ Zack Wheeler nuked velocity concerns in first start back from blood clot
- Story by
- How Phillies’ Zack Wheeler nuked velocity concerns in first start back from blood clot
How Phillies' Zack Wheeler nuked velocity concerns in first start back from blood clot appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
On Saturday evening, the Philadelphia Phillies finally ended their ugly losing streak with a road win over the Atlanta Braves in extra innings. The Phillies still sit well below the eight ball in the NL East with a record of 9-18, but it certainly had to feel good to finally get back into the win column.
Advertisement
This game marked the first start of the season for pitcher Zack Wheeler , who had been dealing with a blood clot scare that sidelined him for the opening chunk of the campaign.
Wheeler performed well, recording six strikeouts and allowing just two earned runs across five innings of work, and he also quelled concerns about his velocity coming off the blood clot issue.
"In his 20-pitch first inning, Wheeler exceeded 95 mph 11 times. Wheeler struck out Ronald Acuna Jr. twice — once with a 96.5 mph fastball and the second time with an 82.8 mph sweeper," reported the Associated Press, per ESPN.
At the age of 35, some have wondered whether Wheeler might start to show signs of decline this season, but based on his performance on Saturday in his hometown of Atlanta, this will not be the case anytime soon.
Advertisement
Meanwhile, the Phillies desperately needed something to go right, as they entered Saturday's game with the worst record in baseball, having lost 10 games in a row prior to this win. There is still obviously plenty of work to do to try to salvage what has been a disastrous season thus far, but the return of Wheeler should give the Phillies a much-needed injection of positive vibes moving forward.
In any case, the Braves and Phillies will wrap up their series on Sunday afternoon from Atlanta.
Related: What Zack Wheeler said about helping Phillies snap 10-game losing streak
Related: Phillies finally ends 10-game losing streak vs. Braves
