Did the Phillies know Taylor Swift would be Announcing ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’ Last Week?!

Zack Wheeler has been the Phillies ace all season, though he doesn’t have much competition for the title.

He has a 2.15 ERA and 118 strikeouts over 14 starts (96 1/3 innings) so far and has only walked 22 of 373 batters faced. He’s never had an ERA under 3.31 in any other season of his career in which he’s started more than 11 games. And no other starter in the Phillies rotation this year has an ERA under 4.22.

But this story isn’t about Wheeler or how the Phillies desperately need to upgrade their rotation.

It’s about Taylor Swift.

During Wheeler’s June 16 start against the Dodgers – the only scoreless start by any Phillies pitcher during the road trip, by the way – the Phillies social team tweeted these photos of Wheeler, captioned with a Taylor Swift lyric from her song “Red”:

They had some fun with fans too:

Did the Phillies know Taylor Swift’s announcement ahead of time?

Barely a day later, Taylor Swift announced that her next album would be her version of Red! Coincidence?!

Did the Phillies have a heads-up here? After all, Swift was born and raised in Reading, Pennsylvania. She even sang the National Anthem before Game 3 of the 2008 World Series, which the Phillies would win on their way to their second championship in franchise history.

Maybe Swift gave her hometown team the inside scoop.