The Case for Zack Wheeler as NL All-Star Starter

The crowd at Citizens Bank Park roared when Zack Wheeler took the mound for the ninth inning of a Sunday series finale.

The potential starting pitcher for the National League in the upcoming MLB All-Star Game had allowed only one Cincinnati Reds hitter to reach base safely through eight innings.

Fans of the Philadelphia Phillies had seen Rob Thomson hook Cristopher Sanchez at 85 pitches and Ranger Suarez at 80 pitches in the club’s two most recent wins entering the final game of their homestand.

The 42,055 managers at the ballpark weren’t thinking about workload management for the Phillies dominant starting rotation in the moment.

They only saw a 35-year-old who’s given his all to the Phillies but missed out on some of the game’s top accolades. They showed the type of intense passion that the national media forgets to credit Philadelphia for.

Zack Wheeler doesn't throw as hard as fellow NL All-Star Paul Skenes. He doesn’t have the marketability of a rising star dating an Instagram influencer. He might not bring the same Gen Z publicity to Truist Park, home of the Atlanta Braves, for the Midsummer Classic.

However, a dominant first half of 2025 and one of the most impressive pitching tenures in Phillies history should qualify him to start the All-Star Game in his hometown of Smyrna, Georgia.

The fiercely competitive right-hander has expanded his deep arsenal of pitches throughout an 11-year career in the big leagues. His nasty four-seam fastball sits around 96 miles per hour, and he effectively mixes in his sinker and cut fastball with high velocity. He’s developed his breaking pitches with a deceiving sweeper as a great putaway pitch.

Wheeler throws beyond velocity and spin rate as effectively as any major league pitcher. The seasoned approach pushes Ricky Bottalico to praise him consistently on 97.5 The Fanatic.

Pitching coach Caleb Cotham has worked with the high-priced veteran righty with a heavy focus on biomechanics that benefit pitchers in the modern MLB era of dominant swing-and-miss stuff.

Wheeler earned NL Pitcher of the Month honors with a stunning string of five starts with 31 innings, two earned runs, and 42 strikeouts in June. He somehow upstaged himself to begin the month of July in his first complete game since 2021.

The Phillies expect to win every time their staff ace takes the mound. Thomson summarized Wheeler most simply after a routine, dominant start against the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 17.

Thomson managed the National League All-Star team in 2023. He sent Zac Gallen of the Arizona Diamondbacks to the mound at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, citing mainly first half statistics as the rationale for his choice.

The fourth-year manager spoke in his office on Sunday morning before Wheeler’s complete game. He described his own experience two years ago as an independent decision without significant pressure from the MLB commissioner’s office.

Thomson acknowledged potential room for sentimentality given Wheeler’s connection to the Atlanta area. He stayed true to his reputation as a player’s manager by endorsing his ace above Paul Skenes.

Skenes narrowly edges Wheeler with a lower ERA, the most central stat for a pitcher. However, Wheeler holds the advantage in strikeouts, WHIP, and opponent batting average. The two hurlers are dead locked with 116 innings pitched, although Wheeler’s reached the total in one fewer start.

Dave Roberts will ultimately decide the National League’s starting pitcher. He could follow Thomson’s logic to reward his own player and throw one of two Los Angeles Dodgers on the roster.

Clayton Kershaw, Rob Manfred's "Legend’s" All-Star selection, would fit the bill for sentimentality. Yoshinobu Yamamoto also sits sixth in NL Cy Young odds.

However, the choice between the top two NL starters of the first half of 2025 will likely take precedence. Why might Wheeler edge Skenes?

Skenes started the 2024 MLB All-Star Game without the merit of the best first half among NL starters. He had started only 11 games after making his major league debut in May, but Torey Lovullo reasonably chose to market the rookie phenom in an exhibition game organized to promote the sport.

Why shouldn’t Skenes start again then? Another pitcher actually has a more attractive narrative.

Wheeler famously finished second in NL Cy Young voting in 2021 and 2024 despite significant advantages in innings pitched and starts over respective winners Corbin Burnes and Chris Sale.

He’s earned the respect as the most durable pitcher in the majors with the most innings pitched since he signed with the Phillies entering the 2020 season. He's remarkably stepped up his game in the postseason over that span with a better ERA, WHIP, and strikeout rate than in the regular season.

The most respected veteran pitcher in the majors somehow doesn’t have the Cy Young or World Series hardware for a Hall of Fame resume. The narrative had already traveled with him before the 2025 season. All he’s done is set a pace for career bests in ERA, WHIP, strikeout rate, FIP, opponent batting average, opponent OPS, and WAR during the first half.

Dave Roberts doesn’t intend to let Wheeler build up his trophy case pitching for another World Series contending team.

However, he has the opportunity to hand a deserved feather in the cap to an incredible competitor in the town where he first picked up a baseball.