Inside The Phillies

Do Philadelphia Phillies Have Best Starting Pitcher In Baseball?

Zack Wheeler has been lights-out for the Philadelphia Phillies this year.

Tyler Maher

Apr 25, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Zack Wheeler (45).
Apr 25, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Zack Wheeler (45). / Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports
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The Philadelphia Phillies won the rubber match of their series against the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday, squeaking out a 2-1 victory largely thanks to the right arm of Zack Wheeler.

Granted, their ace had some help.

Kyle Schwarber provided the run support (which was once again lacking), knocking in both runs on offense and even stealing his second base of the season. Meanwhile, the bullpen combined for four scoreless innings after Wheeler left the game, allowing the Phillies' 2-1 lead to hold up.

But Wheeler earned the win for his performance, and rightfully so. He was tremendous once again, limiting the Angels to just one run (a solo homer) over five innings, yielding five hits and one walk while striking out six. He had good control, too, throwing 67 of his 106 pitches for strikes.

The outing improved his record to 3-3 and lowered his ERA to 1.91. He's now 3-0 with a 0.49 ERA over his last three outings.

Later on Wednesday, MLB Network's Dan Plesac released his top-25 starting pitcher rankings. For the second month in a row, Wheeler was No. 1, beating out the likes of Tyler Glasnow, Tarik Skubal and more.

"He's the best starting pitcher," Plesac said in his defense of Wheeler. "Mound presence, stuff, last year's September and October, he is the entire package."

It's hard to argue with Plesac, as Wheeler's been one of the best and most consistent starting pitchers in the game for years now.

Since 2018, he's 69-43 with a 3.22 ERA and a 9.5 K/9 while logging over 1,000 innings -- a rare combination of dominance and durability.

Wheeler is currently sporting the best ERA (1.91), WHIP (0.92) and strikeout rate (11.1 K/9) of his career, showing no signs of slowing down as he approaches his 34th birthday.

If he keeps it up, he could be rewarded with his first career Cy Young award.

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Tyler Maher
TYLER MAHER

Tyler is a writer for Sports Illustrated's Inside the Phillies. He grew up in Massachusetts and is a huge Boston sports fan, especially the Red Sox. He went to Tufts University and played club baseball for the Jumbos. Since graduating, he has worked for MLB.com, The Game Day, FanDuel and Forbes. When he's not writing about baseball, he enjoys running, traveling, and playing fetch with his golden retriever.

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