Thursday, October 1, 2026
73 ° Clear
73 ° Clear
A rainy Sunday afternoon in Baltimore might have cost Zack Wheeler a chance at chasing down the National League Cy Young award.
After two innings, Wheeler was forced out of the game due to an hour and 49-minute rain delay. This was coming off a three-inning outing on Monday against the Miami Marlins, where Wheeler faced his worst performance of the season.
Five innings across two starts will likely be the difference between the Phillies’ longtime ace from qualifying for the ERA race in the National League.
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Entering Monday’s game, Wheeler had pitched a clean 100 innings on the season. He was just six innings short of meeting the minimum innings threshold. To qualify, a pitcher must throw at least one inning per game played by their club. When he took the mound, it was game 107 on the season.
Unfortunately for Wheeler, his three innings did not help keep him on pace. Doubled his two innings on Sunday, he will have thrown just five across his last two starts, bringing his season tally to 105.
When he takes the mound again Friday against the Toronto Blue Jays, it will be game 117 for the Phillies, meaning Wheeler enters play 12 innings shy.
The goal will be for Wheeler to reach 162 innings by the club’s final game of the regular season. Assuming the team does not shake up the rotation or skip starts, Wheeler is likely going to get nine more starts in 2026.
Wheeler will need to average a minimum of six innings per start to have a realistic chance of hitting 162 innings.
If he does, Wheeler will then truly enter the race for the National League Cy Young award.
While the race is currently being dominated by Milwaukee Brewers’ ace Jacob Misiorowski, players such as Cristopher Sanchez, Chris Sale and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are not too far behind.
The award is one that has eluded Wheeler twice in the past. If he can pull himself back into the race, it means the Phillies are getting Cy Young caliber pitching to close out the 2026 campaign.
