Baseball season hasn't even started yet and already Philadelphia Phillies ace Zack Wheeler is on a shortlist of pitchers in consideration for the National League Cy Young Award. Okay, hyperbolic lead aside, Wheeler is a pre-season favorite to win the award according to a recent list compiled by MLB.com.
Wheeler took the No. 3 spot in the National League in MLB.com's Cy Young favorites and sleepers for 2024 behind San Francisco Giants Logan Webb (2) and Atlanta Braves ace Spencer Strider (1). Wheeler finished sixth in Cy Young voting in 2023, and his inclusion high on this list is a reflection of how dominant he has pitched over the last two seasons.
MLB.com's Thomas Harrigan went into great detail in describing why Zack Wheeler is deserving of the third spot on the list.
"Wheeler’s good-not-great 3.61 ERA cost him a chance at a better finish in the NL Cy Young voting last season," per Harrigan. "But he was one of the league’s best pitchers by many metrics.
"The right-hander ranked second in the NL in K/BB ratio (5.44), third in WHIP (1.08) and fourth in K’s (212). He also led all Major League pitchers in FanGraphs’ version of WAR (5.9), which is based on FIP rather than ERA. Wheeler has been a true ace since he signed a five-year, $115 million deal with the Phillies after the 2019 season. All that’s missing is the hardware."
Could this be the year Zack Wheeler finally wins a Cy Young Award? Obviously, consistency, health, and run support will influence the type of year he has on the mound. But Phillies fans know what they're going to get when it's Wheeler's turn to pitch every five days.
Will the Phillies extend Zack Wheeler during spring training?
One of the major storylines heading into spring training is whether the Phillies will sign Zack Wheeler to a contract extension. The 33-year-old ace will become a free agent at the end of the 2024 season, and rumors of interest between both team and player have persisted throughout the offseason.
The most recent chatter about a Zack Wheeler extension came from Ken Rosenthal during an appearance on the Foul Territory podcast. Rosenthal believes the Phillies plan to get this done at some point in spring training.
"At some point in March, I figure we're going to hear an announcement"@Ken_Rosenthal thinks Zack Wheeler is going to re-up with the @Phillies over the next few weeks.
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) February 13, 2024
▶️ https://t.co/rreNnFiGPn pic.twitter.com/4And5QNlRf
With spring training now underway, the Zack Wheeler extension watch is on. Locking up Wheeler figures to be a no-brainer if the team and player can agree on salary and length of contract. Phillies fans are hoping this gets done.