The Astros and Phillies sit atop their respective divisions regardless of weathering accidents to a few of their prime pitchers, and now each groups face the prospect of ending out the common season — or maybe going even longer — with out one among their greatest. On Tuesday, the Astros positioned Josh Hader on the 15-day injured checklist with what was initially described as a shoulder pressure; on Friday, they clarified that he has been recognized with a shoulder capsule sprain. On Saturday, the Phillies introduced that Zack Wheeler had landed on the IL as a consequence of “a proper higher extremity blood clot” close to his shoulder.
The Wheeler harm is the extra severe of the 2, as blood clots could be life-threatening if untreated, and career-threatening even when they’re. Luckily, it sounds as if the Phillies’ medical workforce caught this one earlier than it might develop into an much more severe state of affairs. Wheeler had struggled to a point since throwing a 108-pitch complete-game one-hitter on July 6 towards the Reds, along with his ERA and FIP rising as his velocity trended downward. His scheduled August 8 begin towards the Rangers was pushed again by two days as a consequence of shoulder soreness. An MRI taken on the time got here again clear, besides, he set season lows for the typical velocity of all six of his choices as soon as he lastly took the mound on August 10.
Zack Wheeler grinded his means by means of 5 innings to get his 1st win in additional than a month … however his velocity was down considerably and his fastball command continued to elude him.
There might be a whole lot of eyes on his subsequent begin. pic.twitter.com/IIF2mSnR0V
— Paul Casella (@Paul_CasellaMLB) August 10, 2025
Each Wheeler and supervisor Rob Thomson downplayed considerations about Wheeler’s waning velocity on the time. Whereas the 35-year-old righty’s velocity rebounded by 1-2 mph in his August 15 begin towards the Nationals, he struggled along with his command and lasted simply 5 innings for the second begin in a row — the primary time all season he’d did not go longer than 5 in back-to-back begins. Afterwards, Wheeler reported feeling “a little bit heaviness” on his proper shoulder, and an examination on Saturday revealed the blood clot. “Yesterday, some signs had modified,” mentioned head athletic coach Paul Buchheit on Saturday. “Medical doctors have been nice in serving to to diagnose and expedite that prognosis this morning.”
“I commend Paul and the docs right here to seek out this as a result of it might have been a way more attempting state of affairs than what it’s,” mentioned president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.
Wheeler will bear additional testing and analysis in Philadelphia this week, after which the Phillies will be capable of provide a extra detailed prognosis, however for now there’s no estimate as to when he’ll return. “We don’t know the timeline,” Thomson mentioned. “I’m considering so much about Zack and his household as a result of this isn’t a hamstring harm or one thing like that.”
[Update: According to the Phillies, on Monday at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Wheeler underwent “a successful thrombolysis procedure” — the administration of medication either intravenously or through a catheter – to dissolve his clot. “Further treatment and a subsequent timeline of recovery for Wheeler is to be determined,” said the team in its statement.]
With a view to stop the recurrence of such clots, typically sufferers bear surgical procedure to take away the primary rib, which might compress the subclavian vein or subclavian artery underneath the collarbone, a state of affairs just like thoracic outlet syndrome. At Below the Knife, Will Carroll provided examples of a number of pitchers who handled such clots and underwent rib removing and efficiently returned, together with Aaron Cook dinner (2004), Alex Cobb (2011), Dillon Gee (2012), and Mike Foltynewicz (2015):
The surgical procedure path, if taken, is basically the identical as TOS surgical procedure. The distinction is that Wheeler is older than most pitchers who’ve gone by means of it, which raises the stakes. At 35, restoration time isn’t nearly therapeutic, it’s about how a lot is left within the tank as soon as he’s again. He does profile effectively because the sort of pitcher that would coast in his late profession like a Max Scherzer or Clayton Kershaw.
Till now, Wheeler has been the image of sturdiness, making simply two journeys to the injured checklist within the final seven seasons: In 2019, he missed two weeks across the All-Star break as a consequence of shoulder fatigue, and in ’22, he missed 4 weeks as a consequence of forearm tendinitis. Because the begin of the 2019 season, solely three pitchers have topped his 188 begins, and no pitcher has thrown extra innings than his 1,174.1 frames. He’s the runaway chief in WAR over that span:
Pitching WAR Leaders Since 2019
Wheeler owns a equally massive lead in Baseball Reference WAR over the identical timeframe, with 33.8 to Cole’s 26.4 — maybe a degree in his favor in relation to his Corridor of Fame probabilities down the street. After ending second within the NL Cy Younger voting final season, he’s within the midst of one other superb season, making his third All-Star workforce and main the NL in xERA (2.44), strikeouts (195), strikeout charge (33.3%), and strikeout-to-walk differential (27.7%). He’s additionally fourth in FIP (2.98) and WAR (4.0), and fifth in ERA (2.71).
That’s the sort of pitcher a playoff-bound workforce — because the Phillies, who personal a five-game lead within the NL East and Playoff Odds of 99.1%, seem like — counts on to be its Sport 1 starter. Certainly, Wheeler has taken the ball for 5 collection openers prior to now three postseasons and usually pitched brilliantly in that context, permitting three runs in 33 innings. He’s received an inexpensive case as the perfect postseason pitcher of the previous decade, with a 2.18 ERA and a pair of.72 FIP in 70.1 innings. You don’t exchange such a pitcher simply, although the Phillies do a minimum of have a robust supporting forged in what’s been the majors’ strongest rotation in accordance with FIP (3.42) and WAR (15.6).
Together with Wheeler, each Cristopher Sánchez and Ranger Suárez are within the midst of robust seasons themselves, with Sánchez second within the NL in WAR (4.3) and third in ERA (2.45), and Suárez rating among the many prime 15 of NL pitchers with a minimum of 100 innings in each ERA and FIP (3.28 and three.27, respectively). Jesús Luzardo has been stable, with a 4.21 ERA, 3.11 FIP, and three.5 WAR, the final of which ranks fifth within the league.
Alternatively, Aaron Nola has been horrible. Activated on Sunday after lacking three months as a consequence of a proper ankle sprain and a stress fracture in one among his ribs, he was rocked for seven hits and 6 runs by the Nationals in 2.1 innings, elevating his season ERA to six.92 and his FIP to 4.87, each profession worsts; he’s allowed a career-high 1.9 homers, along with his lowest strikeout charge (23.8%) of any season since his 2015 rookie marketing campaign.
The Phillies had deliberate to create a six-man rotation by including Nola to a unit rounded out by Taijuan Walker, who has pitched to a 3.34 ERA and 4.73 FIP in 91.2 innings in a swingman position. As a substitute they’ll persist with a five-man rotation for now whereas retaining Andrew Painter — a 60-FV prospect who missed all of 2023 and most of ’24 as a consequence of a UCL tear and Tommy John surgical procedure — at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The 22-year-old Painter has been getting knocked round recently, permitting 15 runs in 13.1 innings over his final three begins for Lehigh Valley, elevating his season ERA to five.15 and his FIP to 4.86. Between Lehigh Valley and Low-A Clearwater, he’s throw 92.2 innings to this point, and is anticipated to face an innings cap of round 120.
The Phillies did lose a little bit of depth by buying and selling prospect Mick Abel, who had made six begins for the workforce from mid-Could by means of early July, to the Twins within the Jhoan Duran deal. Talking of Duran, the workforce had a scare on Friday when he was carted off the sector after being hit on the best ankle by a comebacker. The harm regarded scary on the time, as Duran couldn’t put any weight on the ankle, however simply 13 hours later he went by means of his regular pregame routine, and on Sunday, he notched a save by retiring the ultimate two Nationals within the Phillies’ 11-9 victory.
Lengthy story quick, even when Wheeler doesn’t require surgical procedure and is merely positioned on blood thinners, it’s very doable his season is over. Which may be the case for Hader as effectively. The 31-year-old lefty final pitched on August 8, when he threw a season-high 36 pitches whereas protecting the ninth and tenth innings in a win over the Yankees. On August 11, after Joe Espada referred to as upon Enyel De Los Santos and Bennett Sousa to shut out a 7-6 win over the Crimson Sox, the Astros supervisor mentioned that Hader had been unavailable as a consequence of shoulder discomfort and was present process exams. The following day, he was positioned on the 15-day injured checklist with what was initially termed a left shoulder pressure, his first main league IL stint aside from a COVID-related one in 2021. On August 13, Espada revealed that Hader had gone for a second opinion, and can be out longer than the 15-day minimal. Now we all know why.
The Astros introduced on Friday that Hader can be shut down from throwing for 3 weeks, and might be restricted to alternating between relaxation and strengthening workouts throughout that point. As soon as he’s cleared to throw once more, the pitcher says he’ll want three weeks to ramp up, which might place his return roughly at the beginning of the postseason — barring any setbacks, after all.
The harm interrupts what has been a superb season for Hader, who made his sixth All-Star workforce and has transformed 28 out of 29 save probabilities whereas pitching to a 2.05 ERA and three.23 FIP. Relying upon his slider extra typically than ever — 41.4% of the time, up from final 12 months’s 27.4% — he’s been completely dominant. His 36.9% strikeout charge is third amongst relievers with a minimum of 40 innings, and his .202 BABIP is fifth; he’s not doing it with smoke and mirrors, as each his .158 xBA and a pair of.04 xERA are useless ringers for his precise stats.
Thanks partially to Hader, the Astros’ bullpen has been one of many sport’s strongest. Its 27.1% strikeout charge leads the majors, whereas its 3.75 ERA ranks tenth and its 3.89 FIP eleventh. The workforce did slide in these rankings on Sunday when 5 relievers allowed 11 runs to the Orioles in a five-inning span after starter Cristian Javier — making simply his second begin after coming back from Tommy John surgical procedure — departed as a consequence of sickness. At the least outfielder Chas McCormick capped the disasterpiece with a scoreless inning.
The Astros bullpen has thrown simply 434 innings, the fifth-lowest complete within the majors. That’s relatively exceptional provided that, as a consequence of accidents, simply two starters (Hunter Brown and Framber Valdez) have made greater than 14 begins for the workforce, whereas two (Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski) have been misplaced to Tommy John surgical procedure, with Spencer Arrighetti moreover lacking 4 months as a consequence of a damaged thumb and Lance McCullers Jr. now on his third IL stint of the season, at 80 days and counting. McCullers is presently out with a blister, whereas Brandon Walter is out as a consequence of elbow irritation. Regardless of that litany, the Astros rotation ranks third within the majors (and tops within the AL) in rotation WAR (11.8) and seventh innings (672), which has taken a number of the stress off the bullpen.
That mentioned, the Astros are one among six groups with six totally different relievers who’ve made a minimum of 40 appearances, and with yet another out from Bennett Sousa, they’d be one among three groups to have 5 relievers with a minimum of 50 innings, together with the Padres and Reds. For all of their starter accidents, these non-Hader relievers (righties Bryan Abreu and Kaleb Ort, and lefties Sousa, Bryan King, and Steven Okert) are all energetic and determine to soak up the higher-leverage work, together with De Los Santos, who was just lately signed as a free agent and who started his Astros profession with a pair of high-leverage appearances. Espada hasn’t named a substitute nearer, however to this point Sousa (whose 4 saves are second on the workforce) and Abreu have notched saves in Hader’s absence, and each King and Okert saved video games earlier within the season. With Hader out, nearly any of them might get the ball within the ninth.
Shedding Hader is a blow, and with the Astros (69-55) holding only a 1 1/2-game lead over the Mariners (68-57), the loss is hardly trivial. For now, the Astros and Hader sound optimistic about an October return, however between their slim division lead and the ticking clock, they’ve little margin for error.