The Philadelphia Phillies were a decade-long mess after their 2008 World Series victory. The Phillies did bring in Cy Young winners Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee while also riding the wave of Cole Hamels' World Series MVP run. After the old stars left came the revolving door of less-than-star-level talent.
Fast forward to 2024 and soon to be 2025, and the Phillies now have another kind of monster toeing the rubber. Staff ace Zack Wheeler is the kind of superstar who can't be overlooked, and even though he isn't the outspoken type, a former All-Star pitcher let it be known how truly great Wheeler is.
Former All-Star says what every Phillies fan already knows about Zack Wheeler
Dan Plesac is a former major leaguer and three-time All-Star with the Milwaukee Brewers, including a two-year stint with the Phillies at the end of his career. Now as a MLB Network analyst, Plesac gets to talk about the game from a different and wider perspective — a perspective that gets to truly appreciate the greatness of today's stars, including Wheeler. Plesac was discussing pitcher prototypes for today's brand of baseball and praised Wheeler as one of the best.
"The best blend ... The perfect pitcher in Major League Baseball," Plesac stated. "There's one guy and he's on a mountain by himself: Zack Wheeler."
Dan Plesac has high praise for the @Phillies ace 👀 pic.twitter.com/1w5ckUc9cL
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) December 20, 2024
Plesac is right on the money when it comes to naming Wheeler among the best the game has to offer. Before coming to Philadelphia, many didn't know how great Wheeler really was. Now the initial five-year deal could go down as one of the best signings in franchise history. Since 2020, Wheeler leads all pitchers in fWAR with 24.7 and is second in wins with 59, per FanGraphs. In the five seasons combined he is 59-32 with a 2.94 ERA, 142 ERA+ and a 1.03 WHIP.
What makes Wheeler so dominant is his five-pitch mix that has turned him into a postseason legend in October. He has an electric fastball averaging 95.3 mph with the ability to rev up in high-leverage games, touching as high as 100 mph at times. The splitter was another pitch that Wheeler introduced in 2024 that helped bolster his Cy Young runner-up campaign at 16-7 with a 2.57 ERA and 224 strikeouts in 200 innings pitched. It's the second time Wheeler has finished second for the award and the fourth time he's finished in the top 12 in five seasons.
Although Wheeler doesn't have the hardware he deserves, he still gets the attention of other great pitchers in the game. As Plesac put it, he is the perfect pitcher for the game. All the ability with none of the concern. He plays his game with relative ease, and that's how Phillies fans know that they are currently witnessing an all-time Phillies great.