Hot Wheels

 

I am amused by the fact that Zack Wheeler and Jacob deGrom seem to have the exact opposite career trajectories. deGrom has an unbelievable career start, then misses a ton of time to injuries and suddenly he's 38 and past his peak. Wheeler missed a ton of seasons in his 20s, locked in at 28 and never looked back, now pitching as strong as ever at 36. In about 10 years there's gonna be a lot of conversations about who was better, and at his peak, deGrom was better than anybody. 

But...let's actually compare. From 2018 til now, Zack Wheeler has a 98-53 record, a 3.06 ERA, 1530 strikeouts, a 1.056 WHIP and a 41.0 WAR. From 2014 til 2021, Jacob deGrom had a 77-53 record, a 2.50 ERA, 1505 Ks, a 1.011 WHIP and 39.7 WAR. That is...close. It depends on what you value. That's 198 games of deGrom vs. 227 games of Wheeler...with playoff starts. And...this period of Wheeler's career is still going, cause he hasn't left his peak yet. I thought there'd be a chance with that injury last season, but since he's been back, Wheels is 6-1 with a 2.01 ERA, 62 Ks and a 3.3 WAR. That is a 10 game period and he's still been one of the best pitchers in baseball. 36 years old.

Wheels' Phillies run has been absolutely legendary, like what if Roy Halladay never got hurt. He's been so consistent, so reliable, so likable and genuinely among the best in the league every year. Three times now he has been robbed of a Cy Young, and seeing as he already missed a month it's looking like it'll be four times. With Wheels, Sanchez and Luzardo, plus the possibility of Andrew Painter eventually getting his act together, this rotation seems to be sorted for a while going forward. This next week or so, maybe more, will be tricky, because with Painter down, we're left with a hole in the fifth spot, and no one is quite sure how to fill it. Alan Rangel maybe? Bryse Wilson? Possibly some Iron Pig having a nice stretch? Whoever it ends up being, they need to add some kind of stability, cause we weren't getting it with Nola and Painter together.

Similarly, filling right field for the rest of the year will be tricky with Adolis Garcia down. Gabriel Rincones and Derek Hill are both getting looks but aren't completely there yet. Dombrowski seems to have a plan for the deadline, but until then they just need to find a working fill-in, and I think that will be Rincones, who looks okay. Thankfully enough of the rest of this team is working that it's just those spots, but they're pivotal spots. Bryce is going cold again, but Turner's heating up, and Schwarber just keeps doing his thing, so I think there can be balance, and it can keep this Phils team moving forward.

We should be able to find leverage over the Mets, but given the fun Juan Soto had with Aaron Nola, you can't really tell. 

Coming Tonight: His dad apparently had the odd start in the majors, and now he's doing his own thing in a smaller market.