Zack Wheeler
Hear me out on this one, because Zack Wheeler is supposed to be the ace, but his start to the season was slightly in jeopardy a month ago.
After shoulder soreness impeded his offseason throwing program, the Phillies handled their ace with kid gloves in spring training. He had to cede the honor of getting the Opening Day start he’d rightfully earned to Aaron Nola.
Much like the Phillies’ overall month, Wheeler was half-good, half-terrible. His season debut was a short gem of 4 2/3 innings, in which he only allowed one earned run on two hits to his former team, the New York Mets.
However, he followed that up by giving up seven earned runs in three innings to the Miami Marlins, and four earned runs in five innings to the Milwaukee Brewers. Factor in his lower velocity, and there was cause for concern.
But in his final start of the month, Wheeler looked more like his old self when he shut out the Colorado Rockies for six innings, holding them to just one hit. He did issue four walks, but the 90-pitch performance – his deepest of the month – was encouraging nonetheless.