The Philadelphia Phillies have a handful of players dealing with injuries, or recovering from them, early in spring training. Some players started camp with issues, like prospect Gabriel Rincones Jr., who arrived with a nagging knee problem, and Orion Kerkering, who has been nursing a tight hamstring. We also learned that Brandon Marsh has been sidelined for a few days with a jammed hand.
But none of those names are as big and attention-grabbing as ace Zack Wheeler, who's rehabbing from surgery, and top prospect Aidan Miller, who has been slowed by back soreness. It turns out we got some good news about Wheeler on Thursday, but at the same time learned some unsettling information about Miller's history with back issues.
Phillies ace Zack Wheeler threw from the mound for the first time on Thursday
Wheeler has been quietly working his way back over the offseason and now during spring training. We knew that he wouldn't be ready for Opening Day, but his rehab back from surgery to deal with venous thoracic outlet syndrome took a gigantic step forward on Thursday.
Wheeler has gradually been progressing throughout training camp. He began camp throwing at 90 feet, then bumped that up to 120 feet. Now, he has thrown his first bullpen session from an actual mound. The 35-year-old right-hander threw 21 pitches (four- and two-seam fastballs) and according to Phillies manager Rob Thomson the session went well, per MLB.com's Zolecki.
“The velo was good, the ball flight was good,” Thomson said on Thursday, per Zolecki. “He hit the glove. It was good. He felt great. We’ll check him tomorrow, find out how he’s feeling and get a plan going moving forward.”
Thomson also reportedly said that Wheeler could "possibly" be ready to pitch in a major league game in six weeks, but the Phillies aren't putting a timeline on it. Regardless, this is great news that Wheeler remains on track to return hopefully by the end of April.
Aidan Miller reveals this isn't his first back ailment
With Miller sidelined with a sore lower back, we have yet to see the Phillies' No. 1 MLB Pipeline prospect lace them up for a Grapefruit League game. Apparently, he hasn't done much aside from resting and starting to work in the training room again.
At first Miller's ailment seemed like a minor issue that wouldn't keep him out too long. The Phillies didn't even tell us about it. It took Bryce Harper spilling the beans earlier this week for us to learn that Miller was dealing with an injury.
But, as The Philadelphia Inquirer's Scott Lauber reported on Thursday, this isn't the first time Miller has dealt with the same back problem (subscription required). According to Lauber, the Phillies pulled Miller from heading to the Arizona Fall League last year because he was dealing with a similar back soreness. At the time they said it was because of "nagging things physically."
Now we know the truth.
The good news is that there's nothing structurally wrong with Miller's back, but it's hard not to be concerned when you start hearing about recurring injuries. That's even more true when you're talking about the player that the Phillies are banking on to be a star.
Miller wasn't going to make the Opening Day roster but is in play for a mid-season call-up. So now we just have to hope that this is the last we hear about his back problems.