Philadelphia Phillies Star Pitcher Named Best Ace in the 2024 Postseason

Is Zack Wheeler the best ace in the 2024 Postseason?

Sep 28, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Zack Wheeler (45) pitches against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Nationals Park. / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies are awaiting their opponent in the National League Divisional Series, as they will be facing the winner between the New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers.

Coming into the postseason, the Phillies are looking like a real contender in the National League this year. After missing the World Series by just one game last campaign, Philadelphia arguably looks better on paper coming into the playoffs this season. 

The Phillies learned a lot from the postseason last year, and they made the necessary adjustments to improve the team, especially in the bullpen. While having a good bullpen has become more and more important in the postseason, it is also important to have an ace on the staff. 

One of the reasons for the success of Philadelphia this season has been because of their starting pitchers. Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Christopher Sanchez, and Ranger Suarez all had excellent seasons, but it was Wheeler who was the ace of the staff. 

Since coming over from the Mets in free agency a few years ago, Wheeler has become a true star. Recently, Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report ranked all the aces for teams in the playoffs, and Wheeler was named the best ace in the postseason. 

“His 25.4 WAR during that five-year span leads all pitchers by a significant margin, with Gerrit Cole (19.9), Max Fried (19.1), Corbin Burnes (18.6) and Logan Webb (17.5) rounding out the top five on that leaderboard. The 34-year-old was brilliant last October, tossing a quality start in each of his four starts while posting a 1.95 ERA, 0.72 WHIP and a 35-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 27.2 innings. That mix of regular-season consistency and recent playoff dominance was enough to earn Wheeler the No. 1 spot in these rankings.”

While there are a lot of good aces as expected on playoff teams this year, Wheeler has been able to create a resume to earn the top ranking. This season, the veteran right-hander has been the second-best pitcher in the National League behind Chris Sale. 

However, where Wheeler really has shined has been in recent postseasons. Last year, the All-Star was incredible in October and coupling that with his recent form in this campaign, he is certainly worthy of the recognition. 

While the recognition for Wheeler is nice, he and the Phillies will be focused on trying to finish the job they started last year. If their ace pitches like he did last season, the organization will be in an excellent position to compete for the World Series.